Short Stories 366:335 — “The Shield Maiden,” by Alyxandra Harvey

Before anything else, I shall reiterate something I've said more than once: I hate zombies. I have no rational reason for this, beyond their annoying ability to get into my head (ha) and cause nightmares, and the way so many stories around zombies operate on the "poor choice" principle of plot (ie: people have to …

Short Stories 366:334 — “A Perfect Holiday Fling,” by Farah Rochon

Part of the reason I decided to do this project this year—which is closing down on the last month, yikes!—was to make sure I took a long hard look at my backlog of novellas, novelettes, short stories, collections, magazines, and anthologies and pay attention to them. To stop buying so many more, and actually read …

Short Stories 366:333 — “A Christmas Miracle,” by Fiona Riley

Rounding out the trio of awesome women-loving-women holiday romance novellas in All I Want for Christmas is Fiona Riley's "A Christmas Miracle" and once again, I have to underline just how much this book was the low-angst, warm-simmer anthology I needed so very much at the time I read it. This time, we get a …

Short Stories 366:332 — “Mangos and Mistletoe,” by Adriana Herrera

The circles involved in the Venn Diagram of "Mangos and Mistletoe" are all basically things I adore: Baking? Check. Only one bed? Check. Two people having a bit of a disaster-cute? Check. Revealed depths that bring them together? Check. I could go on, but the short version is Adriana Herrera would be hard pressed to …

“Handmade Holidays” — Available (Again!) for Pre-Order

At nineteen, Nick is alone for the holidays and facing reality: this is how it will be from now on. Refusing to give up completely, Nick buys a Christmas tree, and then realizes he has no ornaments. A bare tree and an empty apartment aren’t a great start, but a visit from his friend Haruto …

Short Stories 366:331 — “Homestead for the Holidays,” by Alex Jane

This was an adorable friends-to-lovers short story that brought the anthology as a whole to a close, and was a lovely note to end on. Jane introduces us to CJ and Jace, two college roommates in their final year, heading out to CJ's family "cabin" (more like a cluster of buildings, though rustic to say …