Christmas is a holiday that I enjoy, and I was intrigued by the cover of this book as it could be interpreted different ways. A book of short stories about Christmas would be a good change of pace.

The first story, “The Santa Suit,” rewarded my expectations. Though the boy in the story seemed to adapt too quickly to the situation, it was still believable and the overall warmth of the tale gave me hope for the rest of the book.

Like many anthologies, the rest of the stories were not as good as the first one. This is a shame, because author Kevin Moore has a talent for putting words and sentences together, at times even pulling emotions out of the reader. As in the first story, many of the characters changed abruptly and without any more motivation than the author’s good intentions. In these stories, the reversal was too quick, sometimes instantaneous, and the sudden new direction didn’t ring true.

I really wanted for this to be a good read, a book of heartwarming Christmas tales that could be enjoyed and shared. Kevin Moore is certainly on the right path, and possesses skills not exhibited by most self-published authors. Allowing more time for the characters to absorb major life changes (or at least offering readers stronger reasons for the instant changes) would add more motivational aspects to the people in Mr. Moore’s stories. While these short offerings tugged at the heartstrings, the characters didn’t always pull their weight. Three stars.