With this Ring? A Novella Collection.

Back Cover: Love isn't always a fairytale and it doesn't always go as planned. Sometimes the best stories, though, are the ones that are the most unexpected. Join Karen Witemeyer, Mary Connealy, Regina Jennings, and Melissa Jagears for novel-las that celebrate the power of love to triumph... even when circumstances go awry.

Novella One: The Husband Maneuver

When ranch foreman Daniel Barrett seems ready to leave her life forever, Marietta Hawkins decides to grab the reins on their relationship. But to have any hope of maneuvering him into a proposal, she has to act fast or risk losing him completely.

Novella Two: Her Dearly Unintended

Jack Huckabee just wanted to make sure Katie Ellen Watson was safe, but when the only bridge to her farm is washed out, the two find themselves alone. Alone, that is, until  a menacing stranger appears. Maybe by pretending to be newlyweds they'll save their reputations - but can pretending to be in love turn into the real thing?

Novella Three: Runaway Bride

Hired to help Carrie Halsey escape from a dangerous man intent on making her his wife, Big John Conroy never expected the job to interrupt his solitary Texas Ranger life. But now that he's promised to keep Carrie safe, he discovers he may just want to make a few more promises.

Novella Four: Engaging the Competition

Harrison Gray and tomboy Charlotte Andrews have been rivals for years. With Charlotte intended for someone else, it seems they'll never settle their differences until an accident changes things completely. When Charlotte breaks Harrison's glasses - without which he's nearly blind - she must help with his teaching position, and working together forces these former adversaries to reconsider everything.

Review: I really enjoyed the first story in this collection. It was a story within a story, which I thought was just the sweetest idea. Marietta falls in love with a character in her favourite dime novel - a man who happens to work on her father's ranch. As love would have it, she soon realizes that the real man is much better than the fictional hero and sets out to win him for herself.

As far as the rest of the pieces in this collection go... I struggled through the stories. I did not find they read well or were well developed. I enjoyed the first one, but overall was not impressed with the quality of this collection in its entirety.

 "Book has been provided courtesy of Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group, and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc." In exchange for my honest opinion.