Darswords

A Sprinkling of Lesbian Short Stories by Q. Kelly
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Tomorrow is moving day! I can’t believe how time flies when packing boxes! But here we are! So knowing that I chose to read an anthology of short stories. I knew my concentration was even more limited than usual, shiny things abound when you have an move staring at you. I have enjoyed other collections by Q. Kelly. I knew she wouldn’t let me down.

If you follow my reviews, you know that I usually don’t like short stories. I want more depth. Give me a novel or a series to sink my teeth into. But Kelly can bring the depth to her short stories. My favorites? The Old Woman and Welcome to Paradise. Either of those would make longer books, or even a series but for my distracted brain they worked for now.

I had read The Old Woman before in another collection of Kelly’s. It is a story we all should read about expanding our social comfort zone. If we stick to our peers we lose and so do those we leave out. I believe that is something our school system has developed in all of us. An example is when my number two son learned all he could about sharks and was the house, maybe even the town expert in all things shark at the age of seven. His grandmother didn’t respect that. Kids that age shouldn’t be able to correct their elders. By the way, she knew nothing about sharks. In other words, respect the knowledge of others despite the age. That can be said of experiences, too. I think this story could make a book. But it’s still a favorite.

A new one to me is Welcome to Paradise. It is a time-travel sci-fi. It was a fun adventure. Again I would love it to be longer and more involved, but Kelly gives you enough depth of plot and characters that you feel you have read a book.

I have to admit that I may have been too distracted to take in the middle stories as they felt like fluff to me. I will have to go back and read them again when my life settles down. Meanwhile, this book filled the bill of nighttime/downtime read.

The thing I like about Q. Kelly’s writing is though there is the lesbian theme, that isn’t the full plot of the story. The romance is coincidental for the most part. Though there might be an occasional erotic nod, it doesn’t take away from the main story. There is enough, do I dare use the word meat? Depth to keep my interest, even when moving. Thanks for the stories, Kelly!

By the way, this book is free as it was when I got it. Enjoy!

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