A Timeless Romance Anthology: WINTER COLLECTION
Sarah M. Eden, Heidi Ashworth, Annette Lyon, Joyce DiPastena, Donna Hatch, Heather B. Moore
Mirror Press - http://timelessromanceanthologies.blogspot.com
ASIN: B009JZB4RA (eBook)
BN ID: 29400015525847 (eBook)
October 2012
Six Historical Short Stories

These stories show that no matter the time or place, love between a man and a woman seldom runs smooth.

Sarah M. Eden tells a sweet and gentle tale about a couple of very likable characters in The Road to Cavan Town. It's 1864 in Ireland and two young people meet on their weekly Saturday treks to Cavan and make it a habit to keep each other company there and back after church on Sunday. Alice Wheatley's purpose in town is to give her cousin a break by caring for their grandparents to. Isaac Dancy has worked hard on his land, building a house and caring for his livestock. Now he has his eye on Sophia, the town belle, as a fitting wife to grace his home. So intent on achieving that goal is he, he fails to see the treasure close to hand. Your heart will be warmed by this one.

In It Happened Twelfth Night , Heidi Ashworth takes us back to the summer of 1812 in England when Percy, son of Sir Walter and Lady Brooksby, asks Luisa, his good friend—and something more—to wait for him to return from his grand tour. Luisa is only too happy to promise to wait. Six months later, Percy is back but is least in sight. It isn't until his parents' Twelfth Night party that she sees him. Though only the gatekeeper's daughter, Luisa had always been accepted by local society…until her good friend eloped with her dancing master. It isn't fair, but the neighborhood now snubs Luisa. Her heart is broken when she catches sight of Percy cozy with Miss Cassandra Gardner. When Luisa tries to hide, she's found and saved by one of the Twelfth Night mummers. Who is this man who so kindly helps her get through the evening? Was he hired to perform? He's dressed as well as any guest. It's a night of revelations for our heroine, and an enjoyable tale for readers.

Now cross an ocean and most of a continent to Utah in 1880 for An Unexpected Proposal by Annette Lyon. To help out her family, Caroline hires on at a winter lumber camp to help in the cookhouse. One of the woodsmen gets her alone and gives her a hard time. She's saved by her old friend James, who works on the roads. She's not ready for his kiss and flees for home. Her thoughts flit back and forth until something makes her realize her true feelings. Between happenings, much of this story is in narrative set in Caroline's head, but the ending is a happy one.

Come back to England on Christmas Eve in 1151 and enjoy Caroles on the Green by Joyce DiPastena . Lord Stephen has given his nineteen year-old daughter Isabel until the Epiphany to select a husband. That's only twelve days away. Isabel, who has been running the castle for her father since her mother died, plans to find a wife for her father and a husband for her younger sister as well. Her path is not eased by the connivance of her cousin who's out to catch Sir Lucian, Isabel's old beau. Readers will need to keep their fingers crossed for Isabel, who has the unhappy quirks of stubbornness and always needing to be in control. This is a fun read.

Let's go to the English countryside on a snowy evening during the Christmas season of 1813 for A Winter's Knight by Donna Hatch . Miss Clarissa Fairchild and her Great Aunt Tilly are returning home after a shopping expedition when they are forced to take shelter at the forbidding Wyckburg Castle. Now Clarissa is a great reader of Gothic novels, so excitement flavors her trepidation; the earls of Wyckburg have been feared for generations. Don't they murder their wives as soon as they have their heirs? The present earl, Christopher de Champs, is quite taken by the young miss who arrives at his home. But he is determined not to ever marry again just to watch another wife die. It happens that—unknown to Clarissa—all the earls of Wyckburg are cursed, and it was a Fairchild witch who placed it there five generations ago. You'll enjoy this eerie tale.

Heather B. Moore takes us back across the Atlantic to New York City in 1901. Lila Townsend, daughter of NY socialites, doesn't think it's such A Fortunate Exile to be sent to her strict aunt's farm until the gossip dies away. All she did was fall for a notoriously smooth-talking lady's man. Lila believed he really cared for her. One of the first things her aunt does is make up a list of forbidden things for her to sign and puts her to work in house and barn. Only one thing saves Lila from despair, her aunt's cousin's son Peter Weathers, a young man staying there while attending Yale University. Peter suffered a disappointment of his own. This is a happy tale of heart healing heart.

Whoever put this collection together did a wonderful job of finding six very different stories. They are all historical romance tales, but the settings, plots, and characters are unique to each one, as are the author's voices. I readily recommend this smorgasbord of treats that are suitable for all ages.

Jane Bowers