Sunday, February 2, 2014

The Quilted Heart

The Quilted Heart
Three Novellas in One
Mona Hodgson

Dandelions on the Wind - I've already reviewed this book as a single, so I'll just make a couple of comments here. This book while sweet, it didn't really grab my attention. I felt it could have been more developed had it been made into a full length novel.

Bending Toward the Sun - Emilie's father thinks that she needs to get a better education and marry someone befitting her status. But Emilie suddenly finds herself interested in an Irish man named Quaid. Will her father's opposition ruin her chances at love?

I enjoyed this story. The plot and resolution felt right for a short-length story. The romance was sweet, the story connected with the previous novel and the characters were relate-able. It's the type of novella that would prompt me to check out other things by this author.

Ripples Along the Shore - Caroline has lost her husband to the war. She's left at loose ends trying to find her place in the world. Her attempts to join the wagon train going west are met with opposition by the leader. Can she convince him to let her come as a single woman or is she stuck in this town forever?

The story started off okay, but ended with out any resolution. It was very reminiscent of the first story that I felt could have been much better had it been made into a full length novel. There were just so many unanswered questions. The whole thing left me hanging, but unsure if I wanted to know the ending.

I was under the impression when I read the first story that the remaining novels would be full length. So to find that the author chose to make them into novellas was a disappointment to me. I really feel they would have benefited from being pulled out and some of the characters and plot sections fleshed out. Overall it was a nice omnibus, but had some disappointments for me.

I received this book free of charge from WaterBrook in exchange for my honest review.

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