My True Love Gave To Me- Various Writers

Macmillan Publishers

Book Review By Gemma E McLaughlin

For this week’s review I would like to look back on a book that I’ve been meaning to get properly into for a few years now and with Christmas coming up, now felt like the perfect time. My True Love Gave To Me is a collection of short, winter themed romance stories by various authors, a few of whom have produced some of my favourite romance novels I’ve ever come across. The book is absolutely beautiful and just the right length to choose to read the whole book in one sitting, a common technique of mine, and to dip in and out of whichever story you choose.

I went into the book expecting to prefer some stories over others and though I did have my personal favourites, each story was as wonderfully written and heart warming as the last, spinning the reader through twelve amazing takes on a classic theme. I often in these reviews discuss the writer’s style but this week I am even more excited by the style. As every story is written by a different author we are allowed a unique, and all too rare opportunity to compare, to notice and to respect the differences in the way in which the stories are written. It was a new and fantastic experience for me to read a book set out in this way and I now believe this style should be much more common.

With the individual stories themselves I didn’t expect to see so many different ideas and plots in one book, not even including the fact that they all used the same theme. I was proven blissfully incorrect as every short story was executed with a detailed, well thought out plot of its own, never one quite like the others which made for an even better journey. The characters were written well in the short space that each writer had and made everyone reading root for the couples they were putting forward, something that can seem so easy but often fails with a slight slip. As mentioned previously, I am familiar with other works of a lot of the names featured and there was a distinct pleasure that came from noticing similarities of style to their previous works within the book.

Without a doubt, I absolutely adore My True Love Gave To Me. The way the individuality of the authors shine through in their stories and all the adorable, and some almost haunting, moments of soft, wintry romance is sure to melt your heart. This collection showcases many ideas and beautiful themes for the reader to choose from and enjoy with ease, all wrapped in the warm, comforting package of a new book. This is definitely one to treat yourself to this Christmas if you haven’t already.