Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad

I'm happy when I pick up an anthology and one story is good - so two out of three isn't a bad ratio.

Celebrates 25 Years: an anthology with stories by Tara Taylor Quinn, Margot Early and Janice McDonald
(2005, Contemporary Series) 5/25/06
Grade: 3.5

I skimmed a few pages of the Tara Taylor Quinn story and decided it wasn't for me, so I skipped it. Margot Early: “Wade in the Water” 25 years after her brother drowned, Lily returns home to reconcile with her parents, and to see the boy who was with her that day - now a widower with a son. Janice McDonald: “A Visit From Eileen” Eileen returns to Ireland after 25 years, to a family that thinks she was a great success, and the boy she left behind, now a grandfather.

The Early story was well written and compelling, but much too rushed. She meets a man she hasn’t seem since she was 15, and within a couple of pages, she’s thinking marriage? If it had been spread out over a longer period of time, it would have been better. The McDonald story was also a little rushed, but nice. The characters were interesting, the chemistry between the hero and heroine was relaxed and comfortable, and the story was sweet and enjoyable. Nice to read about an older hero and heroine.

I've had mixed results with Margot Early - loved some of her early books (especially The Keeper) but didn't like her recent HSR at all. But I've never read Janice MacDonald before, and I'll have to look her up.