With love and kisses (by Patsy Collins)

(Amazon UK link)

I’ve followed the writing blog by Patsy Collins - off and on - for many years now. Every so often she offers one of her ebooks as a free download, and I’ve taken advantage of that more than once. I downloaded her short story collection, ‘With love and kisses’ last year, and decided to read it while travelling. 

Short stories are ideal when out and about, or at the airport, as each one can be read in just a few minutes. And I was pleased to discover that these short stories - 25 of them in all - are light-hearted, with uplifting or encouraging endings, and a few unexpected twists and turns in some of them.

The first story features a couple who are both actors. It’s unclear for a moment what’s going on as one of them asks the other to marry her… and they get into discussion about the script, and whether or not she’s ad libbing. It’s light, and amusing. 

The second story features a woman who sees some teenagers daring each other to do things at a fairground. She starts reminiscing about the time when she was just a few years older than them, and also dared to do something by her friends. I liked this story very much; there’s a lot of detail about the fairground, and an unexpected ending. 

The third story is very different, with the main protagonist tidying herself up after a night in bed with someone she has been attracted to for a long time. She thinks back to something he said when she was much younger, and how it prompted her to make some changes to her life. I had an inkling of what might be going on towards the end, and it was very well-written. 

Then there’s a story about a young woman whose boyfriend is far from sympathetic when she loses her cat, one about a girl who has always felt like a loser, one about a young woman who would love a boyfriend, but opts for a dog in the meantime… and a lot more.

The writing is good, with just the right amount of detail to set the scenes, and clever unfolding of the rather different plots. The theme is, unsurprisingly, love and relationships, but it’s expressed in a variety of different ways. Each story is unique, and I liked them all. 

I particularly appreciated the fact that there’s no gratuitous detail about any of the bedroom scenes - and in most of the stories, those aren’t even mentioned. I don’t recall any ‘strong’ language, either. These are stories that would be suitable for most women’s magazines, and the book could be read over a couple of days, as I did, in odd moments, or over a much longer period since each one is distinct with no overlap. 

This collection is no longer available free for the Kindle, but is still inexpensive. It’s also available in paperback form. 

Definitely recommended, if you like light-hearted romantic short stories.

Review copyright 2026 Sue's Book Reviews