Heart of Steel

Please note: My copy of this book does NOT contain Duties of a Knight by Sandra Bard. I don't know if this is an oversight, or if this book wasn't even supposed to be listed in this anthology. (Guessing the latter, but just putting it out there.)

The Queen's Dragon Rider by Cora Walker

Tess - one of the two main characters in this story, isn't easy to like. Sure, her disappointment is believable but, considering that she's a dragon rider, it's not endearing. I mean, she gets to ride a dragon into battle and she's unhappy about it? Once she starts improving though, the story becomes really fun. (And her and Aria (the female dwarf) are totally cute together.)

**The Silent Knight by Avery StilesI don't love one of the main characters being mute - especially in a pre-industrial society where it's pretty unlikely that everyone can read/write. That being said...there was a point that the story picked up. Mostly when Farris really started to play a part. Though the romance - that wasn't exactly what I expected and so much better than I'd hoped - was a little quick, it was still really sweet.To Tame a Dragon by Christina DZA MarieThe only complaint I have about this story is that it's only a short story. Honestly, the world that the author created could EASILY handle an entire series. And I would totally be there. Anyway, the romance was...kind of odd but super nice. And there were some gender hijinks going on, like a woman pretending to be a man, and actual gender bending. Which, honestly, took me a moment, but I love it.Blackberries and Buckthorn by TS PorterI thought this story was epic and amazing, a total 5 star read - right up until we have a totally out-of-place appearance by a pair of fae. ... I'm not a fan of fae and it was a total shock that they were even there. But... Well...The Heartless Knight by Heather MorrisThis was quite a departure from the other stories in the book. First, this is the first story that didn't have at least a partial lesbian romance (because one of the pervious was a F/F/M triad) and, also, it isn't even really a romance. The main male character is asexual and might possibly be aromantic and there was strong threads of self acceptance and friendship running through it. (And a totally awesome woman!)**Ser Rae of Del by B.A. HuntleyBlech. Established - unhealthy - relationship, emotional cheating on one side, physical cheating on the other, generic fantasy world, characters that I didn't feel anything for, very distancing writing style. Just, in general, a very un-enjoyable story.

A Shieldmaiden's Vow by Helena Maeve

While the plot is somewhat interesting, the world building is nonexistent except for a rip off of the Legend of the Seeker (whatever the book series was) where the male magic user basically always goes crazy from their power. And the ‘romance' was...bad. I HATE Maud, the main character, the relationship between her and her girlfriend/partner is power imbalanced and ... well, I thought they were cheating on each other, because Maud slept with another woman and felt guilty afterwards (and Alias, the girlfriend, ‘broke up' with Maud and Maud heard her and another person together and got all the hurt feelings). But, judging by the foursome at the end of the story, they might have been supposed to be in an open relationship. This might have worked, if they ever actually alluded to it, but as it was, they just felt like a pair of dirty cheaters. And Maud was a highhanded ass of the type I'm more used to seeing in men. (Also, this story is really preoccupied with making the characters have sex. I count at least four sex scenes and I'm not even trying to remember. ... And none of them were the exact same people involved. ...)

*

Honestly, I came close to loving all the first five stories and thought this was going to be a five star anthology. Then I got to the last two and hated both of them - because both were heavy with the cheating and light on the world building. This does not make me happy.

So, because I really don't know what to rate this book, I added the stars then divided by the number of stories and come up with 3.28 which, rounded down, gave us the 3 star rating. (That I feel totally guilty giving To Tame a Dragon, because IT was totally awesome and doesn't deserve to be contaminated by these last two stories.)