Smitten

With four unique christian fiction authors, I was excited about a different type of book where it is one continuous story with each author writing for a certain character. Although it fell a little short for me, it was a sweet tender story. Four friends live in a small town in Vermont that is in the midst of crumbling due to a mill closing that has left many of its residents out of work. The women of the town come up with an idea to recreate their town into a vacation destination. Each small novella inside of this book is a story about one of the four friends and her contributions to the towns changing scene and their love story with an eligible bachelor in town. With barely any conflict and a very sweet story - this book was charming, but didn't hold my attention. If you are a sweet kind of reader, then you will love this one.

Any company going out of business should not bring a town's whole economy to a halt, but the mill is the main employer in the town of SMITTEN, Vermont. Four women, all friends, endeavor to remake the town's image and revitalize it through tourism, of sorts. They envision their town as a "Smitten is for lovers" destination to play off the town's cute attribute, its name. However, to convince an entire milling town to change their course is a tall order, but these four friends each have a story to make of their own life too. In addition, for one reason or another, each of these women will have their tales begin and end in Smitten. Throughout the seasons, Natalie, Julia, Shelby, and Reese tackle this new challenge, revamp a town, change the minds of the townsfolk, and face their own life's challenges along the way. Nevertheless, it is two children demonstrating what true faith is all about. My Take: Colleen Coble, Kristin Billerbeck, Diann Hunt, and Denise Hunter cross-stitch a cohesive story together but apart from each other because each one writes the story of a main character. In reality, SMITTEN is different novellas sewn into an entire book without the reader ever seeing the individual treads. You'll find friends, faith, laughs, tears, and trouble in SMITTEN with some quirky and cute characters too. This read is an escape to where romance is always in season, just like growth, opportunity, and God's favor. The next book in this series, SECRETLY SMITTEN, will release in December 2012. ***Though the publisher provides the free ebook, I offer the opinion.***