Review: Quite nice, quick read
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 01 28, 2012
After reading Blue Christmas I looked for everything I could find by this writer.  BC was so good, its quality affected my impression of Tea with Emma.  I liked the frame of this story: tales developed around a teacup collection. They were engaging enough stories--not page turners. Characters are very likeable  and love stories are very low key. This writer presents love as it usually happens--gently.  Those who want stormy passion that ebbs and flows won't find it in Moody's works. I find her approach wonderfully refreshing.But the teacup stories are not as strong as they might be in a longer work. This could be a function of the limits of the novella.  I think short fiction doesn't offer a big enough canvas to flesh out the characters, but in this case the shorter format seems to cramp the space and time needed to develop plots.  Really good short fiction turns on plot.  Longer works rely on characters and plot.  I have not found many writers of really good short fiction, unless they're telling tall tales or fables.Moody has a flair for characters that speak to you, speak for themselves. The mark of a good writer is the ability to craft characters you'd like to know more about.  Most of them oblige by writing volume 2 or 3 or whatever, interoducing new characters and catching us up with familiar ones.  Emma is not as engaging as some of the other characters, though she is good-humored, and very 'real'. Long and short, if I'd read this first, it woujld probably have gotten 4 stars.  Because I read Blue Christmas first, it suffers by comparison.