Blog Tour: Love Comes Home

I know I've mentioned it before on the blog but I'm a sucker for sweet, second chance love stories. Kristi Rose's new short story collection, Love Comes Home , delivered exactly what I love about those kind of stories! I smiled, laughed, and teared up as I read the five short stories included in this collection. It's a must-read for romance lovers!

I know there's a lot of text included in this post but make sure you scroll all the way to the bottom of the review...there's a giveaway included in this blog tour!

Here's the description of the anthology, courtesy of Goodreads:

A collection of five sweet, heartwarming contemporary romances about forgiveness, second chances, and loving through difficult times. 
Perfect length books to satisfy your need to read when time is limited. Great for carpool, waiting in line, running kids to practice or lounging on the beach.
Second Chances- Book 1: A fourteen year old heartbreak is the only thing that stands between a second chance at love and happiness for Cole Williams and Lorelei Parker. 
Once Again- Book 2: When old flame Grady Duke moves in next door to workaholic Evie Barker, she realizes there's more lacking in her life than down time. 
Reason to Stay- Book 3: Rising songwriter Shea Barker is driven toward one thing- her career. Until she meets sports writer Leo Marshall and discovers that maybe her lyrics aren’t the only place where love is found. 
He’s the One- Book 4: Melinda Bane is putting her eggs into the sperm bank basket. When a house fire puts her dreams on hold, her oldest friend Jared Calhoun just might have a solution.
Kiss Me Again- Book 5: Andee Swift's ten year marriage has lost its spark and, whether it’s costume play or couples therapy, she’ll do whatever it takes to reignite the flame. 

I think my favourite thing about this collection was how all the stories were connected. All the characters in the stories were either friends or knew each other from their small town of Lakeland. I liked finding out what the characters from the previous story were up to! That being said, I found the connections a wee bit lacking in book four, "He's the One", which featured Melinda. It seemed like she just popped out of nowhere and I couldn't quite see how she fit in. Truthfully, she didn't come out of nowhere as she was a part of Grady and Evie's story, but in that one she was someone I kind of didn't like. It took a lot to reconfigure my thoughts about her. This was really the only negative I had with the entire collection though, so, yay!

I liked that, even though all of the stories had a "second chance" theme, they all had a different storyline. It wasn't the same thing written five times with five different couples. How boring would that have been? Granted, books one and two did feature old flames but the situations were quite different, both then and now. All of the stories were fresh and kept me excited about reading the next one.

This collection is exactly the kind of romance I like to read (though I sometimes like reading ones that are a little steamier...this one is, well, tame for a lack of a better word). It was sweet and featured characters I really cared about. Even though the romantic relationship was the main point of each story, every character (both the heroines and heroes) had an interesting life and Rose made sure to share that. I don't like when the characters don't have any personality or a life outside of trying to land a partner so I was thrilled that each character was developed and interesting. It made me want to move to their small town to hang out with all of them!

Overall, Love Comes Home was a total winner for me. Kristi Rose has become one of my romance authors to watch. I think every other romance lover will enjoy this collection as well. The stories are a perfect length so you can read it in snippets over a week or devour the whole collection in one day. Perhaps by the pool before the summer is over?

Want to own a copy yourself? (Yeah, you do.) Here's where you can purchase Love Comes Home:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks | Kobo | Goodreads

See what other bloggers had to say about this sweet romance collection. The list of other tour stops is here.

About the Author

Kristi Rose was raised in central Florida on boiled peanuts and iced tea. She’s been lucky enough to travel the world but now, a wife and mother, she's resigned to traveling to the grocery store. No matter where she is, she enjoys watching people and wondering about their story. That’s what Kristi likes to write. Stories about everyday people, the love that brings them together, and their journey getting there. Kristi is a member of RWA.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Goodreads

GIVEAWAY

Good luck! :)

Grand Prize: One signed ebook or paperback, two fun diner signs (pictured below), and $25 gift card of choice (US or FPO/APO address only). 
1st Prize: One digitally signed LOVE COMES HOME ebook, $15 gift card of choice  (international).

2nd Prize: One digitally signed LOVE COMES HOME ebook, and $10 gift card of choice (international)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*An eARC was provided by Jen Halligan PR for this blog tour in exchange for a review. All opinions are honest and my own.*