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Jeanne C. Stein

Author of The Becoming

22+ Works 3,483 Members 137 Reviews 9 Favorited

About the Author

Includes the name: jeannecstein

Image credit: Kelly Weaver Photography/ Denver

Series

Works by Jeanne C. Stein

The Becoming (2004) 796 copies, 30 reviews
Blood Drive (2007) 537 copies, 16 reviews
Hexed: Four Stories of Magic and Mayhem (4-in-1) (2011) — Contributor — 514 copies, 39 reviews
The Watcher (2007) 453 copies, 14 reviews
Legacy (2008) 356 copies, 11 reviews
Retribution (2009) 254 copies, 12 reviews
Chosen (2010) 199 copies, 3 reviews
Crossroads (2011) 130 copies, 4 reviews
Haunted (2012) 100 copies, 3 reviews
Blood Bond (2013) 82 copies, 3 reviews
Cloud City (2014) 18 copies
Anna and the Vampire Prince (2017) 15 copies, 1 review
Paradox (2019) 7 copies
Georgetown Haunts and Mysteries (2017) — Editor — 6 copies
The Ghost of Leadville 5 copies, 1 review

Associated Works

Many Bloody Returns: Tales of Birthdays With Bite (2007) — Contributor — 1,426 copies, 41 reviews
Chicks Kick Butt (Anthology 13-in-1) (2011) — Contributor — 293 copies, 10 reviews
The Mammoth Book of Vampire Romance 2 (2009) — Contributor — 203 copies, 4 reviews
Vampires: The Recent Undead (2011) — Contributor — 141 copies, 3 reviews
A Girl's Guide to Guns and Monsters (2009) — Contributor — 118 copies, 4 reviews
Hex in the City (2013) — Contributor — 51 copies, 3 reviews
At the Scene of the Crime: Forensic Mysteries from Today's Best Writers (2008) — Contributor — 34 copies, 3 reviews
Nightmares Unhinged: Twenty Tales of Terror (2015) — Contributor — 30 copies
Shadow Atlas: Dark Landscapes of the Americas (2021) — Contributor — 6 copies
Fantasy Bundle (2017) — Contributor — 3 copies, 1 review

Tagged

2008 (14) 2011 (23) 2012 (17) Anna Strong (74) Anna Strong Chronicles (31) anthology (47) bounty hunter (21) dark fantasy (13) E (11) ebook (22) fantasy (180) fiction (156) horror (16) Jeanne C. Stein (31) Kate Daniels (12) magic (22) mystery (16) novel (11) own (12) owned (15) paperback (25) paranormal (158) paranormal romance (45) read (37) romance (26) series (53) sf (10) sff (21) shapeshifters (38) short stories (16) signed (22) supernatural (26) The Anna Strong Vampire Chronicles (19) to-read (225) urban (17) urban fantasy (299) vampire (82) vampires (236) werewolves (15) wishlist (19)

Common Knowledge

Legal name
Stein, Jeanne Cline
Birthdate
20th Century
Gender
female
Nationality
USA
Places of residence
Colorado, USA
San Diego, California, USA

Members

Reviews

I don't normally say this, but... People! Aim higher! Not the authors, although that goes for them too. No, I'm talking readers. Ilona Andrews, as always, has an interesting blog post about the 'Cheap, Fast, and Good' phenomenon in publishing (link). You should read it, as I think she offers some excellent insight, particularly the comment, "Research has shown that if a person wants a particular movie or book, they would rather settle for a mediocre book on their preferred topic than buy a better quality book in a different genre." (April 12, 2017). The jacket copy on Hexed claims that all four authors are 'bestselling,' two of them from the NYT Bestseller list. Which leads me back to my point, that readers need to demand better, not more, because if this is bestselling, these short-form writers really need to read more [a:Peter S. Beagle|1067608|Peter S. Beagle|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1360970921p2/1067608.jpg] or [a:Roger Zelazny|3619|Roger Zelazny|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1207671346p2/3619.jpg]. I suggest you do too.

The first story 'Magic Dreams' is set in Andrews' Kate Daniels universe, about Dali, a brilliant Indonesian woman who is called upon when her crush is exposed to deadly magic. It's a solid story, although I feel like Dali's personality doesn't come through well; she mostly seems like a young, awkward girl with a giant crush on a powerful man. This is in contrast with the confident woman of the Daniels' series, who volunteers for death matches and pretends she's a professional race-car driver. Still, it has fun mythology and gives a little more insight into another corner of Atlanta. Three stars.

The second story, 'Ice Shards' by Yasmine Galenorn is utterly incomprehensible, over-wrought, over-written drivel of the sort a clever fifteen-year-old who reads too much Juliet Marillier might write. Twenty pages was enough to make me swear off reading for the evening, poisoned by the language sinking into my brain. In an effort to purge it, I'll share: "I stared at Grandmother Coytoe's portal. We were standing in the middle of a snow-shrouded wood, in the Belles-Faire district of Seattle, a few miles from home. But we were about to travel through the veil, to the Otherworld, the land of Camille's birth. From there we would journey to the Northlands, the world I'd left behind so long ago, when I'd been branded a murderer, stripped of my strongest powers, and cast out of the order of Undutar, the Goddess of the Mist and Snow." That's on page three, in case you were wondering. No, you don't get more explanation that makes sense.

How about our heroine? "Most people thought I was a pushover, an easy mark, since I was so short and petite. Some assumed I was mild and delicate; others thought I was a cozy maid. But I'd seen too much to ever be mild or cozy or an easy mark. I hid my memories well, but they were always there to fuel the need to fight." Gack. What is a 'cozy maid?' Why are we bringing memories into it? And believe me, in twenty pages, there wasn't any fighting, just a tear or two, a meeting in a bar and etc., etc., yawners. One star.

The third story, 'Double Hexed,' by Allyson James, is a fun urban fantasy and will probably appeal to fans of Kate Daniels. A hotel owner, her boyfriend, a couple of staff members and others are trapped in the hotel by a hex. The protagonist is a no-nonsense heroine that is looking out after her friends. James has a straight-forward writing style with interesting magical-being building, although I could have passed on the tantric magic. Interesting integration of Southwest Native mythology with conceptions of withcraft, vampires and black magic. Three stars.

The final story, 'Blood Debt,' by Jeanne C. Stein feels a little knock-off-ish and unfinished, but with potentially interesting bones. A woman who was recently made a vampire is called to account for killing a murderous witch by powers from the other world. Straight-forward prose. Choppy with partial sentences. Love-at-first-sight love interest (see what I did there?) Two stars.

Overall, definitely don't buy. Worth picking up only if you want to see a novella by one of the authors you enjoy.
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carol. | 38 other reviews | Nov 25, 2024 |
Only read Magic Dreams by Ilona Andrews.
 
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mearias | 38 other reviews | Nov 12, 2024 |
I tried several times to get into this book over the last few weeks. At first I thought I was fed up with urban fantasies (but then I read Greywalker, so I knew I wasn't). Then I thought it was vampires in general (but then I re-read Once Bitten, Twice Shy and knew I wasn't). Finally I decided that I must just have other things to read that are more pressing, except I don't really. I've had a lot of free time on my hands lately, so I should have had the time if I wanted to really read the book.

So, after finishing Sea of Shadow (for the third time), I sat myself down and told myself to read the book. From what I read on other reviews I was expecting something...different I suppose. Not something worse, or better, but different. Every reviewer is different right?

Unfortunately I found myself disliking the book. Not completely, I did want to know more about the Vampire society that Stein was setting up for the future books and despite myself I was wondering if Anna would have an emotional epiphany about Avery and David sooner rather than later (I like soap operas). The rest falls flat for me. I never quite believed Anna--she felt unreliable at best, admitting to raging hormones and apparently a new sex drive that clouded her 'intense' feelings for her serious boyfriend David whenever Avery was around. The mystery angle confused me and I wanted to stake Avery, a more self-serving man I have yet to read in a novel series!

Anna's apparent infidelity (multiple times) with Avery left a sour taste in my mouth as well. And I didn't even get the sense she did it because she felt like she was drifting from David, or that her feelings had shifted or anything--pretty much Avery came on the scene, Anna waxed poetic about David for a hot second and the next in the bed with Avery. Even after she realized she was being used for whatever reasons. Though even this I couldn't get too worked up about because neither Anna nor David nor Avery seemed to be 'whole' characters. Bits and pieces thrown together with potential that never blossomed.

I wish I had better things to say, but I don't. I will likely give this series another chance with book 2, since sometimes the freshman book in a series is so busy trying to establish itself the book suffers for it, but after that we shall see.
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Flagged
lexilewords | 29 other reviews | Dec 28, 2023 |
Magic Dreams - Yes!! I love Dali and Jim!! Dali totally nailed the insecure, plain heroine thing for me. I adore the Kate Daniels books and this story was one I was excited to see. A bit of good angst from Dali who thinks she is unattractive and is pining after Jim, who she thinks doesn't even notice her. LOVE THIS STUFF. (4.5 stars)

I'll come back to the other stories later.
 
Flagged
Rhiannon.Mistwalker | 38 other reviews | Aug 19, 2022 |

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Works
22
Also by
12
Members
3,483
Popularity
#7,300
Rating
½ 3.6
Reviews
137
ISBNs
48
Languages
3
Favorited
9

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