edited by George RR Martin ; assisted by Melinda M Snodgrass and written by Kevin Andrew Murphy Christopher Rowe Marko Kloos [and others]

"An alien virus ravages the world, its results as random as a hand of cards. Those infected either draw the black queen and die, draw and ace and receive superpowers, or draw the joker and are bizarrely mutated. Nevertheless, human nature reigns supreme. And one fo the most enduring human drives is the search for love. Aces and jokers alike both want to find it, or have lost it...or perhaps just want to use it for personal gain. Within these stories, you will find love, Wild Cards style-crazy, unconventional, touching, strange, and oh-so-familiar. Here we have a jewel thief who seduces a popular actor just so she can track down a long-lost treasure; a teenager trapped in the body of giant snail who attempts to win his love Cyrano de Bergerac style; a fierce bodyguard whose romance at an isolated resort takes an unexpected turn; a police detective with PTSD who finds healing in an unlikely place; a young roadie whose vacation crush is the woman sent to protect him; an older man reflecting back on his great lost love; a man who discovers his purpose in life after meeting a beautiful butterfly woman; and a young hero who has been awarded the hideous name of Hero McHeroface finding some solace in the arms of a beautiful astrologer. Pairing Up is the Wild Cards take on love-finding it, seeking it, losing it, or achieving it-as aces and jokers enter into the highest stake game of all: gambling on their heart's desire"--