This Time Around

 The subtitle of this book tells it all--three sweet romances.  And all three stories are sweet, almost enough for a diabetic coma 😉.  Melissa Ferguson is the only author not known by me, and for me, hers was the least appealing novella.  Someone else will like it, but I was reading this book on the heels of a thought-provoking book that had me reeling after I finished it.  

In Denise Hunter's offering, Allie has volunteered to drive the 1957 Chevy her parents had restored to her grandparents 50th anniversary.  There are a couple of problems, the major one being that her parents don't trust her and the second one being she can't drive a stick shift.  So, being the resourceful girl that she is, she enlists the aid of her best childhood friend, Luke.  Along the way, they get lost, encounter a hail storm, and lose the car to some joy-riders.  It's quite the rollicking tale that brings healing to Allie and her relationship with her family.  It also opens a door long-since closed to Luke and Allie.  

In Melissa Ferguson's story, Theo is called home to his family's Christmas tree farm when the manager is injured in an accident.  What he doesn't know is that his first love, Skye Whitesides has come home to help out.  The tension between the two of them is based on unrealistic expectations and misunderstandings. Once all that is cleared up, then, . . . . 

Kathleen Fuller is better known to me as an Amish fiction writer, but her contemporary story is the best of these three. Sophie owns Petals and Posies, the local florist shop in Maple Falls, Arkansas.  Joe is a friend who has been intrigued with Sophie since their school days.  Kathleen has thrown in a villain in the character of Landon, an attorney who is trying to tear down all the legacy businesses in Maple Falls to make way for a new development. 

For a couple of afternoons of mindless entertainment, this book is a perfect fit.  It's a great "palate cleanser" to come after a thoughtfully deep book. Four stars. 

Thomas Nelson and NetGalley.com provided the copy I read for this review.  All opinions expressed are solely my own.