What’s better than reading an entertaining story? How about four stories? In With This Ring?: A Novella Collection of Proposals Gone Awry, four beloved authors of historical fiction come together and share stories of unusual, often humorous, circumstances leading couples to find love.

In “The Husband Manuever,” readers of Karen Witemeyer’s newest full-length release (A Worthy Pursuit) will recognize Daniel Barrett and Marietta Hawkins. Daniel is about to leave his position as foreman on Marietta’s father’s ranch, and Marietta is desperate. If he leaves, he’ll never ask her to marry him. So, she decides to take matters into her own hands. But will it destroy their friendship in the process?

When the bridge leading to her property washes out and leaves Katie Ellen Hawkins alone with the one man she is determined to avoid, she’s disheartened when a menacing stranger refuses to leave her home. And appalled when Josiah Huckabee suggests they pretend to be husband and wife. Can she spent time with him and keep a hold on her heart? “The Husband Maneuver” by Regina Jennings is a fun and wild ride.

Mary Connealy’s “The Runaway Bride” finds Carrie Halsey feeling from an arranged marriage she will not enter into. Her older sister has hired a Texas Ranger named Big John Conroy to see her and her younger brother to safety but they don’t get far before people are hunting her down. Is the only way to escape the man she doesn’t want to marry to attach herself to another one?

And my personal favorite of the four…”Engaging the Competition” by Melissa Jaegers. Tomboy Charlotte “Charlie” Andrews is forced to help Harrison Gray when his glasses break, leaving him almost blind until a new pair can be ordered and delivered. Harrison has managed to avoid Charlie for years as if he wants nothing to do with her. Besides that little fact, how is her fiancé going to react to her spending time with another man—a very handsome man at that.

Each one of these novellas is approximately 100 pages. Dive right into the story and see how awkward and uncomfortable situations lead these characters to their future happily ever afters.

***Bethany House Publishers provided me with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review. All opinions expressed are my own.