An anthology dream team comes together again with a unique concept and four well written, beautiful love stories.

After the success of their first anthology, It Happened One Night, historical superstars Stephanie Laurens, Mary Balogh, Candice Hern, and Jacquie D’Alessandro have come together again to offer readers another collection of historical adventures with a unique twist; the key plot items were submitted and developed by one lucky fan who won a contest to come up with the theme for this book. I thought this was a brilliant idea and I hope to see more contests like this take place in future.

Now on to the stories themselves… Each book has the same basic elements – a reclusive war hero finds himself required to marry after his older brother finds himself with only daughters. He meets a shy or unattractive girl who he convinces to marry him. When you have four very different writers in one collection yet writing about the same basic thing, you are bound to get stories that are diverse. However, I was disappointed when I did finish this book as the stories were not as individual as I would have hoped. But, other than that, they were all enjoyable to read over all.

The Seduction of Sebastian Trantor - Stephanie Laurens

Rating: 7 (Good) Heat Level: 3 (Sensual)

Tabitha must solve a mystery and catch a blackmailer. She will stop at nothing to help several unfortunate families being plagued by a vicious gossipmonger who is blackmailing them and threatening to ruin the marriage chances of one of the young women in the family. She even stoops to breaking into the study of one of the ton’s most well known lords only to be caught in the act by reclusive war hero Sebastian. They immediately hit it off but when they are discovered together in a compromising situation, Sebastian offers a solution to both of their problems and promptly asks Tabitha to marry him.

Stephanie’s eloquent and witty writing style is evident throughout her story and I like how she has written such an easy love story between Tabitha and Sebastian. However, since their love comes quickly there is no conflict or build up. I wanted more turmoil and more of a struggle and I found this story to be a bit bland without those elements. The love scenes were long and drawn out, actually they were boring. I have found Stephanie’s writing style with love scenes to have taken a significant turn lately and I can’t say that I like her over dramatic, flowery writing that much anymore.

Overall, the story lacked excitement but I did like the characters.

Only Love - Mary Balogh

Rating: 7.5 (Better than just Good) Heat Level: 3 (Sensual)

Cleo is a war widow with a desire to live a quiet life alone. But, at the last ball she plans to ever attend she meets a fellow war veteran whom she has never forgotten. In fact, Jack Gilchrist is the only man who has ever kissed her – after informing her of the death of her husband – and she gets swept up in his need to marry and produce and heir for his brother. Jack can’t see beyond his attraction to the quiet, beautiful Cleo and he will do anything to make her his bride. So she agrees to be his mistress until they can be sure that she can produce the heir that he needs. Jack however, wants her no matter what happens…

This story is considerably shorter than the first one which left little room for an expansive plot or character development and the conflict is somewhat trivial. However, the love story is sweet and uncomplicated and Mary’s superior writing helped me to understand the characters and be legitimately tied into their story- a good writer can bring vibrancy and life to a character with very little words. I liked the story overall.

Hope Springs Eternal, Jacquie D’Alessandro

Rating: 8 (Very Good) Heat Level: 3.5 (Very Sensual)

Penelope Markham has been fired from her governess position for creating a scandalous work of art and finds herself in London practically destitute. Alex Trentwell was once Penelope’s brother’s commander and he feels responsible for the man’s death and Penelope’s strained circumstances. He seeks her out to make restitution and finds himself completely attracted to her. He offers her a nanny position with his brother while he tries to find a bride, secretly knowing all along that the only woman he wants is Penelope.

This is the only story in the book that contains a demonstrated attraction between the main characters. Jacquie describes each characters thoughts and feelings in such a way that I was drawn to them and their love story far more than in the other stories. I also found the conflict to be a legitimate one even if the resolution of it is slightly anti-climactic. Overall, this is by far my favorite of the anthology and a great story in general.

Fate Strikes a Bargain - Candice Hern

Rating: 7 (Good) Heat Level: 3 (Sensual)

Nathaniel Beckwith is dealing with severe mental issues after his return from the war. The last thing he wants is to spend the rest of his life with an insipid girl of the ton, even if that is what his brother wishes. Hiding out behind an orange tree at a ball he meets the no-nonsense beauty Phillippa Reynolds and is instantly smitten. He proposes to her on the spot promising to take her away from her smothering family and give her a more independent life. But Phillippa has a horrible limp and is looked at badly in society. Nat’s brother refuses to accept his choice of bride and Phillippa and Nat will have to work hard to find their happy ending.

I found this story to be little tepid and tame. The love story has no bite or excitement to it even if it is very sweet. The main characters develop a wonderful friendship but I just couldn’t feel the romance or attraction so I had a hard time getting into their story. The ending is simply lovely and put a big smile on my face. Overall, it is a little too sweet for me.

Reviewed by: Danielle