Welcome to my reviews for three of the Amazon Original Short Stories. I borrowed these via Kindle Unlimited. Each book is 70 pages or less and are designed to be read in a single sitting or listened to (audio included) in an hour or less.
Oh, What Fun. by Chandler Baker
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Everyone is home for the holidays, clamoring for all the Christmas cheer only their mother can whip up. They can already smell the chestnuts roasting—or is that Mom’s hair on fire? From a New York Times bestselling author comes a laugh-out-loud short story for any mom who’d rather wreck the halls.
Tyler, Channing, and Sammy Clauster have descended on their childhood home, with significant others and four-year-old twins in tow, for another good old-fashioned Christmas. Overwhelming holiday magic, as always, comes courtesy of their mom, Claire. They know she’s thrilled to cook, wrap gifts, decorate, accommodate, play games, overprepare every Christmas Eve Eve Eve tradition, and still let Dad be known as the Fun One. It’s her thing, right? Maybe the family should have paid closer attention. Because this year, something is a little off-key—and it’s not just the carols.
My Review
This was a lovely short read, one of the amazon original stories / kindle singles, which I had never heard of before and what a find they are!
Long suffering mother, Claire, is fed up with her family taking advantage of her, especially at Christmas which she works so hard to make perfect. Dad is the fun one and the one who is appreciated the most. That is until Claire goes missing, it takes them a while to realise and then the search is on, which to be honest isn’t much of a search as none of them appear to do much but sit around wondering where she is and when she might come home again to get their eating back on track!
There are some amusing little parts to the story. It shows how much we can take those who work hard to make Christmas special for granted. How important it is to help them and to appreciate their efforts (whoever that may be) rather than to sit back and enjoy their hard work!
Finally, I think the family realise not only how important their mum is to Christmas but also to their everyday lives.
This is a great little book, the perfect short story for Christmastime. I will be reading some of these other short stories as well as they’re lovely for a quick read for an hour or so.
The Marriage Test by Suzanne Redfearn
⭐⭐⭐⭐
From the bestselling author of In an Instant comes a heartfelt short story about one couple’s journey to discover if there really is a secret ingredient to happily ever after before their upcoming holiday wedding.
When Ava Barnes’s boyfriend, Justin, proposes after a whirlwind romance, the young couple embarks on a quest that will test their love. For generations, engaged couples in Ava’s family have traveled into the Everglades to retrieve the egg of the magnificent frigate bird in order to bake it into a marriage cake. Those who succeed live happily ever after, while those who fail are destined for heartbreak. With Ava’s beloved grandmother gravely ill, never has the marriage tradition meant so much. Ava’s dream is to pass the test so her grandmother can attend Ava’s holiday wedding to the man she loves.
So Ava, Justin, and their best friend Walton as a witness set off on a remarkable adventure that will challenge the true depth of their character and devotion. An emotional, heartrending journey of self-discovery, The Marriage Test turns out to be far more than any of them imagined.
Is there any test more challenging than a test of love?
My Review
This novella is a cute little story about a quest to find a special egg from a Frigate bird to make a wedding cake, a family tradition. The only people not to have made the pursuit previously ended their marriage in divorce, so it must be achieved for a long-standing and happy marriage.
The characters were well-formed, but the main character, Ava, had a very annoying trait of taking off her engagement ring, undoubtedly the best and safest place for it is on your finger? I think this was used more to demonstrate her feelings of insecurity.
There are plenty of twists and turns alongside a super quick read. The ending was not predictable, which was great to see. A lovely introduction to the author.
If The Fates Allow by Rainbow Rowell
⭐⭐⭐
After a long, lonely year, two people stumble toward each other in this holiday short story by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Eleanor & Park and Fangirl.
Social distancing came easily to Reagan. Maybe a little too easily. She’s always liked people better from afar. But Reagan doesn’t want her grandpa to be alone for Christmas this year—he’s already spent too much time on his own in 2020. So she heads back to her hometown with a dish of holiday Jell-O salad, hoping they can have a little normalcy. Hoping it will be safe…
She isn’t expecting to run into the boy next door. Mason is all grown up now. He’s considerate. He’s funny. He doesn’t mind how prickly Reagan is—he maybe even likes it. And it makes Reagan feel like her defenses are falling. She needs her defenses, doesn’t she? In a time when six feet is close enough, how long can they keep their distance?
My Review
This is a super short story that gives a glimpse back into Rainbow Rowell’s previous book Fangirl.
This was a Christmas romance centred around Covid but there wasn’t too much romance, much more of a conversation about covid. I found the plot to be a little underwhelming and I didn’t feel that I connected to the characters as much as I could have, despite ‘knowing them’ in a previous book read long ago. The story is also a bit too preachy about covid – especially around vaccines and thinking some people are idiots for leaving home.
The ending was a little too abrupt for me as well, I knew it was a short story, but it just seemed to stop and was too vague. However, I did like hearing Reagan’s thoughts around the pandemic and how she has changed as a person. Mason was a friendly character but a little blunt at times. The two together had some good banter and were entertaining.
The most special part of the book were the moments with Reagan and her grandfather and their bonding over Jello.
These were great short reads, perfect for when you’re not sure what you want to read next, to fit in between other books or to get you back into reading after a break.
While they are available on Kindle Unlimited, they are also available to purchase on Amazon.