*Review* Propose to Me Anthology

Genre: Romance

Published: July 16, 2014

Pages: 290

Ages: 18+

Synopsis

Artificial Tears by Charmaine Pauls
Lourdes March has cried enough tears over her dishonest ex. She is moving on. Until she walks into an optometrist's office, and is confronted with the splitting image of the man she's trying to forget.

The Spark by Ellyse Roberts 
Anna Claire had everything: money, a fiancée and a successful job as an architect. Her life was going great until a homeless guy with a grudge decided to set the building she was renovating on fire. Ethan was a firefighter filled with regret from a mistake he made long ago. An inferno brought them back together. But can fate re-ignite the spark they thought was lost forever?

Proposal Unexpected by Elena Kane
Adele had the perfect life, until it all fell apart. She’s left alone and bitter after discovering her husband’s many transgressions, when she finds herself face to face with a familiar face from the past. Wondering why they ever parted ways to begin with, Adele is faced with the difficult choice of forgetting and forgiving her husband or starting a life with the man she spent years loving before life got in the way.

One Perfect Moment by Tara Fox Hall
Coriander Hartwell’s dream of getting married has almost come true; her longtime lover Stefan Van Kellam II has finally popped the question. But the instant she locks eyes with old flame Dustin at her high school reunion, Cori begins to rethink her dream of a perfect wedding...and the man she wishes would make her his wife.

Running Late by Caroline Andrus 
On her way to meet with her boyfriend, Will, Paige reflects upon their seven-year relationship and prepares herself to be dumped. Meanwhile, Will has something else in mind.

Cappuccino Dreaming by Louise Redmann
What does it cost to be yourself? She’s cooked for her boyfriend, played nice with his friends, and twisted her personality to fit his. He’s booked an expensive restaurant for Saturday night. Surely he’s going to propose. But when she sees her lover kiss her best friend, she flees into a coffee house only to trip up the stairs, spilling her cappuccino over everyone. Out of the angry crowd, one man offers his hand and a fresh drink.

Love Weavers by Katie Stephens
Hannah and Wynter have two things in common: an incredible artistic talent and witchcraft. In order to acquire Wynter’s jewelry-making secrets, Hannah finds a way to travel across time and meet her ancestor. However, her novice powers simply amuse Wynter, who is embroiled in a love triangle and has no time for the young witch. When an enchanted necklace disappears, can the two work together or must their men take matters into their own hands?

Review

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I have a few general comments to make about the collection as a whole and then I will review each story individually. First, I'm not particularly fond of the title of the anthology because I feel it made the stories predictable, and I'm not a fan of predictable. Secondly, there were a few more spelling errors in this book than I typically find acceptable in a book this size, but most of them were in one story, and it was a case of a female specific spellings of two words used in reference to a male. I don't think the average reader would recognize that issue while reading, so it's mostly only significant to me. 

Artificial Tears by Charmaine Pauls

I like my romances to have relationship build up, and this story just didn't do that for me. While I could easily see and understand her attraction, his motives are really unknowable because the story is told in first person from her perspective. Mostly, I think this story would work better for me if it were developed into a full length novel to provide time for a slower burning relationship build up. It wasn't bad, but it didn't work for me. 3 stars.

The Spark by Ellyse Roberts

This story was chock full of detailed descriptions, bringing the story to life in a big way. I also loved the chapter headings, they were really a nice touch. I thought the story wrapped up rather quickly at the end, but that's understandable because there were almost certainly length restraints for the submissions to this anthology. There were also times where the verb tenses were off that made some segments kind of stutter for me. Most people probably wouldn't notice those though. 4 stars.

Proposal Unexpected by Elena Kane

This story is my fantasy (shh, don't tell my husband), well sort of at least. My guy is one that I never actually dated though, but otherwise this story is the one that I have saved in my head, almost to the letter, for the times when I'm really pissed at my husband. Because of this, I felt really connected to the story and I loved the way it played out. It really felt like the author took it straight from my head. 5 stars.

One Perfect Moment by Tara Fox Hall

Like the past two stories, this is a second chance romance, but it didn't sit as well with me morally as the last two did. There was just something about the characters actions that rankled me. There were also a few conversations that felt flat and awkward, in my opinion. The story wasn't poorly written, but it didn't work for me. 3.5 stars.

Running Late by Caroline Andrus

I loved the way this story was set up, giving us what seems like the highlights from a long relationship, interspersed with present day events that transpire in a very short amount of time. It really made the story feel more intense for me. Even though this is a short story, it was very easy to see the relationship blossom and grow. Although the conflict felt a little manufactured to me, I think that was largely because of the title of this anthology. 5 stars.

Cappuccino Dreaming by Louise Redmann

I liked how almost this entire story took place in a coffee shop (even though, like the leading lady, I don't like coffee). It was an interesting way to tell a love story, only through their interactions in that one location. I took some issue with the man's attitude near the end because I feel what he was doing was just as bad as part of what her ex had done in the past, just in the reverse, but beyond that it was a fun story. 4 stars.

Love Weavers by Katie Stephens

This was my favorite story in this collection. It weaves together past and present to create a dual love story, one in the past and one in the present, but it's really more about the two women in the different times than anything, and their connections to each other. But honestly, I think this was mostly my favorite story because of the historical aspect to it. I've always loved reading historical romances. 5 stars.

Overall this collection gets 4.2 stars. I would definitely recommend it to contemporary romance fans. - Katie 

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