Review: Christmas Stories by DiAnn Mills

 

Christmas Stories: 10 Original Short Stories Celebrate the Sights, Sounds, and Smells of this Beloved Season by DiAnn Mills                             A rating

I wrote this Review for clean Fiction Magazine so this is the format.

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Back of the book description:

Enjoy a collection of 10 delightful original Christmas short stories from DiAnn Mills that you'll want to share with loved ones during this beloved season. Titles include 1) The Sugarplum Shoppe, 2) The Christmas Traveler, 3) The Year Santa Slept Thru Christmas, 4) DollyAnna's Miracle, 5) Merry Mayhem, 6) The Reindeer Apprentice, 7) Christmas at the Writer's Haven, 8) Love on Wheels, 9) The Rebel Snowman of Wintersville, and 10) JPS Christmas Angels. Quick and fun to read with your entire family.

 

First impression: Master storyteller DiAnn Mills compiled these short stories with a whimsical quality surrounding charming characters that brighten the readers’ Christmas season. You will not resist falling in love all over again with each turn of the page.

Action: Happenings are recounted through humans, snowmen, reindeer, and a most magical and an enchanting Christmas ornament. A place where after people sleep, things change, dogs talk, and time shifts.

Adventure: Exploits and experiences await as the calendar announces the arrival of the Christmas season. The character charm spins from cowboy hats and petting zoos to dress up parties. Perhaps a mask is required for contagious disease, yet joyful Christmas charm is present.

Romance: stubborn hearts melt as the spirit of Christmas flows through families and towns or from happenstance meeting of strangers on road trips traversing icy roads, who might run across a mystical angel or two. All messages passed on and delights of emotion from Christmas past might have been forgotten until that messenger or transformation of surroundings materializes out of forgotten dreams or magical occurrence. True love is born. Worn-out love and remembered love are ignited and rekindled.  

Religion: there is only the briefest mention of religion sprinkled in among the feelings of a giving Christmas season full of love.

Art: Cookies, pastries, hot chocolate, and fanciful decorations bring cheerful delight to the merrymaking adventures as they unfold off the page and flow into the reader’s heart and stoke imagination. Snowy landscapes give way to charming festivities in remarkable settings.

Final Thoughts: My husband loved these enchanting stories that I read out loud during a road trip up north to colder weather. One scene jumped off the page where the reader is taken to the North Pole to enjoy a treat of hot chocolate and sugar cookies with Santa and Mrs. Clause. The reader might ring the bells of Christmas with the designer herself. Timeless settings and ageless characters come alive on these pages. This storybook is enjoyable for all ages, from bedtime to early morning wake-up delights. Perhaps read as you gather around the tree while you decorate, string popcorn, and drink cider and hot cocoa. Don’t forget the cookies. I give this most delightful collection of flash fiction to short tales, not just five, but one-hundred-star shaped sugar cookies and do not forget the sprinkles in red, green, gold, and silver.   

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