These13 stories are not all about thwarted or one-sided passion; several of them have satisfactorily happy endings, but longings are posited that have some strange origins: alien touch-induced toxicity, planetary atmosphere, or psychic residual.

Bujold’s Intro includes a thoughtful consideration of mutual win romances versus zero-sum ones, then speculates how the urge towards a chromosomal rendezvous might be affected by radically different contexts, the “what if…?”s of SF.

In “Second Shift” by Brenda Cooper, love is requited, but consummation is probably not an option, and it is friendship that sustains a soul strained by loneliness or anger. Nina Kiriki Hoffman’s contribution “Gateway Night” is a startling gem about a human nurse bewildered (not mention bothered and bewitched) by boundary crossings during the festival that is celebrated by all four species at a Deep Space Nine-like nexus. Jay Lake’s tongue is firmly in his cheek throughout “The Women Who Ate Stone Squid,” which is furthermore laced with allusions to literature and political philosophy. “Wanted” by Anita Ensal is closer to the romance end of the sliding scale; it just happens to also involve spaceships and asteroids. “Music in Time” by Dean Wesley Smith is about a musician who was ‘ahead of his time’ even in his heyday; well, in the future, his style of music packs the biggest concert halls, and carefully orchestrated time travel can bring the player to an appreciative audience. Lots of other fun stories here, in good time for Valentine’s Day. ~~ Chris Paige