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A review by nicolepeck
Winter Collection by Sarah M. Eden
4.0
The Road to Cavan Town by Sarah M. Eden: This novella seemed very familiar to me. After looking back through my reviews, I did read it in another anthology, Sarah M. Eden's British Isles Collection. I enjoyed reading this again. Eden is one of my favorite LDS authors. She displays such wit in her writing but still deals with heavier topics at the same time. I've copied and pasted my original review from April 2019 here:
Another setting I absolutely love - Ireland!!! I loved how the author tried to convey the Irish brogue through the characters' conversations. The concept of all the men coming to court Miss Kilchrest seemed a bit far-fetched to me, but maybe that was a common thing in the late 1800s. However, the characters were well developed and I was on Alice's side rooting for her and Isaac, and totally agree that men are often dim-witted! ;) She was a great character, so sweet and understanding and good. Her travels back and forth every week to Cavan Town between her grandparents and to work must have been taxing, yet she looked forward to that time to be with Isaac. I wanted to know more about the party/gathering that Isaac stumbled upon with the music and dancing. Billy was another great addition to the story and Alice's defense and support of him. Really great story!
It Happened Twelfth Night by Heidi Ashworth: While I liked the characters and the descriptions, I felt like I was lost in this story, like chunks of it were missing. After the first chapter, where we're introduced to Luisa and Percy, the next chapter then jumped forward in time and mentions something about Luisa's shame within the village with no explanation of what occurred, so I'm wondering if my Kindle copy accidentally has a chapter left out? Other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed the descriptions and the Christmas traditions described in this novella. The romance develops super quick (like one evening into the next morning), so that was pushing the timeline believability for me a bit. I still enjoyed the novella, just think I was missing a portion of the background and character development for Luisa and Percy with all of a sudden Mr. Flynn jumping into the picture. I needed more from this short story to connect with the characters and the relationship, but I did enjoy the author's writing style. My very favorite part of this novella was actually all the Irish proverbs/sayings that Mr. Flynn kept quoting!
An Unexpected Proposal by Annette Lyon: This novella takes place in the 1800s at a lumber (I'm guessing since it keeps being referred to as the wood camp) camp in Logan canyon in Cache Valley, Utah, with Caroline working at the camp to help cook for, clean for, etc., all the workers at the camp. When she runs into a bit of trouble with a worker, her childhood friend James comes to her rescue, but in the process startles Caroline when he unexpectedly declares his love for her. This novella deals with a heavy subject well in a short amount of time, focusing on the good in people in helping Caroline deal with what could've been a lot worse than it was. Fun setting and time period for a story between lifelong friends in a time when women's rights were not commonly respected.
Caroles on the Green by Joyce DiPastena: I don't think I've read a book before set in the 1100s, so this was an interesting setting and time period for me to read about. I struggled with how stubborn Isabel and how long it took to be revealed with why she was so mad at Lucian. For a part of the story, it got very hectic, when Isabel went to go cut down some mistletoe. It was a cute story. I probably need to re-read this one again to fully appreciate and understand parts of it. Again, there was a lot going on, but I did still enjoy reading this one!
A Winter's Knight by Donna Hatch: A bit of a fantasy with this novella, about a cursed family where every man in the family will have his wife die within a year of their marriage. As Clarissa's carriage breaks down on the road in front of the cursed castle and is rescued by the owner over Christmas, she never expected her fascination with the story of the men murdering their wives to land her actually inside the castle. I enjoyed this one. The romance was very rushed over the about 2 days the story takes place, so I struggle with the believability of that part of it and also how simple it was for the curse to be broken, but there were sweet moments when the Earl tries to host a Christmas for Clarissa while she's stranded in his home with her aunt and the Earl's brother-in-law and servants. I would've loved this one to be longer, but it was still an engaging read.
A Fortunate Exile by Heather B. Moore: Cute love story, but it felt extremely rushed to me as far as the time frame. It also seemed a bit scandalous for the time period as far as the time frame and quickness of the two characters falling in love as well. I would have liked more time and details for this story to develop more and really set the foundation for Lila and Henry's relationship and how it would be accepted with the scandals surrounding both of their recent past relationships.
Overall, another fun anthology from this series. This is an older one I hadn't read previously. These stories are always clean reads, as well as entertaining and a fun introduction to new authors and also several return authors between the anthologies/collections in the series.
Once Upon a Book Club Box 40 Books in 2020 Reading Challenge tag: A Book Chosen with Your Eyes Closed
Another setting I absolutely love - Ireland!!! I loved how the author tried to convey the Irish brogue through the characters' conversations. The concept of all the men coming to court Miss Kilchrest seemed a bit far-fetched to me, but maybe that was a common thing in the late 1800s. However, the characters were well developed and I was on Alice's side rooting for her and Isaac, and totally agree that men are often dim-witted! ;) She was a great character, so sweet and understanding and good. Her travels back and forth every week to Cavan Town between her grandparents and to work must have been taxing, yet she looked forward to that time to be with Isaac. I wanted to know more about the party/gathering that Isaac stumbled upon with the music and dancing. Billy was another great addition to the story and Alice's defense and support of him. Really great story!
It Happened Twelfth Night by Heidi Ashworth: While I liked the characters and the descriptions, I felt like I was lost in this story, like chunks of it were missing. After the first chapter, where we're introduced to Luisa and Percy, the next chapter then jumped forward in time and mentions something about Luisa's shame within the village with no explanation of what occurred, so I'm wondering if my Kindle copy accidentally has a chapter left out? Other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed the descriptions and the Christmas traditions described in this novella. The romance develops super quick (like one evening into the next morning), so that was pushing the timeline believability for me a bit. I still enjoyed the novella, just think I was missing a portion of the background and character development for Luisa and Percy with all of a sudden Mr. Flynn jumping into the picture. I needed more from this short story to connect with the characters and the relationship, but I did enjoy the author's writing style. My very favorite part of this novella was actually all the Irish proverbs/sayings that Mr. Flynn kept quoting!
An Unexpected Proposal by Annette Lyon: This novella takes place in the 1800s at a lumber (I'm guessing since it keeps being referred to as the wood camp) camp in Logan canyon in Cache Valley, Utah, with Caroline working at the camp to help cook for, clean for, etc., all the workers at the camp. When she runs into a bit of trouble with a worker, her childhood friend James comes to her rescue, but in the process startles Caroline when he unexpectedly declares his love for her. This novella deals with a heavy subject well in a short amount of time, focusing on the good in people in helping Caroline deal with what could've been a lot worse than it was. Fun setting and time period for a story between lifelong friends in a time when women's rights were not commonly respected.
Caroles on the Green by Joyce DiPastena: I don't think I've read a book before set in the 1100s, so this was an interesting setting and time period for me to read about. I struggled with how stubborn Isabel and how long it took to be revealed with why she was so mad at Lucian. For a part of the story, it got very hectic, when Isabel went to go cut down some mistletoe. It was a cute story. I probably need to re-read this one again to fully appreciate and understand parts of it. Again, there was a lot going on, but I did still enjoy reading this one!
A Winter's Knight by Donna Hatch: A bit of a fantasy with this novella, about a cursed family where every man in the family will have his wife die within a year of their marriage. As Clarissa's carriage breaks down on the road in front of the cursed castle and is rescued by the owner over Christmas, she never expected her fascination with the story of the men murdering their wives to land her actually inside the castle. I enjoyed this one. The romance was very rushed over the about 2 days the story takes place, so I struggle with the believability of that part of it and also how simple it was for the curse to be broken, but there were sweet moments when the Earl tries to host a Christmas for Clarissa while she's stranded in his home with her aunt and the Earl's brother-in-law and servants. I would've loved this one to be longer, but it was still an engaging read.
A Fortunate Exile by Heather B. Moore: Cute love story, but it felt extremely rushed to me as far as the time frame. It also seemed a bit scandalous for the time period as far as the time frame and quickness of the two characters falling in love as well. I would have liked more time and details for this story to develop more and really set the foundation for Lila and Henry's relationship and how it would be accepted with the scandals surrounding both of their recent past relationships.
Overall, another fun anthology from this series. This is an older one I hadn't read previously. These stories are always clean reads, as well as entertaining and a fun introduction to new authors and also several return authors between the anthologies/collections in the series.
Once Upon a Book Club Box 40 Books in 2020 Reading Challenge tag: A Book Chosen with Your Eyes Closed