This rreview is written with thanks to Emma Mitchell for my copy of The Stars Will Shine Again.

Blurb:

The Stars Will Shine Again is a collection of short stories from your favourite authors who have come together to deliver you a Christmas read with a twist.

With true war tales that will break your heart, gritty crimes that will shake you to your core, magic and mystery, and heart-warming tales of love lost and found, this anthology has something for everyone. And, with every penny made being sent to support our troops you’re helping our heroes, one page at a time.

From authors such as Malcolm Hollingdrake, Tony Forder, Val Portelli, and Andrew Barrett, and several debut authors, including Sarah Hardy and Yvonne Bastian, you are in for one heck of a ride.

The Stars Will Shine Again is the perfect Christmas gift for the bookworms in your life.

A Note from Emma Mitchell:

As the blurb tells us, The Stars Will Shine Again is a multi-genre collection of short stories compiled to raise money for our armed forces and every penny made from the sales of both the digital and paperback copies will be donated to the charity Help for Heroes. Covid has made fundraising a difficult job for everyone, so it’s an honour to able to do something like this and I’m thankful to everyone involved. With huge thanks going once again to Amanda Horan for her support and fabulous cover design. You can find her at Let’s Get Booked.

I’ve picked the best of the submissions to bring you a thrilling book which is perfect for dipping into at lunchtime or snuggling up with on a cold winter’s night. I have been completely blown away by the support from the writing and blogging community, especially the authors who submitted stories and bloggers who have been so generous with their time to help advertise and spread the word.

There isn’t a person in the country who hasn’t benefited from the sacrifices our troops, past and present, have made for us and they all deserve our thanks.

It has been an honour working on these stories, and I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I have.

Review:

Emma Mitchell must have had a really tough job selecting stories for this anthology as the standard is so high! Every one of them spoke to my imagination in some way and I loved meeting different characters, entering different worlds and being part of different times. 

There are several stories by debut authors, and I do hope these authors have plans to write more as I will undoubtedly be looking for their names in future anthologies or on shelves in book shops! There are also stories by established writers; some of whom I have read before and some of whom are new to me. The more familiar writers did not disappoint and I also have a long list of authors whose back catalogues I must check out! 

Each story is different and they fall into many different genres, including crime, historical and supernatural. Crime is obviously my “go to” genre, but there is something for everyone and I enjoyed being occasionally pushed out of my comfort zone. 

Many of the stories end with a twist, which means I will be thinking about them for a long time to come. 

The proceeds from The Stars Will Shine Again will be donated to Help The Heroes. This is obviously a very worthy cause and makes reading this anthology incredibly humbling. 

The Stars Will Shine Again is available from Amazon.