A small but sweet collection of stories focusing on women and teaching. I enjoyed how they each took a different angle, particularly how Mary finds a new way to teach in Love in Any Language. These collections are always uplifting, a good read for a quiet day.

Lessons on Love by Susanne Dietze, Rita Gerlach, Kathleen L. Maher and Carrie Fancett Pagels is a compilation of four short stories about schoolteachers and the expectations for them in the 1880 and early 1900’s.
Something Old, Something New by Kathleen L. Maher is set in Westchester County New York in 1840. Gilda’s father, whom she has assisted as teacher, has passed away. The mayor has hired his nephew to take over the school where Gilda teaches and make changes. There are two major problems with this; Gilda wants to step into her father’s place as teacher and the nephew has plans that do not involve teaching. Can they work together to save the school and realize their own goals at the same time?
Love in any Language by Suzanne Dietze is set in Kansas in 1870 during the winter. Mary comes to find out that the Swedish children are being denied entrance to school since they do no speak English. She writes to the state superintendent to try to get the current teacher removed, who is only there because of a relative. She also volunteers to teach the children English in her home so they can be enrolled. She also begins teaching one of the single fathers to read. Will a romance, or rumors of a romance, develop that will keep Mary from becoming the new teacher?
In Desperate Straits by Carrie Fancett Pagels is set in Pickford Michigan and on Mackinaw Island in beginning in 1893. Maggie would love to be the one driving the Hadley Percherons on deliveries on Mackinac but of course only her brothers qualify for that or with hard times will that change? Jesse Huntington arrives with his father and purchases two of the horses. Fast forward a year and Jesse’s father has passed and away and the economy has left the family in dire straits and they are trying to save their home on Mackinaw where Jesse hopes to obtain a teaching position. What happens when Jesse recognizes Maggie and learns the secret she is trying to hide to help her family survive the recession?
A Song in the Night by Rita Gerlach begins in Baltimore in 1904 where we find Karien, who supports herself and her mother and her friend Liza who rents from them losing their teaching jobs when the Academy closes its doors. On the way to the meeting the ladies meet a handsome stranger. Will his kindness develop into more than just a stranger helping?
I really enjoyed these stories. Each one is unique and yet about teachers who faced some type of hardship. I highly recommend it and give it 5 of 5 stars.
I received an advance copy of this book through Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

A great set of stories! I particularly enjoyed “Love in any Language.” The author did a great job of crafting a story with depth, even in the short frame work of a novella. I could empathize with her moments of discontent and admire her fight against it. Overall a good story and also inspirational.

I absolutely love reading these authors, and especially when they are grouped together to bring readers a group of novellas that teach various people about love. Beginning in an era when teachers were not allowed to be married, each story becomes more modern until the early 1900s.

One of the teachers had her job taken from her by nepotism on the school board, but she found a way to continue teaching--by teaching the Norwegian children to read, write, and speak English.

One of the teachers loses her job when the school closes down. She was a music teacher and she was supporting her mother and her sister with her salary. A man she met at the closing of the school sets her up to play a piano concert and many parents attending ask her to teach their children privately.

These are just two of the four high quality novellas contained in this anthology. Barbour always puts out a quality product and this certainly fits that bill. Five Stars, Two Thumbs Up, and teacher to fill in your blanks.

My thanks go to Barbour Publishing and NetGalley.com for providing this galley for me to read and review.

This well written collection of novellas takes place between the late 1800's and 1904. Each story is unique and brings its own circumstances regarding teaching. The rules for women teachers during this time period were very strict. Not only could a woman not marry and keep her position. In many cases she could not even talk to a man, unless it was a doctor and she was sick. The man must be a close relative, father, brother or such. They could also talk to their clergy. No one else. They didn't want them to be temped into having a relationship and therefore marry. They were losing too many well trained teachers. I enjoyed each of these novellas. I enjoy this type of collection, it is a good way to try out a new author. I received a complimentary copy of this book from Barbour Books through NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Lessons of Love
By Susanne Dietze, Rita Gerlach, Kathleen L. Maher, Carrie Fancett Pagels
These novellas were well written and made a wonderful collection that was easy and fun to read. I appreciated each of the story’s as they were all unique. I think that I enjoyed, “In Desperate Straits” the most. Each of the women overcame their challenges with their faith stronger.
“Evil lurked in the heart of man that only God’s love and grace could ever overcome.”
I was provided with a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. For more book reviews visit my blog: https://simplyannehere.wordpress.com

A wonderful collection of novellas! Taking place from the mid 1800's to the early 1900's each novella centers around teachers and the circumstances they face which is more than just teaching. I found this collection very interesting as my grandmother was a one room school teacher. I can remember her relating some of the different situations she faced but as a young teen/adult I didn't grasp the "lesson" she was trying to teach me. As I was reading this very interesting book I couldn't help but wish I had written down some of her stories. This book made me appreciate more what she lived through. Teaching back then didn't end when closing the door at the end of the day.
I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review from Net Galley. This is my honest review.

Lesson on Love is a good collection of historical romance novellas.. I enjoyed each selection.. each story is well written with an entertaining plot. Fans of historical romance will enjoy this book. Thanks to the publisher for my advance ebook. This is my unbiased review.

Lessons on Love: 4 Schoolteachers Find More Than They Bargained for in Their Contracts is a collection of four stories by four talented authors. These stories include:
Something Old, Something New by Kathleen L. Maher - Gilda Jacobs becomes a school master in 1840s New York
Love in Any Language by Susanne Dietze - Mary Clarence teaches school in 1870 Kansas to immigrants from Sweden.
Kansas, 1870
In Desperate Straits by Carrie Fancett Pagels - Margaret Hadley finds herself acting as a man to get work, gets into trouble and gets help from the town's new teacher, Jesse Huntington in 1894 at Mackinac Island
A Song in the Night by Rita Gerlach - In 1904, Karin Wiles teaches at a Virginia school
I enjoyed every one of these stories. I can not pick my favorite. All four are great short reads. I highly recommend this collection. I am giving it five stars.

These four historical christian romances are very well written and hold your attention. Each story is set in a different time period and deals with a different problem, but each one has a strong willed woman that knows what she wants. This book was a joy to read and I recommend it to anyone who likes christian historical romances. Thank you Barbour Publishing via NetGalley for the ARC copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.

From curriculum to mystery to family and more, each story brings unique situations. The teachers all face different circumstances and have the possibility of finding love. I enjoyed reading stories with strong willed women characters. They were determined and dedicated. Great read. I received a complimentary copy of this book. No review was required.

A story about 4 teachers who endure unexpected circumstances. I recommend to all who enjoy Historic romance.
I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review from Net Galley.,

All four romantic novellas in this book have a teaching theme. I enjoyed each story and can really recommend Lessons on Love as a lovely read. I will certainly be watching out for these authors in future!
SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW by KATHLEEN L. MAHER is a beautiful love story which will especially appeal to Christians who acknowledge their Jewish heritage and serve the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and to Jews who love Messiah Yeshua.
LOVE IN ANY LANGUAGE by SUSANNE DIETZE is a love story with some suspense and a good Christian message, mainly on the importance of forgiveness.
The story takes place in 1870 in the little town of Plenty, where there are quite a few settlers from Sweden. We see that true love is not daunted by cultural and language differences.
IN DESPERATE STRAITS by CARRIE FANCETT PAGELS is an historical romance which takes place mostly on Mackinac Island. Here we come across Jesse Huntington, whose upper class family has fallen on hard times and who finds a school teacher's job on the island in order to provide for his mother and sisters. We also come across Maggie Hadley whose father owns a Percheron farm in Pickford. Maggie ends up on the island driving a dray in order to help with her family's finances. There are a lot of characters and there is a great deal of action in this story. I enjoyed it, but felt it could have been fleshed out into a longer book.
A SONG IN THE NIGHT by RITA GERLACH is a Christian historical romantic novella which takes place in 1904, mostly in Baltimore. The Baltimore fire plays a big part in the story.
Karien Wiles is a well qualified musician who has been teaching music appreciation at the Margaret Brent Academy for young ladies, together with her friend, Liza, who has been teaching English. They meet Nathan Archer when Karien is nearly run over. It is an interesting and inspirational story as we see what was expected of women teachers at rhat time, and we get to know Karien, with her optimism and strong faith.
I was given a free copy of Lessons on Love by NetGalley from Barbour Publishing. The opinions in this review are completely my own.

A quality collection of new novellas! Set from 1840 to 1904 they have a common thread of teaching, but are all quite unique. Three young women and one man endeavor to help support their families by teaching, and reach out to help others in their communities, finding a special relationship on the way.

The women in these entertaining stories were no wilting flowers, for sure. They all showed a lot of determined 'backbone' to earn a living and use their talents to help others. The men they paired up with were also good characters, willing to go the extra mile to help them achieve their goals, overcoming prejudice, unfair accusations, and other hardships along the way. I enjoyed all of them and appreciated the research that went into each one to make it feel more authentic. I especially liked the pair in Susanne Dietze's story who had a language barrier to overcome as well. The mystery in that story made it quite intriguing too. It was fun to see characters from Carrie Fancett Pagels' other books pop in on her Mackinac Island story also.

"Everyone was broken...Everyone sinned and was a sheep in need of a Shepherd".
The spiritual theme of forgiveness and extending grace to people was a strong one in some tales, plus learning to trust God and for the future.

Recommend to readers who enjoy historical Christian romances. 4.5 stars