Review: All the Love in the World

Karina Halle has given a gift to her most avid readers. All the Love in the World is a collection of short stories that visit some of her past characters and check in on how they're doing. Readers will be reminded of so many good memories as they read through the collection.

Here's the description of the collection:

This collection of five sexy, funny, thrilling, & emotional short stories and novellas bring together some of the most beloved characters from such books and series as The Forbidden Man, The Nordic Royals, Experiment in Terror, Dirty Angels, and The McGregors into one amazing anthology.

Each holiday story is all original, never-before published, revolving around a specific holiday. So whether you're in the Christmas spirit, all loved up with Valentine's Day, want to be spooked by Halloween, or ring in the New Year, there's something for everyone.

First things first...there has been a bit of confusion that even the description hasn't cleared up for some people. This is not a Christmas collection. Halle writes about all sorts of holidays throughout the year, including summer vacation. So, if you're looking for a book full of holly jolly festive spirit, this is not the one for you!

I felt like these stories were a love letter to Halle's biggest fans and by biggest I mean those who have read every single thing she's written. I've read a lot but not nearly close to everything. There are a few of her darker and paranormal series that I know I'll never read and I've missed a few of her others here and there (she writes SO fast that it's hard to keep up with all of the new releases). I'm mentioning this because even I, someone who feels like I'm an avid fan of Halle, felt like I could only enjoy a portion of the book. I knew that going in and only read one story that featured characters I had never read before (mostly to confirm that my feelings were accurate and that series wasn't for me). All told, I feel like I only read about half the book - even though I did read 4 of the 5 main stories (there are longer stories and shorter ones at the end and only a couple of those were of interest to me). Not the end of the world but a major consideration to make before purchasing it for yourself (which you should consider if you've read a lot of Halle's work).

All that being said, I did really like being able to revisit some of the characters I've read in the past. I loved both the McGregor and Nordic Royals series so those were the two stories I was most looking forward to reading. My favourite of all the ones I read was "Arrow Through the Heart" where I got to check in with Lachlan and Kayla, and all the other McGregors. Plus, that story was set in Edinburgh and I have a major love affair with that city at the moment. Coming in at a close second was "A Nordic New Year." I really liked what Halle did with that story - had a character from each couple narrate a chapter. It allowed for a really well-rounded catch up of each character.

While Karina Halle's collection All the Love in the World allowed for readers to catch up with some of their favourite characters, I was left wanting just a little bit more from the book. The stories, as is the very nature of short stories, were short and I guess I'm just greedy in wanting more! I appreciate what she did with the collection and I had fun reading it.

*An egalley of this collection was provided by the author via Valentine PR in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*