Review: A delightful selection of sweet romance.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 12, 2012
You might think five stars over the top for a little book of five short stories. But I loved four of the stories and absolutely loved the fifth. That was story number two, Finding A Way Home. And yes it was a reunion story. My very favouritist kind. The stories are all plain straight out romances set in the first half of the 20th Century. From the San Francisco Earthquake to a post WWII department store.All the stories are very simple and sweet stories well embedded in the era. Kate Hewitt has done a lovely job with her evocative backgrounds that tell you exactly where you are without hitting you over the head or distracting from the core business, the romance.All the characters are well drawn in spite of the short length of the stories and each and every one of them I would have been happy to read about all night.Number One "Elegance" is about a young miss who dreams about being more than just the girl behind the glove counter. She learns that elegance is about more than working in the fancy couture department.Number Three, "Through the Storm" is a classic tale of the city school mistress proving herself to a small town in the far west, and to a rather special widower.The title of number four "A New Hope" at first had me thinking Star Wars but it is a lovely little story set in Ontario reminiscent of Anne of Green Gables and L.M. Montgomery's short tales.Number Five "A Day Like No Other" is a nice little snapshot of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and two antagonistic young people who discover much more under adversity.I've left Number Two til last because for me this was the pearl of the collection. The story of a young woman welcoming back her husband in 1920 after six years away in WWI. This lovely and moving tale of a man coming to terms with both physical and mental wounds and the difficulties he and his barely a bride wife have, really caught my emotions.This was a free download on Amazon yesterday and I snabbled it up having enjoyed two other similar collections by Kate. This is my favourite.