ARC Review--Into the Woods by Kim Harrison

Fans have fallen for bounty hunter and witch Rachel Morgan. Through banishment and road trips, deadly supernatural duels and lost loves, they have avidly cheered her on, eagerly awaiting the next installment in her adventures. This collection of short works, published together in once volume for the first time, adds a whole new dimension to the Hollows saga, featuring tales involving Rachel and her coterie of friends and enemies. Untitled contains original works, including:

"Million Dollar Baby"-original novella about what happens when elven tycoon Trent Kalamack and Jenks the pixy team up to rescue Trent's daughter;

"Spider Web" and "Grace's Fall"-original novelettes set in brand-new fantasy worlds;

Here, too, are reprinted short stories, including:

"Undead in The Garden of Good and Evil"-an Ivy novella from Dates from Hell

"Dirty Magic"-a Mia the banshee short story from Hotter Than Hell

"The Bridges of Eden Park"-a Kisten/Rachel short from the mass market edition of For a Few Demons More

"Two Ghosts for Sister Rachel"-a Robbie/Rachel/Pierce novella from Holidays from Hell

"The Bespelled"-a Ceri/Al short story from the mass market edition of The Outlaw Demon Wails

"Ley Line Drifter"-a Bis/Jenks novella from Unbound

I received this e-ARC from the publishers via Edelweiss for review, I was in no way compensated for this review.

Kim Harrison was one of my first authors I read when I made the cross from YA to adult--of course now I read both!--but her series was one I fell in love with right away! Rachel is amazing! Into the Woods is the collection of short stories and novellas Kim has written over the years and I've read about half of these. The ones I didn't read were ones that were in the mass market paperbacks of her books and of course all the new stuff!

The Bespelled was the story of how Ceri came to be with Al and why the blue butterfly tends to be around him as well. It was a pretty short read. We see Ceri as she was just before she was going to be married. She was summoning demons and she summoned Al. There is definitely something going on between the two at the time. It was most refreshing and fun to be in Al's p.o.v. though! 

The Bridges of  Eden Park was a story that obviously takes place before A Few Demons More. It was sad, just in the fact that I knew Kisten wasn't going to be there for much longer for Rachel. Yet he is endearing! He obviously cares for Rachel and she for him. Here we get to meet his sister and her son, who are trying to run from "the father" of her child because he is an a-hole. Although the worst part is when Rachel and the vampires are cornered by the bad guys on a the bridge over water. Rachel can't cast spells when too close to water!

Then there was Million Dollar Baby! Yay for Trent's story! I liked seeing this side of him. I wasn't too fond of him in the beginning, but he has grown on me. And in this story we do see a whole other side to him. The fact that Jenks is there too is just the icing on the cake! Trent and Jenks will have to work together in order to get his baby back!

Kim's new stories were pretty interesting too. I was curious to see what she would write outside the Hallows and I wasn't disappointed! Pet Shop Boys had creatures that were both vampire and fae like. With a female one intent on bringing a human male home with her so she doesn't have to be alone! That one had an interesting end!

Temson Estates was rather quick and we get to see the somewhat classic Nymph as they try to save their forest from being torn down by showing the man the way of things and opening up a whole new world to him.

Spider Silk was far more intriguing in that it was sort of dark and eerie! This Nymph type character is male and was once trapped in the tree by the grandmother when she was young. Now her daughter, a grown woman with her own children is who he has his eyes on! The daughter must do what she can to protect her children and mother from this creature, but she first has to fight his allure! And boy, that ending was awesome! Really leaves you reeling!

The last one, Grace's Fall was interesting. It kind of has a futuristic feel to it. The people have powers and there's a whole government structure set up to keep them in line. It was probably a little more confusing for me to take it all in. It was still interesting, but not necessarily one of my favorites from the new collection.

Overall this was a fabulous compilation of novellas and stories from Kim Harrison! You get the Hollows and some new stuff that she had stashed away in her closet! This is definitely a must read for all Kim Harrison fans! If you've wanted to read her short stories and novellas this really is the perfect read to have and it's all wrapped in one! And to entice the fans who've read it all there is the new story featuring Trent and her previous never been published stories!

Overall rating 4.5/5 stars

Into the Woods releases October 12, 2012