"The First Time" came up in my Amazon recommendations likely because I have enjoyed Jessica Verday's "Hollows" novels. Then I saw that Saundra Mitchell had a short story in the collection. I just had my first experience reading her work with "The Vespertine" and "The Springsweet" which were phenomenal so I went ahead and bought this collection. I have to say I was very pleased overall. All of the stories deal with `firsts' of some kind...first loves, first time doing something or another, etc. I will mention a little about a few that made an impression on me one way or another.

My favorite of the batch was "Against The World" by Jennifer Brown. It was a tremendously well written contemporary story about a teenage girl who just gave birth to her daughter. She is poor and her boyfriend has abandoned her. Her mom has never been a very good example of what a mother should be and the story focuses on the teenager trying to bond with her daughter and become a worthy mother. It was emotional and made a solid impact in a short amount of pages.

My second favorite story had to be "Premeditated Cat" by C. Lee McKenzie. I wondered about it at first but the twist at the end was positively amazing. The characterization and background in the story was fleshed out extremely well for a short story.

Verday and Mitchell didn't disappoint either. Verday's "Once Burned, Twice Shy" was a fun (and funny) story about a girl who works with her brother to trap ghosts. She gets more than she can handle one night when she hits a (live) boy with her car during a bust. The plot and characters were strong enough that I could see it being a series. Mitchell's story was as different in tone as could be. "Kissing the Dog Faced Boy" is the tale of a girl who runs off to join a traveling circus and becomes an attraction in the freak sideshow. This story is more somber in tone but the author's writing voice is as beautiful as ever.

There are a couple of laugh aloud funny stories including "Cart Princess" about a grocery store employee who falls in love in the produce aisle and "Romeo and Whats Her Name" about a stand in actress who never learned her lines. "Selling Mr. Peanut" and "Evan and Penny" are both adorable contemporary romance tales. For paranormal fans "Shark King" and "Looking Through One Eye" should satisfy. Both are fun and unique.

"Sweet Truth", "Fly to Me" and "The Corridor" are three dystopian tales included. "The Corridor" by Terri Hall takes place in a world that the author has visited already in two novels. I liked it well enough that I might have to add those books to my wishlist. "Sweet Truth" by Stacey Jay was interesting but I thought the short story format was too confining. This one maybe needed a full book to do the story justice. "Fly to Me" was confusing at first but the story was the most unique of the dystopian bunch and I liked it a lot. I'd like to see more stories in that world as well.

"Turn Here" by Jackson Pearce was a really good story about a girl and her mom who take a road trip when the find a cell phone with an activated GPS telling them directions. I loved every minute of this one and was captivated the entire time wondering what would happen next. "Azalea" also stood out. It is about a short statured boy who finds people like him at his new place of employment. He falls for a woman who he connects with.

All these tales are so different. Not one of them was bad although a few ended too abruptly for my tastes. Some of the stories are funny, others sad. Some have Happily Ever Afters while others don't. This is definitely worth the $2.99 it is currently priced on Amazon. I have discovered many new authors to keep an eye on. ( )