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sparbowl3's review
3.0
This was a short story collection, which makes it a little hard to rate. Some of the stories I really liked, some not as much. This definitely wasn't my favorite of these anthologies, but it was still good. I liked Sarah M. Eden's story the best.
aublar's review
3.0
A couple of duds but a mostly cute collection of novellas. Fun to read during October, although most of them really don’t have strong fall/Halloween elements.
ghumpherys's review
4.0
4.5 stars. Another wonderful collection of short stories by some of my favorite authors! While I didn't like this collection overall as much as some of the others (the Summer Wedding collection is still my favorite), it has some great stories. The stories range from fairly intense and suspenseful to a cozy, gentle mystery with no danger in sight. I've really enjoyed all the timeless romance collections!
nicolepeck's review
4.0
(Received a copy from one of the authors to review.)
I rounded this up from 3.5 stars to give it a 4 on here, as an overall rating. I liked some of these stories a lot more than others and some were just okay, so that's why it's not a solid 4 stars. However, still a fun, light, entertaining, clean read.
A Hound Dog Named Elvis: Fun, extremely cheesy, light romance that looks to be part of a series with some of the same characters by this author. There are Elvis quotes at the beginning of each chapter and a few Elvis references subtly and not so subtly woven into the story itself. This anthology is supposed to have a bit of mystery/suspense to it, but the suspense/mystery in this one is pretty minimal and it sticks to being more lighthearted. However, it was still clean, enjoyable and fun.
Eye for an Eye: I enjoyed this one until the climax, then the "who done it" seemed a little far-fetched to be realistic to me; however, I enjoyed the suspense up until then and the beginnings of the romance between Darien and Mallory.
First Heist: It was fun to read how Mia and Omar (from the author's full-length book Finding Sheba) met and started their relationship. I really enjoyed this story, mostly; however, there were 2 storylines/"jobs" Mia and Omar were on and neither were resolved quite to my satisfaction, because it's a short story. I really thought this short story had such potential to develop both storylines and be a full-length book or even longer novella. Still, I enjoyed reading it and the characters, it just wrapped up a bit too quickly for me. I would have enjoyed reading more detail and see it developed more.
Letter for Two: This is a lighter mystery, nothing scary or sinister or deep, just a light fun mystery of a long lost letter delivered 60 years late and the 2 shy neighbors trying to find who it belongs to and trying to figure out how to date each other in the process. Simple, fun, light and enjoyable.
Silver Cascade Secrets: Another fun read in this collection. This one had a murder needing to be solved and the 2 main characters met and fell in love while coming together to solve it. It was a bit fast paced and I thought it could have been longer to develop some things more, but I still enjoyed it and that it was told from the first-person perspective (which was different from most other stories in these collections I've read, so made for a nice change of pace there). I really liked the addition of 2 recipes at the end of the story, both that Jillian made in the story for Travis. I definitely want to try those out!! I love a good pasta salad and brownies!!
Chocolate Obsessed: I liked the main characters, but the story was too fast/short for me to feel developed enough and the stalker was a bit unbelievable, to me. I realize these are all short stories, but I just needed more from it.
I rounded this up from 3.5 stars to give it a 4 on here, as an overall rating. I liked some of these stories a lot more than others and some were just okay, so that's why it's not a solid 4 stars. However, still a fun, light, entertaining, clean read.
A Hound Dog Named Elvis: Fun, extremely cheesy, light romance that looks to be part of a series with some of the same characters by this author. There are Elvis quotes at the beginning of each chapter and a few Elvis references subtly and not so subtly woven into the story itself. This anthology is supposed to have a bit of mystery/suspense to it, but the suspense/mystery in this one is pretty minimal and it sticks to being more lighthearted. However, it was still clean, enjoyable and fun.
Eye for an Eye: I enjoyed this one until the climax, then the "who done it" seemed a little far-fetched to be realistic to me; however, I enjoyed the suspense up until then and the beginnings of the romance between Darien and Mallory.
First Heist: It was fun to read how Mia and Omar (from the author's full-length book Finding Sheba) met and started their relationship. I really enjoyed this story, mostly; however, there were 2 storylines/"jobs" Mia and Omar were on and neither were resolved quite to my satisfaction, because it's a short story. I really thought this short story had such potential to develop both storylines and be a full-length book or even longer novella. Still, I enjoyed reading it and the characters, it just wrapped up a bit too quickly for me. I would have enjoyed reading more detail and see it developed more.
Letter for Two: This is a lighter mystery, nothing scary or sinister or deep, just a light fun mystery of a long lost letter delivered 60 years late and the 2 shy neighbors trying to find who it belongs to and trying to figure out how to date each other in the process. Simple, fun, light and enjoyable.
Silver Cascade Secrets: Another fun read in this collection. This one had a murder needing to be solved and the 2 main characters met and fell in love while coming together to solve it. It was a bit fast paced and I thought it could have been longer to develop some things more, but I still enjoyed it and that it was told from the first-person perspective (which was different from most other stories in these collections I've read, so made for a nice change of pace there). I really liked the addition of 2 recipes at the end of the story, both that Jillian made in the story for Travis. I definitely want to try those out!! I love a good pasta salad and brownies!!
Chocolate Obsessed: I liked the main characters, but the story was too fast/short for me to feel developed enough and the stalker was a bit unbelievable, to me. I realize these are all short stories, but I just needed more from it.
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