Charmed Destinies by Mercedes Lackey, Rachel Lee and Catherine Asaro

This book contains three stories of people meeting their destined lovers- perhaps through magic.

"Counting Crows" by Mercedes Lackey tells the story of Lady Gwynnhwyfar, who must travel to the far north to protect her father's lands from the machinations of a dark sorceror who has his eyes not only on her father's lands, but also on her. But the man she has pledged herself to by glove-marriage is little better than a brute, who forces himself upon her in attempts to get her with child, and ignores her the rest of the time.

The only thing that makes her life in the castle bearable is the company of Sir Atremus, a knight she knew and fell in love with when she was but a girl. And he is bound to her husband, Bretagne, with oaths of loyalty. But he cannot stand the way Bretagne treats her. And when Gwynnhwyfar finds proof that Bretagne intends to kill her to get an even richer wife- and to betray his oaths to the King in the meanwhile, will Atremus stand with her or against her as she plans to remedy the situation- with magic?

"Drusilla's Dream" by Rachel Lee, follows the life of Drusilla Morgan, a woman who is working as a data entry clerk while she recovers from helping her father fight for his life. Since the work is fairly boring, while her hands labor, she lets her mind fly and constructs elaborate fantasies as she works.

In her fantasies, she is the Princess Drusie, a warrior Princess who goes on a quest in aid of her father's kingdom. But the Beast Tamer she meets along the way, Miles, seems to be mirrored in Miles, a IT guy who looks out for the computers in the company. But when she realizes that Miles is having the same fantasy, and turning it into a book he's working on- what will Drusilla do? Has she finally met, literally, the man of her dreams?

"Moonglow" by Catherine Asaro. follows Iris Larkspur, the second most powerful young female magician in the land of Aronsdale. She has little power, but cannot do magic indoors, while her fellow student- Chime, has plenty of power but seemingly cannot do magic at all. As most powerful. Chime is set to wed the Prince of the land, Muller. But when her mentor has her do magic outdoors, Iris can access magic so powerful that she reaches the thought-dead Prince of Aronsdale, Jarid, and everything changes.

She suddenly becomes the one set to wed the Prince, and Muller steps down in favor of his cousin, Jarid, who is both blind and deaf. With no one to rely on but herself and this young man she's found, can Iris find a way to become the kind of Queen that Aronsdale needs and a wife as well as friend to Jarid?

I really enjoyed each story in this book. Two are about blatant, out and out magic, and the other is about destiny, and perhaps is magical as well. Each story intrigued and enthralled me as I sat reading, and each one whipped by faster and faster as I read. I couldn't stop reading until the end, and I read through most of the night because of it. It was just too good to put it down or wait.

Each story was different, but the threads of the stories pull you along through them, keeping you entranced and reading. Wanting to see what would happen with Atremus and Gwynnhwyfar, Miles and Drusilla and Jarid and Iris was an almost painful wanting- each love story set up so well and so well done that it was painful to pull away. The emotions and feelings in each story came through so well that it was as if you became the characters and felt what they were feeling. It's unusual to find such a gift in one writer, let alone three- and none of the endings disappointed- even if you did want to read more, wanted to see what happened afterwards. Any of these stories as a full-size book would be wonderful- one I would gladly read!

If you are looking for a book that will sweep you away and make you forget where you are and what you are doing- this is the one you want to pick up. Because this book certainly did that for me. Sometimes I'll read a compilation of three or four short stories, and only one or two of them will be good for me. But this one shines like a star because all of the stories are equally good and wonderful. Highly recommended.