Lose yourself in a collection reminiscing on first love, regret, and passion.

In FIRST DATE, when Alice gets invited to a ball on Christmas Day she is bowled over. No-one had ever asked her out on a date before, let alone invited her to a ball. However, the bubble bursts too soon. It turns out she is filling in for an ex-girlfriend. Even so, she puts on a brave face and heads for the ball. She can have a good time even if it does not lead to love. A ball is still a ball after…

In CARELESS CUPID, a mission becomes harder than expected… you are not supposed to fall in love with the person you are trying to help.

In THE ENGAGEMENT PARTY, Rachel might get a lot more than she expected on her big day. A stranger from the past flushes out feelings she had put aside. A lost love is hard to forget…

In PRECIOUS, different generations appreciate the timeless value of a book.

In BLACK WARNING, an innocent child makes a choice others ignore.

First Date is a collection of five stories with an excerpt from a longer novel at the end. I suspect that First Date and Engagement Party will resonate with many. We then have Careless Cupid, a supernatural encounter and Precious, a generation-spanning tale. The final story was the darker Black Warning.

I was pleasantly surprised by Vanessa Wester’s ability to paint vivid pictures for her readers within the constraints of the short story format. In her first two works, she cleverly used topics with which most of us are familiar. The excitement and anxieties created by the first date and the family dynamics of an engagement party.

Having pulled her readers in with her easy writing style, Ms Wester then gives us three rather different stories, culminating with Black Warning which will send a shiver down many a spine. The author maintained a consistent pace and stuck to her task, not falling into the trap of irrelevant sub-plots.

I would recommend First Date to anyone looking for a light read which will take no more than a couple of hours. If like me, you don’t normally read short stories, this delightful mix may well change your mind. I have no hesitation in awarding this book five stars.

Vanessa Wester is bilingual in English and Spanish, since she was born and raised in Gibraltar. With a degree in Accountancy & Law, she initially worked for two leading accountancy firms, before she changed career and became a secondary school mathematics teacher.

Over the past fourteen years, she has devoted her time to the upbringing of her children, whilst giving up a lot of her time to help voluntary organisations. Now, she is teaching again, but still dreams of pursuing her literary career.

Writing is one of her passions, reading the other. The day she decided to start writing her ideas down she found another way to lose herself in a book, whilst finding an outlet for her imagination. It is the best way she can think of to escape from everyday life. She is currently working on a historical fiction novel based on the life of her great, great, grandparents… and is finding the research fascinating!

www.vanessawesterwriter.blogspot.co.uk
@vanessa_wester
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