Friday Fiction | Book Review of Love, Faith and Tender Kisses

Today I will be reviewing a new boxset featuring three of our authors.

Love, Faith and Tender Kisses features seven novellas including stories by Narelle Atkins, Carolyn Miller and Meredith Resce.

Boy meets girl. Man meets woman. Sparks fly. All good love stories start here and usually face a myriad of challenges before the young couple find that together they are better. This set of Contemporary Christian romance stories come from writers across both sides of the pond and Downunder, proving that romance is not only a sweet thing, it’s global. Here’s a set of stories to inspire, encourage faith, and meet all the warm-fuzzy expectations.

In this boxset, you’ll receive a total of seven novellas from these popular Christian Romance authors:

Fake Engagement Mistake © 2021 by Lisa Renee

Last Flight Home © 2021 Milla Holt

Falling for Maddie Grace © 2021 Meredith Resce

The Billionaire’s Impromptu Bet © 2021 Lorana Hoopes

His Perfect Catch © 2021 Narelle Atkins

Originally Yours © 2021 Carolyn Miller

Imperfectly Proverbs 31 © 2021 Autumn Macarthur

My Review

A good boxset of stories from different locations.

Fake Engagement Mistake by Lisa Renee

This is a sweet short story by Lisa Renee. It’s the first book I have read by this author, and it left me wanting to read more.
Becca wants to stay working in the outdoors, but her parents want her to go to college. She and her bothers best friend Paul come up with an idea for a fake engagement. I really felt for Becca as I know what its like to have a parent want you to do something different to what you want. Becca also wants to please her parents and struggles with confrontations and the feeling of disappointing them. I love how the story goes from a fake relationship to both questioning their feelings. Good way to start the box set.

Last flight home by Milla Holt

I started this novella and didn’t want to stop reading. We start in Chicago and most of the story happens on the flight to England. Macey and her ex fiancé Caleb end up on the same flight and next to each other. The story tells of why they broke up and what has happened since. Caleb still loves Macey. We learn why they broke up and learn the details. I loved how the story flowed and the different things that happen on the flight. I also love the way different things were sorted out and played out. I also like that it wasn’t a quick fix and real growth happened.
I look forward to reading more books by this author.

Falling for Maddie Grace by Meredith Resce

Now here is a story I can appreciate. While I love cricket more I am an AFL fan. Maddie Grace is a umpire who has the misfortune of being knocked out by a star Zac. The media have a field day with this as Zac is also referred to as the Rev due to studying ministry and being squeaky clean. They know each other from years back when her father was the coach of Zac’s team but nothing more. Seeing this story play out was interesting. Once again, another good read.

The Billionaire’s Impromptu Bet by Lorana Hoopes

This is my least favourite story in the box set. I really struggled with the first couple of chapters. The heroine, Brie is a self-entitled, daughter of a billionaire who hasn’t worked a day in her life. The first chapter starts with her bored and her friend suggesting a bet. I know the characters are non-Christian and the author is showing the bad side of life, but I struggle with drinking and the pub scene. When we are introduced to the hero, I do like him he has good morals and character. If the book had started with his introduction, I would have handled it much better. I did enjoy the rest of the story and seeing the transformation of Brie but wish I had started at about chapter 3.

His perfect catch by Narelle Atkins

I enjoyed this story. Mia is staying in Sapphire Bay to escape Sydney and a scandal caused by her ex-fiancé. she is staying in her cousin’s beach house and next door is Pete who is renovating his own beach home.
Pete also likes fishing both by boat and of the jetty. Both are dealing with ex’s who were self-centred and needed things their way. We learn more of this as the story progresses.
I like the way the story unfolds, and while a novella it flows well and leaves me wanting more.

Originally Yours by Carolyn Miller

This is the prequel to Carolyn’s new Original Six series and we get to meet Josiah who is the bible study leader for the Chrisitan Ice hockey players. It was fun to get to know him and his story. I like Gloria and her story and watching them get together is fun. We also see how having a plan and working towards while a good goal may not always be God’s plan and that sometimes we need to change our plans.

Imperfectly Proverbs 31 by Autumn Macarthur

This is the final book in the boxset and the longest. I Loved this story. We start with Daniel who is a reporter who investigates fraud and needs to find the truth and print it. His father ended up being a con man and it affected him greatly. Sam is a blogger with a blog featured in the paper and Daniel is sent to do a follow up of the story. We see the reason for the blog and that Sam isn’t the perfect home maker and Daniel is determined to show the world she lied. There is so much more to Sam and the reasons for the blog as we learn. She didn’t actually lie intentionally but can Daniel see past this to the truth.
The story has so many layers. From dealing with how we perceive others see us. To seeing how words said as a child can have a lasting effect, to seeing how actions speak way more than words.
A lovely story that I am so glad I got to read. Will be reading more in this series.

Overall, a good boxset with stories from different settings.

Do you like reading boxsets?