Hallowe'en Husbands by Lisa Plumley, Denise Lynn, and Christine Merrill

Hallowe'en Husbands: Marriage At Morrow Creek\Wedding At Warehaven\Master Of Penlowen by Lisa Plumley


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This was a very nice short story collection, with a Halloween theme. By far, my favorite story was Master of Penlowen, which was the last in this book. It was a delightfully gothic romance with a mysterious and somewhat tortured hero, and a sensible, likeable heroine. I loved the ghostly twist in this story, and that Ms. Merrill allows the passion to be expressed in a manner that made sense for a short historical story with a young respectable lady and hero of principles. This story encouraged me to read more of Christine Merrill. Being a big fan of gothic horror, I loved the storyline very much. Ms. Merrill managed to pack a lot into this short story, and created characters I felt for and came to like very much. Despite the short length, they were well-drawn characters with depth that made the story that much more engaging for me.

Wedding at Warehaven was also a good story. I liked the incorporation of the Pagan Saxon rites in the story. There are people who are practicing dark rites at the keep of Warehaven, and FitzHenry is tasked with resolving the issue. He has a choice to marry the unwed witch or burn her at the stake. Fortunately he chooses the former. The heroine of this story was a bit frustrating at times, although I could understand that she was trying to protect her people.

Marriage at Morrow Creek was a good story as well. It had a young woman who's been in love with her father's employee, but gets the encouragement from a ghostly figure at the creek to help her to grab life by the horns and to go after the man she really wants.

The first and the third stories were 3 star reads, but the last story was so great, a five star, that I bumped this collection up to four stars. Reading this collection was a nice way to wrap up the Halloween holiday for this reader.

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