European Collection

Six Historical Romance Novellas (A Timeless Romance Anthology, Book 5)

De: Annette Lyon, G.G. Vandagriff, Michele Paige Holmes, Sarah M. Eden, Heather B. Moore, Nancy Campbell Allen

Narrado por: Elizabeth Wiley

In War of Hearts, Annette Lyon's exciting novella, Anna, a journalist, is desperate to escape the magazine where Pete, her now-former boyfriend, also works. Heartbroken and still in love with him, Anna snags an assignment to cover the Winter War in Finland. She arrives at a snowy Finnish battlefront only to discover that Pete is already there - as her photographer. She's determined to be professional about the situation until a battle breaks out in camp, putting her and Pete in harm's way and putting their love to the test.

In G.G. Vandagriff's enchanting novella, The Earl of Oaksey Takes a Wife, Melissa Burroughs is the new Countess of Oaksey. Her whirlwind romance and subsequent elopement was worth every divine moment, even if her parents did disapprove. When Melissa learns about her new husband's apparently empty pockets, she wonders if the intimacy they've shared is only the ruse of a fortune-hunter. Melissa is devastated and determines to live a separate life from her new husband. But the Earl has other plans, which do not include staying away from his wife.

In Michele Paige Holmes' charming story, Gift of Love, Ethan Mooreleigh knows he'll never love another woman after the loss of his beloved wife. Yet he needs a male heir to inherit his vast fortune. Ethan's best friend, Stuart, has an idea and retrieves his sister, Amelia, who has been living in a convent since the tragic death of her parents. Amelia only agrees to enter into the contract marriage because there's a child involved, Ethan's neglected three-year-old daughter.

A Lesson in Love, a delightful novella by Sarah M. Eden, captures the uncertainties of newlywed life. Lucy Stanthorpe arrives for the London Season, planning to attend every ball and musicale with her new husband, Reed, only to discover he has no intention of taking part in the social whirl. Spurred on by their family and friends, Lucy and Reed each formulate increasingly outlandish plans to teach the other a lesson in appreciation.

In An Ocean Away, Heather B. Moore's captivating story, Gina Graydon knows the last thing she'll attract on her holiday in France is an eligible bachelor. Tall, outspoken, and with a weakness for laughing at the wrong moment, not to mention being much too occupied with reading gothic romances, Gina decides she'd rather live in her fictional world. Besides, the only man who pays attention to her at the resort hotel happens to be her father's worst enemy. And that is far from romantic.

Nancy Campbell Allen's entrancing novella, What Happens in Venice, follows Evangeline Stuart as she determines to enjoy her vacation in Venice - her first and likely her last since she lives under the strict confines of her step-father's control. When she meets the mysterious and romantic Conte Bellini, who happens to be Italy's most eligible bachelor, she decides he is all part of the dream of visiting Venice.

©2014 Mirror Press, LLC (P)2017 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Just a chapter more would have been so much more satisfying

I found myself wishing for just one or two chapters for most of the stories. The climax is reached and bam finished with the book.

Another great collection!

Another great collection of romances, this one historical but not all from the same period. I listened to the audiobook and really enjoyed it. The narrator did a great job.

4 1/2 stars

Uneven

These short stories are uneven at best. While I like Elizabeth Wiley’s voice and she does do a credible Italian accent (but what do I know), her attempt at English accents is off putting and makes the characters unappealing. I will avoid her attempts at them in the future.

Different and Mostly Well Done

Not may favorite of these anthologies, but European Collection is better than TV or the movies. PG13 The work of Sarah M. Eden continues to rise to the top. Two authors wrote plots too complicated for a short novella.

Two stories are worth it

Two of these stories are worth getting this collection, if you have audible escape.

War of hearts: 1 star. Anna is a journalist, but knows nothing about Finland, and whines about the cold incessantly. She’s not exactly the hard boiled journalist of so many great b/w movies on TCM. Pete is a jerk who breaks up with Anna to pursue his own career, then tells himself he did it to spare Anna. They meet again in the midst of the Finnish war against Lenin. Anna pines, Pete second guesses, and I rolled my eyes. Sadly, the characters were made more unlikable by the narrator, who has a bad habit of portraying women as simpering idiots and men as unfeeling fools. Well, Pete wasn’t unfeeling, just spineless. And a fool.

The Earl of Oakley: 1 star. I listened to maybe the first ten minutes, then skipped through large chunks of the rest. Melissa sounded like such a featherbrained nitwit, and her actions weren’t any better. Painfully predictable. I couldn’t even make it through the last chapter for the hea.

Gift of Love: 3 stars. I didn’t like the premise, as the Countess (a convent raised virgin- shocker) sold herself as a brood mare and the Earl agreed to buy her. He was another real jerk at the outset, hoping she was a meek mouse, running off the moment vows were said, and basically being a self absorbed ass. This all changes, of course. I confess, I skipped through a lot of this book. Regardless of the outcome, women being treated badly is not my thing. Happily, this story was saved by a villain, a surprising dark deed, and a neat, if quick, wrap up.

A Lesson in Love: 2 stars. One star is just because this is an Eden book, and she is an excellent writer. This was not one of her better stories, tho I believe some may find it charming. Lucy is childish and Reed is yet another self absorbed jerk. They’ve been married for less than a year, come back to London for the first time since their courtship. She wants to relive their exciting romance and society, he wants to sit home, quietly enjoying *not* having to relive a courtship and avoiding society. Her family gets involved and it devolves into a hurtful battle, men against the women. Lucy gets her emotions and confidence trampled, Reed is just confused. None of the ‘adults’ thought to advise them to talk to each other. Of course, if they had, there’d have been no story. Cheap trick.

An Ocean Away: 4 stars. Cute story about an awkward young woman and a charming man. She climbs off her balcony to read in the hotel garden. He sees her, doesn’t judge, doesn’t laugh, is intrigued. Yay- he’s not a jerk! The fly in the ointment is the fact her father IS a jerk. He is a business rival and hates the hero, and determines he will not let his daughter near her heart’s desire. My only complaint is the ending, where the hero is a bit high handed. It’s a plot manipulation, so the heroine can say what’s needed, but it makes the hero unkind. Not terrible, but could have been done better.

What Happens in Venice: 5 stars. Sweet romance that made me smile throughout. Evangeline is an orphan badly used by her stepfather. The Conte, a passionate Italian, unravels her mystery and quietly comes to her rescue, but she does a fair amount of rescuing herself. The intrigue is in the secondary plot, not the romance, which is straightforward insta love. (It is a novella, after all.) I only wish we had an epilogue, just to see the stepfamily get what they deserve.

One of my favorites

This was an excellent collection. I especially loved the last story. I’m a sucker for a good rescue, but really, they were so many good ones in this collection. I’d have to say that this collection and their valentines collection are my two favorites.

Sweet stories

The first one was hard for me to get into, but after that most of them flowed smoothly and played out well. A couple were just so-so, but some were very good. One had a surprising plot twist. I found the narrator too staccato for my taste got used to it.

Enjoyable

It is nice to listen to fun,romantic stories that you don't have to worry will offend you or embarrass you. The reader wasn't my favorite however,

such great stories!

I was able to pull weeds for many hours listening to these wonderful stories. I was so entertained that I didn't want to stop and I worked until my back was a mess. I got so much done and was very happy while I did it.

Ruined by one author

This is a plee to editors and publishers. When you are grouping together authors and all of them except one are clean and recommendable by people who like clean literature, please don't ruin it by sticking in one author who does not fit in the bunch. I specifically chose this collection because of the authors that I know that I can trust not to pollute their literature with foul language. However when you throw in an additional unknown author who does not share the same moral preferences, it ruins the whole book.