Short Stories 366:358 — “The Christmas Elf,” by Jae

By the time you get to the third of the three stories in Love Beneath the Christmas Tree, you've watched Rachel the mall security guard go from being a Christmas Grump to a smitten girlfriend of a mother of a little boy, and wanting to cement her place in their lives. So this, their third …

Short Stories 366:357 — “American Christmas,” by Adriana Herrera

As is likely a surprise to no one given how often I've mentioned it this month, I freaking love queer re-tellings, and this novella from Adriana Herrera, "American Christmas," is basically a queer re-telling of "The Gift of the Magi" (the characters even discuss it as such) and it's both adorable and over-the-top in effect. …

Short Stories 366:356 — “It’s a Wonderful Wife,” by Camille Pagan

It's probably obvious by now how much I love a retelling, given how I try to write one every year, and so it's likely not a huge surprise that I loved this contemporary and gender-flipped version of "It's a Wonderful Life" from Camilla Pagan, "It's a Wonderful Wife." We meet Bailey George (who runs George …

Short Stories 366:355 — “The Christmas Angel,” by Eli Easton

Before I start, I feel like I need to add a caveat about this day because of some issues I had with the format. I did end up enjoying "The Christmas Angel," but it's a rare "I'd suggest reading it, not listening to it" from me. For one, I had to speed up the playback …

Short Stories 366:354 — “Snow Day,” by Julie Lipson

You can always tell when I'm close to the darkest days of the year, as audiobook novellas start to become front and centre in my reading. Walking the dog in the morning dark, getting home before it's barely light, and having my beard frozen to my face is less than pleasant, but an audiobook I …

Short Stories 366:353 — “The Everlasting Match Girl,” by Paul Magrs

Okay, you're going to have to bear wth me a bit with this story from Christmassy Tales, but I promise it's worth it. It's set on Mars, and is set in the same universe as Paul Magrs's trilogy that begins with Lost on Mars, but you can absolutely read this one by itself, and it …