Mysteria

Splitting the difference between Desperate Housewives and The X-Files , this paranormal romance brings magic and monsters to the steamy suburbs in four satisfying novellas about the town of Mysteria. Bestseller Grant kicks off the volume with the story of the demon responsible for leading a group of supernatural settlers to establish Mysteria, a Colorado haven for the paranormal. Centuries after his "random act of demonic kindness," Satan casts the demon out of Hell, naked and mortal, to be discovered, sheltered and eventually loved by the town's female pastor. Gena Showalter's contribution is the most lusty of the bunch, following a hunky psychic who has visions that the witch he's desperately in love with will be the death of him. In P.C. Cast's novella, a frustrated high school teacher, descendant of the only nonmagical founder of Mysteria ("Her magic worked like her marriages. Not at all"), is pursued by a young werewolf she used to teach. Bestseller MaryJanice Davidson follows another werewolf, this one in the market for a house—which turns out to be haunted by a sarcastic ghost—in an enjoyable but underdeveloped episode. There's magic, heat and lots of laughs in these loosely conjoined stories, and it's obvious the authors had a great time putting the book together; the growing audience for paranormal romance should have nearly as good a time reading it. (July)