I enjoyed all the stories in this collection. Overall, I give them four stars. They are full of laughter-inducing high jinx and tears (thanks Abby Jimenez as always). I haven't read books by Sally Thorne, Jasmine Guillory, Ashley Posten, and Sariah Wilson before, but I will look for their work! I am a big fan of Abby's; her story was my favorite. Christina Lauren can be hit or miss for me. This one was a hit!

If I needed to rate them individually it would go like this:

The Exception to the Rule: 4 stars
Worst Wingman Ever: 5 Stars
Rosie and the Dreamboat: 4.5 Stars
Drop, Cover, and Hold On: 3.5 Stars
With Any Luck: 3.5 Stars
Royal Valentine: 4 Stars

I have to say read these carefully as there are easter eggs in the collection!

I want to start by saying thank you to NetGalley and the authors for this ARC! I am always grateful to receive early copies especially from incredible writers!

Exception to the Rule by Christina Lauren
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Overall, super cute story! Timestamps would be cool to add to the dates, especially with them hitting send on the first at midnight. Are they emailing only from midnight to like 12:30am or the whole day? I really liked how him having this secret of knowing who she was wasn't drawn out too long and it was more of him trying to lead her to the same conclusion he had made. Thoroughly loved it!

P.S. I think there is a typo in Chapter 5, second email, c.sun16@email.com replies to the t.sol18@ipsd.edu instead of t.sol18@email.com

Worst Wingman Ever by Abby Jimenez
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Abby Jimenez really knows how to wreck me. Taking care of her grandma was so sweet, but also realistic with the grief and how hard it is to be a nurse. I absolutely loved the twist the grandma threw in there, hilarious. Just overall amazing.

Rosie and the Dreamboat by Sally Thorne
⭐⭐⭐⭐

All of these stories are cute and lovey but this one makes an adorable love story from what honestly would be a horrifying experience. I would've been much more freaked out, can't believe she held it together but I guess we can thank the Dreamboat/Mr. Husband for that!

Drop, Cover, and Hold On by Jasmine Guillory
⭐⭐⭐

This one felt kind of rushed. She thought the baker was hot and liked his pastries, but that didn't feel like enough for the character to just jump in bed with him. And he'd been secretly pinning but she thought he hated her? It's a quick flip which sadly made me not connect to this short story as much. I've read all of Jasmine Guillory's books and loved them all! I think this one could've benefited from being a little longer to flesh out more.

With Any Luck by Ashley Poston
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I loved this story! Reminded me of the hangover movie at first but with romance added! Best friends of the bride and groom, sprinkle a little superstition, attraction, and a guy who doesn't give a crap about fate/luck makes for a great love story. Very fun short story.

Royal Valentine by Sariah Wilson
⭐⭐⭐

This story had an unfortunate meet-cute in Rome where she passed out and he brings her back to his apartment to sleep it off. He becomes her expert travel guide and she tells him all the history behind the art in Rome hiding her identify as a princess. It was neat how this book referenced characters from the other stories in this collection. Although why are there two Callum's? It was an interesting choice. Maybe it was just me but reading his accent within the dialogue kinda threw me off. I had to Google that "ken" was Scottish slang for "know". Not my favorite story in this collection but cute.

Definitely an anthology I needed from some of my favorite romance authors. Each of these novellas was heart warming and lived up to the hype of being an “improbable Valentine’s Day meet cute”. I hope Amazon makes this a thing going forward.

I liked how these stories were all in the same “universe”, so that there were Easter eggs in the stories that you picked up on from reading the other stories. All of the stories were clever, made me laugh or cry, and had swoon worthy heroes. They were also all thoughtful and made me appreciate how good romance transports you to a happy place. A true microcosm of why romance is such an important genre. I zoomed through this in one sitting and wished there was more!

Thanks to Netgalley, Amazon Original Stories and the authors for the ARC.

This was a delightful book of a few short stories to read right before Christmas! Most of these authors are top authors for me and the ones that I haven’t read are becoming authors on my TBR list.
The humour, the love, the predictability. I love it all and it was refreshing to read a few short stories rather than out all my focus into one book for a few hours.

📖 ARC REVIEW 📖

Thank you Amazon Original Stories for an early copy of The Improbable Meet-Cute collection by @christinalauren @authorabbyjimenez @sallythorneauthor @jasminepics @heyashposton and @sariahwilson411 . I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. 🤍

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
Release date: January 23rd, 2024

Blurb:

What makes love stick? Is it the irresistible spark when you lock eyes across a piazza in Rome? Is it feeling the earth move under your feet? (Wait—that was an actual earthquake.) In these six serendipitous short stories, bestselling authors turn improbable first encounters into hopelessly romantic happy ever afters.

The Exception to the Rule by Christina Lauren
Worst Wingman Ever by Abby Jimenez
Rosie and the Dreamboat by Sally Thorne
Drop, Cover, and Hold on by Jasmine Guillory
With Any Luck by Ashley Poston
Royal Valentine by Sariah Wilson

🛑Read on with caution; review may contain spoilers🛑

It was such a delight to start off my 2024 with this collection of cute and sweet short love stories by these amazing authors! Each story has their own charm and all can be read in one sitting, but expect to want more with some. Due to their length, I certainly did want more for some of the stories, I wanted more interaction between the main characters! 🥹 I especially loved Christina Lauren’s ‘The Exception to the Rule’ – it was the cutest meet-cute for me and the coincidence was just hilarious! I also enjoyed Abby Jimenez’ ‘Worst Wingman Ever’ and how the main characters John and Holly lived by Holly’s grandmother’s advice to “Take responsibility of their own unhappiness.”.

This is such delightful selection of short love stories that everyone shouldn’t miss when it releases this month!

This was a collection of short stories perfect for Valentine’s Day. Some of my favorite romance authors are included and I just adored them! I wanted more. They’re all so cute, short and sweet.

* The Exception to the Rule by Christina Lauren - Did not read. I dislike reading a book full of emails so I skipped it.

* Worst Wingman Ever by Abby Jimenez - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Abby’s stories are amazing. They dive deep, hit on serious issues, but are offset by an incredible romance.

* Rosie and the Dreamboat by Sally Thorne - ⭐️⭐️ The storyline is unrealistic. Both in the premise of being stuck for hours and the actions and reactions of those around her.

* Drop, Cover, and Hold on by Jasmine Guillory - ⭐️⭐️ The writing is juvenile and the storyline a bit far-fetched. I skimmed this one.

* With Any Luck by Ashley Poston ⭐️⭐️⭐️ The hatred between them is never explained. I have a hard time reading this author’s work due to grammar inconsistencies.

* Royal Valentine by Sariah Wilson ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Secret royals?! Love it! But what does NSFW meano??

The Exception to the Rule by Christina Lauren - 4.5 Stars

The Exception to the Rule was so cute, sweet and easy to read. I adored it. I loved the progression of the relationship between the main characters. It left me with a smile on my lips. I definitely recommend.

Worst Wingman Ever by Abby Jimenez - 4 Stars

Worst Wingman Ever was a bit heavier. There were still light hearted and funny moments but this one left me in a somber mood. I'm loving the way these meet cutes are being orchestrated. I recommend it.

Rosie and the Dreamboat by Sally Thorne - 3.5 Stars

Rosie and the Dreamboat was enjoyable. I loved the hero, he was adorable. He was kind and gentle with the heroine through her predicament. I liked the heroine but wasn't fond of the way she saw herself. I wasn't fond of her sister either.

Drop, Cover, and Hold on by Jasmine Guillory - 3.5 Stars

I liked Drop, Cover and Hold on. It was cute, sweet and had me craving pastries.

With Any Luck by Ashley Poston - 3.5 Stars

With Any Luck was awesome. It was a sexy and cute read. I loved the hero and heroine and their journey.

Royal Valentine by Sariah Wilson - 3.5 Stars

Royal Valentine was good. It had the same cute, sweet and light hearted vibes as the previous stories. It was longer and a bit slower than the others.

each of these were such fun reads! I didn’t know all of the authors so it was cool to see new writers. I also loved the Easter eggs in each of stories (Callum x2!!)

The Exception to the Rule by Christina Lauren 5 ⭐️- this felt the most like a full story because it happened over ten years. LOVED the back and forth in the emails!

Worst Wingman Ever by Abby Jimenez 5 ⭐️- I also liked this happened over a few days so it felt complete plus had some extra heart sing moments. I want a full nivel for this one!

Rosie and the Dreamboat by Sally Thorne 4⭐️- I laughed out loud during this one and could picture every single detail described.

Drop, Cover, and Hold on by Jasmine Guillory 3.5⭐️- I love a grump in love.

With Any Luck by Ashley Poston 3⭐️- the premise was fun but it was just too short and felt too rushed or incomplete. But looking forward to reading more of her books!

Royal Valentine by Sariah Wilson 4⭐️- loved these characters and the ending twist!! I’m excited to read more about the series these characters come from.

I admit, I picked up this whole collection with the intention of just reading Abby Jimenez's novella (she's an automatic must-read), but what happened instead was I got drawn into every story and now may go back and read backlist on all the other authors, most of which I have been aware of for years at this point. I love that the stories all took place in the same world and that elements, names, and locations from each story showed up in the others, and I was particularly delighted at the guinea pigs in the "extended families" of both Christina Lauren's and Abby Jimenez's stories (I have a small herd of three guinea pigs.). A quick read with joy in each HEA.

This collection of short stories was just wonderful! A collaboration from some of the best contemporary romance authors right now - what a treat.

Christina Lauren’s and Abby Jimenez’s were my favorites. Callum/Terra and John/Holly were swoon worthy. These meet cutes left me wanting so much more! Maybe someday we will meet more of these couples….

Thank you, net galley, for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Oh my goodness this was so much fun! I loved seeing that several of my favorite authors had a collab coming out, and it was wonderful! So cute, and I flew right through all of the stories. It blended together so well! The perfect little stories for Valentine’s Day.

I love love!! This collection is the perfect bundle of everything that is lovey-dovey, heartfelt, fireworks, angst, pining, and connection that you could ever want for Valentine’s Day! I enjoyed reading from different authors and am glad to be introduced to some new voices. Overall, this collection made me feel all the feels and I had fun reading it!

First, thank you to NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories for advanced access to this super adorable collection of meet-cutes by some of my favorite authors! These short stories were exactly what I needed to end my 2023 reading with.

Out of the six, I LOVED the first three the most. They had me laughing out loud and even tearing up. Honestly, I’m surprised they were able to pull on my heart strings as much as they did given their brief lengths. The last three were just ok in my opinion - they didn’t have the same zippy dialogue and didn’t grab my attention as much.

I love that Amazon will be offering these to prime members and would definitely recommend lovers of the individual authors read their short stories.

The Improbable Meet is a collection of six short stories by some of my favorite authors. This book is a great Valentine's read (or really anytime!), and it just so happened I was reading it at Christmas, which was SO much fun. Each of these stories were cute, funny, and engaging light reads with just a little spice, which just gave me a break from some really heavy reads earlier in the year. The other really cool aspect of this collection is that they all have the same general theme around unexpected encounters and easter eggs that connect the stories, even though they are all stand-alone. LOVED them all and would highly recommend!

Story collection includes:

The Exception to the Rule by Christina Lauren - A misdirected email leads to an enduring friendship (and possible love?!)

Worst Wingman Ever by Abby Jimenez - A note on a windshield meant for someone else leads to an unexpected connection

Rosie and the Dreamboat by Sally Thorne - Spa Day gone wrong (or right!)

Drop, Cover, and Hold on by Jasmine Guillory - Earthquake in a bakery

With Any Luck by Ashley Poston - When a wedding goes awry, the best friends of the bride and groom have to put aside their perceptions of each other and work together

Royal Valentine by Sariah Wilson -A royal switcheroo leads to a princess potentially meeting her prince

Thank you to NetGalley, and all six authors for an advanced readers copy. All opinions are my own.

I received this book from NetGalley. I read this book because I'm a huge fan of Abby Jimenez and she had a short story in this book. The book had six authors who each wrote a meet cute short story. I have to say that I enjoyed all the stories in the book. I have read all of Abby's books and one of Jasmine Guillory's books, but nothing from the other authors. I will definitely look for and read books by the other authors though. Such a cute idea and I love that they all followed the same theme and all used aspects of the other stories in their story. I would definitely recommend this book!

These books were so good. My only complaint is they were short stories and not longer. I loved Abby jimminez story the most. Her humor is just so amazing.

Sometimes, you're just in the mood for a short story and I love when you get a book that provides sample stories from some of the best writers! I truly enjoy each and every one of these short stories and hope more collaborations like this one happen in the future!

This collection of short stories was just what I needed. They were short, sweet, and some of the best romance authors around right now wrote them. Each one was its own meet cute (which let’s be honest, is one of the best parts of a romance) but they also connected in one or two ways. I loved the flow of it, and that each author stayed true to their style of writing.

I loved this collection - I finished reading it and instantly went back to reread again. Each of the stories, by each of the amazing authors, was incredible on their own - but the best part was how DIFFERENT each of them were, even all using the same prompt. Incredible.