A sister who can’t accept her sibling’s choice of wife, a woman whose plan to avoid being hit on by guys leads to unforeseen complications, and how a series of strange phone calls prompts a singleton to doubt her own sanity. Short stories are like buses – if the first one doesn’t happen to be going in a direction that appeals to you, you can hop on the next one.
And so it is with this unusual collection, featuring a group of disparate young women finding their way through life and love. We see the ups and downs of coupledom in all its glory – though the ‘downs’ have the majority vote. These tales are not about the lovey-dovey side of relationships, instead the characters tend towards the mean, the jealous and the selfish. Many, such as the girl in the title story, start well but end abruptly or without reaching any kind of realistic resolution.
Having said that, there are some intriguing characters, like mechanic Cisco in ‘Always a Price’, whose outlook on life clashes with that of the heroine. I loved this guy and his dialogue, and okay, he was thoughtless and a bit stupid, but I wanted to know what happened to him. Instead, the story simply stops. But, like the aforementioned buses, that’s the nature of short stories – sometime you get them, sometimes you don’t.
Aimed at girls of all ages, the author has created some interesting scenarios with potentially fascinating characters, and while I’m sure this collection will have wide appeal for many readers, Single Chicas didn’t quite do it for me.
Colin Garrow 