Three Weddings and a Murder by Tessa Dare, Leigh LaValle, Courtney Milan and Carey Baldwin

First, this is an anthology that the proceeds go to raise funds for Avon Walk for Breast Cancer.  Please read more here and here.  Such a great cause and such a generous donation!  Thanks ladies!!

Now, for a quick recap of a great anthology!

The Scandalous, Dissolute, No-Good Mr. Wright by Tessa Dare

For a novella, I usually prefer the couple to have know each other previously for the story to work better in the shorter space but in this one they don't...and it still works!  Miss Eliza Cade made a foolish mistake when she was younger and pays for it no by not being able to have a Season until her three older sisters are married.  She unintentionally meets the notorious rake, Harry Wright and they both capture each others attention.  A bit of time passes and a chance encounter reacquaints them, and the desire and attraction still burns.  With clever chapter titles and superb writing skills, you will fall for this couple and hope they overcome the obstacles that continue to arise.  Tessa Dare is an auto buy author for me and she proves why, even in the shorter story length.  4 stars 

The Misbehaving Marquess by Leigh LaValle

If you read Leigh LaValle's debut, The Runaway Countess, you know that Cat is in an unhappy marriage with her husband leaving her alone for five years.  When Jamie suddenly returns home and demands he wants an heir, all the hurt and unresolved feelings from the past five years come back full force.  It takes a small 'aha' moment for Jamie to finally talk to Cat about what happened in the past and try to forgive and move forward.  But when Cat reveals her own heartache, will they be able to overcome the last hurdle to find a way to renew their vows and start anew?  This was a very engaging story to a secondary character from a previous book and I am very happy with the results.  We get a small peek into Mazie's life as well and I am anxious for more books from the very talented Leigh LaValle!  4 stars


The Lady Always Wins by Courtney Milan

Simon Davenant was crushed when his childhood sweetheart married another, just to have money since his father was going to cut him off if he dared marry Ginny.  Now, seven years later, Ginny is a widow and he has three days to make her fall back in love with him before his new found wealth disappears.  But Ginny had her reasons for marrying for money and when they come up, it about undoes Simon's plans.  I enjoyed the banter between this couple, how they were always trying to one up each other and the ultimate one up comes at the end and was a nice little twist, which you don't always get in a novella.  Another enjoyable story for one of my favorite authors.  Seriously, Courtney Milan could write the phone book in a way that would be enjoyable :)  4 stars

Solomon's Wisdom by Carey Baldwin

It was kind of weird going from historical to romantic suspense, but once I got my brain adjusted I enjoyed this debut novella from Carey Baldwin.  It is about two couples, one long estranged and one happily married with a son and what happens when some mysterious bruises appear on the child.  The chain reactions from this event make for a quick story and twists and turns that worked all right with the novella length, but I felt would have been better situated as a full length or slightly longer novella story.  It was an enjoyable, quick read and a nice taste for what is to come in the future.  3 1/2 stars


Overall, I enjoyed all the novellas and they seem to be a good taste of each authors work.  For historical romance fans, I would recommend them all.  They will make you smile and laugh and sigh and leave you with a happy heart...and your heart is sure to pound a bit with the last one.  Overall, 4 stars

Black Hills by Nora Roberts

Ahh, Nora Roberts. One of my all time favorite authors -- although, her stand alone novels are always a hit or a miss for me. This one was definitely a hit. I have come to notice that as long as I have some sort of interest in the plot (for example, this was all about wildlife rescue which I find fascinating) that the book is so much better. On to the story...

The book centers around Lil and Cooper, two people that meet as kids and drift apart for years and reconnect. I liked how the beginning of the story started out with them both as children and continued on into the teenage love. It made me appreciate their background more. They both have wonderful families, Lil with her mom, dad, and friends Farley and Tansy and Cooper with his grandparents. Cooper had a falling out with his parents and even though it is addressed I felt it could have been resolved a bit more in the present. That was a slight issue for me. Also, if you do not have any interest in wildlife refuge/rescue you may have a hard time enjoying this book as that is so much of the story. Lil has a very special relationship with a cougar and it carries through the entire book. She opens up her own wildlife refuge abode for old, injured and mistreated animals and has gone on many adventures around the world and loves her work. Cooper was a police officer and then PI so his work comes in handy to protect Lil as the killer is waiting to get Lil.
Another issue for me was that I felt the ending was a bit rushed. This book is long...472 pages as a hardcover and I just felt like I needed just one more chapter and surely they could have lost a few other pages to make that happen. SPOILER: I was extremely disappointed that the storyline around Tansy and Farley's love, engagement, and wedding planning did not include the actual wedding. So much time was dedicated to them that I wanted to have a wedding!

That being said, this book rates a solid four and a half stars. If the ending had just been a touch different I would have given it five stars.