Five and Dime Christmas is my first new book of the holiday season. Great choice.

There are four novellas in the collection, all featuring employees of Woolworths Five and Dime store, in Scranton PA. The mark of a great novella, I think, is whether you wanted it to be a longer story. If finishing the story makes you glad, that’s never a good sign. Thankfully, in each case this time, I wanted to spend more time with the characters, observe their happily ever after in action.

I liked that the stories weren’t formulaic. All four were connected by the shop girls, but little else. We had a girl working two jobs because her family desperately needed the money, a wealthy young woman sneaking out to work without her family knowing. A shop girl who catches the eye of a wealthy man who has opted to earn a reputation outside of the family business. And the woman building a career after being jilted.

Four different sets of personalities, four different situations, all wonderful, faith-filled love stories.

So if you like short, festive stories, Five & Dime Christmas is a great collection to set your heart ready for the season of joy..