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The Queen of Christmas
The Queen of Christmas
Shari Randall | 2019 | Mystery
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Christmas Trees and Mystery
Dagmar Smith is known for her Christmas tree displays, including a new themed tree each year. This year, she’s asked Allie, a dancer, to help with the unveiling of the tree since the theme is The Nutcracker. Allie, Aunt Gully, and Verity are on hand to help, but when something goes wrong, they find themselves with a mystery on their hands. Can Allie figure out what happened?

This is a short story taking place after the most recent Lobster Shack novel. There’s a strong mystery with a decent twist along the way to the climax. If you aren’t familiar with the series, now’s a great time to jump in since the emphasis is on this story with little backstory. The characters are developed for a short story – there isn’t time to develop them further. Since this takes place at a Christmas party, you’ll find plenty of holiday spirit with something Christmas related even providing a clue. I breezed through it in about 45 minutes, so if you are looking for a festive, fun story to read this month, this is the story for you.
  
I adore short stories, their format allows me to drop into a different world quickly, and in today busy world, for me to consume a world other than my own and experience life from a different point of view. The first story in the collection of "5 Minute" reads encourages the reader to do precisely this, to put yourself in the place of a mouse and have your curiosity peeked by that small hole in the roof of your box, a story told by Dr, Casswell but viewed from an everyday person's viewpoint these three characters are only ever leading in one direction. And once you've read it, you also will be, and that journey is further on in this imagination filling thought-provoking short stories.
  
Butterfly in Frost
Butterfly in Frost
Sylvia Day | 2019 | Fiction & Poetry, Romance
8
6.5 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
I borrowed this book from the library, assuming it would be another light, smut-laced Sylvia Day read. A mindless, fun, beach read. However, for a fairly short novella, Ms. Day certainly packed it with deep emotion and sincerity, which took me by surprise. Parts of the story were funny or exciting, while other parts were gut-wrenching. I was pleasantly surprised by Butterfly in Frost. The story was quite complex, emotionally, in a very short number of pages. It could have stood to be longer, and felt like it probably skipped over a lot of details in a couple of spots. However, for a novella, this really grabbed my emotional heartstrings in a stronger way than I expected it to.
  
Stories To Make You Smile
Stories To Make You Smile
Various | 2021
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Such a lovely book of short stories! Each one had a feel good factor and I found myself either stifling a giggle or smiling by the end of them.
I haven’t read anything by any of the authors except for Katie Fforde but this book has definitely made me rethink that. Every single author had me absorbed in their few pages of story within the first couple of lines.
I would recommend this as a short read for anybody who wants to read something that will make them smile. It is also one that can be picked up and put back down easily with them being such short stories.
This book does exactly what it says on the cover… makes you smile!
  
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Robert Louis Stevenson | 2012 | Fiction & Poetry
10
8.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
The way the books show cases the duality of human nature (0 more)
Everyone knows the basics of this story. In my opinion it is worth reading this story your self as although is it is only a short story there is a lot insight in human nature and it's duality. Once I had finished this book it left me think more about the duality of our nature.

This book's was written in the 1880's but it is well worth the read I would not recommend it for younger read as they may not have the patience with a book of this age
  
Bailey And The Bad Boy (Scandalous, #1)
Bailey And The Bad Boy (Scandalous, #1)
R. Linda | 2017
4
4.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
DNF@39%

The style felt a little stilted in places and i struggled to get into it. We seemed to miss out on bits of the story that i would've been interested in reading by the author condensing it into one or two short paragraphs.

Strangely, as little as i gelled with the story, there is one thing i want to find out: Why Ryder and Chace fell out. And if it had anything to do with Bailey, so I'm going to skip ahead to find that out but I'm not all that interested in Bailey's story
  
Project Dogway
Project Dogway
Sparkle Abbey | 2021 | Mystery
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Dogging a Killer
Cousins Caro Lamont and Mel Langston are both in attendance at a dog fashion show fundraiser to help raise awareness for heartworm (in dogs, that is). Mel’s boutique is providing fashion for the dogs that are walking the catwalk, er dogwalk, for the show. However, the show ends early when Phil Tawney drops dead after eating some shellfish. While Caro searches for Phil’s missing award-winning beagle, Mel attempts to comfort the not quite grieving almost ex-wife. Will they wind up gathering the clues needed to catch the killer?

As a fan of this series, I was delighted to see the characters return, even if only in a short story. Caro and Mel and still feuding here, so we get the story told in short chapters to make it easier to switch between the cousins as the focal point of the story. The authors do a great job of giving us clues without repeating themselves so that both cousins can solve the crime. We don’t see many of the series regulars, but we had to have time for new characters and the plot in this short story. The mystery is well thought out with a logical solution. We also get the fun of the over-the-top world these books brought to life. Make no mistake, this is a short story I read in about 45 minutes, but as long as you keep that in mind, you’ll be fine. As a series fan, it was fun to revisit the characters. If you are new to the series, it might be a good way to meet the characters. You’ll be hooked and looking for the first book before you know it.
  
Fantastic Beasts: Crimes of Grindelwald (2018)
Fantastic Beasts: Crimes of Grindelwald (2018)
2018 | Adventure, Family, Fantasy, Mystery
As a die hard HP fan, I desperately wanted to love this movie. (0 more)
Fantastic Beasts: CoG Simply put, falls short of its predecessors. Revelations in the movie are just put there to make the story fit into the original source material of the Wizarding World. Outrage over the overall film and not its characters afflictions should have been forefront.
  
TT
Tom, Thom
10
9.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
I adored this short story and the cover is incredible! I love fairy tales and legends so this was well and truly perfect for my style.

Such stunning, vivid imagery. It reminded me of Gaiman's writing throughout, beautiful and terrifying all at the same time.

Find 10 minutes in your day to read this: http://bit.ly/1Rgijv9