Portents by Kelley Armstrong

Portents should probably be read after you’ve read the main Cainsville series as it does contain story spoilers. Probably best to add it in, as I did, chronologically on a reread. Or just enjoy the stories on their own. I can’t tell you what to do.

So here we run into another problem I, personally, have with anthologies: stories published in multiple books. I purchased Led Astray: The Best of Kelley Armstrong for my Women of the Otherworld read through two years ago. I was initially pleased to encounter a few of the stories I would need to complete a Cainsville read through. This year, I purchased Portents and… the first three stories were the ones in Led Astray. Not really a giant deal, as I’ve got more to read anyway, but I’m still annoyed about it.

I read everything in Portents except the Lost Souls excerpt, because I believe Lost Souls is the next book in my chronological read-through anyway.
 

"The Screams of Dragons": I was not expecting that to be as seriously dark as it was. Just… wow. Even after the child abuse from Bobby’s grandmother, I was not expecting… wow. This was very well done.

"Devil May Care": I’m not sure how I feel about this one. Not entirely sure I needed Patrick’s side of Gabriel’s backstory, though I do like Patrick as a character. Also, this one is definitely one to read after reading the main Cainsville series, as Patrick’s role in things is a mystery to Olivia and Gabriel.
 

"Gabriel’s Gargoyles": Cute, if also somewhat maudlin. Gabriel’s childhood was not the best. I was not expecting a cute Gabriel story, to be honest. 

“Bad Publicity”: Exciting. Now my interest is more piqued about how useful “Gwynn” is outside of Cainsville and the purpose he has there.
 

"The Orange Cat”: I really liked the way this was told. Felt noir-ish to me. Also, gotta love a determined cat.
 

"Matagot”: Eh, it was alright. Another little piece to the puzzle I’m not sure really needed to be there… does explain a bit about TC and how he got stuck in the Carew House, but… also included another retelling of the Matilda thing, so that was less interesting.

"Lady of the Lake": This was interesting. I feel like Liv and Ricky are a little too comfy casually discussing the Fae stuff for when this is timeline-wise. However, it was actually fun to get the pair of them without any drama involved. The mystery here was also well done. I, too, was fooled by the puppy. Not sure where it was going after that, but I was definitely fooled.