Published by Need to Read
Released on February 2, 2013
Pages: 527
Format: eBook
Source: Free Book
The Delight
Mad About You snagged my attention a few years back and I planned to dive in and try this novella collection of the author’s work. Well, as can happen with me, I got distracted and forgot, but a lucky happenstance in the form of a reading challenge brought it back to my attention. Everything from the whimsical covers to the fun-sounding blurbs has me revved to dive in.
Review
I’ll take these in turn and put up a mini-review on each novella in the boxed set.
Licensed to Thrill 3.5 stars
Romantic Mystery
Every James Bond-crushing woman’s fantasy. A British spy saves an American antiquities expert in a museum theft caper.
James is asked by an old flame to guard a historic document purported to being a love letter written by King George the third to a museum in San Francisco that will authenticate and then handle the sale. No sooner is he arrived than the letter is stolen and the understated, attractive museum curator, Kat McCray, is strongly implicated in the theft. Kat has secrets, but what truly alarms him is the strong and scary attraction he feels for her and the feeling of needing more when he has never wanted a relationship. For her part, Kat is wary of James’ sticking around and being capable of a long-term relationship, but first she has to clear her own name.
Fun and suspenseful!
Almost a Family 5 stars
A complicated, emotional second chance romance. Bailey and Ginny got married too young, had a child and their little boy was kidnapped. Bailey said some unforgivable things at the time. It broke them apart. Eight years later, their son is found after his mom died and now… a new chance.
This was not starry-eyed nor was it easy. Chad was truly attached to the woman he thought of as mother for eight years and she was a good mom. Ginny has her work cut out for her to win a place in his heart. Bailey had it easier with Chad since he wasn’t replacing anyone, but he had an uphill battle proving he was changed and truly worthy of Ginny after everything he pulled when he was younger and the way he was merely existing as a single, carefree guy.
A fabulous, heartwarming well developed story of family and renewal.
Three Wishes 3.5 stars
A modern retelling of Aladdin
Let’s just say I’m a bit slow and it took a while for me to realize what I was reading. Sure I noticed interior designer and governor’s girl friend was named Jasmine, of course I noticed there was a lamp, a rug, and a genie when antique store owner Ladden brought his latest haul into the store and planned for the rug to go to his secret girl crush Jasmine when she requested a specific type and color of Persian rug for the governor’s mansion do-over… Then, oh, Lad was Alladdin. D’oh!
Wished she hadn’t been dating the Gov or sounded a tad mercenary about wealth and status at first or that Ladden and Jasmine crossed the line since she was dating, but cute and fun tale.
A bit of whimsy that is perfect for fairytale retelling fans.
All in all, it was a wonderful eclectic collection that hit the spectrum of emotions and sub-genres of romance. A romcom, a retelling, and a second chance romance and each were engaging in their own way. This collection doesn’t exist any more, but the stories are still individually published and I can recommend them especially Almost a Family.
Challenges Met
Mt. TBR #30
Literary Pickers #57 microwave
Romanceopoly #26 library (free choice)
Reading Assignment #11 Prof Ann Thology
COYER Quarantine #1
Books N Tunes #12 Disney Aladdin’s A Whole New World
Preview
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The first and second story sounds good. Glad to hear you enjoyed them all. 🙂
That second one really hit me hard. I’m definitely going to hunt up more of her books.
Interesting. I wouldn’t say novellas with a total of over 500 pages, more like half size books. And they don’t seem related other than the author. That’s an odd but interesting collection and nice that they were all pretty good. Fantastic review!
Yeah, it was a pretty eclectic sampler. I want to try more of her stuff.
sounds like a winner
sherry @ fundinmental
I had a good time with these, Sherry. 🙂
Its so easy to just grab these novellas and totally forget about them. Glad you had a fun time with these all.
Oh man, yes! I have so many freebies and cheapies on my stack that I thought I’d crack open right away at the time and then didn’t. Yes, these were a fun stack of the author’s stories.
Sounds decent overall.
Yes, the middle one was stellar for me, but the others were pretty entertaining.
My mom is a huge James Bond fan! She would probably enjoy Licensed to Thrill. Almost a Family sounds really emotional, but would most definitely be a story I would enjoy. Three Wishes sounds interesting, because I do enjoy a good fairytale retelling, and I love Aladdin. I’m glad you enjoyed all three of these stories! I enjoy boxed sets/anthologies for the variety of stories offered, and all of these stories sound so different!
Oh fun! All these novellas are sold separately now so she could pick it up on Kindle if she wanted.
Ah yes, Almost a Family was so touching.
The retelling was fun once I figured out that was what I was reading.
It was great trying her variety of stories. I guess she writes mostly romantic suspense which I like, too.