Member Reviews

If you’re looking for a light and short summer read, this book has it for you! Composed of three shorter novellas within, this is the perfect book for when you don’t have time to immerse yourself into a full story. With a group of three different authors, it also means you can try stories from new authors without having to commit to something the length of an entire novel. So it’s a win-win!

Thank you to Thomas Nelson publishers and NetGalley for providing me with an electronic copy of this book to read and review. Any and all opinions are my own and were not required to be positive. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

*Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention/review it on my blog. I was not required to give a positive review, only my honest opinion – which I’ve done. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own and I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.*

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The perfect read to start the summer! Three wonderfully written novellas that capture your heart and give you all the feels. All three have lovable characters and leave you wishing you could continue to follow their stories.

Of the three, Denise Hunter’s A Summer Detour is my favorite. It was romantic, yet funny. I found myself laughing out loud at some points of the story. Her stories are always enduring and hard to put down.

This was such a great read that I had a hard time putting it down. The book flowed easily without feeling as if you needed to wait a little bit before reading the next novella. This needs to be on everyone’s TBR list!

I was given a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. All opinions expressed are completely my own.

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A Summer Detour by Denise Hunter
A sweet story with fun cameos by past Hunter characters. I feel like I needed more from the romantic plot line to truly root for Allie and Luke, but I enjoyed this short story. 3.5/5 stars

Pining For You by Melissa Ferguson
Though others will likely find this story cute, it wasn’t for me. I didn’t love Theo or Skye and I just feel like something was missing. There were some fun moments though. 2.5/5 stars

He Loves Me; He Loves Me Not by Kathleen Fuller
In terms of story, this one was my favorite in this collection. Though the relationship was a bit rushed, I liked Sophie and Joe and I’m excited for the possibility of seeing them again in future Maple Falls books. 4/5 stars

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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I liked all three stories my favorite being the one where they are transporting the car to her grandparents wedding anniversary. All three are wonderful stories that can be read in a short amount of time.

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This is a collection of three sweet romance novellas by Denise Hunter, Melissa Ferguson, and Kathleen Fuller. I had only previously read books by Kathleen Fuller, so this was an enjoyable experience to read new author’s writing.

Second chances at love for these special characters made for fast, enjoyable reading. I highly recommend this book for those who enjoy sweet, clean romances.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you to Thomas Nelson – Fiction and NetGalley.

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As soon as I saw Kathleen Fuller‘s name on the list of authors, I knew I was going to love this collection of stories! A great summer read that will have you turning the pages until you find out what happens in each story. All are unique in their own way yet you will be drawn in and will want to keep reading until it’s over. A clean romantic fiction collection!

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Short and sweet, these novellas will appeal to contemporary romance fans who enjoy clean and wholesome stories. These stories stand alone, although you might recognize some of the characters if you've read Denise Hunter, Melissa Ferguson or Kathleen Fuller's other novels. Each novella is heartwarming and uplifting. Two offer the crowd-pleasing trope of second chance romance (which I personally adore). All three feature settings that fans of this genre often appreciate: a road trip, a Christmas tree farm and a flower shop. The chemistry between Luke and Allie in Denise Hunter's A Summer Detour is incredible. The forced proximity of their road trip and the obstacles they battle to get to their destination make for a super satisfying read. This is a wonderful addition to readers' summer reading lists.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the complimentary copy. All opinions shared here are my own.

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This Time Around is a fun, lighthearted collection of short novellas written by Denise Hunter, Melissa Ferguson, and Kathleen Fuller. Each story was about second chance love, pulled me in from the beginning, and had me wishing the story was longer. I especially liked the one written by Melissa Ferguson as she brought in side characters from her novel, The Cul-de-sac War, so it was fun to revisit those characters and read a bit of their story. I would recommend this collection of stories for anyone who enjoys clean romance, Hallmark movies, or just needs a sweet escape!

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Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an ARC of this book. All opinions in this review are my own.

This is a trio of sweet novellas. They are all about second-chance clean romances with happy endings. They were all light reads of the perfect length for a beach read. I enjoyed the first of the novellas the most, while the final book did fall a bit flat for me. However, I'd recommend this book for anyone who wants a `clean, easy read.

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What a fun collection of novellas by three great romance authors, Denise Hunter, Melissa Ferguson and Kathleen Fuller. What great storytellers. The characters are ones you will want as neighbors or friends. They are full of family dynamics, second chances and faith. I love when you want to stop and go to another place for just a few hours, these are all perfect for that. Thank you to Thomas Nelson through NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this book. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.

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This Time Around is a really fun collection by author's Denise Hunter, Melissa Ferguson and Kathleen Fuller. I've read all three authors before so their stories felt like a walk down memory lane.

I enjoyed getting a glimpse of Brady Collins from Honeysuckle Dreams in Hunter's A Summer Detour. This story was a such a treat. I love road trips and this one was the ultimate and included Allie Adams and her old flame, Luke Fletcher. Miscommunication and mishaps galore. I loved it!

Ferguson's Pining for You has childhood sweethearts and total opposites Theo Watkins and Skye Whitesides getting reacquainted and possibly more as they pitch in to temporarily work his family owned Christmas tree farm. I enjoyed it!

He Loves Me: He Loves Me Not by Kathleen Fuller takes readers back to small town Maple Falls from Hooked on You. Petal and Posies flower shop owner Sophie Morgan goes from no dates to having two men in pursuit, teacher and coach, Joe Johnson and lawyer, Landon Ferry. Cute story!

I appreciate Thomas Nelson, via Netgalley, making a copy of This Time Around available for review. All thoughts and opinions are my very own.

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This Time Around is a collection of three novelas by Denise Hunter, Melissa Ferguson and Kathleen Fuller. Denise Hunter is one of my favorite romance writers so I jumped on the opportunity to read this collection. Summer's Dream was a cute story. In this story Allie has committed to driving a restored vintage car to her grandparents. Problem is that she doesn't know how to drive a stick shift so she has to humble herself and ask her ex-boyfriend Luke to help her drive the car to its destination. This story was really cute and I enjoyed it. The second story by Melissa Ferguson is Pining for You. It was an okay story but I did not enjoy it as much as the other two novelas in this book. The third story was He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not by Kathleen Fuller. In this story Sophie is a 35 years old, never married and content running Petals and Posies, her flower shop. Suddenly she has two men vying for her attention but which one is worthy? Is it the flashy slick lawyer Landon or the humble Joe she has known since kindergarden? I have never read any books by Kathleen Fuller. She mainly writes Amish fiction but this one was a modern one and a story that I could relate to. I plan to read more of her works.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

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There is so much to love about This Time Around!

It has an eye-catching, charming, and nostalgic cover. Call me weird, but I also use books as accent pieces in my home and on my shelves, and this multi-colored cover is bright and pretty.

The book contains short stories from three of my favorite authors. Each writer has a unique quality to their storytelling, but equally entertain and touch the heart.

And another reason to love this book is that underlying theme of each story is second chances. Oh, how I love re-dos! I love each part of this anthology, but if I HAD to pick a fav, it’d be Denise Hunter’s A Summer Detour. Seriously though, they’re all great.

I received a complimentary e-copy of this book from Netgalley. My review was not influenced.

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The 'This Time Around' anthology is billed as three sweet romances, an apt description in my estimation. Each story was a second chance romance, two of which I liked more than the other. I appreciate that I can read sweet stories that focus on love and not sex. For this reason alone I can highly recommend this charming book.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

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I really enjoy these short story trios. I read one each night and went to bed with a warm feeling. First up Denise Hunter's A Summer Detour, Allie and Luke were sweet and had loads of chemistry. Their road trip was entertaining and endearing. Next was Melissa Ferguson's Pining for You. The title is perfect and I loved this story. Theo and Skye were meant for each other and their journey was emotional and satisfying. Last but not least was Kathleen Fuller's He Loves Me; He Loves Me Not. Sophie and Joe may not have the history of the other couples but they knew love when they saw it and grabbed it with both hands. A great read from three fantastic authors!

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A Summer Detour-
This was probably my favorite of the collection! I’m a big fan of friends to more and though the couple had a few more twists in the journey than normal I loved them together! The setting of the road trip was entertaining and the perfect way to get them as much quality time together as possible since it takes place over such a short time span. And I definitely loved the vehicle they were driving-classic cars are just cooler!

Pining for You-
This one was another friends to more story but these friends hadn’t spoken in over a decade. I loved how they fell into their old childhood banter and the way they each owned who they were. They definitely lived opposite lives but they balanced each other. It was also really fun that the hero of this book was Theo from The Cul-de-sac War-it was nice to see him find his happily ever after.

He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not-
Not gonna lie, if this wasn’t the last book in a collection I would have DNF’d a couple pages in. This one was cringey at best. The girl was just awful, I’m not surprised in the least that she hadn’t had a date since high school. The way she fawned over the slimey “handsome” guy, despite his two divorces and being told he was bad news while being abysmally rude to the other guy, who was just your average guy, was the most off-putting thing ever. Also the fact that the “romance in this book was literally: Guy asks girl out twice only to be disdainfully told no because she wants to date the slimey loser, guy basically begs her to go on a “just friends” outing so he can make things right with her (because telling a girl not to date a horrible guy is apparently the worst thing in the world), girl begrudgingly agrees planning to do the bare minimum then leave, they go on outing, girl is weirdly obsessed with guy’s muscles and realizes he’s actually a decent human being, and there’s an almost kiss, the next day guy goes to convince her to date him but slimey guy is there so he literally picks him up and throws him into the street, girl is swooningly impressed by this show of strength and the couple starts making out. And the icing on the cake, after this “romance” they decide eloping after two months is the way to go.

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Love all the authors in this. If you haven't read it yet I highly recommend doing so. Enjoy your reading time

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This collection of three novellas makes a great “beach read“ - second chances, overcoming past impressions, correcting assumptions, and moving forward. This was an entertaining and easy read, just the thing for some relaxing and unwinding.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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I loved these three reads and each quickly captured me, to the point I didn't want to leave, but there were more, until the last page was turned.

Three of my favorite authors, and three novella's, yes, I was quickly wanting to read!

We all make assumptions, and each of these stories let years fall by before the main characters meet again, and we are there to see what happens, and the cause of the separation.

Then the reuniting, simple, no. Wait to you read about bring the treasured car to her grandparents, from the moment Allie sits in the restored car. Next, the theorization of what her Dad is being paid after years of service, this has Skye has her hackles up. The final read we have sweet Sophie with no dates for a long time, and within minutes she has two, we get to see which one wins.

Don't miss these quick lingering page turners.

I received this book through Net Galley and the Publisher Thomas Nelson, and was not required to give a positive review.

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Short and sweet novellas that can each be read in just a couple of hours. The first 2 are second-chance romances and of the three, Denise Hunter’s and that racoon have to be my favorite

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