Four women, four short stories, four very different lives. From dealing with infidelity and abuse, to the fae in the welsh hills, these are…gripping is not the right word, but perhaps intriguing or engaging would be better. The stories are entertaining if short, and driven very much by the characters rather than plot. In some cases the action has occurred long before and the cast are only now finding out about it.

The first story was to my mind the weakest, a woman starting a new life after the consequences of infidelity, and yet that was not to say it was bad. The characters were strong enough to carry it, and the author’s writing strong enough to bring across the emotions that drove the story. While the second and fourth stories are stronger, the third story is a gem and to my mind the strongest: the relationship between Megan, who is deaf, and John her hearing boyfriend, is utterly believable and heartwarming, and the obstacles they overcome realistic.

Following the stories, there are the first three chapters of Free to be Tegan, the author’s first novel. This takes up roughly 20% of the books length. While I usually abhor the practice, I should mention these chapters are actually strong enough that I looked up the novel and end at a good breakpoint in the story.

On the presentation side, there are no formatting issues and I didn’t notice spelling or grammar issues. Either there weren’t any, or I was engrossed in the book, and either of those is a good sign.

As a character-driven set it does lack the action and adventure some readers may prefer, although the converse is that these stories are clean: no gore and no swearing. Lovers of women’s fiction and character drama should look this up. I’d also suggest them to literary fiction readers, as the character portrayals are that strong.