From The Heart [Paperback]

FROM THE HEART, is a five-story anthology I found on the discard table, at the local used bookstore. I paid a paltry sum - .35 cents! Did I luck out? Oh yea!

Mary Balogh: "The Anniversary." -- Rating: A+
This type of tale is a Mary Balogh specialty, a well-written, short story set in Regency England. THE ANNIVERSARY is a gentle romance with intense sensuality, yet the author does not rely on powerful bed scenes to draw that sensuality. Amy Richmond, the Countess of Reardon, exists on the country estate belonging to her estranged husband, Hugh. They have never spent one married day or night together. However, on this the eve of St. Valentine's Day, the earl is returning to Reardon Park to attend to his wife and THEIR son. If I have one complaint, with this short story, it is exactly that . . . too short!

Anne Barbour: "The Wooing of Lord Walford." -- Rating: B+
Charles Darracot and Sarah `Sally' Berners have always been friends. To win a contest, Charlie asks his old friend to set her sights on the very available Sedge Horne, Lord Walford. Is money that important to Charlie when his long time friend takes him up on his request? THE WOOING OF LORD WALFORD is a tranquil, yet amusing love story written with Barbour's smooth pen.

Melinda McRae: "Cupid's Dart." -- Rating: B
Now this was charming. CUPID'S DART is a fun little valentine's story about two friends, who unknowingly have loved each other through the years. Everyone is enjoying the Valentine's party set in the English countryside. A party energized by games, merriment, and romance. Suddenly, confirmed bachelor, Sebastian Cole, comes to his senses and asks his long time friend Wilhelmina, the widowed Lady Taunton, to marry him. Melinda McRae pens an easy, delightful short story.

Anita Mills: "Devil's Luck." -- Rating: B-
Anita Mills' strong suit is her ability to thrust a reader into a scene. Again, in DEVIL'S LUCK, Mills' untouchable ability shines through. From the opening words, Mills moves her reader to The Red Ram Inn, in February 1795. Gentlemen are gambling in a smoky, deserted taproom. One gentleman wins; the others lose - one so greatly his daughter is forfeited. Garth Rowland, Viscount Trevaney, has won Melisande Merriweather in a card game! Although the story's idea held great promise, it gets only a 7 rating - there just wasn't enough tingle in the delivery.

Sandra Heath: "The Imposter." -- Rating: A-
As an author, what Sandra Heath does brilliantly is to offer historical facts, yet still manages to keep the romance front and center. This is not a simple task and as a reader I am most appreciative. After all, this is the nature of the genre - romance. THE IMPOSTER is simply a tale of what can happen when we try to deceive. A debt of honor has obliged Felix Vestey, the future Viscount of Northwood, to fib for a foolish `friend.' The victim of the deceit is his `friend's' betrothed, Miss Jane Martin. However, upon meeting Miss Martin, Felix finds he cannot lie to her; instead, Felix finds himself very much in love. Sandra Heath delivers a fine story, holding her reader's interest from start to finish.

A word of advice: check out that discard table, you never know what you'll find . . .

MaryGrace Meloche.

I believe it must be difficult for authors to write these little novellas that go into the 3-, 4-, or 5-author anthologies, so I never expect to enjoy them as much as I do the full-length novels. I am usually happy if about half of the stories are good. Here are my ratings:

The Anniversary - Mary Balogh
This story was the reason I bought the book (I'm a Balogh fan) and it was good, but I've read better by Balogh - even better novellas. And just "good" by Balogh is still MUCH better than most authors. It was a sweet story about 2 people who make a "mistake" and end up married because of it. Each believes the other doesn't want them and so they are estranged. But when the husband comes home after being absent for many months, the two of them realize that there might be feelings for each other after all - but they are both very sensitive and hurt each other in the process of discovering each other's true feelings. It works out in the end, of course.

The Wooing of Lord Walford - Anne Barbour
This was surprisingly my favorite story of the book. Two friends, Charlie and Sally, set out to win a bet by planning to have Sally marry Lord Walford - then Charlie will be the only one of his group of friends left unmarried and will therefore win a large sum of cash from the bet he and his friends made years ago. I won't say anything more; you'll need to read it yourself - it's a very fun, sweet story and the characters are very likeable, and the romance is believable.

Cupid's Dart - Melinda McRae
This was a story about friends who used to be lovers, who are just friends now, who decide that they love each other "forever" after all. They discover this at a Valentine's party where neither is there for any romantic purpose whatsoever - in fact, they make fun of the party, but then Cupid aims his arrow at them. It was an ok story. Nothing super-exciting, but not terrible.

Devil's Luck - Anita Mills
This was kind of an odd story. A kindly but foolish father, who gambles away everything, is forced to offer one of his three daughters to the lord who won all his money (money that he doesn't actually have). So the father tells his wife and daughters, and the daughters draw straws to decide who gets the lord (although he is rich, none of the sisters want him because he is reported to be a heartless, terrible rake). The middle sister gets the short straw and sadly accepts her fate. However, the lord meets her, kisses her, and tells her he isn't interested and leaves; it was his intention only to let her father stew for awhile to teach him a lesson - he never intended to actually marry one of the girls. Then the oldest daughter runs off with a fortune hunter, and the middle daughter gallops after them in the middle of the night. She stops by an inn, where she comes upon Lord Trevaney who is staying there, and he tries to make her go home but ends up helping her follow her sister and the fortune hunter. They find them, but also find some of Lord T's friends, who he has to tell that the middle sister (Melisande) is his wife to spare her reputation. Then the girls' father shows up and there is total chaos. So the eldest sister, Charlotte, doesn't marry the fortune hunter after all, because he doesn't want her after he finds out she doesn't actually have any money, but Melisande is advised (and asked) to marry Lord Trevaney, since she's been in his company alone. Melisande says no, and Lord T leaves. Then he comes back a couple of days later and asks her again because...he loves her? What? When did this happen? I was very confused, because I didn't see any kind of relationship development in the story. This was poorly done.

The Imposter - Sandra Heath
This had the makings of a good story, but was hindered by the length. Everything happened way too fast. I think this novella length makes it difficult to write a good story because characters who meet at the beginning of the story are almost forced to fall in love at first sight. I don't like "love at first sight" stories, so that's probably why I wished this could have been longer. The hero reluctantly goes to the heroine's house to lie for his friend who is actually betrothed to the heroine. But when he sees the heroine, Jane, he falls in love and pretends to be his friend so they can spend time together as an affianced couple. Of course, there's the whole problem of him not actually BEING her betrothed...the way everything gets wrapped up is sweet, though, and the secondary characters are interesting as well.

So overall - in best to worst order: Barbour, Balogh, Heath, McRae, and Mills.

› Go to Amazon U.S. to see both reviews  3.5 out of 5 stars