"smitten book club" by colleen coble, kristin billerbeck, diann hunt & denise hunter

About the book: The century-old Gentlewoman's Guide to Love and Courtship is no ordinary book club choice. But for the little book club in Smitten, Vermont, it might be their best pick yet!

The thick, leathery tome Heather pulled out of the dusty cardboard box was definitely coming home with her. Not only was The Gentlewoman's Guide to Love and Courtship an appealing curiosity by virtue of its title; it was also written by Smitten, Vermont native Pearl Chambers, a local gentlewoman from three generations back.

Little did Heather know the repercussions this little curiosity would have on her and her friends' romantic exploits.

When Heather and her fellow book club members begin passing the book around, their respective interpretations are unleashed on their respective love lives . . . for better or for worse. Is it a mystery? An idealist fantasy? An intimation of Jane Austen? As romantic love finds its way to each woman, the Guide proves itself both surprisingly prescient and hilariously irrelevant.

What's more, a handwritten inscription indicates that the arcane book might hold the only extant clues leading to buried gold—exactly what one of the members needs to keep her house. How could they not go treasure hunting?

In this remarkable collaborative novel, besties Colleen Coble, Kristin Billerbeck, Denise Hunter, and Diann Hunt tackle the tale of the Gentlewoman's Guide by writing for one book club member apiece. Smitten Book Club is a hopeful, hilarious story of friendship and healing, written by friends for friends.

My take: This is the third book in Coble, Billerbeck, Hunt, and Hunter's Smitten series, and while I've reviewed the other two installments, going back now, I find my reviews to be lacking because I talked about the books as a whole. In this review, I'll look at each novella individually and then the book as a whole.

"Love by the Book" by Colleen Coble: While "Love by the Book" is fairly predictable, it's also wholly delightful! Heather and Paul's chemistry is off the charts, and their story is sweet. My one complaint is that the reader is never fully told what happened between them in the past. I think the novella would have been better if it had opened with Paul's rejection of Heather and then skipped into present. 3-1/2 stars.

"Shelved Under Romance" by Kristin Billerbeck: For whatever reason, I could not get into this novella. The story was fine, and the characters were fine, but I felt like the novella lacked spark. I really enjoyed Wyatt and his pursuit of Abby, but once they were well on their way to romance, I found myself struggling to care. 2-1/2 stars.

"A New Chapter" by Diann Hunt: This novella has the distinction of being the only one to make me laugh out loud! I loved Lia's mother's manipulations, and the subplot with Joey's daughter was sweet and heartbreaking. I even shed a few tears at the end of the story. Joey and Lia's relationship did move at a very rapid pace, something that Hunt even acknowledged during the proposal scene, and that pace caused me to enjoy the novella a bit less. 4 stars.

"Happily Ever After" by Denise Hunter: If you've been reading my reviews for a while, you know that I love just about everything Denise Hunter writes. This novella is no exception. I'm glad it was last in the series because allowed me to finish Smitten Book Club on a high note! Molly and Gage have great chemistry, and I could relate most to Molly as a character. It's a great conclusion to the book! 4-1/2 stars. 

The anthology as a whole is enjoyable. It does have a few continuity issues (for example, in the first novella, Heather shows the book to Molly; in the second novella, she tries to keep Molly from learning about it), and I would say it's the weakest of the three Smitten novels. It's a fun, easy, quick read, but it lacks the depth of the other novels. That said, it is full of romance and fun.

I just had a thought—wouldn't it be fantastic if the Hallmark Channel would make a movie (or series) about Smitten? Hunt's For Better or For Worse is currently being adapted into a Hallmark Channel movie, so it's not out of the realm of possibility. I know I would love a small screen journey to Smitten, Vermont!

My rating: 3-1/2 stars

See what others are saying.
Buy the book.
Read my reviews of Smitten and Secretly Smitten. 

About the authors: RITA-finalist Colleen Coble is the author of several best-selling romantic suspense Tidewater Inn, and the Mercy Falls, Lonestar, and Rock Harbor series.
novels, including

Christy Award finalist and two-time winner of the ACFW Book of the Year award, Kristin Billerbeck has appeared on The Today Show and has been featured in the New York Times. Her books include A Billion Reasons Why and What a Girl Wants.

Denise Hunter is the award-winning and best-selling author of several novels, including A Cowboy's Touch and Sweetwater Gap. She and her husband are raising three boys in Indiana.

Diann Hunt has lived in Indiana forever, been happily married forever, loves her family, chocolate, her friends, her dog, and, well, chocolate. Diann lost her courageous battle with cancer in December 2013.

About the giveaway: The Smitten gals are back with their newest release, Smitten Book Club! Colleen Coble, Kristin Billerbeck, and Denise Hunter are celebrating with a Kindle Fire giveaway, a Facebook party on February 20, and a nationwide book-club brunch on March 22.

 
One winner will receive:

• A Kindle Fire HDX
• The Smitten books (Smitten, Secretly Smitten, Smitten Book Club)

Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on February 20th. Winner will be announced at the Smitten Book Club Facebook Author Chat Party on February 20th. Connect with Colleen Coble, Denise Hunter, and Kristin Billerbeck for an evening of book chat, trivia, laughter, and more! The Smitten gals will also be taking questions from the audience, giving away books and gift certificates, and sharing news about their upcoming nationwide Smitten Book Club brunch on March 22nd. (Sign up to host today!)

So grab your copy of Smitten Book Club and join Colleen, Denise, Kristin, and friends on the evening of February 20th for a chance to connect and make some new friends. (If you haven't read the book, don't let that stop you from coming!)

Don't miss a moment of the fun; RSVP today. Tell your friends via FACEBOOK or TWITTER and increase your chances of winning. Hope to see you on the 20th!

Sign up to host a Smitten Book Club Brunch on March 22nd!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Litfuse Publicity Group. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Also, some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. 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."

"secretly smitten" by colleen coble, kristin billerbeck, diann hunt & denise hunter

About the book (provided by Litfuse): Summer, fall, winter, spring—Smitten, Vermont, is the place for love . . . and mystery!

There's a secret in Grandma Rose's attic—a forgotten set of dog tags belonging to her first love. But David Hutchins was killed in action and never returned to Smitten. How did the dog tags end up in the attic?

The mystery intrigues Rose's three granddaughters—Tess, Clare, and Zoe—and they decide to investigate, though their mother, Anna, warns against meddling. But as the seasons turn and the mystery unravels, the three young women and their mother encounter some intriguing mystery men of their own. Has a sixty-year-old puzzle sparked something new for this close-knit family of women?

My take: I enjoyed Smitten when I read it about a year ago, so I was eager to read Secretly Smitten—not truly a sequel, but set in the same town with a few overlapping characters.

Secretly Smitten is pure fun. There's nothing too serious about it, and sometimes that's exactly what you want in a book! Because it's four novellas written by different authors, sometimes I felt like I didn't get to know the characters well enough before one novella would end and the next would begin. I would have enjoyed glimpsing the romances from the preceding novellas again, rather than just hearing that the couples were happy. But I greatly enjoyed the thread that ran through all of them—the story of Grandma Rose and the dog tags—even though I accurately predicted the outcome at some point back in the second novella.

If I had to pick a favorite, I'd say it was Tess's story (written by Coble), closely followed by Anna's (written by Hunt). Tess's story did strike me as a bit too convenient (I guess that's the cynic in me rearing her ugly head), but Tess was also the character I most closely identified with, and the romance tugged at my heart more than the others. And Anna's story, of finding love again after divorce, was very sweet. I love reading about second chances at love!

Overall, I enjoyed Secretly Smitten very much. If you're looking for a light, quick read, check out this book! 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Also, I have to note: I've been hard on Kristin Billerbeck before, so I should tell you that I really did enjoy her entry in this collection. Zoe and William were cute, and I enjoyed their chemistry. In fact, their story is the one that kept me reading past my bedtime!

See what other bloggers are saying.
Buy the book.
Read my review of Smitten.

About the authors: RITA-finalist Colleen Coble is the author of several best-selling romantic suspense novels, including Tidewater Inn, and the Mercy Falls, Lonestar, and Rock Harbor series. * Christy Award finalist and two-time winner of the ACFW Book of the Year award, Kristin Billerbeck has appeared on The Today Show and has been featured in the New York Times. Her books include A Billion Reasons Why and What a Girl Wants. * Denise Hunter is the award-winning and best-selling author of several novels, including A Cowboy's Touch and Sweetwater Gap. She and her husband are raising three boys in Indiana. * Diann Hunt has lived in Indiana forever, been happily married forever, loves her family, chocolate, her friends, her dog, and, well, chocolate.

Find out more about Coble, Billerbeck, Hunter, and Hunt here.

About the giveaway:  The "gals" are celebrating the release of Secretly Smitten with a fun Live Webcast on February 5th. They'll be debuting the *NEW* animated Smitten trailer, giving away tons of prizes, dishing on the book and their friendship. They'll also be wrapping up the Secretly Smitten blog tour, answering audience questions and testing your trivia skills. Don't miss the fun and bring your friends. Click here to RSVP and set up a reminder.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Litfuse Publicity Group. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Also, some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. 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."

"smitten" by colleen coble, kristin billerbeck, diann hunt & denise hunter

When Smitten Lumber—the largest employer in Smitten, Vermont—closes, four friends unite to capitalize on Smitten's name and turn the town into a destination wedding location in time for hometown hero (and budding country music sensation) Sawyer Smitten's Valentine's Day wedding. Along the way, these four single friends—Natalie, Julia, Shelby, and Reese—each find their own "happily ever after."

My take: I absolutely inhaled Smitten. Each woman's story can be read in about an hour, so this book is perfect for those times when you have a little bit of free time. (Or you could stay up until 3 a.m. reading the whole thing, which is what I did!) As with any anthology, some of the stories resonated with me more than others. By far, my favorite was Hunter's "Reese," the last story. Not only did it go in a different direction than I expected based on the first three stories, but it also had the most elaborate and twisty plot. The one story that didn't really click for me was Billerbeck's "Julia." It was fine, but it didn't engage my emotions like the other three stories did. (Perhaps I'm just not destined to be a Billerbeck fan—I've heard great things about her writing, but I had this problem the only other time I read something she wrote.)

Although I didn't connect with all of the stories, I still greatly enjoyed reading Smitten. I give Smitten 4 out of 5 stars, and I absolutely recommend it to romance fans or fans of any of the authors!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. 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."