Review: Timeless Victorian Collection: The Queen's Ball by Anthea Lawson, Rebecca Connolly, Jennifer Moore

My rating: 4 stars / I really liked it

Synopsis

THE QUEEN'S BALL: Three brand new Victorian Romance novellas by Anthea Lawson, Rebecca Connolly, and Jennifer Moore.

WALTZED by Anthea Lawson
Eleanor Tremont never expected her father to pass away unexpectedly – leaving her with a horrible stepmother, two grasping step-sisters, and no dowry whatsoever. Relegated to a servant in her own home, she struggles to come to terms with her bleak new life. Summoned to Queen Victoria’s Stuart Ball, can Ellie find her happily-ever-after despite impossible odds? Add an absent-minded Godmother, an orange carriage, and a dancing-slipper mishap, and prepare to be swept away into this fairytale romance…

A LOVE TO CLAIM by Rebecca Connolly
Abigail Sterling is not at all pleased to see that the man who broke her heart is in London, and even less pleased that he wants to renew their friendship. But, against her better judgment, she finds herself drawn to him, just as she always had been. Letters from a secret admirer keep her from completely giving into Matthew again, and soon her heart is torn between a familiar love and a mysterious one.

COMING HOME by Jennifer Moore
After the sudden death of her father, Clara Brightly is sent far from her home in India to live with relatives on the Isle of Wight. The islanders are suspicious of newcomers, and none more so than a local landowner, Grant Mason who, at first meeting, considers Clara to be arrogant and disdainful of the island he loves. When the two are appointed to lead the church choir in an island-wide competition, Clara discovers that she may have a place on the island after all. Grant comes to realize that what he took as haughtiness was merely shyness, and Queen Victoria’s ball at Osborne house seems the perfect place to tell her. But when Clara is offered a chance to return to India, she must decide once and for all what “home” really means.

My Review

I can always count on the stories in these collections to be unique, creative, and very different from each other despite a common theme! I liked getting to know the writing style of a new-to-me author, Anthea Lawson, and her Cinderella retelling. Rebecca Connolly and Jennifer Moore are favorites, and I really felt they shined with bringing the emotions of the characters to life and making me hope for a happily ever after. Each story felt fully formed and took me through the obstacles the couples had to overcome in order to find their true love.

(I received a complimentary copy of the book; all opinions in this review are my own)

Books in the Timeless Victorian Collections:
SUMMER HOLIDAY
A GRAND TOUR
THE ORIENT EXPRESS
THE QUEEN'S BALL

Books in the Timeless Regency Collections:
AUTUMN MASQUERADE
A MIDWINTER BALL
SPRING IN HYDE PARK
SUMMER HOUSE PARTY
A COUNTRY CHRISTMAS
A SEASON IN LONDON
FALLING FOR A DUKE
A NIGHT IN GROSVENOR SQUARE
ROAD TO GRETNA GREEN
WEDDING WAGERS

Review: A Grand Tour (Timeless Victorian Collection) by Anthea Lawson, Jennifer Moore, Heather B. Moore

My rating: 4 stars / I really liked it

Synopsis

From the publisher of the USA TODAY bestselling Timeless Romance Anthology series, comes our new Victorian Romance line, with A GRAND TOUR.

Three brand new Victorian Romance novellas by Anthea Lawson, Jennifer Moore, and Heather B. Moore.

A LORD’S CHANCE by Anthea Lawson
After her first romance ends in disaster, Miss Isabelle Strathmore vows never to fall in love again. She will travel, certainly, and see the world, but it will be a spinster’s life for her. She has learned the most painful lesson of all—that her heart simply cannot be trusted. Gavin Reed, the Earl of Jasper, is unexpectedly charmed by Isabelle. Past encounters have made him wary of taking a chance on love, but by the end of the Grand Tour, he is determined to make Miss Strathmore his wife. But fate has more in store than either of them guesses. Beneath the Mediterranean sun, can Isabelle and Lord Jasper find their happily ever after before disaster strikes?

FALLING IN ROME by Jennifer Moore
Chaperoning two young women on their grand tour is the opportunity of a lifetime for Eleanor Doyle. Although she’s an expert in many languages, her gender has made further education impossible. If the tour is successful, the young women’s parents have promised her a position at a university in London. Eleanor hopes to instill her charges with a love of Rome, but not until they meet up with a group of young gentlemen and their fascinating professor, Russell Kendrick, do the young ladies show any interest at all. Attraction blossoms between Eleanor and Ken, but Eleanor’s future depends on maintaining propriety. The headstrong charges have other ideas, and Ken and Eleanor will have to decide which is most important, accolades in the academic world, or being with the one they love. 

A SECRET ARRANGEMENT by Heather B. Moore
Evelyn Tucker has finally graduated from finishing school, but dreads living with her widowed aunt. On the appointed day, Aunt Margaret comes to collection Evelyn, and Margaret informs her that they’re going on a Grand Tour to spend as much of the estate money they can before a distant cousin inherits all. When Henry Gaiman discovers he’s inherited his distant uncle’s estate, he loathes the thought of returning to England since he’d rather continue with his archaeology dig in Egypt. Return he must, and there, he meets Evelyn, a woman who will change his world in more ways than one.

My Review

A strong collection of stories that take our English characters abroad to the Continent with adventure and romance! Two of the stories are focused on archaeology and it was fascinating to learn more about the relatively recent discovery and uncovering of ancient ruins. I was surprised by how little oversight there was by the country or government, and could see the controversy over removing the artifacts for a greater population of British to witness and appreciate versus keeping them in their original location where they "belong." Each story had a good plot, arc, and romance, and it was an enjoyable collection to read with settings that are a bit unusual for the genre.

(I received a complimentary copy of the book; all opinions in this review are my own)

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Books in the Timeless Victorian Collections:

SUMMER HOLIDAY
A GRAND TOUR 
THE ORIENT EXPRESS (coming 2018)

Books in the Timeless Regency Collections:

AUTUMN MASQUERADE
A MIDWINTER BALL
SPRING IN HYDE PARK
SUMMER HOUSE PARTY
A COUNTRY CHRISTMAS
A SEASON IN LONDON
FALLING FOR A DUKE
A NIGHT IN GROSVENOR SQUARE (coming 2018)
ROAD TO GRETNA GREEN (coming 2018)