Echoes of Winter

by L.A. Starkey

Thirteen never before seen YA short stories just in time for the holidays!

Book 1: Twelve Days to Christmas by L.A. Starkey
Book 2: Christmas Seasoning by DB Nielsen
Book 3: Merry Chris Witch by CK Dawn
Book 4: Wrapped in the Past by Chess Desalls
Book 5: Butterflies in the Snow by D.E.L. Connor
Book 6: The Darkest Night of the Year by Tim Hemlin
Book 7: Cold Hearth by Kelly Hall
Book 8: Code X by W.J. May
Book 9: Good Saint Nick by Lu J Whitley
Book 10: Soaring by K.K. Allen
Book 11: A Spirit’s Last Gift by Kathy-Lynn Cross
Book 12: Winter Trials by K.S. Marsden
Book 13: The Edge by Fleur Camacho

((Take a peek inside the cover to read the synopsis for these great YA short stories!))

These stories have never been published before and were written specifically for this anthology. Hope you enjoy this wintery adventure!!

Genres: Anthologies, Young Adult

806 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 25, 2015

About the author

LA Starkey or Laurie is the author of the Amazon Best Selling series, The Soul Keeper, a supernatural young adult series, and The Liarus Detective Series, a supernatural middle-grade series.

She is a former-CPA turned full-time fiction writer. Writing and reading are passions she just can’t help but indulge in on a daily basis. She lives with her husband and teenage son in Nashville, TN, and enjoys spending time with her family, cooking, and coming up with new ideas!

Come find me:

Facebook => https://www.facebook.com/L.A.StarkeyA...

Email => la@lastarkeybooks.com

Reviews

[Dianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes sweet, sometimes a little edgy, sometimes delightfully cute! These authors have gotten together to share a piece of the Holidays with young adults, no matter their age! No story is too deep, not story loses its balance in being too short, but each will find a home in your thoughts, and maybe even your heart as one takes a walk down Memory Lane, re-connecting with fantasy characters of Christmases past with just a little tweaking done.

From learning the importance of family, of sharing the Holidays with them to the magic of the gift of young love, each story is a slice of wintry days, snowy nights and festive times, even if you are one of those working behind the scenes.

What is your favorite holiday? For one young witch, of course it was Halloween, but when he met a beautiful girl with attitude and snow falling around her at all times, their high flying adventures made a Christmas fan out of this young man, NOT that he was giving up on Halloween, mind you! Was it the magic of the season or the true identity of this girl that made a believer out of him?

Travel through time, do the impossible and feel the magic and the memories or delight in the healing of butterflies sent with love from someone now gone forever. Of course, there is a tale of Good Ole St. Nick, complete with how he came to be. Is it possible to steal reindeer? One girl tried, but found a budding romance, instead.

A tale of eternal love, two teens brought back together when one has wandered for years, lost in confusion and wishing only to be held by the boy she loved. When she finds him, it is bittersweet, but proves that love is eternal and there is a time for everyone.

I haven’t done justice to this collection of short tales, but I can say, they are the perfect way to take a brief pause to get in the Holiday spirit! Part of enjoying short tales in a collection is looking forward to each author’s take on the paranormal, the fantasy, holiday lore, and bringing it all together to leave their reader with a smile. I chuckled, I sighed, I ha d tears at one point, as each story unfurled, wrapped around me and sent me on my way to the next in line.

Echoes of Winter is a group effort by talented authors who worked as a team to bring forth an enchanting read for all! Thank you to C.K Dawn, K.K. Allen, L.A. Starkey, Tim Hemlin, D.B. Nielsen, Chess Desalls, D.E. L. Connor, Kelly Hall, W.J. May, Lu J. Whitley, Kathy-Lynn Cross, Fleur Camacho and K.S. Marsden for sharing a collection that even Scrooge would love! Maybe you’ll like one tale more than another, maybe you won’t be able to choose your favorite, but trust me, if you just let go and get lost in each tale, they are each a delight to read and completely young adult appropriate!

I received this copy from C.K. Dawn in exchange for my honest review and being the fan of Christmas and all things related, I was delighted!

Publication Date: November 25, 2015
Publisher: BrixBaxter Publishing
Genre: Holiday Anthology
Print Length: 915 pages
Available from: Amazon |  Barnes & Noble
For Reviews & More: http://tometender.blogspot.com

[Louise White · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the smart and witty writings of L.A. Starkey to the compellingly addictive work of K.k. Allen, the participating authors have provided a remarkable Winter collection that will allow readers to get a flavour of the diverse and unique talents displayed in this collection of short stories. I'll be happily re-reading this for many Christmases to come.

[Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful read!

A great collection of varying short stories revolving around the holidays. Every story was a fun read that kept me entranced. I honestly couldn't pick a favorite because each story elicited different reactions from me and left me thinking about the characters for a few days. Can't wait to read more by these authors.

[Claire - The Coffeeholic Bookworm · Rating 4 out of 5]

When the holiday comes, what do you usually think of? Is it about the gifts and jolly good old St. Nick? Or do you hate Christmas and have a cold heart like Jack Frost? Maybe you want to travel back in time and catch up with an old pal? Or you just want an extension of Halloween just because you got kicked out of school? Have you ever wished of doing magic or having superpowers? Or you just want to relax, have a good time and spend winter holidays with your family and friends or reconnect with your past.

However you want to spend Christmas, this book is perfect for you, because it got everything you need to keep your toes and fingers warm during the cold nights. Echoes of Winter is an anthology about winter, love, magic, family and Christmas. I enjoyed most of the stories here, even shed some tears and had me think about the essence of life and the importance of having a strong relationship with the family. The authors have come up with real good tales that both kids and adults would surely love. The Grinch and The Scrooge would even love reading about themselves, too!

[†Reviews of a FearStreetZombie† · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book in return for an honest review.

Finally! The next installment! *happy dance* I can't believe it took me so long to read it, but hey, life happens. Anywho, I adored this book. I found all the stories pretty interesting. When I started each story, I just got sucked into them. So when people tried talking to me, I never heard them and if I did... it wasn't pretty and I pissed a lot of people off. Lol. I didn't care, I just wanted to be left alone with this book.
It has a little bit of everything in it and can't wait to read the next installment (I really hope there is one!!)

As soon as I just more free time, I will update this review and ADD a review for each story!

[Jenny Zimmerman · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are three reasons why I chose to read this Anthology. I actually won a copy from the release day party from Facebook. I am also a HUGE fan of Kathy-Lynn Cross and I just could not pass up the opportunity to read another amazing story by this author. It is also FREE on Amazon and everybody loves free, right?.....

This is a unique set of stories that will reel you in from beginning to end. They are mystical and magical all rolled into one and it actually helped me get into the Christmas and Winter spirit. There are thirteen unforgettable stories that will melt a cold heart and put cheer in your soul. This is a very enjoyable read and some of the stories are clean enough for Teens to read. I highly recommend this awesome Anthology of YA stories.

[Paula Genereau · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved all these stories. Couldn't put my phone down. Thank you hurricane readers book review for the copy for my honest review

[Ryan Guy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this collection of short stories centered on winter and Christmastime. A lot of the stories tied back to familiar characters in the realms of Christmas lore, which left me feeling nostalgic. At the same time, the modern re-imaginings of elements from these familiar fables impressed me. Let's just say, Santa, Mrs. Claus, and the rest of the crew at the North Pole have more going on in their lives than Christmas once a year.
There is a lot of romance in these pages along with subtle reminders that family and friendships should outweigh all of the materialistic stuff that can easily take the forefront this time of year.
I highly recommend this upbeat, eclectic, collection of wintry tales.

[Michelle Ferrari-Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful collection of stories. I have given this book a 5 star reading because it is very refreshing. It will give you hope, love and a perfectly content feeling. I enjoyed being able to share the stories with my 8 yr old daughter. We giggled, talked and snuggled afterwards. I love reading my "mommy " books, but when I can enjoy a story with one of my littles it fills my heart with warmth.
If you are a bit down or tired of the commercialism of the holidays, this book will remind you of what Christmas Spirit is all about

[Amber Hassler · Rating 3 out of 5]

I broke down each book with its own review, so this will be long.
--Book 1: Twelve Days Until Christmas By L.A. Starkey -- 4/5
Bitter teenager finds love. What an interesting take on an old tale. First, I thought it stemmed from Scrooge, the main character bitter about past events; but no, it was a twist to Jack Frost. It took a minute for the main character Jessie to warm up to me, maybe that was the point. She was cold, and angry. Upset about loosing the people she loved, but low and behold gains more when she decides to have a change of heart. There was a few issues with content, but I liked this story, shedding a few tears and a chuckle here and there. I thought it would have ended perfectly after the Christmas Party. It did continue, and without giving away the ending with this extra scene, it still made the story warming and inviting to know spending the holidays with family is what is important.
--Book 2: Christmas Seasoning By DB Nielsen -- 3/5
A story of teenage love caught in the honeymoon phase of a beginning relationship. I enjoyed the description to the story, was very well written, however, in quite a few areas it wasn’t described enough. One to two words were used instead to explain the situation or scene. Felt a bit cheated there, as a reader. I also had trouble getting through the story; I’m used to written language being universal when it comes to grammar, and this was different then what I’ve ever read. It made it hard to get through the present tense voice and understand the change in grammar, as well as keeping up with the characters in who was who. I felt the story was mediocre; it was a traditional everyday story.
--Book 3: Merry Chris Witch By CK Dawn -- 5/5
A troublemaker kid caught breaking the rules, forced to change schools but ends up becoming a good thing when the new girl arrives. What a refreshing story! I absolutely loved this take on the combination of mythical creatures and putting them all together in a Harry Potter theme. CK Dawn really brought this tale to life by the descriptions in the story. I loved how she incorporated the concept of humans and magic… just wow. I breezed through this story with the smoothly readable flow and how well the characters were written. What an amazing connection I was easily moved with. Thank you for that CK Dawn. I look forward to read more work from this author.
--Book 4: Wrapped in the Past By Chess Desalls -- 4/5
A tale of time travel and the desire to be remembered. Time travel is a concept very hard to write about, because there is always those ‘what ifs’ to every aspect. Only one rebuttal question I had was how can an inanimate object become a breathable thing? Other then that, nicely done. Description was also well written. I felt the beginning of the story was slow moving, took time for me to get to the end. Overall, it was a sweet story.
--Book 5: Butterflies in the Snow By D.E.L. Connor -- 1.5/5
A young woman learning to overcome abuse. If there was an Anthology out there for women of all ages standing up to their worth, then this story would fit right in. I didn’t feel this type of dark, tragic thinking fit with the theme of Echoes of Winter. Now, I understand trauma doesn’t take a holiday break, but this was too dark for it to be considered YA. I did find the story idea worth something in its direction which is why it gets 1.5 stars. However, it was not told right. There was issues with format, content, and grammar which continuously kept pulling me out of the story. I had a hard time following along with there being so much dialogue and not enough showing. The whole thing was a tell-not-show structure, except for a few spots the author took the time to explain a scene, but ended up cheating the reader with the story jumping all over the place. The book blurb was also very misleading.
--Book 6: The Darkest Night of the Year By Tim Hemlin -- 4/5
A tale of magic and darkness. In this story you have two young kids testing the limits of their powers. As a reader it was another story about magic and what happens if it is used wrong. I liked the idea but it was slow moving in certain areas, ultimately taking longer then usual to get to the end. Description in the story was well written. I didn’t like it OR dislike it. It was an average story for me.
--Book 7: Cold Hearth By Kelly Hall -- 4/5
The family bond that never wavers despite the odds stacked against them. I enjoyed this story, full of description with twists and turns. The characters were convincing, loved their personalities. I am intrigued to know how Evalia is thwarted and what the twins do to pull it off. The reason it gets a 4 is due to some areas where grammar was poorly done and it kept pulling me out of the story. Overall a very satisfying story.
--Book 8: Code X By W.J. May -- 2.5/5
An expert hacker who is up against a revelation to her past. I enjoyed this story; a page turner full of suspense and thrills. It piqued my interest enough to consider reading the series to find out if Whitney discovers the answers, until, I was pulled from the story by certain areas of the content being overlooked in the redundant department, there was a highly overuse of pronouns, and the little effort that was put into description and detail, changed my mind. What a bummer.
--Book 9: Good Saint Nick By Lu J Whitley -- 5/5
A different version to an old tale of Santa Clause and how he came to be. Wow! I thoroughly enjoyed this story. Full of sadness, a few tears, laughter, smiles, and jolly good fun. Haha. There was tons of description, and the characters were written so well that you felt they were apart of you. What a beautiful story to the beginning of Old Saint Nick. Nicely done.
--Book 10: Soaring By K.K. Allen -- 5/5
Teenage love brought back together after lost time. Whoa, I’m rubbing chills out of my skin and wiping away tears after reading this story. What a beautifully, touching work of storyweaving. It’s been awhile since I’ve had a story move me this much. The detail was amazing, the suspense was intense, I caught onto the foreshadowing which still managed to surprise me all the way to the end. A huge round of applause for K.K. Allen, that was an amazing well written story. I look forward to reading more material from this talented author.
--Book 11: A Spirit’s Last Gift By Kathy-Lynn Cross -- 5/5
A teenagers one desire follows her to the grave. Wow, another page turner, full of well written description and suspense. Rubbing away chills and tears. The characters were amazingly crafted that I loved reading their eccentric personalities. I have read other material from Kathy-Lynn Cross and have enjoyed the talent this woman can weave. Round of applause for keeping me on my toes.
--Book 12: Winter Trials By K.S. Marsden -- 4.5/5
Common teenage love but with a twist of magic. I was a little skeptical about same sex love, but was pleasantly surprised at how well K.S. Marsden wrote it. I enjoyed the description and loved how it was an average story but with a twist. The only issue I had were the British terms and trying to decipher them, which pulled me from the story here and there. But they were very few and far between. I also enjoyed the well written knowledge within the story. Nicely done.
--Book 13: The Edge By Fleur Camacho -- 0.5/5
A young woman who is plunged into a universe she wasn’t so sure existed. First, this story is past the realm of young adult when they are of the ages of 21, clearly not meant for this YA collection. Second, this is the worst written story in this entire Anthology. There was no description, very bland, and littered with nothing but dialogue, as well as the word ‘toward(s)’ being overused way too much. The characters were also not believable. A lot of sections read as if they were just thrown in there as the author wrote, but didn’t bother going back to make sure it fit in the story. The story itself had potential but there was so much of the content that did not add up or make sense. It’s very disappointing to see an author ruin a good concept with terrible storytelling.

--Overall, I rate this story 3.5/5.
I was disappointed as a reader to see that quite a few of the authors chose to put excerpts instead of coming up with a short story. Seemed very unimaginative and misleading when the cover reads a collection of short stories.

[K.S. Marsden · Rating 5 out of 5]

A selection of Christmas and Winter themed short stories from thirteen current YA authors.

OK, maybe twelve exceptional writers, and one that's still kidding herself ;)
I loved this collection. I know that I might be a bit biased, but what impresses me most is what a wonderful variety of stories these authors have managed to create. It seems like they planned to take a different element to write about; but after witnessing the process, I can only conclude that it must be magic.

Anyway, I digress. Let's get to the mini-reviews...

Book 1: Twelve Days to Christmas by L.A. Starkey
Starkey kicks off with a story about a girl who hates Christmas. Jessie isn't a people person, which makes the overly jovial Christmas period a tortuous few weeks.
Jessie is a fun character, she's not afraid to speak her mind, and doesn't care about keeping friends. I definitely felt some empathy for the girl.
The friendship between Jessie, her brother and his best friend, Jason was really sweet and kept you hoping until the end.
I enjoyed the take on the Jack Frost story; it was fun, mischievous and had a very satisfying end.

Book 2: Christmas Seasoning by DB Nielsen
Ellie has yet to process that her big brother is getting married, but she is soon swept up by a hive of wedding activity by Celina the Bridezilla.
This story focusses on the importance of family - whether it's the family you have, or the one that you choose. It was really quite sweet in places, and I love some of the interactions between Ellie and Beth.
There is a rather quick infatuation with Simon, when he gives her an escape from the overwhelming wedding preparations.

Book 3: Merry Chris Witch by CK Dawn
Chris is a bright witch, perhaps too bright for his own good. He often clashes at school, and struggles to follow the strict rules at home.
When Nichole comes along, he finds a like soul, which leads to quite the adventure.
This was a fun joyride over Christmas, and I want to get the cupcake recipes!

Book 4: Wrapped in the Past by Chess Desalls
This is a short story based on Desalls' Everywhen series. It's a nice treat for fans, but I think people new to the series will easily pick up the history and rules of this world.
Making the most of time travel by getting a much closer look at the first Christmas, Shirlyn and her parents explore the old world. It's a lovely sci-fi twist on a traditional story.

Book 5: Butterflies in the Snow by D.E.L. Connor
This is possibly the darkest story in the collection. Still suitable for a YA audience, it follows Rose as she finally finds the courage to face the source of all the pain in her life. It wasn't so much a story with a beginning, middle and an end, with an overall answer. I felt that it was briefly joining Rose's journey, as she finally embraces life.

Book 6: The Darkest Night of the Year by Tim Hemlin
Bobby and Angelina are embracing the magic around them as the Winter Solstice and Christmas draw close.
This is a short story accompaniment to Hemlin's new YA series, which gives the world a very deep and well-rounded feeling.
I loved the tradition with the Christmas tree and the pixies. And my favourite character had to be Jax, no matter how brief his appearance.

Book 7: Cold Hearth by Kelly Hall
Yes for the return of Dahlia and Dominic! They were my favourite characters from the Darkness Echoes collection. If you haven't already, I would recommend reading that first, just so you can appreciate the full gravity of the twists that Hall has written for these characters.
This second instalment doesn't read as a standalone as well as the first. Don't get me wrong, it gives some amazing answers, but leaves you with a whole bunch more questions!

Book 8: Code X by W.J. May
I really enjoyed this thriller. It is one of the least Christmas-related stories in this collection, with Witney the computer-genius and hacker, showing the darker side of the internet. She investigates the disappearance of a fellow-hacker and goes down the rabbit hole.
It was really enjoyable, with bad guys, revenge and a lot of questions over existence. It definitely feels like an introduction to a bigger story.

Book 9: Good Saint Nick by Lu J Whitley
This was a very interesting take on the origin of Saint Nick (insert regional variation here).
To begin with, I found the central character Nicklaus was somewhat bland. He is the only human living amongst elves, and he spends his time keeping head down and toeing the line. It's only when Edie comes into his life, that Nicklaus becomes something more.
It's really sweet, and there's lots of little nods to various legends. Oh, and there's reindeer, which is never bad.

Book 10: Soaring by K.K. Allen
Emma is on an Alaskan cruise with her parents when she meets a guy who dares to push her, to see there's more than her comfortable lull.
This is another wintery story with plenty of twists. It hunts at the truth, but keeps you guessing throughout. I kinda don't want to say anything, because I don't want to spoil the revelation! It's a combination of a sweet romance, and a spooky ghost story, and it works very well.

Book 11: A Spirit’s Last Gift by Kathy-Lynn Cross
Juslynn has been in love with her best friend Carter for years, only she won't admit it, not even to herself. Unfortunately, her time on earth has run out.
I wasn't sure what I was expecting when I started this - I kinda thought it'd be ghosts from the start, but instead it tells the story of Juslynn in the last days of her life. Being with her friends and family, doing very normal things. I'm not a huge fan of the manicures and shoes, so skimmed those conversations, getting back to the main focus.
There's an emphasis on redemption and it was such a lovely scene that Juslynn could help heal her loved ones from beyond the grave.

Book 12: Winter Trials by K.S. Marsden
You're not getting a review of this one, that would just be weird. So here's the synopsis instead:
"With Midwinter just around the corner, Mark's Nanna decides that it is time he learnt more about his family heritage. Learning witchcraft shouldn't be too difficult, right?
Balancing school, magic, and the distractions of the gorgeous new guy, should make this a very interesting winter."

Book 13: The Edge by Fleur Camacho
The final story is different in that it's main characters are in their early-twenties rather than teenagers, but it's still suitable for a YA audience.
There's a lot of action in this short story, as Laura meets a mysterious guy who is running from someone or something and they are running from the start. You get the feeling that there is a danger chasing them, although it isn't until the end that the enemy becomes clear.

[S.K. Gregory · Rating 5 out of 5]

From Jack Frost to Santa, witches to faeries, Echoes of Winter is a magical collection of wintery tales that will keep you entranced. Strong leads and a host of excellent writers, this is a great gift for someone. It's hard to pick which story I liked best. They all complemented each other well with a wide range of settings. Highly recommended.

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved all the different authors winter stories. A Great young adult collection. I especially like the one by D.E.L. Connor as it ties into her Spirit Warriors series. All the the stories are well written.

[Stephanie Kneese · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic collection. This is definitely one to curl up with by the fire or on your road trip to see family over the holidays.

[Kathryn Synoracki]

This book was awesome! If you love to read, this is the book for you! You can read a short book every night! It was so much fun! I totally enjoyed this book and highly recommend!

[Teresa Derrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mash your favorite authors together and get a terrific book.

Jack Frost makes an appearance with Jessica and that will keep you from being grumpy during the holidays. Kellie finds true love with Simon. A witch being sent to public school has no Christmas spirit but has to work with a Claus to save Christmas. Travel into the past to see the three wise men and try not to leave traces or risk ripples in the time line. Rose has left her family for her safety but she needs her mother and sister. A great spin off from the Spirit Warrior series. The son of a kitchen witch, Bobbie, must save his best friend, Angelina, from certain evil. Dominic and Dahlia, the twins outcast from their coven and cursed to live as night creatures are back. Adopted Whitney Monroe is a vigilante h a Coker. Living her life through the internet investigates a clone case. God Saint Nick puts an entirety new spin on his story and love. Cruise to Alaska with a ghost. A witch in training gets drawn to a cursed soul. Laura finds herself in the middle of an Angel war. Excellent book.

[M.L. Stoughton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Echoes of Winter was a nice compilation on wintery/Christmas stories. Some of the authors took familiar Christmas themes and characters, and gave them fun new stories. While the others brought action, mystery, supernatural beings, and magic into the wintery mix. And almost all of them had romance. Yes, most of the romance was instalove, but these are short stories, after all.
My favorites were Good Saint Nick by Lu J Whitley and Soaring by K.K. Allen. I'll definitely be checking out their other works.
While I liked Code X by W.J. May, I didn't really think it fit into the theme of the rest of the book. I was also not pleased to find that it ended on a cliffhanger, and in fact, is part of a series. I thought all the stories would stand on their own. Be warned: The Edge by Fleur Camacho is also part of a series. I'm not saying that I wouldn't buy the book because of this, but it's nice to know in advance.
I gave the anthology 4 stars overall, it's definitely worth picking up!

[Shelle Perry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Echoes of Winter is a collection of stories from Young Adult authors. The stories range from the loosely Christmas themed technology thriller, Code X to Santa’s daughter trying to go to school incognito with a disgraced student witch, in Merry Chris Witch. There are a few Winter Solstice stories and many offer a tantalizing taste of a tale unfinished. A few are completely unique and original genre blending tales, such as The Darkest Night of The Year. Each story has a vivid cast of characters and is quite enjoyable to read, not a bad way to spend a few winter afternoons.

[Patricia Burleson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love these stories.

[Melanie Rodriguez · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received Echoes of Winter through a giveaway. I was pretty excited to read it after loving the Halloween anthology, Echoes of Darkness. The major difference, however, is that there are far more authors involved in this project compared to the previous one.

Unfortunately, it felt like there were just too many.

I did enjoy a handful stories in the anthology, though! I appreciated all the tales that did focus on the Christmas theme and I especially enjoyed the Christmas tales with tie-ins to the said author's worlds from their other works. There were several stories in the anthology that, while interesting on their own, made me feel it detracted from the overall theme of the anthology (hence the three stars rating instead of a higher one).

Despite that, I do enjoy the fact knowing I have some new authors to check out.

[P.S. Winn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Readers are going to find some interesting short stories in this collection. With a winter them, including a Christmasy feel in 13 shorts by a variety of authors including Twelve Days to Christmas by L.A. Starkey, Christmas Seasoning by DB Nielsen, Merry Chris Witch by CK Dawn, Wrapped in the Past by Chess Desalls , Butterflies in the Snow by D.E.L. Connor, The Darkest Night of the Year by Tim Hemlin, Cold Hearth by Kelly Hall Code X by W.J. May, Good Saint Nick by Lu J Whitley, Soaring by K.K. Allen, A Spirit’s Last Gift by Kathy-Lynn Cross, Winter Trials by K.S. Marsden and The Edge by Fleur Camacho. each author brought something special to this collection.

[Charity · Rating 4 out of 5]

For full review please go to: 5girlsbookreviews.blogspot.com, Twitter @camartinez and Facebook "5 Girls Book Reviews"

REVIEW BY: Angel, age 13 years, 2 months

MAY CONTAIN SPOILER:

This book is filled with short-stories that tell a story about the true meaning of Christmas. My favorite authors in this books filled with short stories are:

L.A. Starkey;
DB Nielsen;
Kelly Hall; and
Lu J Whitley.

I recommend this book to those that love wintry tales about winter, Christmas and love.

[Phillip Stephens · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not quite potpourri, more of a mixed bag

Writers take two approaches to short stories. One approach treats the short story as a separate art form, requiring its own artistic sensibility and rules of craft. The other treats them as the bastard step-children to the novel, ideas not worth developing into a novel or tossed of to include in promotional campaigns and anthologies.

Readers who don't appreciate the short story as an art form will most likely be fine with Echoes of Winter. Those who do will find themselves wanting more. As with most eBook anthologies, this is a collection of stories by novelists, and (I know from personal experience) these are difficult to put together and editing almost impossible.

The editor did include hyperlinks to each story at the beginning (along with a brief description), but no table of contents. This makes jumping from story to story and cherry picking entries difficult, but most readers prefer to cherry pick. This is a shame because it's not that difficult to include a working table of contents with links from any point using Word to create Kindle documents.

Echoes makes a fine read for a winter's evening if you need to kill an hour or two (there are no short stories in the anthology, these are more like short novellas). And you should be aware of the market because the stories will appeal most to romance readers, teen girls and the Cameron partner in m/m couples. The further your interests stray from those markets, the less the stories will appeal.

The stories almost all read like YA mini-novels, running half-a dozen to a dozen chapters. Almost all could have used an editor, and several could have been trimmed comfortably by a third. The first story, "Twelve Days to Christmas" by lead author L.A. Starkey, continued well past it's natural ending At least one of the stories, "Butterflies in the Snow," was as maudlin as the most sentimental tear jerker (children beaten with barbed wire and a mother sacrificing her life to an abusive husband so her child could run away all for the sake of an ending so contrived my wife Carol demanded to see Mannequin to get a reality fix).

Most of the stories focus on winter, Christmas and solstice, although K.K. Allen's "Soaring," which may be the best of the lot, takes place in Alaska during a winter cruise. W.J. May's "Code X" has no winter connection at all. It serves only as a prologue to promote her next book, Replica X in her highly originally named X-Files series (no connection to the FOX series).

Almost every story centers around teen romance, especially tortured teen romance, many of which end badly. Beyond that the authors delve into a variety of themes including witchcraft ("Winter Trials"), the supernatural ("The Darkest Night of the Year," and "The Edge"), the afterlife ("Soaring" and "A Spirit's Last Gift") and even Santa and his elves. Christmas fans will especially want to check out C.K. Allen's "Merry Chris Witch," and Lu Whitley's "Good Saint Nick," which—although it could have used a better editor—presents a unique Santa origin story. I might hesitate to say this lest I spoil the ending, but Whitley's overly contrived word play reveals all her cards only a few pages into the story.

Kindle estimates my reading time for the stories at just under nine hours, but that was being generous. Unless you skim the stories, they take far more time. This is no bathroom reader, these stories probably need a good couch or time at night when the kids are asleep and your husband won't bother you.

Phillip T. Stephens is the author of Cigerets, Guns & Beer, Raising Hell and the new release Seeing Jesus. You can follow him @stephens_pt.

[Mary Quire · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review of Echoes of Winter

I gave this book a five star rating because almost all of the stories within were well worth it. What made it even more enjoyable was the fact I was able to read it during the winter season. I loved the mystery of what I 'd find in each tale. Even when I thought one would be hum-drum, I was surprised in the end. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys short stories.

[Roxanne Dugger-Martinez · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book from Hurricane Readers Review group in exchange for an honest review.
I enjoy anthologies. This anthology has some great YA reads that I enjoyed even at an older age than characters. I enjoy YA reads so this was a no brainer for me. W.J.May is one of my favorite authors and I enjoyed her story Code X. I really enjoyed book 1 and loved book 3. Happy reading!

[Debra Barstad · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a cute collection of YA romance type short stories. I found some of them better than others but would say overall it was a good mixture.I would recommend this book to those that like short stories as well as young adult type books.

[Elaina · Rating 4 out of 5]

A worthy collection for YA readers. From romance to supernatural through action, there is something intriguing in every tale.

[Stacey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read the stories in this over the last few months between full length books. There was a good selection of genres within, from romance to PNR. Honestly, a couple of them I wasn't really keen on; but there were a few I really liked.

Individual ratings below, with an overall average of 3.5*.

L.A. Starkey - Twelve Days Until Christmas 4.5*
DB Nielson - Christmas Seasoning 3.5*
CK Dawn - Merry Chris Witch 4.5*
Chess Desalls - Wrapped In The Past 3.5*
D.E.L Connor - Butterflies In The Snow 2*
Tim Hemlin - The Darkest Night of the Year 4.5*
Kelly Hall - Cold Hearth 4*
W.J. May - Code X 3.5*
Lu J Whitley - Good Saint Nick 4.5*
K.K. Allen - Soaring 4.5*
Kathy-Lynn Cross - A Spirit's Last Gift 4*
K. S. Marsden - Winter Trials 4*

[Ryanne Nichols · Rating 3 out of 5]

Worth a read if...

you can get past some very bad typos, perhaps there was no proofreading done? The stories are mostly good, most with a romantic slant but not knowing the difference between shutter and shudder is a pet peeve of mine. I seem to find bad proofing in a lot of compilations. I DO think the stories have good and some even new and clever plot lines so if you have patience, give it a chance.

[Carol Sandford · Rating 3 out of 5]

um...i only got this for k k allens story but when i eventually got to it i found i'd already read it. i read a couple of the other short stories and they were lovely, but i skipped the rest as they weren't my cup of tea