Up until recently I've avoided short stories. I wanted a nice, full novel to sink my teeth into and take my time with. But now I have a full-time job with a long commute and reading full novels becomes a bit more challenging. So with that, now I love short stories, which brings me to Gingerbread Hearts by a multitude of authors.
"Holiday Outing by" Alison Grey
Susanne plans to come out to her family while they're all together for the holidays. Her sister has her back, but saying a few simple words turns out to be harder than she thought. Plus, she has to navigate each family member and their quirks throughout the night leading up to the reveal.
This was a fun little snippet. I wish I had gone on longer, it felt like the ending was only the beginning. The family was realistic and each person had their own personality that was fun to get to know.
"It's in the Pudding" by Emma Weimann
Ida's family has a Christmas tradition that whoever finds the almond in the pudding gets to make a wish. Ida's wish was to let go and find love by next Christmas, not to go to the dentist when the almond disagrees with her filling. But when the dentist turns out to be someone from Ida's past, she thinks maybe the almond wasn't so wrong.
This was a great meet-cute that I didn't see coming. Ida and her family, especially her friendship with her sister-in-law, had a nice and fun dynamic that was engaging to read. There were also clear sparks between her and the dentist, Theresa, that leapt off the page.
However, this story had a few fatphobic comments that were not needed or entertaining.
"Devgo" by Corinna Behrens
Rebecca has rejected and isolated herself from her friends and family, broken up with her girlfriend, and surrounded herself in her wealth and power. Now, a being both from heaven and hell, Devgo, visits her on Christmas to give her a last chance.
This was another really short one that I thought could have been expanded more. It felt like an introduction to a longer story I would really like to have read. The introduction of Devgo was interesting and believable. Rebecca was clearly a horrible person, but the author does a good job of still making her engaging as a character despite that
.
"A Magical Christmas" RJ Nolan
Erin's ex-husband broke a promise to their kids right before Christmas, leading her girlfriend Kris to plan a surprise getaway for the family. But both Erin and Kris have things to work through and obstacles to work through together to make this Christmas theirs.
This was my favorite story! Erin and Kris, their relationship, and dynamics with the kids felt real and wonderful. I could really believe they had been together for a while, and that they had some real issues to work through. At the same time, it was still romantic and fun. I wish I could read more about them.
"The Christmas Grump" and "Kissing Ms. Santa Claus" by Jae
These two stories are in the same universe with the same characters, so I put them together.
In "The Christmas Grump", Rachel is a mall security guard during the worst time of the year to be working at a mall. Last year she has a terrible Christmas, and now she's anything but in the holly jolly spirit. Then she meets Tyler and his single mother, who has a reason to not be in the Christmas spirit.
In "Kissing Ms. Santa Claus" it's been a year since their first Christmas together, and Rachel and Lillian are happy. But Rachel doesn't know what to get Lillian, and she doesn't know exactly what Lillian wants with her in the long term.
These two were my second favorite in the collection. Jae does a great job of slowly building the characters, the world and the relationships. I feel like I could have read a whole book about these people. Rachel and Lillian have a sweet and romance dynamic. Tyler is also a great child characters, which can be hard to do, especially in the length and time constraints of a short story.
Overall, I really enjoyed this Christmas short story collection and recommend it to anyone looking for a chance to get in the holiday spirit. You can download the e-book for free directly from Ylva' Publishing's website.
