I enjoy short stories. In fact, I forget how much I love short stories until I start reading them again, and I ask myself why don’t I read more? My book club asks the same question, why do we continue to overlook them, when there are so many treasures to be enjoyed.

There is the added fun of anthologies or collections that have a driving theme, like The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw. Two historical fiction anthologies I am sharing with you in this blog are The Grand Mistletoe Assembly by Sara Adrien, Nina Jarrett, Pamela Gibson, Jemma Frost, Edit Cay, and Tanya Wilde, and Masterworks, by the Historical Writers Forum.

The Grand Mistletoe Assembly: A Regency Christmas Romance Anthology is a stirring read with six diverse stories that all revolve around a gala holiday event and as the blurb says: “Some are sweet, some are spicy, all will capture your heart.”  I gobbled up this entire anthology in one sitting.

What a grand assembly this is, holiday or not. Regency, historical fiction, and romance readers should love this book. I did. All the stories revolve around The Grand Mistletoe Assembly, a fund raiser for a foundlings’ home. Each story is a stand-alone, yet it is fun to see the overlapping scenes from within the other stories. Well done, authors! We get art, drama, class divisions, clothing and all the pomp we expect from Regency. We are introduced to characters and their entanglements that are diverse and engaging. New flames, old flames; each draws you in, rooting that the characters will find redemption, solace, and of course LOVE. When I first read this, I needed some fun and escape, but these stories and engaging characters pulled me in have stuck with me. Captured at the Ball, by Sara Adrien dips into the uncomfortable territory of antisemitism (read the Preface AND the story) and is a great choice as the finale to this book.

Masterworks, as the name implies, has eleven stories all inspired by great works of art. The authors take us on a 5000-year journey from ancient Ur through the American Revolution, the Romance era and more.

While my paperback and e-book copies do not include photos of the works of art, you can easily look them up. For us history and art lovers, there is treasure in that “rabbit hole” right there, discovering or rediscovering works of art, whether an ancient lyre, sculpture, painting, or words, let these stories lead you to the author’s inspiration.

The Lacemaker’s Son, by Melissa Speed, touched a chord with me, as the narrator grapples with his own mind, and concern that he is missing things, the threads of his life. The images are entwined with his memories of his mother the lacemaker, her fingers working magic with the bobbins and threads as he seeks the lost messages, and the sense that his mind should have the pattern. To say more may be a spoiler. All the stories have a wonder of their own and I hope you enjoy these masterworks about masterworks.

While not including the works of art, I am including a list of the stories and the authors of Grand Mistletoe Assembly and Masterworks below.

THE GRAND MISTLETOE ASSEMBLY:

Miracle on St. James Street, Nina Jarrett; The Daring Mistletoe Kiss, Tanya Wilde; Lily’s Scandalous Secret, Pamela Gibson; Surprising Captain Davies, Jenna Frost; The Footman’s Mistake, Edie Cay; Captured at the Ball, Sara Adrien

MASTERWORKS:

A Našû for Ilu, Stephanie Churchill; Proof of the Old Faith, Virginia Crow; La Belle Dame sans Merci, Kathleen Guler; Blood on White Mountain, Eleanor Swift-Hook; The Lacemaker’s Son, Melissa Speed; The Portrait, Lars D.H. Hedbor; The Ambassadress, Ronan Beckman; A Good and Proper Lunacy, Tempest Wright; Portrait of a Lady, Joanne Major; The Watcher on the Wall, Gareth Williams; and Legacy, Samantha Wilcoxson.

It is always exciting to see what other historical fiction authors are writing and fun sharing that creative energy with you. We love historical fiction and the stories that are revealed from across the ages.

Destiny Comes Due

Paper Lantern Writers will release our third anthology, Destiny Comes Due, on November 1, 2024. The uniting theme is a day of reckoning, and for each protagonist, time is running out, debts come due, and no one can escape their destiny.