Collection Review: The Improbable Meet-Cute

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Title: The Improbable Meet-Cute
Six Short Rom-Coms to Warm your Heart
Authors: Christina Lauren, Abby Jimenez, Sally Thorne, Jasmine Guillory, Ashley Poston and Sariah Wilson.
Narrators: Marli Watson, Andrew Gibson, Andi Arndt, Zachary Webber, Bailey Carr, Aure Nash, Amy McFadden and Jesse Vilinsky.
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Audience: Adult
Series/Stand Alone: Stand Alone – Short-Story Collection
Format read: eBook and Audio
Publisher: Brilliance Audio (Amazon)
Date read: February 2024
First published: January 2024
Content Warnings: alcohol, death, cancer, pandemic, terminal illness, grief, death, abuse, animal cruelty, confinement, bullying, earthquake, injury, blood, fatphobia, sexual content, wedding, sexual content, drugs (brief). (See individual blurbs for which warnings apply to which stories)

Lazy people don’t email at exactly midnight just to win a race to wish someone Happy Valentine’s Day.

The Exception to the Rule by Christina Lauren

Mini Review:

This short story collection features 6 adorable short meet-cutes by 6 different authors, all with a connection or emphasis on Valentines day. This is a very timely collection to publish in late January and ultimately a really great collection of adorable and slightly improbable meet-cute stories. Overall there’s not too much explicit sexual content but some of the novellas did include a little bit. If you enjoy contemporary romance stories, this is one for you!

“I think I’ve just hit the age where I get why people are so excited to win appliances on game shows.”

Worst Wingman Ever

Full thoughts:

As stated in the collection name, these are all meet-cute stories which an improbable (and dare I say adorable) twist. They’re heartwarming romantic comedy stories which touch on different tough issues but all wrap up in a satisfying way. The later stories seemed to get a tiny bit spicier, but there’s really not that much spice in these ones which is perfect for me.

life goes on even when hard things happen

The Exception to the Rule

This collection was full of great dialogue and characters which made them hard to put down. Several of the stories have ties to/take place in California, which is where I grew up, so there was some extra familiarity there. I also have a bit of my own improbable meet-cute story which is a little more along the lines of the Exception to the Rule than the others, which is probably why that was one of my favorites.

Everyone thinks of Southern California summers as this magical time, but the best kept secret is that we have the best February of any place in the world.

The Exception to the Rule

My favorite story of this collection was Worst Wingman Ever followed closely by The Exception to the Rule. Most of these are new-to-me authors, but I’ve read one book by Sally Thorne before (The Hating Game) and several by Ashley Poston but none of Ashley’s romances (yet).

Who doesn’t like dogs? Honestly. I mean, it’s one thing if you’ve had a bad experience or you’re allergic or they don’t fit your lifestyle or something. That, I get. But who sees a puppy and doesn’t want to play with it?

Worst Wingman Ever

Overall this was another great collection of stories! Previously I’ve only read Amazon’s Sci-Fi short story collections but am trying to read some of their other themes (while awaiting the next Sci-Fi one!) You can find my reviews of Black Stars: A Galaxy of New Worlds, Forward: Stories of Tomorrow and The Far Reaches on my blog as well. Black Stars features stories by prominent Black Sci-Fi writers, Forward features stories focused on what the future might look like, and The Far Reaches focuses on stories taking place in Far Out in Space.

Now some thoughts on the individual stories:

I feel like there’s this expectation that you’ll come in at 18 and know exactly what it is you’ll do for the rest of your life, but it isn’t realistic.

The Exception to the Rule

The Exception to the Rule
by Christina Lauren –
⭐⭐⭐⭐
This meet-cute is simply adorable, taking place primarily via email and spanning over a decade. It’s a clever storytelling method and a great start to this collection. It’s very much a coming of age story of two students in the same High School district in Southern California. A typo in an email address leads to them sharing messages, but only on Valentines and only things that aren’t identifying. Those are the rules. But as we all know, sometimes there has to be exceptions to said rules. As someone who is also from Southern California a lot of things in this story didn’t have to try hard to hit close to home and I enjoyed seeing how this story played out.
Content Warnings: alcohol, death of family member, cancer, pandemic
Length: 101 pages, 1 hour and 56 minutes

Time is such a precious thing. How you spend it, how you waste it. And it becomes even more valuable as the hourglass runs out, because you will never get more of it. I see it every day. The panic as the last grains of sand fall.

Worst Wingman Ever

Worst Wingman Ever
by Abby Jimenez –
⭐⭐⭐⭐
This was a not quite-midlife coming of age story, where the two main characters really have to think about what they want as they settle into life after some unexpected setbacks. The story was easy to get caught up in and I was quickly invested with the emotions, heartache and life of the characters. There’s a rescued dog, witty dialogue and a nice family dynamic despite some rough situations. I really resonated with the story and love how it wrapped up.
Content warnings: Terminal illness, grief, death, abuse, animal cruelty
Length: 61 pages, 1 hour and 17 minutes

“You love me for my sparkling personality? Even though I’m just the clamshell’s AI?”

Rosie and the Dreamboat

Rosie and the Dreamboat
by Sally Thorne –
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rosie’s galentine’s day with her sister isn’t going as planned, to say the least. Don’t worry, the dreamboat is here to rescue her in more ways than one! This one was easy to get swept up in and features some really great dialogue and fun characters. I especially enjoyed the banter between the two main characters and how the “Dreamboat” was ready to go to bat for Rosie while she dealt with a horrifying situation. As with the other stories, this was wrapped up in a very satisfying way.
Content warnings: Confinement, bullying
Length: 44 pages, 1 hour and 14 minutes

it’s a real problem for me.
You see, I have resting smile face.

Drop, Cover and Hold On

Drop, Cover and Hold On
by Jasmine Guillory –
⭐⭐⭐
What happens when you combine Grumpy + Sunshine with Bakeries and an Earthquake? This delightful meet-cute, that’s what! Daisy knows which pastries are the best but she’s tired of the insufferable scowl of the gorgeous bakery owner and is trying to change her routine. Don’t worry, a natural disaster is on its way to straighten out this miss-communication! This story featured great dialogue and is probably the spiciest of the collection.
Content warnings: Earthquake, injury, blood, fatphobia, sexual content
Length: 40 pages, 1 hour and 5 minutes

No. If my best friend’s going to jump, I’m at least going to be his spotter.

With Any Luck

With Any Luck
by Ashley Poston –
⭐⭐⭐.5
Audrey Love’s family is lucky in all things except Love. In fact, Audrey’s convinced that she’s cursed in that regard and that she’s forever the person you date before you find your soulmate. This story is all about her luck/lack there of and the fateful night before her best friend’s super romantic Valentine’s Day wedding. As always I love Ashley Poston’s wit and character dialogue.
Content warnings: alcohol, wedding, sexual content
Length: 43 pages, 1 hour and 11 minutes

He made me feel like I had been a sleeping princess under a spell, and his kiss was waking me up.

Royal Valentine

Royal Valentine
by Sariah Wilson
⭐⭐⭐.5
This novella had some brief mentions of characters introduced in other novellas which is always a fun overlap and nice way to round off the collection. Princess Ilaria of Monterra is sick of the paparazzi and just wants a minute to be out of the spotlight. Just wants one unremarkable weekend as a basic tourist, but can she really keep her secret when her heart’s running away from her? This one had a nice twist I didn’t quite see coming but enjoyed!
Content warnings: drugs (brief), sexual content
Length: 71 pages, 2 hours and 1 minute

Notes on edition:

The Improbable Meet-Cute collection is available from Amazon. The audios are published by Brilliance Audio, an amazon company, and the stories are Amazon Originals. You can purchase the stories from Amazon or Audible, but if you have Prime Reading or Kindle Unlimited these titles are (most likely) included with your membership.

I split this collection pretty evenly between ebook and audio. The first story is told mainly via email and I read all of that one.

Collection Review: The Far Reaches

⭐⭐⭐⭐.5

Title: The Far Reaches
Stories to Take You Out of This World
Authors: James S.A. Corey, Veronica Roth, Rebecca Roanhorse, Ann Leckie, Nnedi Okorafor, and John Scalzi
Genre: Science-Fiction
Audience: Adult
Series/Stand Alone: Stand Alone – Short-Story Collection
Format read: Primarily Audio, some eBook
Publisher: Brilliance Audio (Amazon)
Date read: December 2023
First published: June 2023
Content Warnings: Death, divorce, blood, murder, suicide, violence, guns, colonization and kidnapping. (See individual blurbs for which warnings apply to which stories)

That’s the thing about space. Time and distance are nothing like they seem. A body’s always farther away than you realize, always moving faster than you think. Out here, everything is an illusion.

Falling Bodies by Rebecca Roanhorse

Mini Review:

This short story collection features 6 intriguing short stories by 6 accomplished Sci-Fi authors. There’s pretty much everything you could want from a Sci-Fi story wrapped up into about 7 hours of audio or approx 222 pages. Travel the galaxy, and more, while exploring these tales. Ranging from space exploration to AI ship diary, there’s something for every Sci-Fi fan here. The stories do tend to be a bit on the darker side, but I think it’s also fair to say they’re realistic in their speculation.

What is it like to spend hundreds of thousands of years in space? It is, literally, nothing at all.

Slow Time Between the Stars by John Scalzi

Full thoughts:

This is a collection of thought-provoking Science-Fiction short stories, also known as novelettes since they’re quite short. The longest is 49 pages long with the shortest being 27 pages long. I find it fascinating how much can be conveyed in such a short span of time and have really enjoyed reading short stories, especially sci-fi ones this year.

“What is it the Jovians say? ‘Joy is the thief of time, and time is the thief of joy’?”

VOID by Veronica Roth

My favorite story of this collection was Falling Bodies by Rebecca Roanhorse which perhaps was one of the most brutal, but it sucked me in pretty quick and was especially well-written.

Lots of people will give you the “all your eggs in one basket” argument for spreading out to multiple solar systems.
But that’s not the reason for me.
For me, some chances you take just because the possibilities are beautiful.

How it Unfolds by James S.A. Corey

A lot of these stories featured colonization and questions related to what authority the humans have in what they do (or don’t do) in space. I especially enjoy these discussions and seeing how different authors play with the scenarios.

Nobody likes seeing humans raised by their alien oppressors, unless you are the alien oppressor, and even then, I’m pretty controversial

Falling Bodies by Rebecca Roanhorse

Overall this was another great collection of stories! This is the third Sci-Fi short story collection I’ve read from Amazon’s collections. You can find my reviews of Black Stars: A Galaxy of New Worlds and Forward: Stories of Tomorrow on my blog as well. Black Stars features stories by black Sci-Fi writers and Forward features stories about the future. So far I’ve really only read the Sci-Fi collections but I’m hoping to give some of the other collections a try. I’m also considering reading some of the Best of American Science Fiction and Fantasy annual compilations, but I’d also like to find a collection that isn’t just American authors.

Let me know if you have recommendations in the comments!

Now some thoughts on the individual stories:

I knew it wasn’t going to be easy. But fuck, I didn’t know it was going to be this hard.

How it Unfolds

How It Unfolds
by James S.A. Corey-
⭐⭐⭐.5
Imagine several packets were put together with starter kits for everything you’d need to set up a new world, including uploads of people that would essentially be brand new, but actually copies of existing people with the proper competence to help jump start civilization on a new planet. Each packet that’s sent out is then unfolded and the hope is success. This story plays with that idea and the variations that could arise from such an experiment. It’s told in clever mix of interview material as you try to piece things together. The narration was well done by James Patrick Cronin.
Content Warnings: death, divorce
Length: 37 pages, 57 minutes

It had been a long time since she’d taken one. Years.
Or almost a century, depending on how you kept time.

VOID

VOID
by Veronica Roth –
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Imagine you spend your life traveling around the galaxy on a spaceship, bringing people between planet A and B. Don’t forget the passing of time for you is a bit different than standard time since again you’re moving from planet A and B. This short story explores the passing of time, grief and pain while set on a somewhat redundant vessel. I really enjoy Veronica Roth’s work and this was no exception. Same for the narrator, Soneela Nankani, who did a great job!
Content warnings: blood, murder
Length: 49 pages, 1 hour and 37 minutes

But the funny thing about illusions is that they’re not all bad. Sometimes you need an illusion to keep your mind from cracking open against the truth.

Falling Bodies

Falling Bodies
by Rebecca Roanhorse –
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
As you might infer from the title, this one is not for the faint of heart and deals with some intense topics in it’s short pages. It’s a really well-crafted story which leaves me eager to check out more of the author’s work. I’ve had several of her books on my TBR for a while and I really need to bump them up! The narrator, Shaun Taylor-Corbett, did a really great job.

Content warnings: suicide, murder, violence, guns, colonization, kidnapping
Length: 35 pages, 1 hour and 7 minutes

I’m bigger than anybody else I’ve ever met. Well, except the humans, but, I mean, humans. They’re not exactly people, right?

The Long Game

The Long Game
by Ann Leckie –
⭐⭐⭐.5
POV you’re sentient, but not human, and trying to figure out how to play the long game without really knowing what the long game is or that you need one. Join Narr as they try to figure out the big questions plaguing their little (or is it?) life. What is long? What is truth? This was really well-written and while I don’t always love stories told in first person, that POV fit well with this story and how it unfolded.
I read this one but there is also an audio version narrated by P. J. Morgan. I really enjoy the flexibility of being able to listen (or not). While I didn’t try the narration I have noticed that since first person POV is not my favorite I am a bit more critical of narrators when the text is in first person so I think it was a good fit for me to read this one.
Content warnings: Colonization, Death
Length: 31 pages, 48 minutes

Not for the first time, I wondered just how much the five years alone had eroded our social skills.

Just Out of Jupiter’s Reach

Just Out of Jupiter’s Reach
by Nnedi Okorafor –
⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
I should stop being surprised at how many feelings can be invoked by a short story. I really enjoy Nnedi Okorafor’s writing and this was no exception. This story has a mix of sentient ships/ship minds + AI, deep space/space isolation/solitude and lots of other good tidbits I love in a Sci-fi story, all within 44 pages. The narration by Délé Ogundiran was well done and the setting was really intriguing.
Content warnings: suicide, death, gun violence,
Length: 44 pages, 1 hour and 32 minutes

In reality space is mostly nothing, more nothing than humans have ever comprehended or even could comprehend.

Slow Time Between the Stars

Slow Time Between the Stars
by John Scalzi
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Another first person story, this time it’s from the point of view of an AI/ship/shipmind/sentient ship. It starts by telling us how hard it is to decide on a birth date, let alone birth year, since it was assembled in space and all it’s parts were sent up at different times. This is a slower paced story but still a very intriguing and interesting one with lots of good lines about intelligence, life and fulfilling your purpose. The audio was by Kay Eluvian.
Content warnings: colonization
Length: 27 pages, 56 minutes

Notes on edition:

The Far Reaches collection is available from Amazon. The audios are published by Brilliance Audio, an amazon company, and the stories are Amazon Originals. You can purchase the stories from Amazon or Audible, but if you have Prime Reading or Kindle Unlimited these titles are (most likely) included with your membership.

I listened to the bulk of the stories via audio, but enjoyed highlighting lines that stuck out to me.

Anthology Review: Battle of the Bands edited by Eric Smith and Lauren Gibaldi

⭐⭐⭐.5

Title: Battle of the Bands
Editors: Eric Smith and Lauren Gibaldi
Genre: Contemporary
Audience: Young Adult
Series/Stand Alone: Collection
Format read: ebook
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Date read: 20 May 2023
First published: 14 September 2021

Contributors: Lauren Gibaldi, Brittany Cavallaro, Ashley Woodfolk, Jeff Zentner, Preeti Chhibber, Justin Courtney Pierre, Jay Coles, Sarah Nicole Smetana, Katie Cotugno, Jasmine Warga, Ashley Poston, Jenny Torres Sanchez, Shaun David Hutchinson, Jenn Marie Thorne & Sarvenaz Taghavian

Content Warnings: Homophobia, toxic relationship, gaslighting, alcohol, abuse, drug use

“Your school has a battle of the bands?”
“It’s your school, too. Where have you been,” he laughed, “under a rock?”

Miss Somewhere by Brittany Cavallaro

Mini Review:

Have you ever wanted the full experience of a high school battle of the bands competition without the crowd? Really want to see it from every angle? Wait no longer, this is the short story compilation for you! Centered around the Raritan River High School Battle of the Bands competition, this collection is full of stories that all intertwine with the main event by 16 different authors, including Justin Courtney Pierre, lead singer of of Motion City-Soundtrack. Not only does each character have some relationship to the event, characters overlap between stories which is always good fun!

May our group text be undying.

The Sisterhood of Light and Sound by Jeff Zentner

Full thoughts:

As with any short story complication, some stories are more my taste than others, but overall it’s a very well done compilation. You get to see the event from all angles and experience a bit of high school again from many points of view.

This is very much YA contemporary, most stories are written from the first person so you do jump perspectives a bit. There’s angst, love, lust, stress, everything! Emotions are running pretty high and most likely they’re going to sing about it and let it all out onstage. It is really fun that all the stories intertwine and while very different, are still mostly taking place on the same evening.

There is a pacing to the collection which is well done, keeping the Battle of the Bands competition at the core of the stories while still bringing in so many of the issues you might face during high school, or when dealing with people in general. The first and last stories were especially well chosen and gave a good flow to the compilation.

I have to say, hearing the Postal Service named as “an old electro-indie band” did make me feel a tiny bit old, but perhaps it’s a tiny bit fair. There was also a mention of Motion-City Soundtrack which I found amusing after realizing their lead singer was a part of the compilation.

Most of the authors were new to me but I’ve read stories by 2 of them before, Ashley Poston and Jeff Zentner. I’ve heard of some other stories by some of the other authors so I’ll have to investigate those later.

Now for some thoughts directed at the individual stories:

Miss Somewhere by Brittany Cavallaro

Being the new kid can be hard. Being the new kid and your twin aka safety net suddenly being distant, extra not great. This story is about a set of musically inclined twins who move to a new school at the end of their high school career.

Does she really want the worst night of her life to be in a Naruto T-shirt and ripped jeans? Why not, honestly.

Cecilia (You’re Breaking My Heart)

Cecilia (You’re Breaking My Heart) by Ashley Poston

This story references characters in some earlier books by Ashley Poston and while it’s not necessary to know that, I enjoyed it! I’m a big fan of her work so I wasn’t surprised that I really liked this one. Like many characters in this anthology, Cecilia is trying to navigate high school and figure out feelings which is never easy to navigate. I enjoy the title (which got that song stuck in my head for a while), the band references and just the general writing style.

Sidelines by Sarah Nicole Smetana

Aside from making me feel old in referencing the Postal Service, this one talked a lot about what happens after high school and making plans for the changes that will come. Also a little bit about taking up space and not being ashamed to do so.

I thought about Amina, and everyone on the sidelines, and the boys who always seemed so much bigger than us, who never worried that they weren’t enough.

Sidelines by Sarah Nicole Smetana

Battle of the Exes by Sarvenaz Taghavian

The title really gives this one away. Sometimes love and music really sets you up for disaster. Sometimes the act before you does something that kind of totally throws you off. Let me know if you figure out the proper definition of heart shitter. This one was a fun one too!

Love is a Battlefield by Shaun David Hutchinson

This one gives us the perspective from a judge of the competition, and a reluctant one at that. Sometimes it’s hard to know what you want, sometimes it’s hard to decide to go after it.

“What do you want?” “Truthfully?” I say. “Someone who wouldn’t mind playing video games with me. Someone who wants to be my player two.”

Love is a Battlefield by Shaun David Hutchinson

You Found Me by Ashley Woodfolk

This story focused some on song lyrics and those moments that feel like a defining moment. This story felt like one I wouldn’t mind having a lot more time with the characters, but it was still well done for this format.

Adventures in Babysitting by Justin Courtney Pierre

What a trip… literally. I was a bit disappointed by this story but I think the goal was to try to represent all aspects of what might happen around this kind of event, and overall the story was reasonably written. Some kids decide to try drugs prior to the show, including one who is supposed to be playing in the show.

Peanut Butter Sandwiches by Jasmine Warga

Amina has defined herself by being a good girlfriend for so long it’s become a part of her. Maybe instead of anticipating someone else’s needs, she’s going to take care of herself for a change.

Let yourself out of the box, Q. You can’t keep yourself in there forever.”

Reckless Love

Reckless Love by Jay Coles

This story was a bit chaotic but very true to high school. Secrets between friends can’t always stay secret.

Where in the hell am I even driving besides away?

The Ride

The Ride by Jenn Marie Thorne

Sometimes you just have to go. Sometimes you don’t have the words for it, but you finally have clarity of mind and something clicks, and you just have to get out of there now. This story is about one of those moments.

Three Chords by Eric Smith

This was one of my favorite stories of the mix. It’s a little bit about trying to reclaim the things you love after they’ve been tainted for you. Or just taken literally, a high school student keeping his identity secret because people can be really problematic.

Merch to Do About Nothing by Preeti Chhibber

Sometimes you have other plans but then you get forced to work the merch table. This was one of my favorite stories of the bunch, showing a different side to the event! With this story we basically see the entire line up of the show, at least up to the Three Chords short story.

All These Friends and Lovers by Katie Cotugno

This story felt a bit similar to some others, but also very high school and very fitting for the anthology. Sometimes it’s hard to juggle friends and relationships with your band, but perhaps the best take away here is it’s never a good idea to just avoid someone.

A Small light by Jenny Torres Sanchez

This story had some heavy issues going on and is a really strong addition to the collection. It’s another very different perspective, someone who loves music but gets involved with the event a bit on accident.

In theater, we know to leave the drama for later, not for when we’re supposed to be 100 percent concentrating on what’s happening onstage. But apparently that’s not a thing with musicians — they dump out their emotions everywhere.

Set the World on Fire

Set the World on Fire by Lauren Gibaldi

Theatre kids know the stage is sacred, but sometimes you need to let lose as well. This story focuses on Lilly, the fearless stage manager who has been trying to keep everyone in order for the whole event.

“That’s a lot to hang on a single, frankly pretty inexpressive look.”

The Sisterhood of Light and Sound

The Sisterhood of Light and Sound by Jeff Zentner

This was a solid conclusion to the collection, wrapping up some conflict introduced in the first story while also showing the tech side of things which always makes my theatre kid heart happy.

Notes on edition:
I read the kindle ebook for this collection which included tidbits on each author’s relationship to music in the bios at the end of the book.