My Big Fat Supernatural Honeymoon

My Big Fat Supernatural Honeymoon (2007) P.N. Elrod

The follow up to My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding, at least in theme.

This was a very mixed bag. Some of the stories were good, some I could barely stand to finish, and in fact, put this anthology down several times, for something (anything?) I liked a little more.

Part of the problem is that several of the stories were tied strongly into a series, so I either had trouble following what was going on or there was zero character development, since it’s all happening in the series.

Here’s what the anthology contains:

Stalked – Kelley Armstrong
Heorot – Jim Butcher
Roman Holiday, Or Spq-Arrrrrr – Rachel Caine
Her Mother’s Daughter – P.N. Elrod
Newlydeads – Caitlin Kittredge
Where the Heart Lives – Marjorie M. Liu
Cat Got Your Tongue – Katie Macalister
Half of Being Married – Lilith Saintcrow
A Wulf in Groom’s Clothing – Ronda Thompson

I’d read “Stalked” by Kelley Armstrong previously, but I don’t remember when. A couple has recently gotten married, despite having been in a long term relationship with kids. Both find themselves bored by their honeymoon, but neither wants to tell the other. I sort of skimmed, since I’d read it previously.

Jim Butcher’s story “Heorot” left me wondering what was going on, despite the fact I was (when this story was published) up on the series. At a beer championship, the brand-new wife of one of the entrants has disappeared, as has a keg belonging to a different entrant. This story just felt disappointing, possibly because I expect better of the Harry Dresden short stories.

“Roman Holiday, Or Spq-Arrrrrr” by Rachel Caine lost me completely. I read the first story in the previous volume, but apparently remembered nothing about it, and spent this story trying to play catch-up with the characters, and failing.

In “Her Mother’s Daughter” by P.N. Elrod, the daughter of a local mobster appears at the office, wanting Jack Fleming to find her husband, who disappeared at the reception. I like Jack Fleming, but I’m not sure I believed the resolution was really going to work out as described.

Caitlin Kittredge’s story “Newlydeads” was the story that I kept putting down and moving onto something else. It wasn’t bad, but I didn’t know the characters, didn’t know the world, and didn’t particularly like the characters and wondered why the hell they were spending any time together.

Marjorie M. Liu’s story, “Where the Heart Lives” was one of the best stories, and actually stood completely on its own. You don’t have to know anything about her Dirk & Steele series to enjoy this story.

“Cat Got Your Tongue” by Katie Macalister was another story that really needed a background on the characters. A background I didn’t have. I also doubted the actions and motivations of the main characters several times. “Oh, you’re in an historical building and you’re just going to destroy an historical artifact and think no one will notice or care? Really?”

“Half of Being Married” by Lilith Saintcrow was okay, but the characters kept making pronouncements along the line of, “that’s it, I’m divorcing you immediately” in what seemed to be real anger, and then they’d boink, and then they’d be back to insults and threats of divorce. I really don’t think that was a relationship that would last very long. I also didn’t think much of the magical agency for which she worked, or for her lack of common sense in refusing to call and tell anyone what they discovered.

The final story, “A Wulf in Groom’s Clothing” by Ronda Thompson, as another where I was wondering why these two got married, but at least by the end I thought they might have a possible chance of making it. Even if I did want to throttle the woman several times in the beginning.

So, I generally found this a disappointment. If you’re following the series, then it might be okay, but very few of the stories seemed to stand well on their own.
Rating: 4/10

Published by St. Martin’s Griffin

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