Bestselling novelist Tracie Peterson joins Karen Witemeyer, Regina Jennings, and Jen Turano in this collection of four novellas, each featuring a Harvey Girl heroine. From Kansas to Texas, the Grand Canyon to New Mexico, the stories cross the country with tales of sweet romance and entertaining history. In Karen Witemeyer’s “More Than a Pretty Face,” a young woman works her hardest to escape poor … escape poor choices from her youth. Tracie Peterson offers “A Flood of Love,” where reuniting with an old flame after more than a decade offers unexpected results. Regina Jennings’s “Intrigue a la Mode” delights with a tale of a young woman determined to help support her family, despite warnings of danger nearby. And Jen Turano’s “Grand Encounters” heads to the Grand Canyon with a tale of a society belle intent on finding a new life for herself.
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What a great collection of historical novellas written by some of my absolute favorite authors in the genre! And I learned quite a bit about the Harvey Houses and the women working there who made the restaurants notable. All four novellas are masterfully crafted and have beautifully developed characters and plots that make them feel like full-length novels. If you enjoy historical novellas, you will be delighted with this collection.
The author Tracie Peterson will fascinate you with historical details from 1929 New Mexico; Karen Witemeyer will touch your heart with unconditional love that extends grace and mercy in 1902 Texas; Regina Jennings will captivate you with intrigue and charm in 1898 Kansas; and Jen Turano will have you laughing out loud and sighing with happy anticipation in 1908 Arizona. You will not be able to put the book down once you start it!
I received a copy of the book from Bethany House and was under no obligation to post a positive review. All comments and opinions are solely my own.
Serving Up Love is a collection of tales of adventure and love as the Harvey Girls are able to explore the country as well as discover more about themselves.
A Flood of Love by Tracie Peterson
A Flood of Love was packed with historical details. I love that this was based on true stories and events.
Timing seems to be everything for Gretchen and Dirk. They have only ever loved each other but have been pulled apart. If only communication in those days had been easier.
Katiann is adorable. She seemed to know everything about everyone and is so curious about the world around her. I’m surprised her nannies had such a hard time handling her. I loved that when someone compliments her she says, “I know” instead of “thank you”.
Tracie Peterson is the only author I haven’t read, though I have a number of her books on my TBR list. Now I know why she was so often recommended to me.
More Than A Pretty Face by Karen Witemeyer
I’m glad that Rosalind from More Than Words Can Say gets her own story. The title of this novella was perfect for her.
She made a bad choice in her past, and she is trying to hide from it. Unfortunately she is transferred back to her home state of Texas and is right back where she started. No matter where she goes now, she cannot hide from her past mistakes. Even after someone repents, our sins can still follow us from the past and have consequences.
After none of his charms had been working, Caleb tried to spark Rosalind’s interest by using a Pigpen cipher. As someone who solves cipher puzzles for fun, I can’t say how much I loved that Caleb and Rosalind wrote to each other in secret code.
“How on earth was she supposed to resist a man who left her a note penned in secret code.”
While Caleb knew of Rosalind for awhile, I think he fell in love with her before he knew her personally. I wish there had been a little more personal conversations before the declarations of love.
“You snuck up on me. Luring my heart little by little with your ciphers and outings, your kindness to old ladies and adolescent dishwashers, until it became fully yours.” “My heart belongs to you for as long as you desire it.”
This story seems a little more serious than a lot of Witemeyer’s other books, but with some of the topics it has to be.
Intrigue a la Mode by Regina Jennings
I immediately liked Graham and Willow and found their story very engaging. I also liked the historical details and descriptions about the Harvey Girls.
The pace was perfect and the story seemed well developed for a novella. Though it felt complete, I would love to know more about Calista’s adventures and their legendary family tree.
Graham’s secret way in to the depot was funny. He also had some other funny lines.
Grand Encounters by Jen Turano
It seemed like Jack was so smitten with Myrtle before he had even had one conversation with her. Then after months of being awkward with her and only offering one random word, it’s like the floodgates were opened. I did find many of the characters shallow and physically assaulting someone is not a form of humor.
When they did finally have conversations with each other, I liked them as a couple. I also liked Jack and Myrtle’s hobbies of hiking and reading.
Turano has written a number of books about New York Heiresses during this time, and it was interesting to see what would happen if one of them left their high class society to become a Harvey Girl.
A Flood of Love: I liked that fact that we were pretty much jumping into a love story that sort of already took place. Only a huge wrench got thrown in and messed everything up. When Gretchen gets transferred to a Harvey House in her home town she has sever mixed emotions. She has happy memories there as well as some devastating ones. The she meets this rambunctious little girl who has connections to the man who went and trampled all over her heart. Wrongs get washed away in this lovely read.
More Than a Pretty Face: we get reunited with sweet Rosalind who we meet in book two of the Patchwork Family. She is still trying to run away from a past mistake when she encounters the handsome lawyer who knows just the right things to say to break down the walls Rosie has erected around her. Together they figure out a way to rid Rosalind of the scandal that hovers over her like a dark cloud and eventually get their HEA.
Intrigue a la Mode: I’m not going to lie this story was not the best as a novella. Graham and Willow went from just barley knowing each other to being fully in love and we blink boom HEA. The mystery of the story all got solved in two pages which is fine but I think Willow and Graham deserved a full story. I just wasn’t as invested in their love story like the others in this Novella series.
A Grand Encounter: This story was perfection. I loved Myrtle Schermerhorn(take a moment to appreciate this name) and Jack Daggett. They were just about the cutest things ever. And Walter best wingman in the history of wingmen. I shall end this review with this. Potatoes are quite fetching.
This was actually a book that I won from a Goodreads contest. Lucky me! It was a great book. This fun and interesting historical fiction had some nice stories that were captivating and each was unique and different.
There was one new author for me and that was Regina Jennings, and I have to say that I enjoyed her story and her writing style very much. The stories took place in different and interesting places and I enjoyed learning about some new historical facts. I honestly wasn’t aware of this group of women and looked it up to learn more about them. Very interesting!
Are you or someone you know in need of a good book? Let the Harvey Girls in “Serving Up Love” be of service! Four books in one is an awesome deal. However, when the authors are Tracie Peterson, Karen Witemeyer, Regina Jennings, and Jen Turano, you know you’ve been handed a huge gift on a silver platter. I found myself smiling and laughing out loud so many times. I found myself instantly attached to the nine-year-old Katiann in Tracie Peterson’s “A Flood of Love”. Her instant friendship with Gretchen was so sweet and her not-so-subtle meddling between Gretchen and Dirk had me blushing and giggling.
Karen Witemeyer’s “More Than a Pretty Face” was the perfect ending to The Patchwork Family Series and a perfect addition to “Serving Up Love”! Rosalind Kemp is a character you wish you could meet in person. She is so real and relatable. We all have things in our past we aren’t proud of and may find ourselves facing the repercussions of a poor decision. And I believe most of us have wished for a fresh start at some point in our lives. The friendship and budding romance between Rosalind and Caleb is the kind that fills you with warm fuzzies. In addition, the story was full of surprising turns—especially at the end! I was hooked from page one (well… page 81).
I just recently read a book by Regina Jennings and was excited to read another story written by her. I’m hooked! I can’t wait to get my hands on more books by her. In “Serving Up Love”, Regina Jennings’ story “Intrigue a la Mode” was exactly that—intriguing. Wow. It had elements of mystery I wasn’t prepared for. My heart even started racing a couple of times!
Before “Serving Up Love”, I had never read anything written by Jen Turano. I was excited to try out a new author. “A Grand Encounter” was simply amazing! I was glued instantly. A couple of times I had to put the book down in order to see to a few chores. I was disgruntled and rebuked myself saying “Grace, you knew you shouldn’t have picked that book up!”
One book, four stories, and 9 new friends… what could be better?!