Journey to to California, Yellowstone, and Las Vegas on three romantic trips in this collection of modern-day stories by USA Today bestselling author Annette Lyon:THE PIER CHANGES EVERYTHINGAlexandria has one last task to perform for her late husband, who died much too young: scatter his ashes in the Pacific Ocean. She goes to the Santa Monica Pier to do just that, but her plans get sidetracked … sidetracked after meeting Michael and feeling an immediate connection to him. They grab lunch, and the more time they spend together, the more they discover that they have in common-including past romantic hardships. As the day wears on, Alexandria begins learn that her heart just might be able to find love again.OUR SONGCassie and Matt have been dating in the Yellowstone area for two years, and things are… average. When Cassie meets with two visiting college friends, their love lives like sound like fairy tales: rose petals, chocolates, candles on the beach. Cassie feels like she’s missing out; repeatedly watching Old Faithful erupt and walking through sulfur-smelling gases at Fountain Paint Pot don’t exactly say “romance.” Maybe things with Matt aren’t going anywhere, and it’s time to move on. Then she discovers that perception and reality are completely different things. Now she can only hope it isn’t too late to show Matt how much she cares.HEAD OVER HEELSTristan is proud to be an entrepreneur, running a popular singles’ lifestyle blog. So when she gets an offer to cover a singles convention in Las Vegas, she needs to find a way to get there from another freelance job in Salt Lake without breaking into her personal savings. Her friend sets her up with a co-worker who happens to be driving that way, and Tristan is more than surprised to come face-to-face with a man she has a lot in common with, not to mention seems to click with right away. The two decide to play a prank on Tristan’s friend, and pretend that they’re smitten with each other, but soon the lines between pretend and reality start to fade.
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This is a fabulous collection of three of my favorite novellas by Annette Lyon! It was a pleasure to read all of them again and I loved visiting the various settings with the characters.
The Pier Changes Everything is a lovely blend of fading grief and budding hope as childhood summer sweethearts serendipitously reconnect after several years apart. I loved how they were each at a turning point in their lives, attempting to leave heartache behind them and move on. It was sweet how they felt that instant connection and sense of rightness, being together again. I think this would make a great longer story as well, I would have liked to learn more about their experiences together at camp and how it shaped their lives leading up to present day, as well as more of the secondary characters like Michael’s friend Nate. I feel like it’s a well-written novella because I quickly got a good sense of their personalities, circumstances, and felt the depth of their emotions during their interactions. It wrapped up with a feeling of excitement for what the future holds for this wonderful couple.
Our Song is a great example of perception versus reality, and I appreciated the message of the true characteristics of love and what contributes to a successful and lasting relationship. The status quo between Cassie and Matt gets shaken up, but it wakes them both up to digging deep and getting out of their comfort zones to realize what they really want. It was fun to see what Matt cooked up to catch Cassie’s attention! I’m a big fan of camping and the national parks, so I loved the setting and Cassie and Matt’s jobs.
Head Over Heels is an entertaining story! The way Tristan’s friend Alyssa connects her with the hot guy she met briefly at ComicCon is great, and even though Mac seems charming and cool, we soon see the more approachable and goofy side of him that is endearing. They have awesome chemistry and it’s fun to see the beginnings of a relationship with two people that match together so well. They are the kind of people I like to be friends with 🙂 This is one of my top 10 novellas that I love to re-read!
(I received a complimentary copy of the book; all opinions in this review are my own)
THE PIER CHANGES EVERYTHING
Second chances are so romantic. Michael and Alexandria both have pasts to recover from and after spending a day together, find comfort in each other and in a surprise revelation. This story is filled with nostalgic moments, as well as hope for the future and really tugged on my heartstrings.
OUR SONG
It’s so easy to take life and relationships for granted and to think the grass is greener on the other side. There were some sweet and important lessons learned in this story and I thought it was a super fun and romantic story.
HEAD OVER HEELS
I’ve never thought about meeting the man of my dreams at a Comic Con! It’s so sad when a quick meeting there leaves a girl wanting for more, but Tristan has no way of finding her Loki again. A humorous second meeting puts Tristan on a road trip from Salt Lake to Las Vegas with a man who seems to be her match.
The way these two characters click just feels so right. I love the way they work together to get back at their friend and that long car ride really gives them time to discover their common threads. My heart was warmed by this road trip and the results from it. And bonus? These two are really into 80s music.
THE PIER CHANGES EVERYTHING–Alexandria comes California to scatter the ashes of her late husband in the Pacific Ocean on what would’ve been their 5th anniversary. At the Santa Monica Pier she meets Michael and gets a little sidetracked. They go to lunch and discover they have much in common.
This is almost a second chance at love story because Alexandria and Michael first met as teenagers at a summer camp. The day at the pier was a sad day for both of them and reconnecting seemed to start the process healing their hearts. A wonderful story of learning to love again.
OUR SONG–Cassie and Matt both work at Yellowstone and have been dating for a couple of years.
When Cassie meets up with a couple of the girls from college and they start talking about being engaged and how their boyfriends proposed–trails of rose petals leading to candles on a beach, designing engagement rings, etc she feels like her relationship with Matt is missing something–namely sparks and romance.
How we perceive others relationships and how they really are, are often not the same. Cassie thinks she’s missing out, but after not seeing Matt for a few days, and talking with one of her girlfriends, realizes that what they have is true love. Matt is a man of few words, but shows his love through actions. When Cassie has “the talk” with him he realizes “he’d been comfortable with the way things were, and he hated taking risks” which might lead to him losing the woman he loves. He comes up with an elaborate way to move their relationship forward.
HEAD OVER HEELS–Tristan has a popular singles blog and needs to find a way to get from Salt Lake City to Las Vegas in a day on a shoestring budget. Her best friend, Alyssa, sets her up to ride with a former co-worker who was in Salt Lake and heading back to Vegas. She thinks she’ll be riding with a woman, named Mackenzie, but is in for a big surprise–it’s the guy Mac, from the Comic-Con speed dating event she just attended.
This is probably my favorite of the three novellas. I liked the description of the Comic-Con speed dating event and how Tristan couldn’t think around Mac. I loved the road trip from SLC to Vegas, especially the 80’s radio station. It was also fun to hear about the prank he pulled on Alyssa when they worked together. You could tell Tristan and Mac had chemistry when they met at the speed dating event. He sounds so hunky and fun plus he likes 80’s music–what’s not to like?
Annette Lyon is one of my favorite authors and it was fun to read these contemporary love stories again.