For the last two years or so, a common publishing event has been a joint work by a group of authors writing on a common subject or theme. It might be Christmas or Valentine’s Day romances, for example, or a group of mystery stories. But I haven’t seen a theme like what I found in Coming Home – a collection of seven short works about tiny houses, those small home constructions often built for homeless people, single people, or people who want to de-clutter their lives.
The stories are primarily romances, and the role played by a tiny house varies by the author.
In “Love is Sweeter in Sugar Hill” by Ane Mulligan, a hospital RN, who lives in a tiny house, finds herself constantly butting heads with the hospital’s administrator – and a backdrop of medical malpractice. “Kayla’s Challenge” by Linda Yezak begins with an almost-bride in Savannah, Georgia, running away from the altar (with the groom’s approval) and learning to become self-sufficient in the Texas Hill Country. In “If These Walls Could Talk” by Pamela Meyers, two people believe they own the title to an old Victorian home on a Wisconsin island. Romance ensues.
In “First Love” by Yvonne Anderson, an older woman is trying to put her life back together after a divorce and begins living with her dog in a tiny house near her childhood home. “Dash of Pepper” by Kimberli McKay involves a young woman who herself falling for exactly the wrong kind of guy. “Big Love” by Michael Ehret is about a young woman who runs a tiny home construction company that’s part of a family’s larger building company. She’s to be interviewed by a hotshot architectural magazine writer who plans to do a number on her and who lies about who he is at their first meeting. And “The Light Holding Her” by Chandra Smith is about a woman living in a tiny house meeting the missionary guy next door and being stalked by someone who keeps leaving yellow marbles.
The stories of Coming Home are all entertaining and read quickly. I was surprised by the one I considered the best romance in the group – “Big Love,” the one written by the only man among the writers. I suppose the moral of the tiny house story here is that, yes, men can write romance stories, too.
Top photograph by Geran de Klerk via Unsplash. Used with permission.
