Review: Love Blossoms Box Set

Seven Lovely Novellas

From Amazon:

Seven contemporary Christian romances for your springtime reading pleasure from your favorite authors:

A Handful of Flowers (The Callaghans & McFaddens Book 1) by Kimberly Rae Jordan

They had a deal. She’d watch his kids, and he’d do the repairs on her aging home. Neither wanted anything more, but sometimes God has a different plan.

The Bridesmaid’s Hero (A Snowgum Creek Novella) by Narelle Atkins

Serena Blaxland’s job at her parents’ B&B in Snowgum Creek, Australia, is only temporary. Sparks fly when hire car driver Harry Westmore saves the beautiful pastry chef from disrupting her sister’s wedding day, but the opportunity of a lifetime threatens to push them apart. Can Harry and Serena’s love and faith overcome the obstacles in their path?

A Lesson in Love (The Macleans Book 3) by Autumn MacArthur

Love can make life complicated! Sports teachers Fraser Maclean and Sarah Browne have worked together all year, but when a garden project for their church brings them together outside of school, everything changes. Can they learn God’s lessons in love, or will secrets and fear keep them apart?

Spring at the Barncastle by Lynette Sowell

After a career disaster, Sadie Barncastle finds herself in rural Vermont, starting over and opening up a shop at the family inn. She meets up with an old friend from childhood, Peter Appleman, a widower next door with a precocious daughter. But Sadie's not sure if life in the Green Mountains is for her and feels the call of Boston drawing her. Peter, however, is drawn to Sadie but isn't quite sure if he's ready to move on yet. As Easter approaches, a time of forgiveness, restoration, and joy, the two realize that it's also a time for new beginnings, but does that include with each other?

Walk You There (Savannah Sweethearts Book 5) by Jan Thompson

A local tour guide who makes a living off Savannah history goes to battle against an award-winning developer who wants to demolish the old city block she lives in.

A Match for Magnolia (Seven Suitors for Seven Sisters Book 1) by Marion Ueckermann

Magnolia Blume’s life is perfect, except for one thing—Davis Rathbone is everything she’s not looking for in a man.

Spring Break (Seasons of the Heart Novella Series) by Susette Williams

Kelly Sanders volunteers at an orphanage and loves working with children—even if they can be a bit mischievous at times. Marc Stevenson is used to fighting fires, not rescuing damsels in distress out of trees. He thinks Kelly would be perfect for him, except for that one flaw. How does a man, with visions of children, fill a nest that’s sure to be empty if he spends it with the woman he loves? 
Will some munchkins playing matchmaker be able to bring Kelly and Marc together? Or will love’s ember never have the chance to be ignited?

My Review

Okay, I’m slow. I’d wondered why this box set was called Love Blossoms. There was the obvious: that each of the stories has a flower or garden theme. But I’ve only just realised that it’s also around spring blossoms, because it’s coming into spring in the Northern Hemisphere. Duh. It’s high summer here. Spring is almost a year away.

Anyway, onto the stories.

Several of the novellas were part of a series, although all were effective standalone stories (although after reading them, you might just want to check out more in the series).

I think my favourite story was A Lesson in Love. It’s the third Autumn MacArthur novella I’ve read, and her writing is getting better and better. I loved the way she dealt with a sensitive topic, and the way both her characters had a strong Christian faith and allowed God to speak to them.

The Bridesmaid’s Hero was a fun Aussie story from Narelle Atkins (although I come from a snake-free country so could have done without that opening!) with two characters who have to decide if their attraction and common faith is enough to overcome the obstacles in their way.

A Match for Magnolia was a lot of fun, especially the idea of seven daughters all named after flowers. This looks like being a fun series, as does the oversized modern Brady Bunch introduced in A Handful of Flowers. Spring at the Barncastle was a sweet romance set on a maple syrup farm (I would have liked a taste!), and Walk You There was the perfect combination of sweet and bittersweet. Finally, Spring Break: a lovely story, and my only complaint with Spring Break was that it was all over too quickly.

Overall, an enjoyable set of romance novellas, perfect for long summer days (or long winter nights).

Thanks to the authors for providing a free ebook for review.