Monday, July 11, 2022

This Time Around: Three Sweet Romances by Denise Hunter, Melissa Ferguson, and Kathleen Fuller

This time around

Reviewed by Kristin

This trio of stories truly does deliver what the subtitle promises: sweet romance. There are a few instances where tropes and the usual clichés took over the plots, but I did enjoy them as the light summer reading they were meant to be.

A Summer Detour by Denise Hunter

Allie Adams is the baby of the family, and her parents always second-guess her ability to fulfill promises. She is always asked to bring the napkins to family dinners. The napkins, for heaven’s sake! After that incident with Cocoa Puffs stuck up her nephew Evan’s nose, necessitating a trip to the ER, Allie hasn’t been asked to babysit for her sister Olivia’s little darlings, either.

When her parents suddenly need someone to drive a family heirloom, a newly restored ’57 Chevy, from Georgia to Pennsylvania in time for her grandparents’ 50th-anniversary party, Allie is not on the top of their list. She’s not even on their list at all. But no one else is available, they are desperate, and Allie insists she can do it. The one little thing she didn’t consider was the manual transmission, causing her to ask a huge favor of the man who broke her heart seven years ago, Luke Fletcher.

Pining for You by Melissa Ferguson

Theo Watkins III, a financial advisor and established bachelor who drives a Tesla, analyzes everything. He mentally calculates the likelihood of his romantic prospects turning into anything serious, and would never do anything rash in his professional or private life. Living in the small town of Abingdon, Virginia, there just aren’t that many compatible women for him. Statistically, that is.

When Theo checks on Ralph Fuller, the injured caretaker of his family’s Christmas tree farm, he is shocked to see that his childhood best friend, the girl next door, Skye Fuller, has returned from her artist’s life on the West coast to help her aging parents. Should Theo stick with his methodical approach to dating, or throw caution to the wind and follow his heart? Should Skye keep holding a grudge against the man who signs her father’s paychecks, or should she open herself to new possibilities?

He Loves Me; He Loves Me Not by Kathleen Fuller

Sophie Morgan is working hard in small town Maple Falls, Arkansas building her flower shop business, not taking the time to look for love. Sophie finally decides she’s ready to accept a date, whenever one finally comes along. Sophie’s mother is overjoyed and ready to start planning a wedding. Later that day Sophie is stunned when not one but two courting men come into Petals and Posies within minutes of each other.

Joe Johnson has known Sophie since kindergarten although they haven’t seen much of each other for the past fifteen years. Joe married his high school sweetheart, divorced rather quickly, and became a high school history teacher. Landon Ferry is a rather eligible man about town with a law practice and various business interests. When both men ask Sophie on a date, she must decide who sets her heart alight, Landon or Joe? Sophie and the man of her dreams definitely have wedding bells in their future, once she can figure out where her heart is directing her.

 

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