Mary reviews Gingerbread Hearts by Judy Underwood

Gingerbread Hearts edited by Judy Underwood

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
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“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.

Sponsored Review: Danika reviews Hot Line by Alison Grey

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Before reading Hot Line, I hadn’t looked into the premise of the book. I just knew it was an erotic novella. From the first page, I could guess that the premise would be different from most romance novels/erotica stories I’ve read. (Which is great, because the thing I like least about romance/erotica novels is the repetition.) It begins with Christina (alias Chantal) answering calls at her job at a sex hot line. She gets a call from a woman, Lydia, who just wants to talk. Then, excuse the cliche, Lydia makes her an offer she can’t refuse.

For an erotica story, Hot Line is very much in the characters’ heads. We get a lot of insight into what both of them are thinking, including the awkwardness, hesitation, and double-guessing. Sometimes this could seem like over-explaining, and occasionally they seemed put off by pretty normal things, considering the circumstances. But for the most part, it gave much more characterization and honesty to what I’m used to from an erotic story. There were occasional awkward phrasings, but that could be the translation. (That’s another thing: it’s nice to read a lesfic story not set in the US. Hot Line is based in Germany.) Though, there is a bit of the old romance novel trope of needless angst. Both Christina and Lydia try to convince themselves that they don’t like each other, or that the other person doesn’t feel the same way, when there’s pretty ample evidence for what they feel.

What I was most impressed by in Hot Line is the progression of the relationship. Considering the premise and the length of the story, not to mention the genre, I found their relationship to be much better developed than I was expecting. [Mild/vague spoilers, highlight to read] Weeks pass. They get to know each other. [end spoilers] This is partly because of the novella’s tendency to dwell in their thoughts. It made their relationship more believable and oddly organic (again, considering the premise). The ending is a bit abrupt, but it really gives you all you need. I would recommend Hot Line if you’re intrigued by the premise or are looking for a lesfic novella.

This has been a sponsored review. You can see more about sponsored reviews at our Review Policy.