Reviewed by Pikasho Deka for Readers' Favorite

Robots, Please is an eclectic collection of loosely connected short stories by Jared M. Bentley. A newly created forestry robot unwittingly causes unrest among politicians, military strategists, and environmentalists alike, until it unexpectedly gets a promotion. After offering a ride to a hitchhiking andro sapien, a trucker bot discovers he may have to take an early retirement. On gameday, a young man runs into a couple of diehard fans of Michigan University's football team, one of them a fanatical fanbot. A disgraced former military general finds comfort in the words of a rusted barbot. On the verge of being rebooted, a sentient robot teaches a smallbot the ways of "fishing." A man grieving his recently deceased mother finds solace through a robot trying to end its life.

Author Jared M. Bentley covers a wide range of themes in these captivating narratives. Robots, Please is an engrossing collection for readers of dystopian fiction. These stories are set in a not-too-distant future where robots have become an indispensable part of civilization, entrenching themselves in every aspect of society. Bentley demonstrates how sentient androids might end up facing the same challenges and societal issues that humans have to navigate every single day of their lives. The robots felt surprisingly human to me. Their stories are bound to resonate with readers, primarily because their characters are so relatable. I also enjoyed the dry humor. To me, it was the perfect blend of absurdism and comedy. For short story lovers, this collection is a must-read.

Reviewed by Karen Hesson for Readers' Favorite

Scarlet Yearnings Beyond First Glance: Collector’s Edition by Scarlet Ibis James is a breath of fresh air. It’s a collection of short stories that includes popular romance tropes, like second-chance romance, fake dating, and marriages in trouble, but in a different and more emotionally satisfying way. Other stories point out that sometimes the most beautiful loves of our lives aren’t the romantic kind. Maybe this love is found in a best friend, a grandparent, or even yourself. Other stories are filled with suspense and keep you on the edge of your seat. Each one is strong and could stand on its own, but together, in this collection, they read like real life in all its simplicity and complexity.

No matter the story, Scarlet Ibis James breathes life into each character in a matter of sentences. They have unique voices, histories, and motivations almost immediately. The stories in Scarlet Yearnings Beyond First Glance are also rich with cultural and sensory details. I could see the people and the places, hear their voices, and smell the food cooking in the background. This is impressive in any type of writing, but especially in short stories where you only have a few pages to get it right. All the stories felt complete as written, but I would also gladly read any of them as full-length novels. I think my favorites were The Affair She Didn’t See Coming and The Practice of Love. They spoke to me on a personal level and left me feeling uplifted.

Reviewed by Carol Thompson for Readers' Favorite

A Christmas Menagerie by Keith Simpkins is a unique collection of stories that combines the warmth of the holiday season with the eerie appeal of the horror genre. The anthology features several tales, each exploring the darker aspects of Christmas while maintaining themes of hope and transformation. From the spooky experiences of young Henry in "A Winter's Night Tale" to Kristoff's heartfelt journey in "He Knows If You've Been Bad or Good," the stories touch on morality, redemption, and the Christmas spirit. Each story involves a shift, whether through redeeming a troubled soul or passing a mantle to a new generation. The anthology also examines how choices, both positive and negative, impact individuals and the world around them. Through its characters, the book highlights the power of kindness and the effects of cruelty, reminding us of the importance of our actions.

Most impressive is the author's ability to reimagine traditional holiday motifs. Santa Claus, often portrayed as a jolly figure, is transformed into a complex character embodying both light and shadow. This duality is explored through vivid imagery and compelling narratives. The stories challenge the idea of good and evil, presenting characters who must confront their past actions and make choices that define their futures. The writing is evocative, painting scenes that are unsettling yet enchanting. The blend of dark fantasy and moral exploration is reminiscent of Neil Gaiman, especially in the author's ability to intertwine the eerie and the enchanting within richly imagined worlds. Readers of dark fantasy and holiday-themed horror will find A Christmas Menagerie by Keith Simpkins a captivating and atmospheric mix of chills and seasonal magic.

Reviewed by Liz Konkel for Readers' Favorite

Honor is a Sci-Fi and Fantasy anthology from Z.S. Diamanti, Brady Hunsaker, E.A. Winters, David Estes, Blake and Raven Penn, et al. This adventure-filled anthology takes you to a variety of worlds, from those where magic roams to those in space. Each story offers delightful, addictive surprises. Some will introduce you to quirky characters, while others will tug at your heart. Start with The Leacher and dive into an exploration of nature and death, then pay a visit to the library in Luminescent Resolve. Both stories are a perfect example of the clever writing and strong character development these stories possess. Other stories will introduce you to robots (Discharged), explore grief (The Grief Path), take you on an adventure (My Water’s Keeper), hang out with mages (Papercuts & Portents), and battle it out with shadow creatures (The True Purpose of the Thing). No matter the story, each tale in Honor will immerse you in an epic world full of adventure, wonder, action, and heart.

Z.S. Diamanti, Brady Hunsaker, E.A. Winters, David Estes, Blake and Raven Penn, et al. explore characters and worlds in unique ways, whether it’s taking you into a moment of sacrifice or embarking on a grand discovery. With many unique stories, there’s something for everyone to enjoy, and it will help you find your new favorite authors. Each story offers a different voice, connected by the overarching theme of the collection and genre. The stories explore in some way the concept of honor, with some embedding this into the world and others the characters’ journeys. Each incredible author featured in the collection takes you on an adventure that is at times heartfelt, emotional, and even humorous. You get a chance to know each one’s unique voice, which allows you insight into their writing style. Some stories feature a world that is a little darker, others have a little whimsy, but whatever your tastes, you’ll find something to love. Artwork is featured throughout that offers glimpses, such as knights, a robot giving a flower to a duck, and fantastical creatures.

Reviewed by Doreen Chombu for Readers' Favorite

A Fine Madness: A Novella in Stories and Other Mad Stories by Jeffrey Feingold is a collection of thought-provoking tales that explore human fragility, masculinity, loss, and identity. You meet characters like B, a bald Jewish guy trying to make sense of life and loneliness after his dad ditched him to join the circus. There's even a series of messages from a fake prince trying to dupe women. Two men have a clash of ideologies at a Hooters bar as one tries to objectify the young women who work in the bar, and the other feels disturbed and concerned for their safety. Finally, follow Howie and his wife Marsha, a couple who experience profound grief after losing their baby, Asher, and go through trials that test their loyalty, faith, and roles in their relationship.

A Fine Madness is a collection that blends realism and humor to cover various aspects of life. It mainly focuses on the men in these stories and societal expectations, the way they handle loss, change, solitude, and self-image issues. This is refreshing, as most books often show these issues from a woman’s perspective. Toxic masculinity is another topic that is explored through the lens of flawed and sometimes offensive narrators. Jewish cultural identity is a subtle but recurring subject, portrayed through characters’ struggles with faith, tradition, and assimilation. Apart from the themes, the stories are intriguing, with unpredictable plotlines and characters that you can easily visualize. Jeffrey Feingold uses uncomfortable truths about humans to let us confront trauma, misogyny, and social blindness, but also shows compassion for flawed individuals. The balance of contrasting sides of people, combined with comedy, is what makes this book memorable. If you want stories that really get into the chaos and beauty of human nature, and tackle shifting gender norms and cultural identity, this one's worth picking up.

Reviewed by Leonard Smuts for Readers' Favorite

Can war ever be justified? Can war prevent further wars? Bauder sets out to dissect these questions using a series of short stories. Each reflects an aspect of warfare and prevailing attitudes to it, from misplaced patriotism to the reasons that soldiers enlist and the consequences of their actions. My Father’s Name Is War: Collected Transmissions concentrates on the post-2001 Global War On Terrorism (GWOT), which involves the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. It has flashbacks to the past to add perspective and some glimpses into what might be with the advent of AI and virtual reality. The End Times Apocalypse is also featured. In many cases, there is a family legacy of service in the armed forces, but the author poses the question as to whether a veteran would want his son, daughter, or grandchildren to serve their country nowadays, given the profound changes to the political and military landscape, with the background manipulation, propaganda, and corruption that have crept in. It also reflects on the question as to whether there is still any uniform set of values remaining in the military. Is there still a warrior class? The notion that perception becomes a reality is expanded on, with the implication that the resulting construct no longer fits the facts. The ethos of warfare has been slanted toward a paradigm defined by business and politics. We are left to search for identity, with the authentic self at odds with the acquired self. A radical revision is overdue.

My Father’s Name Is War is hard-hitting, raw, and at times surreal. It lays bare the predicament of soldiers who have little or no say in their deployment and are at times subject to mortal danger, while the survivors can be maimed or suffer from post-traumatic stress. It also highlights the plight of the local population, who are equally powerless. This book should not be seen as a conspiracy theory, but rather as a critique of modern warfare that highlights injustice whereby neither the troops on the ground benefit nor the luckless civilians who are affected. The reality is that wars are engineered by politicians and that arms manufacturers are the ultimate beneficiaries. In that context, the author aptly refers to “the American business of war”. While written as military fiction, the situations depicted are realistic, giving rise to the disturbing possibility that much of what has been presented is true. Bauder writes with a fascinating style that is provocative, punchy, and will challenge the reader. He maintains a philosophical tone throughout, touching on many pertinent social, political, and military issues. The format is innovative and includes poetry and a play. Its powerful message is a strident call for the population to wake up. However unpalatable the content may be to some, it is an intriguing, perceptive, and thought-provoking work that is highly recommended.

Reviewed by C.R. Hurst for Readers' Favorite

Jane Austen and Regency-era aficionados will, without doubt, enjoy Pride and Perjury by Alice McVeigh. This collection of twenty Austen-inspired vignettes are variations of the 19th-century classics, Pride and Prejudice and Emma. The author delves deeply into Austen’s arguably two most popular novels to uncover threads of plotlines and minor characters not developed in the originals, creating a nostalgic return to backstories that Austen fans would like to learn more about and to characters we grew to love or, in some cases, as Austen herself might have said, grew to have no liking for. With attention to detail and obvious love of her subject, Alice McVeigh creates a wonderful tribute to Austen’s legacy.

Perhaps most apparent is how well the style of Austen is captured by the author: the quaint speech patterns, the subtle humor, and the satirical jabs at high society’s preoccupation with appearances are all on display here. Yet what I liked most about Pride and Perjury was the way it shows how the past of a character can influence the present – such is the case with a story called Mary Rose in which Mr. Knightley, the much older love interest from Austen’s Emma, remembers a tragic incident from twenty years earlier. In this story, Knightley reveals that he had had a forbidden love affair with a young woman named Mary Rose, the circumstances of which may explain why he was so reluctant to declare his love for Emma and why he was so often critical of her. Did he see his own past recklessness and immaturity in her? We, of course, will never know for sure, but variations upon Austen’s classic love stories such as this one make one thing clear – Austen’s novels are unlikely to be forgotten with talented and perceptive authors like Alice McVeigh paying homage to them.

Reviewed by Pikasho Deka for Readers' Favorite

Echoes of the Arcane is an eclectic collection of short stories and poetry by Cody D. Campbell. After years, a young woman revisits the previously quarantined woods near her grandparents' home and discovers that people have yet to learn from past mistakes. When people inexplicably lose their ability to see the color blue, a teenager grows up reminiscing about the world as it was, like everyone around him, until someone comes into his life and gives him a new perspective. A man equates the tumultuous events in his life to facing a pack of predatory wolves. Plagued by guilt over the death of his lover, an artist wakes up from a terrible nightmare with a new resolve. A dream catcher tries to protect a young boy from his nightmares while his parents go through a divorce.

Cody D. Campbell presents short story lovers with a diverse collection of tales in different genres, including science fiction and fantasy, alongside some mesmerizing complementary poetry. The stories in Echoes of the Arcane are tragic, poignant, and sometimes heartbreaking. They move you in ways that you never see coming. Almost all of Campbell's characters face different kinds of adverse situations, and something happens to them that changes the course of their lives. Each story offers readers a fresh perspective on human behavior and the human experience in general. Campbell also excels in seamlessly traversing different kinds of genres, from one story to the other, using their distinct elements to enhance the narrative and craft an enthralling anthology. This book is a must-read for all short story readers. I thoroughly enjoyed it and can't recommend it highly enough.

Reviewed by Emily-Jane Hills Orford for Readers' Favorite

An error in programming the nanobots almost causes the extinction of the human race. Can they be re-programmed to save the rest of humanity? A woman investigates the murder of a man of the cloth, only to discover that she was the intended target. Can she solve the mystery? And, more important, will she survive? Dr. Katherine E.A. Korkidis’s The KEAK Anthology has many diverse themes in this collection of short stories, flash fiction, and novel excerpts. Some of the stories can be classified as literary fiction, while others are more clearly defined as mystery, thriller, historical nonfiction, science fiction, romance, and realistic. The author takes an idea and weaves a magical web of tangents and parameters around a compelling plot that captures the reader’s attention.

Dr. Katherine E.A. Korkidis’s The KEAK Anthology: A Collection of Short Stories and Much More is an intense look at this author’s literary career and that of her father, Artemios Korkidis, who wrote some of the stories. Each story is well constructed with a thorough consideration of plot development, characterization, narrative, and dialogue. The book itself is divided into three sections: short stories, flash fiction, and excerpts from five different (already published) novels. The author’s writing is engaging and entertaining, drawing the reader in right from the start. The author has a diverse interest in genres and themes and illustrates her succinct ability in each story she shares. This is a wonderful collection to be enjoyed over an extended period. There is something for everyone’s tastes in this collection.

Reviewed by Astrid Iustulin for Readers' Favorite

Tales From the Texas Timberlands by J. Andrew Rice comprises five short stories inspired by those told on Texas porches. They present very different characters and deal with many themes and situations. In the first story, we are on a farm where we meet Billy and Jim Colter and Billy's sons, Luke and Matt, all busy with the cattle. In the second story, a white man, Matthew Brunson, talks to an elderly Black woman and makes some reflections. Then, we follow Kenneth Howell as he decides to run for county commissioner. The next hero is a young boy named John, who hopes to stay out of trouble (different from his friend, Ike). Finally, we meet Travis Knight and learn about his work in hay fields and his vicissitudes with girls, sports, and bullying.

Reading Tales From the Texas Timberlands was fascinating. I have never visited Texas, but reading this book allowed me to take an imaginary but exciting journey to a place where you can find everything from cowboys to county commissioners. The book's strength lies in the skillful presentation of events that seem taken from real life. J. Andrew Rice created original characters and described them so well that you feel you personally know them. Many times, my only regret was that the story was over, but I will forever remember Matthew Brunson's reflections and the help that young John received. I recommend this book to all lovers of short stories, and I hope they enjoy spending time with these unique and fascinating characters.