Among the Fair Magnolias (Review)

This review is for the book "Among the Fair Magnolias" which includes four short stories written by authors Tamera Alexander, Shelley Gray, Dorothy Love and Elizabeth Musser. The book is comprised of four stories, all set in the south in the 1800s.


In "A Heart so True", Abigail is pretty much being forced to marry her distant cousin Charles who is a complete scoundrel and totally disrespectful to her. She is really in love with Wade Bennett, and accepts his proposal of marriage before she finds out her father already has plans to announce her betrothal to Charles. In this book, Abigail has to figure out how to marry for love rather than out of duty.


In "To Mend a Dream", Savannah Darby is trying to find something her father left behind in her former family home. The new owner happens to hire her to redecorate the house, which gives her an excuse to get inside and search. It just so happens that as she decorates the house and searches, she is also falling in love with the new owner - who happens to be engaged and a Northerner. The book shows that love can transcend these hardships.

In "Love Beyond Limits", we find Emily, a young lady who finds herself in the middle of political battles because she believes in the freedom and rights of all people. She even finds herself entangled with the KKK on occasion. At one point she believes she is in love with a former slave from her family's plantation which brings up all kinds of feelings for her, especially because she has a best friend who is also vying for her attention. She has to sort through her feelings and find out where her love really lies.

In "An Outlaw's Heart", Russell returns to his hometown after seven years. He left after murdering his stepfather, and has the reputation of being an outlaw because he was in a gang all those years. When he comes home he finds his mother is ill and his ex-girlfriend is dating a sleazy man presenting himself as a pastor. Russell vows to take care of his mother and find out the truth of Nora's new beau, so he can finally be there for both the ladies like he should have been all those years ago.

If you enjoy historical Christian romance fiction, you will really enjoy these novellas. They are short, of course, but very well written by some of my favorite authors.

Thank you to Litfuse Publicity for a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.