Holidays Are Hell

"I didn't realize it when I started this anthology that the stories in this book (just like those in the Dates from Hell compilation) are novellas of characters in other series by these authors. Having not read any of the series, I felt a little lost in Dates from Hell and now in reading the first story, Kim Harrison's, I realized it was kind of an origin story for Rachel Morgan. I really liked the story between Rachel and Pierce here but was disappointed to learn later that Pierce apparently doesn't return to the Hollows series until way later in the books (I think book #7 is the next time). So this budding relationship between Rachel and Pierce here, which is what drew me in, doesn't exist at all in first few books of the series, which makes me ambivalent about reading the series at all. <br/><br/>As someone who hasn't read the series of any of these authors, I'd say people who have read them will likely get more out of the stories in this anthology. I did not read past Kim Harrison's story as I feel like it'd be better for me to read the read the series they belong to first. Based on the way these stories are written I don't think you have to read the series first, it's just my personal preference."