Sometimes all you need is a quick and uplifting read… Pickup Lessons by Lisa Scott is a perfect example of such a story. This is just ONE story out of one of the Flirts! collections and is well worth the read. You start this story with Stone Kinney, who is lurking behind a rack of gowns at a department store stalking… I mean staking out the perfume counter where one Kyla Carter is working. Object – to use the books he read to attempt to pick up one of the many ladies shopping in the store… UNSUCCESSFULLY.

In steps Kyla with an offer for Stone – classes on dating so that he can move from awkward genius to a man with a date… and the story goes from there. Both of our characters have baggage they need to work out and are unwittingly thrown into silly situations. Mainly due to Stone’s utter uselessness with women. Kyla and her sexy nerd have lots to learn from each other and this brief foray into their world is the perfect medium. So if you are looking for a cute, quick romance with engaging characters grab this gem off of Amazon! I am hoping to find a collection sometime soon myself.

Pickup Lessons

This short story simply introduces you to a lovely series of characters all getting ready to celebrate Christmas in Blue Springs. As the author states, this is just a launching point… you can get to know these characters further in the novel Blue Springs. Both are by author Edward F. James. I, personally, am going to have to hunt down this longer book as I found the people at Blue Spring endearing. But first, the short story. 

The story starts at 3:18pm on Christmas Eve with Riley Thompson in a small single engine airplane. A pilot of only a year and a half he is a salesman for a small medical equipment company who had convinced said company that he could do better sales if they would invest in an airplane for him to expand his area of coverage. After proving his projections right he is heading to Blue Springs to meet up with his girl friend Jo Ellen Page, a wheelchair bound lady he met in the local general store on one of his sales trips. 

At this point the major issue has begun to rear its head… it is snowing, or more like blizzarding. The rest of this sweet novel is focused on Riley attempting to get to Jo Ellen and the people of blue Springs dealing with a rather major blizzard. I don’t want to spill too much more as it IS a short story, but this is definitely a feel good book. There is no murder and any arguments are topical… rather you get a sneak peek at the lives and interactions of the people in Blue Springs. Just a taste that definitely leaves you wanting more! 

If you want a little feel good Christmas spirit with characters that feel rather real and yet lovable this is the short story for you! 

This short story by Gemma Halliday is a part of the High Heels Mystery series. I have yet to read the series itself and came across this as a freebie in the Amazon Kindle bookstore. Basically you are hanging out with the main character – Maddie and her yummy homicide detective boyfriend Jack Ramirez on Christmas Eve. Their first together, well their first where Jack has not been called off to some murder or other. 

With a phone ringing off the hook and a doorbell that is continuously in use you get a bit of a parade of what I assume are regular characters. And really they ARE characters. You get a glimpse of the romance, a giggle at the various visitors and callers and and ending that is just plain sweet. Personally, I am thinking I will have to hunt down the other books in the High Heel Mysteries and see if they are as entertaining in a full story as they have been in this short. 

Christmas in High Heels