"In Love and War" is a collection of 4 novellas each dealing with some sort of conflict between the main characters.
"Lassoed by Love" by Miralee Ferrell: The boutique that Lindsey Morgan managed has just closed. She takes a job working at a resort gift shop, but when she arrives, she doesn't expect to see Steve Graham who she knew in high school. Steve isn't thrilled at being Lindsey's boss based on what he knew of her from high school. Above all, he can't let his heart be broken like before.
I liked Lindsey and Steve and how their relationship grew. The characters pray and come to realize that you can't always go by first impressions or what you think you know, you have to have the whole story. One thing confused me: at one point, Lindsey overhears part of a conversation, takes it the wrong way, and leaves. Later, she somehow knows about something that the other people were talking about after she left. Still a cute story, though.
"Designed With Love" by Kimberly Rose Johnson: Jessie Morgan is living with her mother and struggling to make ends meet with her landscaping business thanks to her former fiance stealing her customers. When a local TV show holds a landscaping contest, she jumps at the chance to participate, sure it is the way to keep her business afloat.
Steve Meyers was best friends with Jessie as children until she started dating Brendon Jacobs in high school. Now all three of them are back in their hometown and all competing for the same contest. Will Steve finally get a chance to tell Jessie how he feels about her or will Brendon come between them again?
I thought that "Designed with Love" was a cute story. I definitely was rooting for Jessie and Steve to win in the landscaping contest and at love. Brendon was a bully and I didn't care for him very much, but even he had a growth arc in the story. I liked how the characters knew each other already when the story started, so it didn't seem so rushed that they fell in love as fast as they did. I liked Jessie's friend always reminding her that she needed to pray about things first before she acted.
"Hungry Hearts" by Debby Mayne: Melissa Shaw and Cameron Prater always were competing with each other in high school, so when Cameron returns to Hyacinth to open a restaurant a few doors down from hers, she is sure he is trying to put her out of business.
I liked the characters and their desire to trust God and do what He wanted. I liked seeing Cameron change and want to do what was best for Melissa. The added story element of the women's shelter made the story have even more depth.
"More than Meets the Eye" by Trish Perry: Jensy St. Martin is focused more on advancing professionally than meeting guys. When Phil Quinn starts working at the same design firm, she is determined to avoid him based on information she was given about him when they were in high school together.
This is the only story that the characters hadn't been in relationship previously. They knew of each other, but didn't have a relationship. I liked that Jensy tried to live in a Christian manner, but didn't always do what she should. It made her more believable and human. There is only Jensy's pov in the story so we don't know Phil's side of the story until Jensy figures it out. I think this was my favorite story from the book. There was one time that Jensy is telling her friend about the kisses she shared with Phil and she said the 2nd was in the elevator after he had shared about his sister, but he had actually shared about his sister before their 1st kiss and the 2nd was just them crammed together in the elevator. Not a big deal, but it jumped out at me.
There were a few formating issues, but since I got an advance copy, they should be fixed in the final copy. The stories were fun and clean and the characters were Christians. I would recommend this book to people who like that kind of story.
"In Love and War" is available in paperback:
- Paperback: 286 pages
- Publisher: Mountain Brook Ink (May 30, 2016)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1943959013
- ISBN-13: 978-1943959013
- Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.6 x 8.5 inches
and in Kindle edition:
- File Size: 2148 KB
- Print Length: 294 pages
- Publisher: Mountain Brook Ink (June 1, 2016)
- Publication Date: June 1, 2016
- Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
- Language: English
- ASIN: B01DLCGJ6W
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own and no other compensation was received.
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