Julie Kagawa seems to like filling the gaps between novels with short stories. And "The Iron Legends" collection brings together both of the short stories she released before, plus a brand-new one to segue into her new book. Lots of fey magic, political maneuverings, and romance. 
 "Winter's Passage": Meghan leaves her home and family to honor her promise to Ash -- she's going to his mother's wintry realm, and has no idea when or if she'll be able to return. Ash escorts her through a forest and the mean streets of New Orleans -- but they soon realize that a vast, deadly creature known as the Hunter is pursuing them both. 
 "Summer's Crossing": Ash and Puck are stopped by the Leanansidhe, who is calling in the favor Ash owes her -- Titania stole her favorite violin, and now she wants it back. So Ash and Puck sneak into enemy territory and soon find that the target is not what they thought -- and both Titania and Oberon are going to make things troublesome for them. 
 "Iron's Prophecy": Ash and Meaghan arrive in the Winter Court for Elysium, only to have the proceedings interrupted by the oracle. It turns out Meaghan is pregnant... and her baby heralds possible doom for the Courts. So Ash, Meaghan and Puck set out to find the crone, and learn a way to avoid what the future holds. 
 Just a warning: only read these short stories if you have already read Kagawa's first four Fey books, because otherwise you will be hopelessly lost. Not just about who the characters are, but about spoileriffic revelations of what they do from one book to the next (including major developments for Ash and Meaghan). 
 But for people who HAVE read the books, "The Iron Legends" is icing on the cake. Kagawa's writing is atmospheric and dense with magic, no matter what realm of the Nevernever we enter -- in fact, my only problem is that "Iron's Prophecy" doesn't show us much of the Iron realm. And she leavens the stories with some hilarious lines from Puck, who narrates an entire story. 
 And the final story "Iron's Prophecy," which was never published before, seems to be a segue into her next book, about Meaghan's little brother. It certainly sets up interesting plot points. 
 "The Iron Legends" is a great addition to the Iron Fey series, bridging between the various books and fleshing out the stories. On to "The Iron Prince!"