Gritty collection of dark stories with even darker plot twists.
Some gems in this collection that I really enjoyed, but others were just a bit meh. I'd be intrigued to see more from this author as she really hooked me in with some of these short stories!

Brothers with secrets. A carjacking gone wrong. A past fling resurfaces. Morally grey. Gritty.

I haven't read much noir, and was excited to read some shorts set in Seattle, as someone who lives in the PNW. These stories were intriguing and easy to read. Sometimes the dialogue felt a little unbelievable/odd. I liked the second story a lot.

I rated it 3/5 stars.
Thank you NetGalley and Victory Editing for the e-arc!

Pleasantly surprised by this collection of stories. I’ve never read something technically classified as a noir story, so I had no clue what to expect going into it. I’ve read plenty of books with similar themes, morally ambiguous characters with cynical points of view, jaded from living in gritty urban settings full of crime that they can’t escape even if they wanted to. I’ve generally avoided short stories because I didn’t think they would be enough and leave me wanting more from the characters, more from the story. But this set of short noir stories was excellent. The stories themselves, were so good. Sweet Virginia & Seattle Shades had me reading with my jaw dropped the whole time.

Solid 4 star read for the actual stories. But some of the writing was structured a bit odd and there were some typos, that would benefit a run through with an editor.

This was a strong opening chapter in the Shades series, it uses the noir element perfectly and was able to create the city as its own character. I enjoyed getting into this world and how the characters were used in this. Kelly Creighton has a strong writing style and enjoyed the stories in this first chapter.