"Heartstrings and Haunts" is a compelling anthology that brings together a collection of stories centered around the intriguing Hardscrabble Ranch. While not every story resonated with me, the quality of the writing is evident, especially in the more polished narratives that truly stand out. Crafting a well-executed short story is no easy feat, and it's impressive to see the variety of voices and themes explored throughout the collection. Overall, I found that I enjoyed the majority of the stories, each adding its own unique flavor to the anthology. If you're a fan of interconnected tales, this book is definitely worth a read.

This was an extremely cute and quick short story anthology.
I was so excited to read this and I’m so proud to say it did not disappoint.

📖 Book Review 📖 Summer is here and nothing ignites the season of fireflies and campfires like stories of romance and ghosts. Heartstrings & Haunts is a collection of eight short stories that can be read at once or over time. And this anthology has it all to keep readers turning the pages and on their toes. These talented authors deliver a diverse sampling of stories that vary from romance to psychological thrillers (and everything in between), with themes of the human heart and nature uniting across the book for one beautiful experience.

I read this book as an ARC and found it very interesting. This book is an anthology with 8 stories by 8 different authors and each story is a different genre. Thank you NetGalley and all 8 authors (J.A. Forde, Amy Tackett, Madison Noelle, H.M. Palmer, Christina Hill, Angela Fairhaven, Danielle Morris, and Adrienne Tritschler) for this ARC.

1. Afterglow by J.A. Forde (romantic comedy)
This book is about Leanne and Bryce. Leanne had to plan her sister’s wedding (she’s the maid of honor) while dealing with heartbreak “my sister got her happy engagement on the same day mine ended” and Bryce is the event coordinator at Hardscrabble Ranch. Im not going to say anything else about it since it is short and I couldn’t easily just tell you the whole story without meaning too. I will say though that ending left me needing more how can you end it like that!!

2. Murder on the Floor after the Party by Amy Tackett (psychological thriller)
This genre isn’t my usual jam but it was interesting. Morgan and Stephen are our main characters and it’s from Morgan’s pov. Again with the ending I was hoping it would happen but at the same time I wasn’t sure if it would. Just make sure to check the trigger warnings before reading it.

3. Come in with the Rain by Madison Noelle (contemporary romance)
This part follows Anna and Logan when Anna gets lost in a storm on the way to a campsite to meet up with her friends. This part is a little spicy but it was nice after the thriller. The plot twist at the end had me again wanting more.

4. Cult Fiction by H.M. Palmer (satire)
Work retreat but they accidentally get involved with a cult.

5. But Daddy I Love Him by Christina Hill (romantic comedy)
This one was a little unhinged and it really reminded me of Tarzan and she does call him Montana’s Tarzan. Raya goes to a yoga retreat and meets a weird guy in the woods when going for a walk.

6. Epiphany by Angela Fairhaven (contemporary fiction)
This part was interesting and I liked the POVs we got because let’s just say if you like dogs you’ll like this part.

7. Out of the Wood by Danielle Morris (psychological thriller)
This part was interesting and the ending was not what I was expecting at all. You think you have it figured out and then everything changes.

8. War Horse by Adrienne Tritschler (contemporary fiction)
This part was interesting but there was something I think I was missing because I was a little confused as I was reading.

Overall I liked these stories and one thing I really liked was how no matter the story Cal (a dog) was in them in some way. The first story was definitely my favorite. My only suggestion is to put the content warnings at the front instead of the back of the book if the final version is set up like the ARC is.

This was the first anthology of short stories I’ve read in years and absolutely loved it! So many of these authors were new to me and I enjoyed being introduced to their writing styles. It’s was like a literary sample of what I might want to read next.

I feel like this book gave me whiplash but in a good way? Fun quick stories that almost never went where I thought they would.

Heartstrings & Haunts is an anthology that has stories all taking place around one ranch. The stories and authors change, but the setting stays the same. This is the first anthology I've read in probably over a decade. There's a few different genres in here that make this a roller-coaster of a book to read through: romance, thriller, satire, general fiction, there's certainly a variety. Some of these stories were right up my alley, and I want more, while others weren't quite for me, but I can see how others would like them!

Heartstrings & Haunts is an anthology that I picked up because I know and love J.A. Forde's work. I knew at the very least that I'd want to read her story in here, and it absolutely didn't disappoint. I need more Bryce & Leanne in my life! I want to know where their story goes. The banter was top tier. The other authors were all new to me, and there are some genres I normally don't read in here. This is a great way to discover new authors and dip toes into genres that we normally wouldn't read. I love that at the center of all these stories is the same ranch dog. Through the genres, author changes, and main character changes, Cal is a steady presence, and who doesn't love a dog?!

Full disclosure: I love anthologies. This one contains 8 stories that are steamy, suspenseful, quirky and most contain a surprise ending. I liked all the stories, loved a few of them, even the weakest ones work to add more impact to the stronger ones. The central theme is a place called Hardscrabble Ranch which involves yaks and a dog named Cal. Hardscrabble Ranch serves a different purpose in each story, although the setting is similar in all.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

A book with short stories, written by different authors, that all happen at Hardscrabble Ranch. It's a mixture of romance, thriller and general fiction. This is a book that you can binge or read one story a day. It's a nice mix of genres and different writing styles. Also a great way to explore different authors and hopefully find an author you like and read their backlist. I really enjoyed my time reading this book and am thankful for the ARC copy. I don't read a lot of short stories but those I've read I have mostly rated 3 stars because it is more difficult to connect to the stories and the characters, and even though I enjoy the book overall, there were some stories I liked more than others, so I wanted to go shortly through each story and rate them:
1. Afterglow: 4⭐ this was my favourite story of them all. Rivals/enemies to lovers trope is one of my favourites and I really liked the tension between the two characters. The "romance" happened really fast, which I usually wouldn't like but since this is a short story it did make sense and the author really did it well, it felt natural between them, even though they literally just met. I think this story could be dragged out and made in to a book, I really like the characters and would like to read more with them. I really liked the writing and immediately after finishing this searched the author to find other books by her.
2. Murder on the Floor After the Party: 3⭐ my thoughts throughout this story were mostly: "um what?", "I don't understand", "what is happening?". Literally every page made me more confused and I never knew what was real and what not, and the ending? I want to know what happened!? Even though the story left me confused and honestly kind of irritated for not knowing more, I still kind of liked it. The story was really well written.
3. Come In With the Rain: 3.5⭐ honestly not sure what I can say about this without spoiling anything, because I was trying to guess the genre throughout this story. The smut in this story happened really fast and kind of out of nowhere and I unfortunately did not really connect with it, it didn't feel natural or really made sense for me. The ending however, that literally left me in shock and really changed the whole story. It became really interesting and unique just because of the ending.
4. Cult Fiction: 2⭐ this was honestly my least favourite story in the book. I unfortunately did not like it at all, it felt boring and just really weird. I couldn't connect with it at all. Some of the writing also bothered me, it felt kind of half done.
5. But Daddy I Love Him: 4⭐ I think this was my second favourite story. This was basically Tarzan smut, as weird as it sounds, but still very enjoyable. It kept me wanting to know more, know what was happening, through out the story, This was also kind of thought provoking, made me really think about life and how I am spending my life. It highlights the importance of family and connections with other people. I liked the writing style in this story and would definitely read more from this author.
6. Epiphany: 3⭐ this felt a bit slow for me, wasn't really hooked in to the story and felt a little bored at times. I think it's mostly just that I don't connect as much with short story general fiction, I feel like that genre needs more length since it is mostly character based so the reader needs more time to connect with the characters. I really liked the writing style though, I loved how the author did the pov, we saw the story happening through different characters, even the dog and the baby, and it was done so smoothly, where one "chapter" could be more than one pov. That was unique and interesting to me so I would definitely consider reading more by this author.
7. Out Of the Woods: 3.5⭐ this was a really interesting story and kept me hooked through out, I wanted to keep reading and know how the story went. I did figure out the plot early on though but still enjoyed the story. I liked that the murder happens at the beginning of the story so I knew what I was getting in to and kept wanting to know what happened. I also liked that it was written in different pov.
8. War Horse: 2.5⭐ I unfortunately did not like this story, I was a little bored and felt like nothing really was happening, I didn't connect to this story at all.
Rating overall for the book: 3.5⭐

I thoroughly enjoyed the time I spent whilst reading this collection of short stories. I loved the concept of them all following this location and the appearance of Cal, the cutest sounding dog. Whilst I may not have understood the full meaning of each story, which I don’t see to be the authors faults at all I believe I may just not be smart enough to understand what they were putting down, I still enjoyed every word I read. A few stories I wish we had more of, in the sense that I would love to see a longer novel written for them as I appreciated the time with characters and slightly crave more. I would 100% recommend this anthology to most audiences, with romance and thrillers, however it definitely isn’t something for a younger audience as there is a rather large amount of explicit content and language, I also suggest to please check the trigger warnings stated!

4.25⭐

Thank you to NetGalley and Victory Editing for allowing me to read and enjoy this arc <3

This review will be posted to Goodreads, Fable, and Storygraph today.

I think of this book as an introduction to multiple new authors at one time. The short stories contain a mix of quick flings to psychological suspense. You have spice, murder, mayhem, romance and dogs or everything you need to include in a story. None of the story as particularly deep and none are particularly long. Instead they are samples to show you what each author brings to the table and possibly send you scampering off to get more books by a few. One of the things most glaring in this sampler is the difference between the stories. Take book 1 and book 2 as an example. Book 1 ends with a baby and book 2 contains a baby but those babies are presented in such widely different stories. Therefore, you may enjoy some stories more than others but the mix gives you a good place to start. Finding new authors can be a challenge so I would suggest trying a starter book like this and checking out all the authors. With that said, I would give this book between 3.5 and 3.75 stars because one book disturbed me a bit.
Thanks to NetGalley and ARC provided by Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op and the author for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Heartstrings & Haunts at Hardscrabble: A short story anthology

When I received this advanced copy, I was totally in the mood for a series of short stories, so this hit my Kindle at the right time. This is an anthology by a group of indie authors who write different genres. All of these stories take place at Hardscrabble Ranch, which is an event center in the Montana mountains. There is a character in common in all the stories, which is ranch dog Cal. Here are my thoughts on each story:

1. Afterglow by J.A. Forde: I want a full length novel with these characters. I'm basically a J.A. Forde superfan after reading her other two romance novels this year. She started this collection out with a BANG, which i was very shocked by. Her other two books were fade to black, so a one night stand felt very different. However, I love the feeling of wanting more from a story instead of wanting it to be over because it's too long, and that is how I felt with this book. It may have been my favorite of the bunch and I didn't expect how it ended. Give me more!

2. Murder on the Floor After the Party by Amy Tackett: This is a psychological thriller and it was disturbing. Check those trigger warnings.

3. Come in with the Rain by Madison Noelle: This is for someone who wants a spicy good time to read in one sitting. It also had a twist at the end that shocked me.

4. Cult Fiction by H.M. Palmer: This one had me giggling several times. The millennial vs. Gen. Z jokes were fun. Coworkers on a weekend retreat that accidentally get involved with a cult.

5. But Daddy I Love Him by Christina Hill: This one was probably the most unhinged, but not in a bad way. Think yoga retreat meets Tarzan.

6. Epiphany by Angela Fairhaven: Alicia is having her wedding at Hardscrabble Ranch, but she's about to have an epiphany (hence the name of the story.) If you like dogs, this one is for you!

7. Out of the Woods by Danielle Morris: You will definitely have an eerie feeling throughout this story while trying to figure out who the bad guy really will be. I don't read very many thrillers, so i was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this one. It felt very Pretty Little Liars to me.

8. War Horse by Adrienne Tritschler: I don't think I was smart enough to understand this one, especially the ending. I'm sure there was a deeper meaning there I just couldn't put my finger on.

Overall, I think the different genres flowed well together even though it included eight different authors. I wouldn't recommend this to more conservative or young readers because there is language, explicit content and several triggers. However, I would recommend this to those who enjoy a variety of genres and want to finish a story in less than an hour.

Christina Hill’s Heartstrings & Haunts at Hardscrabble is a charming mix of romance, mystery, and the supernatural — all set at a mysterious Montana ranch. With eight unique short stories, the anthology blends emotional depth with eerie twists, featuring everything from rugged cowboys to unexpected hauntings.

Vividly written and full of heart, this collection is perfect for readers who enjoy genre-crossing tales with a touch of suspense and soul.

It was interesting to see the recurring themes and different stories and genres told about the same setting. I enjoyed some of the stories more than others as the pacing of some of the stories was a little bit odd and felt kind of insta-love/insta-lust but a fun read nonetheless.

I love short stories so I was really looking forward to reading this book. Thank you to the author for putting the trigger warnings in the book. I checked those out before I started the book and realized I wouldn’t be able to read it.

I hope those who are able to read it, enjoy it!

Thank you NetGalley, Christina and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for the eARC!

Rating: ✨✨ ✨
Publication Date: June 17 2025

#HeartstringsHauntsatHardscrabble #NetGalley

This anthology has every genre including romance, fantasy, mystery and thriller! Some are stories of everyday situations, and some include the paranormal and others curious circumstances.

I really enjoyed this anthology, each story was different and ranged from romantic stories to stories about murder to strange happenings in the woods.
It was just a solid novella and since it was so short it was easy to get through in one sitting.
My review of this anthology is live on instagram now.