This is a great read spanning decades of time all including a special necklace.
Each author comes up with a very creative love story forged in the toughest of circumstances.
Travel around the globe and enjoy four intriguing stories of men and woman who overcame the obstacles in their path.

Across the Shores is a book written by four different authors. The stories follow a gold cross that was handed down through the years. I really enjoyed the reads. Two stories were by new to me authors. I enjoyed them all, but the one that really stuck out to me the most was the one by Kelly J. Goshorn. She is one of the new to me authors. I look forward to reading more by her as well as the other authors in this collection. If you like historical romance that are inspiring and sweet, then you will enjoy this collection of stories.
*I was given a copy of the book by the publisher and this is my honest opinion.

Across the Shores: Four Women, Bound by Generations, Find Love Where They Least Expect is a collection of four sweet stories. These stories include:
More Than Gold (New South Wales, 1851) by Carolyn Miller
The Veil (Baltimore, 1877) by Kelly Goshorn
Running from Love (Canada, 1905) by Angela K. Couch
Lauren’s Song (Outer Banks, NC, 1942) by Cara Putman
I enjoyed all four of them and could not pick a favorite.
Five stars.

I was so excited to get a chance to read this book! I have only read books by one of the authors listed and was happy to be able to read something by "new to me" authors. I was not disappointed! Each story is unique and stands on their own and ... I thoroughly enjoyed each of them. Although they are shorter than a normal book, I found the characters and story lines to be developed and interesting. I liked how the issues the characters encountered were believable and helped assemble the stories into a fun read. I wanted to put a favorite but as I went through each one again in my head, I couldn't narrow it down to just one! They are all worth spending your time reading.

ACROSS THE SHORES is a group of four novellas by ANGELA K COUCH, KELLY J GOSHORN, CAROLYN MILLER and CARA PUTMAN, held together over the years by a little golden cross. I like the way the stories follow family descendants over the years, the sweet romances and the strong Christian message running through each story. Of all four novellas I liked Lauren’s Song by Cara Putman the best and feel it could easily be fleshed out into a novel.
I was given a free copy of the book by NetGalley from Barbour Publishing. The opinions in this review are completely my own.

A beautiful collection of novellas. The stories captivating, heartwarming and sweet. I loved how characters and mentions of characters from the previous novella spilled into the next. I loved how faith, love and sacrifice were portrayed in each novella. Even though they are novellas, they weren't fast paced or hurried. The authors took their time to weave inspiring stories.

Highly recommended.

I received a copy of this book and this is my honest opinion

I really loved the first three novelas, however the fourth one wasn't as good. It felt very rushed and I wished we would have seen a post-war look on their lives. The other three had definite endings, boy meets girl, they fall in love, they get married. There are simply too many questions left after the fourth novela. Otherwise, an amazing read!

"Across the Shores" is a collection of four short historical romances. Each was set in an interesting situation or location. All three had a Christian message, usually around the heirloom cross with Phil. 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength" inscribed on it. There was no sex or bad language. I enjoyed the writing styles the most on the last two stories, but all four were enjoyable.

More Than Gold - 1851, set in the gold fields in Australia. Daniel fell in lust with Josephine at first sight but came to appreciate her caring nature, enduring strength, and abilities. Daniel's highborn, though, and can't marry a penniless American. Or so we're told until, suddenly, he didn't think that'd really matter. The setting was very interesting, but people died of grief or a sickness that no one else had simply because the author wanted them gone.

The Veil - 1877 during the Baltimore railroad strikes. Caroline was assaulted by her intended fiancée and is on the run. She's nearly crushed when she's forced to leave her train during a railroad strike. She met Franz's eyes across the crowd, and he's attracted even though she's wearing a partial veil. He saved her, brought her home, and worked to earn her trust. They both generally acted realistically, and I loved his grandfather.

Running from Love - 1905 in Canada. Anna felt compelled to look after her younger brother, even though he's on the run for theft. He's promised to reform, after all. But he's often away at work, leaving her to transform a decrepit hut into a home. A neighbor, who's also a Mountie, kept lending her a hand with the repairs. Ben and Anna fell in love as they spent time together and came to admire each other. The main characters (even Anna's brother) were delightful and came across as real people, with funny situations coming up naturally.

Lauren's Song - 1942 on the east coast barrier islands where U-boats hunted Allied ships. Lauren's lost a lot of loved ones, and now her brother joined the Navy. She had to take on boarders to make ends meet. John joined the Coast Guard to do something worthwhile--risk his life to save others, not fill out endless paperwork. He worked as a liaison with the military personal coming to the island. He did what he could to help Lauren, but she wanted to be seen as a strong woman worthy of his love. Their friendship deepening as they spent time together.

I really enjoyed these novellas!

I found encouragement in the characters, men and women who learned to trust and depend on God through tough circumstances they faced. While yes they're fictional, they invite us to face our own trials, facing grief and sorrow, being taken advantage of, caring for our wayward sibling the best way we know how, and through compounding losses, to turn and cry out to God and step forward in faith that He is there and listening.

If you've read these authors before, you know you won't be disappointed.

A big thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC and for the opportunity to post an honest review.

All of these stories are tied together with one necklace made from a gold nugget found in Australia. On the pendant cross is inscribed Philippians 4:13--"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." The four women in these stories spanning time and generations are in conundrums that would bring weaker beings down.
In the first, Josephine has lost all of her family except one brother who doesn't want her. She had accompanied another brother, Elias, to the Australian gold fields and met his friend, who was the leader of the mining operation. When Elias dies, Josephine has nowhere to go. until Elias' friend, Daniel, makes a way for her. From the last nugget they found, Daniel has a necklace created for Josephine. This is the necklace that gets passed from generation to generation.

Caroline Wilkins is Josephine's niece, and she's running away from her father who wants to tie her up into an abusive marriage for business gain. She suffered some burns at the man's hands, and yet her father doesn't care. When she is injured again during a train strike, the man who rescues her takes her to his home where his mother and sister nurse her back to health. Her original intent was to go to England to stay with her Aunt Josephine, but her rescuer has other intentions for her.

Anna Kohler is living with her brother in Canada because he is trying to escape the law for something he did in Montana. The only fly in the ointment is the North West Mounted Police officer who is their nearest neighbor. When her brother's crimes finally catch up to him, Anna gives him the necklace as a way to show she loves him, and more than that, God loves him.

Lauren lives on Ocracoke Island with her younger sister. Her father was killed in an accident and her brother has left on a merchant marine ship. She and her sister are trying to make ends meet and keep the house going, so when the opportunity to take in two women working for the Army, Lauren jumps at it because it will bring in a bit more money. A monkey wrench thrown into the works happens when one of the girls is pregnant and says Lauren's brother is the father. The Coast Guard officer who is overseeing much of the work on the island helps Lauren out when they find that the ship her brother was on was sunk and he is not among the five survivors of the ship. He eventually finds her a job working for his office. This was my favorite among the four novellas. I've read several novellas and full length novels by the author and her writing always leaves me satisfied.

Barbour Books has an endearing habit of pulling authors together to create collections to make a cohesive whole. Some of the tales were a little harder than others to read because the plot moved a bit slower, but overall it is a four star collection.

Barbour Books provided the copy I read for this review. All opinions expressed are solely my own.