A Christmas to Remember (anthology)

Over the years, I have realized that most genre romance Christmas stories are not a good match for me.

No, that’s not true.

Most genre romance Christmas stories at best irk me, at worst enrage me.

And yet, I have so many of them spread all over the TBR cordilleras of doom, both print and digital. (I blame poor impulse control when an author I’ve liked is involved, or if the blurb is clever.)

Anyhow, this anthology (one of several so named), was my choice for SuperWendy’s TBR Challenge for December 2022 (“festive”). I hoped that, being short stories, I could read it quickly (I did), and review it quickly (oh, sweet innocent past me).

For what it’s worth, here is the belated review. Beware: relentlessly hetero, relentlessly white; death of parents, death of spouse, death of child (all off-page, as character backstory); some sex, not terribly explicit, on page. Oh, and spoilers for a couple of the stories abound in the review.

“The Governess Affair” by Courtney Milan

This novella is a prequel to The Duchess War; it establishes one of the most important relationships for the hero of that novel, and thus is the first installment of the Brothers Sinister series, despite having been written a couple of years after the release of that book.

Reader, beware: backstory of physical abuse by a parent, backstory of rape, difficult sibling relationships, general trauma, and a most lovely scene of consent, seduction, and sex.

“The Year of the Crocodile” by Courtney Milan

This very short story is part of the Cyclone Saga, set a year after Trade Me, and as the events in Hold Me take place.

Reader, beware: there’s a rather high rate of swearing for the actual word count, and there’s also a sex scene.

“Cooley’s Panther” and “Stalking Evan”, by Jody Wallace

I want to highlight these two short-short stories as an example of how to establish intriguing worldbuilding in a very tight word count.

Genre romance readers, please note that while there’s a strong romance thread in both of these, there’s no HEA per se.