I loved this anthology of holiday romance novellas. I knew I would. When Elizabeth announced she was putting together an anthology of romances centered around non-Christian holidays, I knew she would put out a thoughtful and entertaining book. I’m hoping this will be the first of many Love All Year anthologies.
All of the stories were lovely, each in their own way. I wasn’t ready for any of them to be done when I reached the end. For the most part, the stories were about former lovers meeting again, or friends or co-workers acting on a long simmering attraction. Only one story involved two people who met for the first time, and as much as I enjoyed the story, it was the least satisfying. I wanted more chapters.
Savannah J. Frierson’s “Legacy of Love” was a standout in a strong anthology. It’s a second chance romance with some twists set against a backdrop of a community coming together for a Freedmen’s town Juneteenth celebration. Romance is about hope – hope for acceptance, love, family, a strong community and a brighter future. Frierson starts her story on a note of grief that runs throughout. Gabriel and Gloria are sharing space because his beloved late grandmother asked Gloria to take on organizing the town’s Juneteenth celebration. Gabriel is struggling with the loss of his grandmother and shame for something he did as a young man that wrecked his friendship with Gloria. He wants to convince her to stay and to give a relationship with him a chance. Gloria doesn’t want to get her heart broken again. They are both grieving, they each have a hope for the future, but can they build that future together? Frierson layers the grief and hope of Juneteenth into Gabriel and Gloria’s story beautifully.
Every few months someone swaggers in to romancelandia with a hot take on romance’s commitment to the Happily Ever After. What they don’t understand is that HEAs have grief and loss baked in to the foundation. The guarantee of and HEA makes it possible for the author and reader to delve into emotions. A Happily Ever After doesn’t mean their will never be struggle, grief, trauma, or loss again. It doesn’t mean that the world will be fair and equitable. It means that these characters have found someone, or someones, who will struggle with them, grieve with them, and support them through the inevitable downs of life.
In Ekaterina Xia’s “A Bridge of Magpies” very sweetly and gently brings a former classmate back into the lives of a pair of committed best friends. The three are brought together at a Qixi festival artist exhibition in Taiwan. Yulan and Verity are a unit, and they make room for Lucien. it was lovely to read such a gentle, non-heteronormative love story, especially centered around a festival celebrating thwarted lovers. As with all the stories, I wanted more, but I could see the three of them as a mutually protective unit in a world that isn’t always kind.
Love All Year is a wonderful anthology. I should note that the anthology as a whole had a thread of grief running through it. The anthology is dedicated to Corey Alexander, who died a few months ago. Several of the authors also acknowledged Corey’s influence in their comments. If you are in the corner of Twitter that encompasses inclusive romance, you probably knew who Corey was. They described themselves as, “white Jewish autistic queer fat genderqueer writer and community activist with multiple disabilities who spends a lot of time on Twitter.” They had a tremendous impact on the way many authors thought and wrote about gender and inclusiveness. As a reader, I found their Twitter threads thought provoking and educational. Also as a reader, I am fortunate that there are authors who were inspired by Corey and continue to push romance into more thoughtful inclusiveness.