My True Love Gave To Me

I admit that I’m not a big anthology fan. I find the stories in them are hit and miss. ‘My True Love Gave to Me’ was a choice for one of my on-line book clubs. I thought it would help me to get into the holiday spirit and to acquaint me with some new authors. I’m really late putting up this review but I loved many of the stories and wanted to talk about which ones I loved and which one I didn’t love.

Midnight: Rainbow Rowell
This story features Noël and Mags and their growing relationship every New Years from 2011-2014. I really liked this one. The premise of just having snippets of a character’s life for several years really made the story enrolling. It was fun piecing together what was going on in the characters life the rest of the year. 4/5 Stars

The Lady and the Fox: Kelly Link
This tells about Miranda’s relationship, over several Christmases, with a strange man who appears and disappears. This one left me really confused. I could not figure out what was going on. I thought the stranger was a Santa type man but turned out he wasn’t and he seemed really creepy to me. I didn’t like the magical realism aspect of the story. The only part I liked was the description of the detailing of the fox and lady on the stranger’s coat. 2/5 Stars

Angels in the Snow: Matt De La Pena
Shy (this is the main character’s name) pet sits for his boss during Christmas vacation. Shy meets one of the neighbors, Haley. I really liked this one. The story-line just rang so true to life to me. Reminded me of the crazy stuff that goes on at college.5/5 Stars

Polaris is Where You Left Me: Jenny Han
Natty is Santa’s Adopted Daughter. Natty struggles to fit in with the elvis in Santa’s work shop. This was a cute story. Did not blow me away or anything. This read more like a kid’s story to me. 3.5/5 Stars

It’s a Yuletide Miracle, Charlie Brown: Stephanie Perkins
Marigold buys a Christmas tree at a tree lot near her home. There she meets, North, a worker at the Christmas tree lot. North helps Marigold bring her tree up to her apartment. I really like this one. I can see something this happening to me.
5/5 Stars

Your Temporary Santa: David Leviathan A young man dresses up as Santa to surprise his boyfriend’s little sister. I liked the premise of the story. Someone dressing up as Santa to surprise a child makes a sweet story. For some reason the execution just fell flat for me. 3/5

Krampuslauf: Holly Black
A girl decides to throw a New Year’s party at her deceased grandmother’s trailer.
What just happened here? I loved the premise but the magical realism just ruined it for me.
2.5/5

What the Hell Have You Done, Sofie Roth: Gail Forman
A Jewish college student attends Christmas caroling and makes a new friend. Cute story. Very romantic and funny. Rings true about how those that don’t celebrate Christmas often feel left out. Not my favorite but loved the characters. 4/5

Beer Buckets and Baby Jesus: Myra McIntire
A Church has to hold their annual Christmas pageant at another venue when their barn burns down. This should have been funny but I just didn’t buy the whole wacky story and the romance seemed really forced. Seemed like a John Green trope. 2.5/5

Welcome to Christmas, CA: Kiersten White
A girl works at a Christmas themed restaurant in a town called Christmas. She is doing her best to get accepted to college and to get out-of-town. Than enter Ben, the new cook at the restaurant. I loved the story. The characters were very relatable. I live near Christmas, Florida so I totally got the cheesiness of the restaurant and the town. 5/5

Star of Bethlehem: Ally Carter
A girl exchanges destinations with a desperate girl at an airport .
I really didn’t like the premise. It’s all based on two girls switching flights at the last-minute. This seems really far-fetched in this day and age. Just not for me. 2/5

The Girl Who Woke the Dreamer: Laini Taylor
A fantasy story centered around Neve who is struggling with her bleak life.
Loved the world that was created here. The ending just weird. 3/5

Christmas has to be one of my all-time favorite holidays. I also love short story anthologies. Put the two of these together and you have one winning collection!

MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO ME is a collection of twelve holiday stories that range from NA to YA. Each one is a contemporary tale that is sure to leave readers with a holiday spirit!

Some of my favorites include: ANGELS IN THE SNOW by Matt de La Pena. A Latino teen is left house sitting a cat in New York City during Christmas break and homesick for his home back in California. When a attractive girl asks for help to fix her broken shower, things suddenly get a little brighter.

WELCOME TO CHRISTMAS, CA by Kiersten White is about a teen who lives in Christmas, Ca where nothing really happens. Just when she thinks she can't stand it anymore, a new cook shows up at the restaurant she works at and brings his own type of Christmas magic.

STAR OF BETHLEHEM by Ally Carter has a girl switch airline tickets with a stranger and finds herself in Oklahoma with a cute guy and his family. She finds that by running away she might in fact have found what she was really looking for.

KRAMPUSLAUF by Holly Black shows the twisted version of Santa Claus.

There's others that are equally great like IT'S A YULETIDE MIRACLE, CHARLIE BROWN by Stephanie Perkins on how gaining the courage to ask a stranger for help might lead to other better things.

This great collection of short contemporary Christmas is a must have for the holiday season.