I didn’t realize, when I picked this up for review, that it was published by an evangelical Christian publisher (Barbour Books). Their mission statement is ‘to publish and distribute inspirational products offering exceptional value and biblical encouragement to the masses’.

Now, there is a huge market out there for Christian romance. That audience… generally does not include me. While I was raised a Protestant, and I do still believe in God, organized religion isn’t something I care for.

Nonetheless, I’m no quitter and I resolved to give this anthology a go. There are many ways in which one can express faith without being heavy-handed and that’s what I was looking for here; a romance where two people who share a common faith find love and comfort in each other. Some of the stories did that much better than others, and consequently I’ve decided to write a quick individual review with star rating for each.

First Comes Marriage by Amanda Barratt
A hasty marriage between a young girl compromised by a rake and a young man ordered into it by his father is an inauspicious beginning, especially when the reluctant bridegroom immediately goes to sea with his Navy ship for three years. When he comes back, he has found God and is determined to make a go of his marriage.
To be honest, this was one of my least favourite stories in the book. We never did find out exactly how the hero ‘found God’ and at the first sign of a challenge to his authority, he reverted back to being extremely dislikable. I struggled to warm to him, and Charity was a little bit too good to be true. I’m rating this one three stars.

Masquerade Melody by Angela Bell
This was a gentle, heartwarming story about a young lady living in reduced circumstances after the death of her father forced her into service to her bossy cousin as a companion and chaperone. Adelaide reminded me of a caged bird, desperate to be free with her music, and Colonel Glenmire was a perfect hero for her even if the romance in the story didn’t really become apparent until the very end. Sweetly charming. Five stars.

Three Little Matchmakers by Susanne Dietze
Caroline Dempsey meets her childhood friend Henry, the Earl of Marsden, once again, but this time she is nothing more than the governess for three orphaned children placed into his care. There were hints at abuse in Henry’s past which have conditioned him to guard his emotions, and watching his walls come down as Caroline and the children determinedly loved him was rather charming. There were some hilarious escapades - one particular one involving a sheep in the ballroom had me laughing out loud. A hardened heart has no chance with three determined plot moppets on the case. Five stars.

The Gentleman Smuggler’s Lady
If you like Poldark, you’ll enjoy this one set on the rugged Cornish coast with smugglers and excise men aplenty. While nicely written, I quibbled with a few things such as Helen’s becoming engaged immediately after her father’s death with no mourning period, and the fact that there was no real resolution with the invisible antagonist of the plot. Enjoyable but probably needed to be about double the length. Four stars.

When I Saw His Face by Nancy Moser
A widow in her forties receives a proposal from an eligible bachelor once her stepdaughter marries and moves away, but meeting a handsome stranger makes her rethink her wishes for the future.
Anyone who reads my reviews knows that I’m not a fan of either insta-love OR love triangles, and this story featured both. Honestly I couldn’t get through it fast enough, and I had to go back to it to refresh my memory when writing this review. Two stars.

The Highwayman’s Bargain by MaryLu Tyndall
Kidnapped on the way to her own wedding, Sophia is shocked to find that the highwayman who took her is her childhood sweetheart, Nash, who tells her some unpalatable truths about her future husband.
Now, I liked Sophia well enough. She was doing what she felt she had to do for her family, and was truly caught between a rock and a hard place. Nash behaved like the worst kind of (censored) (bleeping) MAN, asking her to make the biggest call of her life without any information or reassurances from him whatsoever. I genuinely wanted her to push him off the cliff at the end. Two stars.

Jamie Ever After by Erica Vetsch
Absolutely my favourite story in the bunch, this was a really strong one to end on. William, the Earl of Beckenham, has returned from war with serious scars to a fiancee who immediately cried off their marriage. Convinced no woman would ever want him, when his sister asks him to offer marriage to her best friend, in danger from a determined rake, William does so… only to finally discover that the woman who can see past his scars has been right under his nose all along.
There’s nothing better than a scarred hero and the feisty heroine who sees the real man beneath. I adored this one. Five stars.

Overall I can only say that this was a very uneven collection. Depending on personal taste, you’ll probably find at least one story in here which hits the spot for you, but I honestly doubt that anyone would really enjoy all of them, even if Christian romance is your preferred genre. For an averaged rating, I’m giving it four stars.

I am normally not a big fan of Regency romance, but I enjoyed this collections of novellas. Each selection is well written with well developed characters. I recommend this book.

Barbour Books is making their mark on the novella anthologies with the Regency Brides Collection, they have departed from their normal nine novella format to have only seven novellas in the book. This is a good thing in my mind. I just wish they'd come down to only four. From a reviewing standpoint, four seems to be my highwater mark for keeping the plots of the stories straight. That being said, this collection is quite light hearted and fun.

My favorite one of this collection includes a governess of three children and their guardian. The children's antics make the story fun and engaging.

The authors of this collection know what they are doing in preparing a full plot to go in a small package.

Five Star Collection, Two Thumbs Up, and an afternoon cup of tea while entertaining visitors.

My thanks to Barbour Books for allowing me to read and review this book.

Seven historical romance stories of England during the Regency period make up this anthology. I enjoyed the stories although some were better than others. Each of the seven authors has her unique voice and style and each was well written. But two of them didn’t seem to fit quite as well as the others and were not as compelling, but all in all, it was a good compilation of faith, clean romance, and a nice read. For those who enjoy Regency novels, this is a good choice for you.

This book is like many compilations that I have read. There are stories that you can read and that you love and then there are stories that you wish you could skip all together. I love novellas for days that I am unable to sit down and read a full book. They allow you to read for an hour and experience a happily ever after so that you can go about your day.
I gave this book 4 stars because there are at least two stories in the book which are 5 star reads. I would recommend that you check out this book and read it for yourself.

So many fun stories all put together! Love learning about new authors I haven't tried before.

Seven stories by seven authors of Regency England and I loved everyone of them. I don't usually enjoy novellas but there were well written and each story was very interesting. A couple of authors I have never read before, but will be looking into more of their books. An arranged marriage to save a reputation. A ladies companion afraid of being of losing her position. Friends who have become the caregivers of three orphans. Gentleman smugglers. An unmentioned engagement causes a misunderstanding. A kidnapper to the rescue. And needing to marry to produce an heir. Fun to read stories during an interesting time in history.

I received this ebook from NetGalley and the publisher for my honest review.

Anybody who likes religious books and Jane Austen-esque novels - you are in luck because this collection is for you! I adore Barbour's bride collections, they are my favourite books to review, but it's lovely to have some stories set in my native country! The stories never fail to make me smile and warm my heart, my favourite was definitely MaryLu's if I had to pick. I'm a sucker for a soldier!

Collections of novellas like this remind me of a box of chocolates: They are small, sweet, and you get to sample new flavors (authors)!
I jumped at the chance to review a ARC of this book through Netgalley, because it contained stories from two of my favorite authors (Marylu Tyndall and Michelle Griep). While the stories from those two authors were my favorite, because they involved the most action, I did find a couple authors that I had not read before that I enjoyed.

If you’re a fan of Regency stories, this novella collection is sure to have something you’ll enjoy. Seven stories with characters who are members of the aristocracy, citizens of a small English town, a relative demoted to a servant, and even a highwayman and smuggler. From quickly and forcibly arranged marriages to love at first sight, the authors of Barbour Publishing bring the life and times of Regency England through on the pages.
These Barbour collections are some of my favorites because the novellas are short enough to read in one sitting and I’m often introduced to new-to-me authors. There’s just no way to go wrong with these books.

***I receive complimentary books for review from publishers, publicists, and/or authors, including NetGalley. I am not required to write positive reviews. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

As an unabashed lover of all things Regency England, it shouldn't be surprising that I jumped all over the chance to review this wonderful little collection of seven novellas. Michelle Griep and MaryLu Tyndall happen to be favorites of mine, so I was reasonably sure I'd love at least two of the included stories. Luckily for me, I thoroughly enjoyed almost every single one! Each takes a look at different aspects, regions, and peculiarities of a fascinating time in English history, while telling a host of lovely love stories. I was least impressed with Susanne Dietze's Three Little Matchmakers, and Nancy Moser's When I Saw His Face, but Griep and Tyndal's additions did not disappoint, and I was particularly impressed with Amanda Barratt's First Comes Marriage. I also may have re-read the end of Erica Vestch's Jamie Ever After an embarrassing number of times. I'll certainly be adding Barratt and Vestch to my list of authors to watch. Short and sweet, these seven stories kept me more than entertained on a rainy weekend a few weeks ago!

The Regency Brides Collection consists of seven short stories set in early 1800 England. The authors, Amanda Barratt, Angela Bell, Susanne Dietze, Michelle Griep, Nancy Moser, MaryLu Tyndall and Erica Vetsch are all well-known for their Christian romances.
Each story has a hero and heroine who fall in love but it can’t be that simple. Each story has many twists and turns that keeps them exciting and encourages the reader to keep reading.
I enjoyed this book and highly recommend it to everyone who likes Christian romance. There are many surprising turns in each story that the reader may not expect. I have read books by most of the authors before and they do not disappoint with this collection of stories. Some could have been longer; I felt some questions at the end but overall excellent writing. I give this book a 5 of 5 stars.
I received an advance copy of this book through Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

As a big fan of Julie Klassen and Sarah Ladd, I was excited to read Regency Brides Collection by Barbour Publishing. This book contains seven novellas by different authors. I read each story in about an hour. They are the perfect length to read after putting the kids in bed. They are also a nice read when you don't have time for a full-length book.

Each story was concise but had well developed plots and characters. The Christian message was in each in one, but not overly blatant. I think my favorites stories are Masquarade Melody by Angela Bell and The Highway Man's Bargain by MaryLu Tyndall.

The Regency Brides Collection is another example of why I believe Barbour Books is the premier publisher of Christian fiction collections. The authors they have grouped together in this collection provide readers with an all star cast of enjoyable English Regency stories about brides finding love regardless of society's expectations. All the stories were good , but three standouts were Amanda Barratt's First Comes Marriage, Michelle Griep's The Gentleman Smuggler's Lady and MaryLu Tyndall's The Highwayman's Bargain. MaryLu's story had a particularly memorable quote, "Following after the things of this world is like living in a mud hut when God has a castle prepared for you." I loved that!

I'm looking forward to Barbour Books future collections, they provide such wonderful Christian historical fiction. I appreciate a copy of The Regency Brides Collection being made available for review.

The Regency Brides Collection is another novella collection released from Barbor publishers, this time with a Regency theme.  I downloaded it as soon as I heard that there was a short story included by MaryLu Tyndall, as she is one of my favorite authors.  While hers and Ms. Griep's were my favorites, the other five short stories were an enjoyable way to spend an hour as well.  The story about the three little matchmakers was just adorable!

These novella collections are so fun; each with a common theme and they only take about an hour or so to read.  They are perfect when you don't have the time or attention span for a full novel.

Thank you to Barbour publishers and Net Galley for providing me with an electronic copy of this book to read and review.  All opinions are my own and were not required to be positive.

*Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention/review it on my blog. I was not required to give a positive review, only my honest opinion - which I've done. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own and I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.*

While I am not a huge fan of novellas I did find this particular book to be a very enjoyable read. Each story was well written and had a good story line. I felt the stories were well developed for novellas and thus they kept my attention. This book was what I would consider an easy read and was perfect for when you had a bit of time to read. Overall, a book packed with sweet little stories!

Fans of Jane Austen, Poldark and anything British will want to read this lovely new collection of stories, all set in England from 1807 to 1819, during the Regency period.
The stories all have a charm of their own, some with action and risk, others more gentile and tender, but all quite good. An interesting cast of characters in each of these stories, representing nearly every level of society: musicians, wounded soldiers, highwaymen to noblemen, widows to young debutantes, a vicar's daughter and governess, to gentry. All of them had some inspirational aspect, with themes of faith, grace, redemption and forgiveness, trusting in God and looking to Him for guidance. A few marriage of conveniences for noble purposes, to some second chances at love, all with a tender, clean romance, and some with definite swoonworthy moments.
"I love you, more than life and air." Sigh.
If I must pick a favorite, it would be Michelle Griep's story set in Cornwall. Move over Poldark! Have to admit that all of the wounded gentlemen returning from war earned a soft spot in my heart, especially the ones in MaryLu Tyndall's and Erica Vetsch's stories.

Recommend for readers who enjoy clean historical romances with faith. Enjoyable reading for any
time of the year.

'The Regency Brides Collection' was an inspiring group of stories that carried me to England in the early eighteen hundreds. I felt some were excellent while others were merely good, but all combined to make a very pleasant and hope-filled reading experience. For fans of the traditional Regency genre I can happily recommend this anthology.

I loved every minute of this book. I do enjoy a good Regency very much and these novellas are right up my alley. The authors were tremendous and I thoroughly enjoyed it.