Christmas Magic by Cathy Kelly

3.5 Stars

I don't think that short stories are really this author's forte to be honest, a lot of them felt more like a synopsis for a longer read which meant that just as you were settling in to the tale it would end.  The other problem I found with a lot of them was that there is little characterisation that you can suck from the page so I ended up just going off how much I enjoyed the plot of the tale rather than the whole of the story.

This is a mixture of tales set at all times of the year, so if the title made you think that was a collection of festive tales then prepare to be disappointed.  I did enjoy the mix but the author has a very obvious voice which shone through in each story, this does mean that they all began to feel a little like they were about the same set of people.

In order to get an honest score for the book I marked each story as I went along:

Christmas Magic - 3.5 Stars
Anniversary Waltz - 3.5 Stars
Madame Lucia - 4 Stars
Off Your Trolley - 3 Stars
May You Live In Interesting Times - 3 Stars
A Villa By The Sea - 2.5 Stars
The Gap Year - 3.5 Stars
Cassandra - 3 Stars
Letter From Chicago - 4 Stars
Bride And Doom - 3 Stars
You've Got Mail - 5 Stars
Christmas Post - 3.5 Stars
The Trouble With Mother - 4 Stars
The Paradise Road Book Club - 3 Stars
The Angel Gabrielle - 2.5 Stars
Lizzie's Fling - 3 Stars
Thelma, Louise And The Lurve Gods - 3.5 Stars
The Office Christmas Party - 2.5 Stars
A Family Christmas - 3 Stars

I was going to do a brief review of each tale but as they all began to merge in to one after a while I decided it was probably best not to.

This collection has not really made me want to read any further of the author's works which is probably unfair as the short story is a form all on it's own which many longform authors struggle with.  Nothing here is really bad, it just didn't engage this particular reader.  They are easy to pick up and set down so it does make it the perfect book for the coffee break.