
Mother's Day Magic: With Love is a collection of twelve individual short stories and/or novellas, by twelve separate writers, of whom, eleven I think, are female. Every single one of the stories had something special about them and I wouldn't be overstating things to say that I enjoyed each and every one of them.
As always though there were some stories that touched me more than others. The first of these was An English Rose by Allyson R Abbott. I absolutely adored this story of a quintessential 85-year-old English woman who realizes before it is too late that maybe there is life left in the old girl yet. Maybe it's my colonial background, but the language and situations in this story absolutely resonated with me. I adored it.
Another story that captured my attention and my admiration for its clever writing was The Day Before Eclosion by Adrienne Ruvalcaba. I don't want to spoil the plot for anyone, but I found the metaphor the writer used was not only perfectly appropriate to the situation, it was moving in the extreme. This was a wonderful story.
The final story I want to mention that truly captured me was Vision of the Heart by Mary Crawford. This story was touching and moving as we followed the struggle of a once proud nurse who has had to give up her career due to the onset of blindness through macular degeneration. The story is redolent with emotion and understanding as we watch her journey of coming to terms with her blindness and the relationship with her children and husband. I absolutely loved this story, especially the Nursing College Reunion section; that revealed so much of the human condition.
I really could go on and on about these stories. Twelve wonderful stories and not a single dud among them. It is rare that you read a compilation where every story connects and excites you - Mother's Day Magic is such a compilation. I would highly recommend this to all readers; it is five stars plus all the way. Excellent!
You can find this superb book at Amazon: http://amzn.to/1P6sKNq