Annette Lyon Collection by Annette Lyon (Book Tour Review)

A Timeless Romance Anthology: Annette Lyon CollectionAnnette Lyon Collection
(A Timeless Romance Anthology)
by Author
Adult Romance
Ebook, 350 Pages
July 3rd 2015 by Mirror Press

Summary

The ANNETTE LYON COLLECTION contains brand new contemporary romance novella OUR SONG, as well as five hand-picked readers’ and reviewers’ favorites of Annette’s popular Timeless Romance Anthology novellas. Readers will love this selection of three contemporary and three historical romance novellas.

In OUR SONG, a charming romance novella, Cassie and Matt have been dating in the Yellowstone area for two years, and things are, well, average. When Cassie meets up with two college friends who are visiting, their love lives like sound like fairy tales: rose petals, chocolates, candles on the beach… Cassie goes home feeling like she’s missing out. After all, repeatedly watching Old Faithful erupt and walking through sulfur-smelling gases at Fountain Paint Pot don’t exactly say “romance.” Maybe things with Matt aren’t going anywhere, and it’s time to move on. Then she discovers that perception and reality are completely different things. Now she can only hope it isn’t too late to show Matt how much she really cares.

In the sweet novella GOLDEN SUNRISE, Natalie takes time out of her crazy schedule to fly to Vegas for her best friend’s wedding. Sierra and Jason, high-school sweethearts, are finally getting married. Fortunately for Natalie, her old high-school flame, Adam, has a work commitment and can’t be there as best man. But when she arrives at the wedding rehearsal—late and ragged—Adam is there. When Adam makes a wild suggestion, Natalie just may take him up on it, even though she knows he’s moved on. A single choice may mean Natalie is taking a shot at reclaiming the past—or that she's putting her heart in harm’s way a second time.

FIRSTS AND LASTS, an enchanting novella, begins with Dani’s last week in New York. She’s failed in her dreams to catch a break as an actress and is now ready to return home and dust herself off. As she visits the places on her final to-see list, she meets Mark, another New York City transplant with big dreams. Except Mark hasn’t given up on his. As they spend the day together, Dani realizes that even though she hasn’t hit the “big time” she might be living her dream after all. Only problem: she has a one-way ticket back home.

In the compelling novella WAR OF HEARTS, Anna, a journalist, is desperate to escape the magazine where Pete, her now-former boyfriend, also works. Heartbroken and still in love with him, Anna snags an assignment to cover the Winter War in Finland. She arrives at a snowy Finnish battlefront only to discover that Pete is already there—as her photographer. She’s determined to be professional about the situation until a battle breaks out in camp, putting her and Pete in harm’s way and putting their love to the test.

The captivating novella BETWEEN THE LINES follows Jane Martin, who is intelligent but extremely shy, especially around men. When the Aid and Cultural Society proposes a letter-writing program, Jane signs up, hoping she can find true friendship. The program doesn’t run as smoothly as expected, and unknown to Jane, one of the men in her city becomes her writing friend. Thomas Allred has always known shy and quiet Jane, but reading her letters written to his secret persona, opens his eyes to what an amazing woman she is. The only trouble is, Jane doesn’t know that the man who she is falling in love with through letters is also Thomas, the man who is falling in love with her in person.

In the charming novella A TASTE OF HOME, we meet Claire Jennings, who’s on her way to spend Christmas with her family. As she rides the train with William Rhodes, who grew up across the street, memories of Christmases past flood her mind. He may be twenty-one now, but she can’t forget his torturous teasing from their school years. At the rail station, Claire discovers that her home is under quarantine because her little brother has measles. She's stuck in town, away from her family, on her favorite holiday. William stays behind with her, and as Christmas Day approaches and her homesickness deepens, she discovers that perhaps he has changed in more ways than one.

My Review

I have thoroughly enjoyed all of the Timeless Romance Anthologies to date and Annette Lyon's definitely met my expectations. Two of the stories I had read before and had loved, but the rest were all new to me.

OUR SONG: This story cracked me up. Here Cassie is perfectly content in her relationship with Matt, compares herself to her friends' (what appears to be perfect) relationships, and then becomes discontent and almost throws it all away. I love how Matt reacts. It was so sweet and full of heart. This was just an all around sweet story.

GOLDEN SUNRISE: This one had plenty of romantic tension and sparks. I wasn't quite sure how it would all work out, but I definitely enjoyed the journey and seeing these characters become transparent in their feelings for each other after so much time. Very fun!

FIRSTS AND LASTS: I loved how this one opened up and how the two MC's spent all this time together even knowing that Dani would be leaving. They had so much in common and really understood each other and built up their relationship from there. I loved the ending when Mark comes to say goodbye. I pretty much melted right there.

WAR OF HEARTS: I really loved this one. I liked that I originally thought the story was going to go one direction and then was surprised when I found out who the mystery cameraman was. It clicked and I immediately got behind these characters. It had an edge of tragedy, but I liked the historical, war-torn setting and the depth it added to this story.

BETWEEN THE LINES: This was a favorite as well from this collection. I loved that two people found a hidden treasure in each other just by getting to know each other through letters. The setting was fabulous as were the characters and romance. Loved it!

A TASTE OF HOME: This was a favorite story from the set. I pretty much loved it from the first page to the last. I really liked that the two main characters had known each other their whole lives. Their history felt a little like Anne and Gilbert from Anne of Green Gables, especially with Will teasing Claire when they were younger because he had a crush on her and was trying to garner her attention. When they are thrown together again years later, that adoration is still there and Claire begins to notice Will in a different way. It was a sweet and heartfelt story, showing that Christmas can be found in more than just traditions, or places, or things, but in the people we love.

At the end of this collection I felt content and full of happily-ever-after feelings. This was a great compilation and done very well for each novella to have characters, story-lines, and settings that felt full to me. If you enjoy reading sweet romance, then definitely pick this up!


Content: Clean

Source: I received a complimentary copy for review from the tour host and through ebooksforreview.com, which did not affect my review in any way.

About the Author


Annette Lyon is a Whitney Award winner, the recipient of Utah’s Best in State medal for fiction and the author of ten novels, a cookbook, and a grammar guide as well as over a hundred magazine articles. She’s part of the Timeless Romance Anthologies line of sweet romance stories, a senior editor at Precision Editing Group, and a cum laude graduate from BYU with a degree in English. When she’s not writing, editing, knitting, or eating chocolate, she can be found mothering and avoiding the spots on the kitchen floor.


Tour Schedule

July 27th
Katie’s Clean Book Collection http://katiescleanbookcollection.blogspot.com/
Bookworm Lisa http://lisaisabookworm.blogspot.com/
I Love to Read and Review Books http://ilovetoreadandreviewbooks.blogspot.com/

July 28th
Lindzee Armstrong http://www.lindzeearmstrong.com/
Literary Time Out http://literarytimeout.blogspot.com/
Rachel DeVaughn http://empowermoms.net/

July 29th
My Book a Day http://mybookaday.blogspot.com/
Mel’s Shelves http://www.melsshelves.blogspot.com/

July 30th
Wishful Endings http://www.wishfulendings.com/
Singing Librarian Books http://singinglibrarianbooks.weebly.com/
Bubble Bath Books http://www.bubblebath-books.com/

July 31st
Min Reads and Reviews http://www.minreadsandreviews.blogspot.com/
LDS Women's Book Review http://www.ldswomensbookreview.com/wordpress/
Fire and Ice http://fireandicereads.com/
Why Not? Because I Said So http://www.whynotbecauseisaidso.blogspot.com/
Smiling Book Reviews http://www.smilingbookreviews.blogspot.com/

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