virna depaul

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Set up for Love by by Virna DePaul, Susan Hatler, Delilah Sloan
Publisher: Amazon Digital Services
Release Date: Feb 14, 2011


Length: 313 pages

Blurb: Set Up For Love is a contemporary romance anthology, which includes three novellas and one bonus short story. FOUR STORIES for the price of ONE!

Friends Don’t Let Friends Date Badly…

Three stories. Three authors. Three kinds of romance.

Sweet. Sassy. Sexy.

Sweet: The Boyfriend Bylaws by Susan Hatler: Will a woman have to follow her best friend’s narrow dating rules in order to find lasting love? 

Melanie Porter has been dumped—again. When others accuse her of “being in love with being in love,” she agrees to let her best friend, Patti, step in and direct her dating life with The Boyfriend Bylaws.

Sassy: Blind Date/Check Mate by Delilah Sloan: Should a woman who’s unable to forget her first love give “happily ever after” one more try? 

Shelby Winters’ one great love went sour. If she can’t feel that way again, why bother? When her best friend sets Shelby up on a blind date with Logan, the one who broke her heart, he pursues her relentlessly, forcing her to make a choice: give her heart what it’s always desired and risk total devastation or shut Logan out and lose her only shot at happiness. To Shelby, it’s a lose-lose situation. Or is it?

Sexy: Wild For Him by Virna DePaul: Can an uptight prosecutor and a laid-back defense attorney find love despite their opposing agendas?

Bryn Donovon became a prosecutor for a reason and defense attorney Daniel Mays seems to take his job about as seriously as he does his love life. While straight-laced Bryn can’t deny she’s attracted to the southern charmer, she’s determined to keep her distance. Instead, she ends up finding something she’d lost long ago–a willingness to risk all for love. 

Bonus: My Last Blind Date by Susan Hatler: Should Rachel Price play it safe and spend Valentine’s Day at home with her loyal pooch, Chester, or risk another dating disaster by letting her best friend set her up on a blind date?

This anthology of four stories has something in it for everyone.  What happens when love is set up by friends?  Do the friends really know each other or are they making a stab in the dark?  Are they so determined to match up their friends that they choose poorly?  Set Up for Love has four stories of great choices, ultimately ending up in four HEAs!

Set Up for Love is a collection of 3 stories plus one bonus.  The Boyfriend Bylaws features Melanie Porter who has been dumped again and again. Her friend Patti thinks she has a better idea and gets Melanie to agree to what she calls “The Boyfriend Bylaws.”  According to Patti, Melanie falls in love too fast and is so desperate to be loved, that she scares men away.  Patti’s idea has Melanie having to ask Patti for permission for almost every aspect of her dating life and if she doesn’t follow the rules, she has to give Patti her beloved car.

This short little story is great!  Patti comes across as being somewhat draconian to Melanie.  But from the reader’s perspective, Patti is simply enforcing some common sense on Melanie’s neediness.  The characters in this story are wonderful.  The first boyfriend, Brad is a slug….but so well written! The character of Patti had me laughing.  She cares so much for Melanie that she is determined to help her.   I think we all need a “Patti” in our lives to serve as the voice of reason when choosing a mate!  This story whips right along at a good pace.  All in all, I think this is a wonderful read and an interesting commentary on modern dating!

Blind Date/Check Mate is about Shelby Winters who can’t seem to let go of her first love to move on with life.  Shelby’s best friend, Ginny has arranged for Shelby to have a blind date.  When Shelby walks into the Boat House restaurant to find her first love, Logan, sitting waiting for her to arrive.  Not sure if this is a big joke, or if Logan is really serious about rekindling what they lost all those years ago, she tries to leave.  Logan convinces her to stay and the process of rebuilding begins.

I loved this story.  What is more heartbreaking than being separated from your first love when you are a teen.  The relationship that really never matures and stays in the heart!  I enjoyed how the author presented the history that Shelby and Logan had from both points of view.  The characters are now mature, having survived all the growing pains of leaving the teens and becoming adults.  The history between them binds them together.  Of the four stories in this anthology I liked this one the most.  It’s a two kleenex story of lost love that is found again!

Wild For Him is the third story in the anthology.  Bryn Donovon is a straight-laced, district attorney who wins the majority of her cases.  One of her frequent opponents is Daniel Mays, the hunky defense attorney.  Daniel admires Bryn’s skill in the courtroom but hasn’t taken much notice of her as a female, but when he does, he wonders why he hasn’t noticed her before.  The progression of their somewhat one-sided relationship is wonderful to read.  Bryn is determined to not get involved with a defense attorney but Daniel is charming and he is very persuasive!

This story has so many layers it is surprising it is under a hundred pages.  It has the feel of a full length novel.  The relationship between Bryn and Daniel is very well written.  The story just keeps adding details as it progresses, not giving away all the details at the beginning.  This story is spicier than the other two in this anthology and the chemistry sizzles off the pages!  It adds an interesting contrast to the first two books, but stays with the theme of a couple being set up.  Well worth the read!

The last book in this anthology is labelled a bonus short story.  It is called My Last Blind Date and it is about Rachel Price who was dateless on yet another Valentine’s Day.  Her friend and co-worker, Ellen, has decided to set Rachel up on yet another blind date.  Rachel is apprehensive as this is the fourth blind date that Ellen has set Rachel up on  and the previous 3 were disasters. Noah, the workplace hottie overhears the conversation and arranges to be that blind date.

This is a cute little story about a HEA after three horrendous blind dates.  It is about finally finding happiness after kissing alot of frogs!  This was a great ending to an enjoyable anthology!