WITH THIS RING

The Husband Manuever by Karen Witemeyer, an entertaining read that contains two stories in one in that the heroine loves reading dime novels especially about the man she loves. Daniel Barrett, retired bounty hunter, now ranch foreman has the heart of his bosses daughter,  Etta Hawkins; but he has decided he will move on to a ranch of his own. Etta, loves reading the folk lore novels about Daniel's exploits in his other life if only to get close to the man she loves. Now, she finds she needs to take more drastic measures to convince Daniel that they are meant for each other and to get a proposal out of him. The author slides you so naturally from her story into the one that Etta is reading that you can't not put the book down for wanting to find out what happens in both stories.

Her Dearly Unintended by Regina Jennings opens with the heroine, Katie Ellen struggling with a dilemma and the creek rising. She finds herself trapped with her nemesis, Josiah Huckabee and then a stranger arrives. Josiah convinces Katie Ellen that their survival and reputations depend on pretending they are married. Ms. Jennings skillfully writes humorous dialogue and romantic situations.

Runaway Bride by Mary Connealy quickly finds the heroine rescued by her hero, an ex-Texas ranger ready to escort her and her brother to safety as she flees an unwanted engagement. I usually enjoy Ms. Connealy's books full of humor and amorous adventures but this one was not up to par with her usual work for me.

My favorite of the four stories was  Melissa Jagears, "Engaging the Competition", the story was aptly named, her characters endearing, and the opening attention grabbing. But the ending was an HEA winner. Harrison Gray, visually handicapped without his glasses, pursues tomboyish Charlie Andrews at the height of a storm and finds himself trapped with his old nemesis and schoolboy crush in the depths of her barn's hulled out storm shelter. From there things get even more interesting, when they discover his glasses crushed in the stall with his horse and Charlie volunteers to help him with his school teaching duties until a new pair of glasses can be ordered and delivered to him. In the course of their close, daily encounters they discover that their years of competitiveness have been more to impress each other rather than to out best each other. From the opening storm, Harrison and Charlie struggle to balance what they thought they knew of each other to what they find to be the truth about themselves and the feelings they've kept buried all these years. A truly fun story that leaves you smiling at the end.

With this Ring, is a great group of novellas to spend a free afternoon engrossed in. It has my recommendation for your reading list.