2 out of 5 stars
Cut to the Chase:
I’m a little torn because I really don’t read enough short novella romances to know what to compare this to, but at a little under 5,000 words total for three different stories, each of these felt more like a really promising idea laid out in an interesting scene than an actual romance. The characters and set-ups are all interesting; I just wish this had been say, three books, as opposed to three fairly quick scenes.
Greater Detail:
There’s not a whole lot more I can say without giving too much away. There are three different short, short romance stories here: a woman who’s cheated on and ends up meeting a cute firefighter who comes to rescue her food from the kitchen, another woman whose boyfriend has left her and leaves her with repairs (through which she meets a repairman with an enterprising grandmother), and a widow who reconnects with an old childhood friend via her daughter.
There’s a lot of promising set up and interesting characters, but again, to me, this wasn’t a satisfying read so much as a teaser…
Comparisons to Other Books:
Shenberger is a very creative and sometimes very ambitious romance writer who likes to mash up genres you wouldn’t otherwise think of, and who’s good at creating believable scenarios in which her characters meet. I think her strongest work is Secrets of the Heart, though even with a couple of misfires, I’ve still been interested in her work enough to continue reading.