Review: Holiday Shorts, Very Short with Lengthy Previews of Other Titles
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 01 7, 2014
I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with anthologies like this. I adore reading holiday stories during the season, but so many are this type of title - shorts by several similar authors. I enjoy the opportunity to discover new authors who write similar stories to already favorite authors. However, shorts are not my favorite as I don't often feel as connected to the characters and the plots often feel a bit thin or rushed.Here, it was especially so because each author had a lengthy excerpt of another full-length title included. This meant each story of the anthology was only about a 30 minute read (and I'm no speed reader). For me, it would have served as better advertisement for the authors if those pages were given to the short story to allow me to better connect with the characters and plot and then just give me a listing of each author's other work. A more fulfilling read would sell new to me authors more than a short and an excerpt that was 1/2 or 2/3 the length of the short.All that said, knowing that I tend to be a tad disappointed with shorts, especially ones that are this short, I will be exploring a few of the new-to-me authors from this collection in the coming year.I was provided an advanced reading copy of this title. My opinions expressed above are my own.