Put something about sewing or many other crafts in a novel title and I'll pick it up to read without even reading the jacket blurb. That's what I did with Sew in Love, a collection of four novellas all revolving around sewing. Beginning in 1850 and going through to World War II, each of the heroines has a specific talent in sewing and their talents lead them to love.

Each of the girls faces some dark days that test her faith, and needs the help of the man to get her bearings back.

These stories by these authors have high quality plotting and go beyond just the basic boy meets girl formula. The plots don't seem choppy nor do they end abruptly. This is a five star collection, with two thumbs up, and a sewing machine at your side.

I would like to thank Barbour Books and NetGalley.com for giving me access to this galley.

Sew in Love is a collection of four sweet historical stories: These stories include:
Hearts Sewn with Love by Darlene Panzera
Woven Hearts by Jacquolyn McMurray
A Language of Love by Kimberley Woodhouse
Tailored Sweethearts by Debby Lee
I enjoyed this collection and found some new to authors to look forward to in the future. I am giving it four and a half stars.

Sew in Love
By Debby Lee, Kimberley Woodhouse, Darlene Panzera, and Jacquolyn McMurray
From 1850 to 1945 follow four women as they use their gift of sewing to find love.
I imagine that novellas are challenging to write. You must have a good plot but a concise storyline while providing depth and growth. That being said the first 3 novellas of this collection were great however I did not enjoy the last one as I felt it was poorly written. The previous three stories were well written, unique from one another and altogether enjoyable to read.
I received a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Sew in Love by Debby Lee, Jacquolyn McMurray, Darlene Panzera, and Kimberly Woodhouse are four historical stories of love stitched together by four hopeful women.
Hearts Sewn with Love by Darlene Panzera- Maggie McDermott and her mother arrive in Gold Bar expecting a town and Maggie expecting to marry a distant cousin. To their dismay the cousin is deceased and there is no town. The cousin’s shack, which they now own, is falling down and infested with rats. How will they survive with nothing? Will sewing skills change their lives?
Woven Hearts by Jacquolyn McMurray- Millie Pulnik has just survived the fire, at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, that has taken her mother. So much and many lives have been lost to owners not following safety regulations. Will Millie be strong enough to try to change the laws and make owners compliant?
A Language of Love by Kimberly Woodhouse- Jeni and Phillip have different reasons for wanting to lose their accents. They are brought together by their voice coach to help each other. Will more than learning to speak bloom between them?
Tailored Sweethearts by Debby Lee- Stella is working at the parachute factory to help support her family during the war. She is allowed to take the scraps and makes quilts to give to the wounded military men. Captain Irving Morgenstern crash lands at the airfield and his hands burned in the ensuing fire. Stella meets him when she volunteers at the hospital and assists him as much as he will allow. Will love bloom during the tragedy of war?
I enjoyed all these stories and give this collection a hearty 5 of 5 stars.
I received an advance copy of this book through Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

Hearts down with love. By Darlene Panzera

Relationships grow with patience, persistence and time.
When the life she thoughts she would have crumbled Maggie had to believe God had a plan for her despite the disappointments. I enjoyed reading about how she met Ben and how the both of them had to let go of their plans and trust God to bring forth his plans for their lives.
Jeremiah 29:11 best captures this story.


Woven hearts by Jacquolyn McMurray.
Abe and Millie. Interesting story of loss, pain, redemption and new beginnings.
The weight of taking care of her family fell on her after a great tragedy struk her family. She was bitter and angry at God and thought she could do everything on her own. Through series of twists and turns she learnt to let go and trust God.
Abe just wanted to help people and do right. Until a secret about his family came to the open. He learnt to forgive and trust God with his future.


A language of love. By Kimberly Woodhouse.

Jeni had great dreams.
Philip was living the dream.

Two opposites with a love for God and zest for life.
I loved the beautifully woven story of trust in God, love and new beginnings.
Jeni wanted to make her mark in the world and she was unapologetic about it. She met the delightful Philip who fueled her dreams to live more.
Philip was already living the life and his relating with Jeni was the icing on the cake.
I enjoyed reading about how the wove through their storms and got to be together.


Tailored Sweethearts by Debby Lee

Irving and Stella.
Touching stories of two hearts that nothing not even war could separate.
Stella was busying help injured soliders even though she still had her family burdens. Her strength as very commendable.
Irving was a very honorable man putting others before him.
Together they survived the war and got to be together.

I received a copy of this book for my honest opinion from Netgallery. All opinions expressed here are mine.

I love these collections (perfect for busy moms!), and these stories were great ones. One of them held my interest a bit less but I enjoyed the other 3. Well done.

I had high hopes for Sew in Love, based on the descriptions of each of the stories. At first glance all the stories are unique and not the usual historical plot line or characters. However once I started reading each story fell flat for me. I think it’s because there is overall lack of character development and just the plain fact that dig dramatic events in each of the characters lives happen way too quickly.
I so wish this wasn’t the case. Sew disappointed!

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I love novella collections. The shorter length of each story is perfect for when you want a quick read. I usually find that I like two or three of the four stories within a collection. This rings true for the four stories within this collection.

Hearts Sewn with Love by Darlene Panzera and Woven Hearts by Jacquolyn McMurray were both good, quick reads. I appreciated the different aspects of the historical settings of each. I found myself slightly frustrated with all the main characters at times. This could have been because both authors attempted to fit a novel-length timeline into a novella, therefore character development was a bit rushed. But both stories were enjoyable and perfect for a relaxing afternoon read. (On their own, I’d give each story 3-stars.)

A Language of Love by Kimberley Woodhouse was my favorite of the four stories. I loved the linguistics study due to racism. The protagonists had depth and were relatable. The antagonist was a surprising joy. Oh, racism! It splits nations, communities, and families. Kimberley Woodhouse is a great author. This was a good story! (I’d give it 4-stars)

I did not really enjoy the final story, Tailored Sweethearts by Debby Lee. The characters felt rushed and flat. The timeline felt choppy. (I’d give it 2-stars.) But when I’m reading a collection of novellas I don’t expect to fall in love with each story. This one does not detract from the overall collection too much.

Overall, I give this collection 3-stars.

I follow the GoodReads rating system. Please note that this means even the 3-star books are ones I liked.
1 star – didn’t like it
2 stars – it was OK
3 stars – liked it
4 stars – really liked it
5 stars – it was amazing; I’ll read it over and over and/or it will impact my daily life.

I received a complimentary copy from the publisher through NetGalley. I was not required to give a positive review. The thoughts and opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

Sew in Love is a group of stories, all including sewing in one form or another, written by various authors. Each story is enjoyable, just short. I found myself wishing each story was longer, full length novels. Great reading, but just too short.

This book has some heartfelt, heartwarming stories. All four stories were well-written and well researched. All contain a common element of sewing or crafting, yet each story is unique. I love that the King James Version is used. I really enjoyed how faith was interwoven throughout each story. They are not super deep, or super long books. They are exactly what they should be, short, meaningful stories. I highly recommend this book & collection of stories. Especially for those who enjoy history, sewing, crafting, or simply enjoy a sweet story.

I received a copy of this book as a gift from NetGalley. I am under no obligation to read or review it. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.

Sew in Love is a collection of 4 novellas featuring women who sew for a living. The stories range in time period, with the first taking place in the 1800s and the last taking place during WWII. I’ve included my thoughts on each story below.

Hearts Sewn with Love by Darlene Panzera
This story was an okay start to the collection. Maggie McDermott has come to California to marry her father’s second cousin, but upon arrival, she discovers he’s dead. Ben Freethy is a gold miner saving up for a horse ranch. I liked Maggie and Ben, and the conflict of Maggie trying to start over in a mining town kept me interested. But at times, Ben got a bit on my nerves. He could come across as wishy washy. Then again, so could Maggie. I did like how resourceful Maggie is, however. And I liked some of the supporting characters. All in all, it was a nice story.

Woven Hearts by Jacquolyn McMurray
Millie Pulnik is a survivor of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. Abe Skala is a union employee. This story had potential, but there were too many subplots for a novella. I think it would make a wonderful full-length novel. Especially since I would have loved to see Millie and Abe’s relationship grow. Millie does come off as a control freak, and sometimes I couldn’t follow why she was upset with Abe. I did like the subplot with the factory trial, and Abe’s father made an interesting subplot as well. I think the short length of a novella didn’t do the story justice.

A Language of Love by Kimberley Woodhouse
This was my favorite story of the collection. Jeni O’Brien and Philip March are taking linguistics lessons to get rid of their accents. I liked how Woodhouse tried to write in a way we could “hear” the voices. Not only did it add to my understanding of the characters but also made the story seem more alive. It was also really cool to get a glimpse of baseball in the early 1900s, and I loved that Woodhouse included a note with the history of the song, “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.”

Tailored Sweethearts by Debby Lee
This story felt very rushed to me. Irving Morgenstern is an injured pilot convalescing in an Alaska army base hospital. Stella McGovern works in a factory sewing parachutes. While I did manage to form somewhat of a connection with Irvin, I had a harder time with Stella. I don’t know exactly what it was about her. And I didn’t find the romance realistic. The whole thing was rushed, although the quilt block was a nice touch. I did like the suspense and how Lee weaves the effects of the war into the novel, including shell shock.

Sew in Love is a light read, perfect for a Sunday evening of rest, especially for historical fiction lovers. Although I didn’t like everything about the stories, I still enjoyed reading the collection.

(Note: blog post will go live Nov. 8 at 5:00 PM)

This is a great collection of unrelated stories taking place between 1850 - 1945. Each of the four novellas was a 5 star story that included historical fact as a basis of the storyline. Really good reading.

I received an ARC ebook from Barbour through NetGalley and I was under no obligation to post a review.

Four wonderfully sweet stories that had me smiling like an idiot at my phone. Each story features strong women struggling against the era's ideas of what a woman should do/be. A lovely theme of making occurs throughout, whether it's making dresses or making parachutes, these women will stop at nothing to provide for their families or prove themselves.

Sew in Love is a collection of four romance stories that revolve around the women's love for sewing. All four stories were well-written, heartwarming and will leave the reader yearning for more. My personal favourite was The Language of Love that brings together an Irish seamstress who wants to downplay her accent and a baseball player with a speech impediment. Granted that I am not the least bit interested in American baseball, I enjoyed how the characters thought they were not meant for because of their backgrounds and yet they were "perfectly imperfect". As a person who grows up with a speech impediment, this story did tug at my heartstrings. Nonetheless, all four stories are worth the read.

Another great historical fiction read with several stories in it for everyone!
There are several new to me authors in here and I loved each one's novella.
Each author brought their own charm and style of writing along with learning about historical places. Makes me want to visit those places.
Each lady in their own story knew of the hardships , struggles and they know how to get the job done to help their families.
Sewing was a popular job to have back then.
Could you just imagine having to sew by hand? I sure can't! I can't even sew a lick! It was never my favorite thing to so even though we now have modern day sewing machines to help out with things.
These were truly enjoyable because I got a taste of what life might have been like back then.
I strongly recommend this book.
All opinions are my own. NO compensations were received and my thanks to Netgalley

I received a copy from the publisher to review.

This is a multi-author anthology collection containing four stories.

Even though the fourth story in the book was a more modern historical romance, it was still great.

I enjoyed reading the book, it was definitely a great read.

This is a wonderful collection of novellas. Each one is well written, holds your attention and has a wonderful christian message. This collection was a joy to read and I look forward to reading more books by these four authors. If you like historical christian romance, you will love this book. Thank you Barbour Publishing via NetGalley for the ARC copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.

SEW IN LOVE is a delightful collection of historical romantic novellas, each of which has some kind of sewing as its theme and contains a good Christian message. Whether it is mending, making hats, sewing parachutes or quilting, each of the heroines use their stitches to not only make a living but also to build up a relationship with the men in their lives.
I was given a free copy of the book by NetGalley from Barbour Publishing. The opinions in this review are completely my own.