Review: Make Believe Anthology

 Source: Received an ebook from publisher for an honest review.

Publisher: J.Taylor Publishing

Release Date: February 1, 2012
Visit its page on the publisher website: Make Believe

(Goodreads Link.)

Description:

 Sacrificial Oath by Terri Rochenski

An impetuous act unwittingly makes Alesuela the fulfillment of the Sovereign’s Blood Oath to their Goddess. In five days, she’ll be forced to make the greatest choice of her life: become the virginal sacrifice already promised, or force the man she loves most to die in her place.

With an impossible choice in front of her, she searches for ways to undo the oath, and in her quest, finds not everything in her life is as she expects.

The Amulet of Ormisez by J. Keller Ford

There is only one way to save Elton Fletcher’s brother from an insanity-ridden death.

After years away from home, fighting for his people, Elton returns to discover his only sibling, Cayden, possessed by greed and malice, and responsible for malicious, unthinkable deeds. Cayden, though, isn’t the only one afflicted by the Amulet of Ormisez, and Elton finds himself in yet another battle, where the price of failure could be his own life.

Birthright by Lynda R. Young

Christa can mask the pain and hide the scars, but running from a birthright is impossible.

She’s tried to escape her grief by fleeing to a small town in Florida. Much to her frustration, the locals think they recognize her even though she's never been there before. To make things worse, a man named Jack spouts outrageous theories about her.

Both spur Christa to bolt, to start fresh yet again, but there’s something about Jack that intrigues her enough to stay. The only problem? Someone else wants her to leave, and they won’t stop until she’s dead.

Petrified by Kelly Said

A mysterious storm has replaced summer with winter, devastating crops and smothering Castle lands in snow. Prince Sterling August stands alone as a leader, lost in personal grief as well as a desire to help his people but with an inability to do either.

The answers he needs await him, but without Lochlyn, a woman who’s just as isolated as Sterling, he’ll never see what stands before him, cloaked in illusion.

Last Winter Red by Jennifer M. Eaton

Emily is a Red, a woman whose sole purpose in life is to produce offspring. When her husband dies and leaves her childless, she risks her life and forsakes the safety of Terra—a disease-free city born after the nuclear holocaust. Beyond its boundaries, she knows, survives a man with whom she can be properly paired.

The Outside, though, holds secrets the government struggles to keep, and what Emily discovers on her quest for a mate will change her life forever.

Escort to Insanity by J.A. Belfield

From a charity auction, to a stroll in the park, to the craziest night of her life. Nicole Harrington can’t help but wonder how a simple event went so drastically wrong.

Of course, the male escort she booked is wholly to blame. Not only charming but shrewdly intelligent, Benjamin Gold drags Nicole into a platoon of unimaginable problems—ones from which she’ll have to find the courage just to survive.

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I don't read anthologies very often, but I do like to pick them up when I don't have a lot of time to read. That way I can read one short story for a bit and not feel rushed to keep reading. The Make Believe anthology was great for this. I read it sporadically during the final weeks of the school semester and while on study breaks between my finals. Each story stands on its own, but they all share one similarity...in all of them a woman or girl is in a red cloak at one point or another, just like on the cover. They also shared one more thing...I wanted them all to be longer! ;D

"Sacrificial Oath" by Terri Rochenski was interesting, and as the first story in the anthology it quickly lets you know that these worlds are going to be different from our own. Similar, but slightly different all the same. Alesuela's story was heartwrenching, but she was such a strong character. I really enjoyed how Terri Rochenski managed to give Alesuela so much strength, and I thought that it was a wonderful opening to the anthology.

"The Amulet of Ormisez" by J. Keller Ford was intense! Elton just spent years battling, and he comes home and has to face something even crazier. This short story was fairly dark, and it packed quite a punch. It brought in some very interesting backstories, and through Elton, the reader sees the destruction that the Amulet of Ormisez can cause, and I found it to be a very compelling short story.

"Birthright" by Lynda R. Young was short and sweet. The story had a mystery element, and the narrator was trying to cope with her past. Unfortunately, she managed to arrive in a place where her past, or rather the past, was something that she was going to have to face. I really enjoyed how the mystery involved in this story was revealed, and I although it was just a short story, I really enjoyed the characters, too.

"Petrified" by Kelly Said was very mysterious. I enjoyed that there was magic invovled, and liked getting glimpses of the whole magical backstory that seemed to revolve around the world that this short story was set in. I felt like I could've read a whole series on it and would've still been interested. :D "Petrified" also alternated between two narrators, Prince Sterling and Lochlyn, and I thought that it was a great choice for this particular story because they both brought such different perspectives to it.

"Last Winter Red" by Jennifer M. Eaton was very dystopic, and I loved that! I love dystopians and this short story was no exception. Emily was the perfect dystopic citizen: clueless to the truth, and in major denial of the truth once she knew of it. I loved that even though this was a short story, Emily actually faced quite a bit...she didn't start any revolts or anything, but she still faced the desolate truth about her world as she knew it. I found that I really liked getting to see just a flash of a dystopic world. Jennifer M. Eaton did a great job with characterization, and I was very fascinated with Emily's world...I also totally wouldn't turn down getting to read more about it.

"Escort to Insanity" by J.A. Belfield was the last story in the anthology, and it was definitely my favourite! I loved the characters, and I absolutely loved how the author brought in paranormal elements. I'm not going to tell you what she brought in...but it was fantastic! I'm kind of hoping that she'll pick up these characters again some time because I would love to read more about Nicole and Benjamin! They were amazing characters, and I definitely wanted to see a lot more of them...haha and I mean that both in the dirty way that it sounds, and because I want to read more. ;D

Overall, this was a fantastic anthology! Each of the stories was entertaining on its own, and together they became a wonderful collection of short stories that left me wanting more!

Have you read the Make Believe anthology? Would you like to?
Also, are you a fan of anthologies in general? If you are, do you like specific kinds?