This was an interesting holiday book. There were five stories, each different in its own way.

In the first one, we find a nurse at Crest Haven Psychiatric hospital. Joanie Russell has been at the hospital for years and, in the story, muses and expresses regret for a myriad of things she has experienced or not experienced in life. In the story, the author introduces the reader to some of the patients: a young woman who found her husband with her best friend, a stripling young man who suffered an accident at work, Laura Beal who blamed herself for a terrible tragedy as a result of a fire and who waited for who some sign, and, a young girl who obviously had wandered away from the children’s area. In addition, the nurse meets an investigative reporter, researching information on the hospital and its patients for an investigative story, and Matron Flynn who rules with an iron grip and sometimes has ideas that seemed foreign and ill-suited to Nurse Russell. The story was okay, but not great. The transition from past musings, which became the current reality in the story, to the present at the end was done very poorly. While reading I had to stop to figure out what exactly was going happening, as it was not very clear to me and happened so suddenly. In addition, as I read I expected more on the other patients mentioned—why else include them and their back stories? However, these stories were left hanging. In a short piece such as this one, it is difficult to write a good plot since the space and timing is so short. Putting extra items into the story only serves to confuse the reader and to make the reader wish the story was longer, in my opinion. Finally, I never really did understand the story well, which did not settle well with me.

The second story finds a young girl in a difficult, if not impossible, situation, trying to escape a malicious step-father and still take care of an ailing mother. The story was, for the most part, a dark one. It had little or nothing to do with Christmas and did little to put me in any holiday or festive mood.

The third story was just weird, in my opinion. I found it difficult to relate to the characters, and the setting was very unique for me. I am not sure I would like to read more about Rodger de Jonge or his family after reading this one.

The fourth story was okay, but also kind of strange. I felt little or no connection to the characters, and I thought there was little development beyond the development of Selena and Dallas, and the ending could have been done much better. I wish the author had developed the character of her father and new body guard better.

The last story was the shortest, but was, in my opinion, a fairly good holiday story. It was the kind of story I expected in this collection.

This may be a good collection of holiday stories for someone looking for something a little bit different. It may also appeal to other readers who look for and can relate to things I normally don’t. I received this from the author through NetGalley to read and review. ( )

5 Stars for 5 Wonderful Stories! No two were alike and all have a message for this Holiday Season!

Silent Night by Robyn Grady is women’s fiction that spans decades. Joanie Russel has been a psych nurse for 20 years and believes her future will not change though she has always dreamed of having a family and all that goes with it. What happens on Christmas Eve in 1966 may just provide the Christmas miracle she hopes for!

Running Out of Time by Sara Hantz is a gritty YA novella that has Nicole looking for a way out for her and her mother. A 17 year old loner never allowed time to be a child while caring for her mother and avoiding her stepfather has created tension and more for Nicole. She contemplates options but her time to make changes seems to have run out. A bit of romance might help or might make things worse for her. Great story that made me think.

The Avoidable Orphan by T. M. Clark is General Fiction that is bittersweet. This one had me in tears a couple of times but they were good tears. The ideas of loss, love, grief, family and more were all explored and though there was sadness there was also hope for the future and a coming together of friends, family and animals to make this one a treasure! It also opened my eyes to issues related to elephants that I was not aware of before.

Selena’s Bodyguard by Mel Teshco was short, steamy and dealt with the issue of trust. Though short it was action packed and interesting.

The Billionaire’s Mistletoe Baby by Tabitha Robbins is a sweet holiday short story that has a new mother asking a wealthy man that she worked for in the past to help her out for a few days. There is a happily ever after for Laurel, her daughter and Nick that made me feel good and provided a great way to end the anthology.

Thank you to Net Galley and Hat Publishing for the ARC to read and review. ( )