~ Blog Tour: Midsummer Magic at Miss Moonshine’s Emporium – Review ~

Are you ready to meet Miss Moonshine? Life may never be the same again…

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It’s summer in Haven Bridge and Miss Moonshine is getting ready for a busy season. From the window of her Wonderful Emporium, at the heart of the pretty Yorkshire town, she watches and waits, weaving plans to bring happiness to all who step through her door. For Miss Moonshine is no ordinary shopkeeper. She may not have what you want, but she will always have what you need…

Nine romantic novelists from Yorkshire and Lancashire, including best-selling and award-winning authors, have joined together to create this anthology of uplifting stories guaranteed to warm your heart. This magical collection of contemporary romances will make you laugh, cry and wish for a Miss Moonshine in your own life.

You Can Purchase the Book: Amazon / Amazon UK

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The nine authors that make up Authors on the Edge group came together to create the Miss Moonshine anthology. Although this is the third collection for the series, the reader can read this as a standalone and even read each story as its own standalone. I have a love/hate relationship with anthologies, as I love the idea of short stories being put together with a central theme, but I sometimes find somewhere some of the stories either stand out in a negative way or just seem incomplete. I was thrilled that this collection did not have any of the negatives, as all nine stories were amazing and well put together. Each of them had just enough information for the characters and events to make the reader feel satisfied after completing each tale.

In the Town of Haven Bridge, there is an emporium owned by Miss Moonshine. She, her dog, Napoleon, and her emporium connect all the stories together in this short story collection of romance. Miss Moonshine is not the main character in the stories, but she is featured in each and plays her role. She is a fun character and I love that the reader feels that they know her yet there is still a lot of mystery to her. All the characters from each story were all memorable in their own way, the setting of the story just seemed homey, and a place I would love to visit. I highly anticipated that I would read one story at a time with breaks in-between, but I ended up devouring it in a single sitting, as each story was a joy to read.

The first story is A Glitch in Time by Jacqueline Cooper, who is a new to me author. Nicola and her grandmother Lily end up in a body swap through time, so Nicola ends up in 1951. Although it is only for a day, each woman has to work to adjust to the different time-periods and try not to affect the events of the past or future. Next up is Caught Red-Handed by Sophie Clare, whom is another new to me author. This story follows Ruby who steels a pen that belonged to her grandmother. This one includes both Ruby’s aftermath with the pen plus the truth behind the pen’s history. Both of these stories were really sweet and I would love to read more by each of the authors.

The third is Three Butterflies by Marie Laval, another new to me author. A French perfumer, Olivier is visiting the town to find inspiration for a new fragrance. He stays on a houseboat owned by Tamsin, his complete opposite. This one contained a lot of humor and I love an opposites attract romance. Next is the fourth story, which was GU1909 by Angela Wren. This story was more unexpected as it featured a mechanic, Maddie, and her former fiancé, Simon, another mechanic, who are working on Miss Moonshine’s car. Both were really cute stories about finding love in unexpected places as the first brought two strangers together and the other are two former lovers and each couple are brought together by circumstance.

The fifth story is The Secret of Greymoor Hall by Kate Field. Here the reader meets Libby, who runs the cat café. Here Gil, whose family owns Greymoor Hall, meets Libby and the two of them discover secrets about the manor. Mary Jayne Baker wrote the sixth story, The Treasure Seekers, where Joely and her best friend, Toby enter The Great British Antique Swap. While I loved the other stories, these two stood out to me as I love the added mystery to the first and the “game-like” circumstances of the second.

The final three stories were all excellent, as well, with all new to me authors. The seventh is Ginny’s Ghost by Helen Pollard. A mysterious presence is in Ginny’s flat, so enter Graham, a paranormal investigator to find out some answers. This was a very fun tale and I loved the “paranormal” aspects of the story. Next, I Shall Wear Purple by Melinda Hammond is the eighth story. I loved this story of rediscovered love as Jeannie is in a care home, who is rediscovered by retired vet, Dan. Finally, the ninth is Music, Love and Other Languages by Helena Fairfax where a musician Edith wants to give up on the orchestra, as she does not think she is good enough. She finds a violin at the emporium where there is more to it than meets the eye.

Overall, I thought I would easily have a favorite before I started this novel, but each story was amazing and it ended up being impossible to choose. I loved how each of them had their own unique style, but they still felt like they belonged in the same universe. The characters all blended in the village’s setting well so none of them felt out of place. Based on this entertaining experience from this anthology, I will definitely add the other two Miss Moonshine anthologies to my TBR and any in the future. Since almost all of these authors were new-to-me, I also will definitely have to check out their other novels! This excellent collection of stories was well worth a read!

**I give a special thank you to Rachel @rararesources and the authors for the opportunity to participate with this enjoyable novel. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.**