A Kiss Is Still a Kiss

Popular romance author Smith collects 22 short stories that, like a kiss, may be short and sweet or long and lingering, but nearly all are memorable. “Let’s Make a Deal” is a diverting story by newcomer Crystal Barnes that conjures a headstrong young woman of the Old West. She agrees to an arranged marriage but stands her ground when it comes to consummating the union—until she actually falls in love. In “Looking for Love—and the Scissors” by romance veteran Gail Gaymer Martin, a mundane search for scissors leads to renewed love in a marriage gone sour. Kylara Silvers’s “Remember This” satisfies in fewer than three pages. Scott R. Parkin drops a science fiction element into “Within Limits,” and John H. Dromey’s “Choosing Sides” features Civil War reenactors. This sweet assortment of smooching stories has something for just about everyone. (Nov.)