Summer Love

Rating:
Summary: Decent compilation
Review: "Summer Love" is a decent compilation of stories by four established authors. All four manage the novella form well, with believable and appealing characters and good writing.

Janelle Taylor is the editor and featured writer in this compilation with her story "Straight from the Heart." As is often the case with these compilations, her story ends up the weakest. Kim is stranded in a mountain cabin with Stephen, to whom she is attracted. Unfortunately, Stephen's law firm represented her lying husband in her divorce and she still holds onto that resentment. Kim is a decent character, although she seems overly bitter towards Stephen. The hero Stephen is OK, but the story doesn't give much of a sense of him, and their "romance" isn't well-developed within the confines of the novella form. Still, it's a sweet little love story.

"Summer Fantasy" by Jill Marie Landis is one of the better stories in this group. The character of Kylee is especially strong, and the romance between the two is well-developed and believable. A good story with an ending I bought into.

Stella Cameron is a talented author, and the plot of "Early in the Morning" is an interesting one, as it involves aliens seeking humans as sex therapists. As always, Cameron handles her erotic scenes very well, and her writing is very distinctive. This story also works well in the novella format. I'm not sure I always bought into this story, but Cameron's work is always interesting if nothing else.

Anne Stuart's "Sultry" is a decent story. The characters were appealing and the romance believable. The story itself is nothing distinctive or special, but it's a decent addition to this compilation.

All in all, this is an enjoyable compilation, with good writing and charming characters. While some stories are weaker than others, Landis's strong contribution and Cameron's distinctive writing style give it an edge over other similar compilations.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful
Review: This is my favorite story by her. She used Hawaiian words and described the setting so well it brought back great memories of my trips to Kauai. The characters were magic and I love the description of Rick Pau-he's my dream guy!