Sweet Hearts

The three authors provided worthy sequels to their respective original stories. All three of them kept me glued to their plot development waiting to see how their stories ended and hoping that the three of them will create sequels out of these three stories. Here is hoping!

Have to agree with my fellow reviewers here: Melissa Brayden sold this book, and indeed it was only her story that was worth the time and money. Sorry.

I am a big fan of all three of these stories and authors. You can read them separately...but they will make you want to ready the books!

Fireworks by Melissa Brayden. 4 starsLucy is the CEO of a large newswire service, who is comfortable in her life of privilege and protective of her work. Kristin has just moved to San Diego, and needs to crack a great story to cement her new position as reporter in the local paper. Sparks fly when they meet for the interview, but will they be able to find common ground when they have such different perspectives?This is another charming tale by Brayden, who always delivers likable characters and delightful stories. However, this shorter story felt a little rushed in places, and I felt I wanted a little more depth to the characters. It was still a joy to read and lovely to see more of the characters introduced in Heart Block.Getting Serious, by Rachel Spangler. 4.5 starsLisa has always been the comic relief, rather than Prince Charming. Having thrown the wedding for her best friend Joey and her new wife Elaine, Lisa is the boi of the ball in her tux. Meeting Elaine’s life coach Marty for the first time, Lisa finds herself captivated by the sophisticated and elegant Marty. Becoming the leading lady requires challenging how Lisa sees herself, and Lisa isn’t sure she can.This is a charming, clever and often witty tale. Spangler gives us just the right amount of detail to make the story work. It was a pleasure to read and I really liked both the main characters, although Lisa is better developed than Marty. It was interesting to see the main characters from LoveLife in a different light, and to see more of Lisa, who is a winning character in her own right.Risk Factor, by Karis Walsh. 2.5 starsMyra runs a therapeutic riding program for returned soldiers. Ainslee is recently returned from Afghanistan where she was injured and had lost a leg. Still making the adjustment to her new prosthesis, physically and emotionally, she is struggling to come to terms with it all. Whilst in the roles of trainer and trainee, they both struggle with their immediate attraction to one another as well as their own emotional baggage.This was the most problematic of the three short stories. The others were well resolved and the characters fun and engaging. The difficulty here is with the bigger hurdles the main characters have to overcome in a shorter story, and narrative time. The obstacles here seemed insurmountable rather than believable, and the characters prickly and unforgiving in their treatment of each other. It meant that I didn’t really believe any of it unfortunately. I liked the equine elements of the story, and Walsh always does well with that aspect of the narrative. Perhaps it was harder for me because I hadn’t read the original book, Worth the Risk, which had the romance between Myra’s best friend and her new lover, but this story didn’t work well for me.Overall, I do think the first two stories are good enough to carry the book. I definitely recommend the first two stories, and will happily re-read them.

This wouldn't be getting four stars unless it were for the Melissa Brayden story. It was the best.

Sweet Hearts is an easy, light-hearted read featuring some of my favorite authors - Melissa Brayden, Rachel Spangler and Karis Walsh.All three novellas are follow up stories to the authors’ previous work (Melissa Brayden’s Heart Block, Rachel Spangler’s LoveLife and Karis Walsh’s Worth the Risk).All three novellas were enjoyable reads. I loved ‘Firework’ by Melissa Brayden. Then again, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed everything Ms Brayden has written to date so why should this be any different ;-) I also completely enjoyed ‘Getting Serious’ by Rachel Spangler. Ms Spangler’s entertaining story had me smiling on a few occasions. ‘Risk Factor’ by Karis Walsh was good, although I found it to be my least favorite of the three stories in this collection.Overall, Sweet Hearts was a nice read and I’d recommend it to readers who love cute/fluffy/entertaining romances (as I do) and/or those who like shorter novella lengths.All in all, 3.5 stars*ARC provided by publisher via NetGalley*

I know I am not a fan of short stories in this genre, but figured the wait was too long for the next full novel by Brayden.Brayden's story here was the best of the bunch, but for me her witty bantering is teetering closer and closer to the edge of annoying.I didn't like the other two stories as much, Spangler's mainly because I already had issues with the book it was based on. These issues continued here.So yeah, lesson learned. Really only try shorts based on characters I liked the first time around. I'm guessing that someone who genrally likes shorts in this genre will like it.

Three short stories giving us an insight into the love life of the besties from Melissa Brayden's Heart Block, Rachel Spangler's LoveLife, and Karis Walsh's Worth the Risk.All light and fun reads, exactly what you would expect from such good romance writers and a lovely way to follow on from the main event. All three use the characters from the first book, but all stand alone as charming little tales.

The Rachel Spangler and Karis Walsh stories in this are ok (definite 3 star stories for me) but I bought this for the Melissa Brayden story (“Heart Block” being my favourite of her books) and this doesn’t disappoint. Lucy is my least favourite character in Heart Block (always seems to crop up or butt in at the worst times) but this offshoot is really her story. We see Emery, Sarah and Grace again as a happy family who all in different ways play Cupid for Lucy and she becomes much more likeable as we get to know her better. Her banter with reporter Kristin is sparkling and sexy and their slow-growing relationship is (as usual by Brayden) nicely handled. All in all, I found it intensely satisfying. Very glad I left “Firework” until last though in this set of three shorts and my feelings about that alone lift the whole set overall to a 4 star rating.