Warning: I read this book over a year ago, so the review might not be so detail driven.
Magically Delicious Kisses (Anthology)
Magically Delicious Kisses is an Anthology with three different authors contributing to the book. All three stories have a theme of food and some kind of magical properties. The book was published in 2002 and I read it in 2014. The three authors that contributed to this book are: Jo Goodman, Hannah Howell and Linda Madl. I believe I purchased this book when I was working at the book store ages ago, and I can quite remember why I picked it up and bought it. Because out of all of the authors I've only heard of one, but I had never read anything by her. In all I remember the stories being quick reads, and fun for little brain dusters.
A Basket of Magic by Jo Goodman is about a girl named Abby Winslow who makes bread that is specific for a person. When she runs into Dylan Kincannon, she's inspired to bake him a special loaf and travels to the isolated place he calls home. Dylan who is a Yankee, living in the south shortly after the civil war just wants to be alone, but when an avalanche strands her with him sparks fly.
I found that the story had a nice and easy flow, it was quick but had a good amount of back story with action that pulled me in. Out of the three stories this was the only one set in America where as the other two were set in Great Britain. You find that Dylan is suffering from what we know not today as PTSD, after serving as a doctor to Union and Confederate soldiers during the civil war. I loved that the author wasn't afraid to put in history of the characters and found that it was important to understand them.
The Magic Garden by Hannah Howell is a story set in Scotland where Rose Keith comes from a long like of Keith women who is in charge of the family garden, that many believe hold magical properties. The new Laird Sir Adair Dundas takes a liking to Rose and finds her quirky and interesting.
Out of the two stories, this one had the most humor, which a lot of times in a romance story is refreshing. The idea of which craft was an interesting take, and the character Rose is being harassed by another women in the village, which during those earlier times is not something you want to be accused of. But I do have to say the dialogue was kind of hard to read because it was written like a Scottish brogue would sound. So I found myself slowing down and trying to follow the story when there was dialogue between the characters.
The Orange Tree by Linda Madl is set in England, where Lady Emmalyn travels to the Isle of Sully to get some of Lord Hughes rare oranges. She believes that they are an aphrodisiac and wants them for her daughters wedding so that she doesn't suffer the same heartbreaking fate that Lady Emmalyn had when she was married.
A Basket of Magic by Jo Goodman is about a girl named Abby Winslow who makes bread that is specific for a person. When she runs into Dylan Kincannon, she's inspired to bake him a special loaf and travels to the isolated place he calls home. Dylan who is a Yankee, living in the south shortly after the civil war just wants to be alone, but when an avalanche strands her with him sparks fly.
I found that the story had a nice and easy flow, it was quick but had a good amount of back story with action that pulled me in. Out of the three stories this was the only one set in America where as the other two were set in Great Britain. You find that Dylan is suffering from what we know not today as PTSD, after serving as a doctor to Union and Confederate soldiers during the civil war. I loved that the author wasn't afraid to put in history of the characters and found that it was important to understand them.
The Magic Garden by Hannah Howell is a story set in Scotland where Rose Keith comes from a long like of Keith women who is in charge of the family garden, that many believe hold magical properties. The new Laird Sir Adair Dundas takes a liking to Rose and finds her quirky and interesting.
Out of the two stories, this one had the most humor, which a lot of times in a romance story is refreshing. The idea of which craft was an interesting take, and the character Rose is being harassed by another women in the village, which during those earlier times is not something you want to be accused of. But I do have to say the dialogue was kind of hard to read because it was written like a Scottish brogue would sound. So I found myself slowing down and trying to follow the story when there was dialogue between the characters.
The Orange Tree by Linda Madl is set in England, where Lady Emmalyn travels to the Isle of Sully to get some of Lord Hughes rare oranges. She believes that they are an aphrodisiac and wants them for her daughters wedding so that she doesn't suffer the same heartbreaking fate that Lady Emmalyn had when she was married.
What stood out to me the most in this story was that the lead female character wasn't a virgin maid. In a lot of historical romance stories, the female is always a virgin. So it was nice and refreshing to read where one wasn't. But if I remember correctly, this story was one of the most boring.
In the end all of the stories were quick and easy reads with a few minor slow downs, like the language. For the most part I enjoyed the book. It was neat to that the stories all had a common theme with food and magic.
Rating: 4 out of 5 (this was the rating that I gave it on goodreads.com)
On Deck: Until I catch up on reviews I won't be posting on decks although I am constantly reading.
