Lovin' los libros

 

When I first saw this anthology come available for review, I immediately knew it would be a must read! I am absolutely in love with Candis Terry's Sweet series, so to see a novella by her was reason enough to snag this. I have been wanting to read books by Jennifer Ryan and Jennifer Seasons for awhile now, so to get a taste of their writing through these novellas was awesome. I will definitely be picking up their other books soon! All of these stories are cute, sweet, and have just the right amount of steam and romance to prepare you for the holiday of love.

 

Waiting For You by Jennifer Ryan tells of a woman named Taylor who has come back to her hometown to help take care of her now deceased grandmother's ranch, as well as run her grocery store. Running into Grant Devane reignites old feelings she's just barely been able to push below the surface. Yet she has also been hurt by Grant and is unsure of how her coming back into town will affect the two. Grant realizes he made a mistake with her and wants nothing more than the chance to rectify it and make her his. However, Grant certainly has his work cut out for him. He has a lot of explaining to do in regards to why things happened the way they did between the two of them, but he is determined to not let her get away this time. I really enjoyed both Grant and Taylor and watching him go to the lengths he did to show her how he really felt (and had felt all along) was really sweet.

 

Sweet Fortune by Candis Terry was probably my favorite of the three, but that's because I am already so invested in these characters! I was rooting for shy Sarah to find a love of her own ever since the first book in the series Anything But Sweet. Sarah has always been on the shyer, not so adventurous side. She doesn't have the bonds that her friends in Sweet do to their families. Yet, she does know she's tired of just sitting on the sidelines. I admire her so much for realizing that her life wasn't what she wanted and that she was going to grab the bull by the horns and take charge of it. Moving to Sweet was impulsive, but necessary for her and while she sees herself the way she does, I saw a girl with guts. As Valentine's Day nears, she doesn't want to let another year pass her by without love. After seeing the Sweet's Valentine's Day Most Wanted and finding Deputy Brady Bennett listed, she decides to take a chance. She doesn't think he would go for a girl like her, but she is willing to give it her best shot.

 

Brady is attracted to the sweet, vulnerable blonde, but is quite jaded when it comes to love and relationships. He vows he won't go down that road before, as it only leads to heartbreak and betrayal. Yet, Sarah manages to insert herself into not only his life, but his heart.

 

Terry does such a great job of bringing the sexual chemistry and I loved watching Brady and Sarah together. The thought of her being with someone else sends him into a jealous rage, which is his number one clue that he's already in pretty deep.

 

I also loved getting to see Charli and Reno again! They were the reasons I fell in love with this series to start, so it was great seeing them together and helping their friends.

 

Finally, Major League Crush by Jennifer Seasons ended the anthology and I loved the witty, quirky humor she inserted into her novella. Bertie Cogswell is not at all like the beautiful, statuesque women that frequent her drop dead gorgeous neighbor's doorstep. Instead, she is a bit a of nerd and with her curves and glasses doesn't attract many men to her own door. Yet, Bertie has character and she has heart and that is what made me love her. Some of the things she said had me cracking up at how awkward she was! She never in a million years expected her neighbor Drake Paulson, baseball player extraordinaire, to notice her. Drake is currently on hiatus from the dating pool, tired of the usual women that he associates with. He wants something real and when the adorably quirky Bertie ignites something in him he never expected to feel with someone like her, he can't deny that he wants her. Spending even a few minutes with her, he can tell she's different and it's like a breath of fresh air. He has harbored a crush on a comic strip artist for years and even though he's never met her, he's fallen for her wit and humor and he can't get enough of her strip portraying a baseball player and a nerdy almost stalker girl who lives across the hall. Sound familiar? Minus the stalker part, you've got it! Watching Drake put two and two together was quite amusing and several shades of HOT.

 

It was so much fun watching the two together, especially since Bertie knew she was way out of her league when it came to Drake. I hated her self doubts and insecurity, but I can understand where she was coming from. For someone who has never had men knocking down her door, she has a hard time discerning whether he feels something true or if he's making fun of her. What she doesn't realize is that Drake is a genuine, good guy even though he seems a bit insincere at first with all the 'girly' and 'girl' he uses with her.

 

If you are looking for some heartwarming romance this Valentine's Day, this anthology will definitely satisfy you and leave you high on love and all things sweet and sappy.