The Seduction of Sebastian Tranton by Stephanie Laurens
This was cute and I really liked the couple! Geek paired with bluestocking. The sex scenes were vague and leaned towards purple prose, but I enjoyed the slow build-up of tension. This probably would have done better as a full-length novel, though I admit to missing out on the set-up by reading this book before [b:It Happened One Night|2854826|It Happened One Night|Stephanie Laurens|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1392878412s/2854826.jpg|2880960]. (3 stars)

Only Love by Mary Balogh
Perhaps it is a glitch in the ebook I was reading, but I felt like italics were overused. I found myself reading the emphasis in every third sentence and it threw me off. But, there was a plain, insecure heroine so of course I liked it. (3.5 stars)

Hope Springs Eternal by Jacquie D'Alessandro


Fate Strikes a Bargain by Candice Hern
This is a very sweet, low-angst tale about a MOC-turned-love-match between a vet with PTSD and a beautiful young woman with a limp. I liked it because of the tropes but it was pretty tepid, IMO. To be fair, a lot of that is likely due to the constraints of a short story, but I was hoping for a bit more. (3 stars)

The Seduction of Sebastian Tranton by Stephanie Laurens
This was cute and I really liked the couple! Geek paired with bluestocking. The sex scenes were vague and leaned towards purple prose, but I enjoyed the slow build-up of tension. This probably would have done better as a full-length novel, though I admit to missing out on the set-up by reading this book before [b:It Happened One Night|2854826|It Happened One Night|Stephanie Laurens|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1392878412s/2854826.jpg|2880960]. (3 stars)

Only Love by Mary Balogh
Perhaps it is a glitch in the ebook I was reading, but I felt like italics were overused. I found myself reading the emphasis in every third sentence and it threw me off. But, there was a plain, insecure heroine so of course I liked it. (3.5 stars)

Hope Springs Eternal by Jacquie D'Alessandro


Fate Strikes a Bargain by Candice Hern
This is a very sweet, low-angst tale about a MOC-turned-love-match between a vet with PTSD and a beautiful young woman with a limp. I liked it because of the tropes but it was pretty tepid, IMO. To be fair, a lot of that is likely due to the constraints of a short story, but I was hoping for a bit more. (3 stars)

I like the concept! Like Round-Robin writing, but with extra space to give good characterization. ( )

Nice, but fairly meh set of short stories. The improbable set-up just didn't do anything for me. The best of the lot was Candice Hern's "Fate Strikes a Bargain," which was a moving story of one soldier's PTSD. ( )

4 short stories all with similar plot basis. This was my first time reading stories like this but because Mary Balogh was one of the authors I was will to try. She is one of my favorites. I have read many of Stephanie Laurens books as well so I thought I would try it. I was pleasantly surprise by all four stories but I would have to say that even though I enjoyed them all the best was the last which was a completly unknown reader to me Candice Hern. I enjoyed her stories the most. Now I will also look for the other books they have done this way, sampler style. Great for when you need something quick. ( )