Where’s My Hero?

There is a staff review of this book as well

Where’s My Hero is an anthology of stories by Lisa Kleypas, Kinley MacGregor, and Julia Quinn – all of which feature secondary characters from previous books. Against the Odds by Kleypas features Dr. Linley from Someone to Watch Over Me and Lydia Craven, daughter to the couple from Dreaming of You, both of whom get locked in a wine cellar together and discover love. Midsummer’s Knight by MacGregor is a Cyrano-like tale about Simon of Ravenswood (Master of Desire) and Kenna, a beautiful noblewoman who thinks she has been exchanging letters with Simon’s best friend. Quinn’s A Tale of Two Sisters stars Ned Blydon, who originally appeared in Splendid. Ned has made a duty-match to one woman, only to find himself falling for her younger sister in the days before the wedding.

Blythe:   Linda, I skimmed a message board conversation about this book a couple of weeks ago, and I noticed that several people don’t like to read anthologies because they find them unsatisfying. They feel there is just enough story to give the reader a taste, but not enough to really provide full closure. I can understand that line of thinking, because I’ve sometimes read a novella only to have the thought that it would be absolutely perfect, if only it were longer. But while I didn’t think the stories in this anthology were picture perfect, I enjoyed them for what they were. Maybe it’s just where I am in my life right now, but there’s something incredibly appealing about a story I can polish off in an evening. Lately, longer books are taking me five or six days to read, so for me this was a refreshing change.

Linda:   I really enjoyed this anthology, although it’s unusual for me to read an anthology all the way thru! I often buy them for a story by a favorite author, then I read that story and not the rest. But, lately I’ve read several anthologies in which I enjoyed all of the stories and will have to perhaps re-think my habit.

Blythe:   Linda, you’re going to laugh about this, but not only do I have to read all the stories in an anthology; I have to read them in order. I am not sure what I think will happen if I don’t… maybe the anthology police will pop in and cart me away? For what it’s worth, I’m like this in other areas of my life too. My other passion besides reading is scrap-booking, and I have to scrap chronologically. A friend who scraps whatever she wants (in whatever order she happens to choose) jokes that the world tilts on its axis if I have to go out of order.

Linda:   LOL, you are just like my daughter, and the term is anal. Anal is a derogatory term made up by us disorganized people to keep those who are organized from feeling smug. <g>

Blythe:   Yes, anal is probably an accurate term. I won’t frighten you with my intricate rules governing the organization of cosmetics and socks. But I do have a single exception to my hard-line anthology rule. I don’t “have to” finish anthologies featuring J.D. Robb stories (in fact, I usually only read the Robbs). Otherwise I have read every anthology through, start to finish, in order.