Sunday, June 14, 2026

Review: Short story: "Three of Hearts" by Katie Cotugno

Three of Hearts by Katie Cotugno
Three of Hearts by Katie Cotugno
Published June 2026 via Amazon Original Stories


Ellery's ready to pack it in and transfer to a college closer to home—until she meets Camp and Danny. She was one, but now they're three, and suddenly New England seems a bit more manageable. Except...maybe things aren't that easy.

This is a quick one—at something like forty pages, I read pretty much the whole thing over dinner. And between this and "Julia at the Drive-In", it's been nice to see some short stories aimed at a YA audience; I don't read a ton of short stories (I read quickly, so short stories feel over almost before they've begun), but I like the chance to dip into a new-to-me author and see what kind of story only needs a few dozen pages.

This one covers a fair amount of time, so there's also a fair amount of the story skimming over time. These are characters I wouldn't mind following throughout a full-length book; we learn more about Ellery and Camp than we do about Danny (or, for that matter, about Ellery's roommate), but they all feel pretty solid.

This is a romance, but only after a fashion. It became clear not too far in that it wasn't going to be a romance in the conventional sense, and there were a couple of ways it could go. And that turned out to be...well, no spoilers, but it was one of the outcomes I thought most likely, but not in the way I expected. A fun quick read.

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.

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Review: Short story: "Three of Hearts" by Katie Cotugno

Three of Hearts by Katie Cotugno Published June 2026 via Amazon Original Stories Ellery's ready to pack it in and transfer to a college ...