Three Thanksgiving Kisses by E. P. Roe is a short story. I found this short story very randomly, but it seemed interesting, so I picked it up. The story is set around the Thanksgiving holidays and follows a young woman named Elsie.
The story begins with Elsie, who is a spirited young girl. She is eagerly waiting for her brother to come back home from college for Thanksgiving. She sees a person wearing a similar coat to her brother and rushes out to greet him. In her excitement, she mistakenly kisses a person who is not actually her brother, but his friend, Mr Stanhope. This leads to a very embarrassing situation for Elsie, and it becomes worse when her family insists that the friend spend the holidays with them.
After the initial judgment and embarrassment, they actually start to get along. Elsie is pampered by her family, and she is the life of the house. Mr Stanhope is taken by her immediately, but knows she doesn’t feel comfortable around him because of the earlier incident. Elsie learns that Mr Stanhope lost his family a while back, and this is the first time he has celebrated a holiday in a few years. She starts making little efforts not to hold any grudges against him and enjoy the holidays. By the end of the first Thanksgiving, she tells him that she would like it if he came back every year.
The story describes only the first Thanksgiving in detail; the other two are slightly shorter. But it’s enough to see their understanding and relationship slowly developing. Elsie matures over the course of these three years, and even her family starts noticing it. This story is actually straightforward. There is a budding romance set around the holidays with importance to family and togetherness. Elsie holds the family holiday celebrations sacred; it is the reason she feels Mr Stanhope is ruining the mood for her. When she is around him, she slowly realises that he is a good person, and his offer to do something risky just because she wondered about it further makes her like him.
Three Thanksgiving Kisses by E. P. Roe is a short story that feels warm and positive. It has an entertaining and sweet plot with interesting characters and holiday appeal. The old-fashioned romance is appealing and sweet. I enjoyed reading this story.
*Click on the book cover above to get a copy.
Books and blues 