This is a collection of short stories covering many aspects of love from the wistful to its absence. Each of the stories covers a slightly different shade of emotion that could be considered as a form of love or caused by love. Whether it be the loss of a loved one, the hurt from betrayal of someone trusted or even the desire for another, each of the stories is well contained and generally manages to convey which aspect it is about.

The stories have been well translated from the original Russian, as might be expected as all the protagonists are, even though the majority of them are set in Canada and America. Each of them is well written and the spelling and grammar is excellent, although the style of story is perhaps slightly different to the usual western style. A lot of them are not traditional three part stories, but instead, have a simple setup and resolution to each of them. However, the author’s writing helps to pull the reader from piece to piece.

While they may not work for everyone given their slightly different narrative structure, these tales certainly provide an interesting set of ideas for someone to consider which shades of love they may have encountered in their life.