I have not read much in the way of LGBTQIA romance, and thought L.J. Hamlin’s Tales of the Fae would be a good one to dip my toe into. I do enjoy a good story about the fae, after all. I wanted to like this collection more, but was underwhelmed by all three of the short stories. I never felt like I really got to know any of the characters well—always a risk with short stories, I suppose. The first one, “Hearts in Motion,” was perhaps the strongest, and the one I enjoyed the most. It is about a yeti shifter who steps out of her comfort zone when she meets a beautiful faerie artist who asks to paint her. I connected with the yeti shifter and would not have minded a longer story involving her character. And the fae artist too, of course. I was the least moved by “Ode to the Forest Fae,” sadly. It is about an ancient forest faerie who is awakened by a young human girl’s singing. While I liked the idea of the story, it never really got off the ground for me. I would have liked more in the way of character development so I could better understand—and feel--what drew these two women together. The third story, “The Fae by the Lake,” held promise, but ultimately failed me in much the same way as the second, although worked a bit more for me. In that one, a photographer stumbles into a lake and is saved by a faerie. I think the stories had promise, but ultimately, were not what I was hoping for.

While I was certainly interested in reading this collection of stories there was just something that couldn't let me dive fully into the stories. I loved the concept for every one of them. They all built a world that I immediately wanted to dive into. What finally kept drawing me out was the dialogue. Quite often it felt stilted almost robotic. Even reading them out loud to myself I still couldn't find it in myself to like the words.
Yet, I continued on for the plot. All of which was very enjoyable keeping me reading until the end. I think with a little bit of polishing this would be a collection of great stories.

It was a really sweet group of stories. I loved the characters and I loved how every story went, but the problem I had with it was that they were all too short to make me feel there was real love involved. The relationships felt rushed, sure it was all so very sweet and the fantasy elements were great, especially in Ode to the Forest Fae that was my favorite, but I couldn’t overcome the fact that it was all too short. I liked the stories, all of them. Every plot was really nice, but I couldn’t stop thinking that, maybe, with a few more words allowing a little more detail and slower relationship development, I could not only liked them but love them. Overall it was a nice read. I really enjoyed it.

Cute, sweet vignettes. Very, very short, but like a little sweet macaron, melts in the mouth and the mind.
Lesbian fae one-shots, very simple and pg.
Would not buy, necessarily, as I love big thick chunky books, but delighted me in a coffee break.

A perfect read to end pride month ! three delightful tales about female female love stories with a magical twist to it. A fun and quick read !
For me personally the stories were too short and the relationships development felt rushed. I am very happy that stories like this exist and we need more of Hamlin's positive and beautiful writing. maybe in a full sized novel with more in depth characters and relationships next time !

Received by Less Than Three Press via Netgalley- Thank you !

This is a collection of three short stories that can be read in a single sitting. I think all three took me maybe an hour. In this world, the Fae live alongside humans and other characters of fantasy and lore. Each one is a quick love story of a fae and another creature, in the first, a yeti shifter, and humans in the other two. It's a nice, quick, little read and is a good palate cleanser in between longer and or heavier works. They are cute.