Welcome to one of the May 25th stops on the blog tour for Yes–These Are Your Grandma’s Romances by Nancy Fraser, organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Be sure to follow the rest of the tour for spotlights, more reviews, and a giveaway! More on that at the end of this post.
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About the Book
Yes–These Are Your Grandma’s Romances
by Nancy Fraser
Published 20 April 2021
Books From a Romantic’s Heart Publishing
Genre: Historical Romance Anthology (1950s Vintage), Short Fiction
Page Count: 334
Add it to your Goodreads TBR!
Ah … the Fifties!
A time of innocence, and the not so innocent. From “I Love Lucy” and “Willy” to “Private Secretary”, “Father Knows Best” and “Bachelor Father”, television and music from the fifties gave us inspiration. Come take a trip down memory lane with these five vintage reads!
Get your romance on, and make grandma proud!
Ed Loves Marnie ~ 1955 – Can this handsome military man convince the single mother to take another chance at love? Or, will their shared memory put a wall between them?
Willa Thomas, Attorney-in-Love ~ 1956 – Will these co-workers be able to tow the company line and forego a chance at love? Or, will they risk everything for love?
Professor Knows Best ~ 1957 – Will this freaky trip back in time to 1957 give her the answers she seeks? Or, only more confusion? How difficult will she find it to navigate being best friends with the college-age version of her own mother?
His Private Secretary ~ 1958 – Can she run interference between her handsome boss, his needy family, and the scores of women trying to bed him and wed him and still remain unaffected by his many charms?
The Bachelor Father ~ 1959 – Will Nanny #5 be the one to finally ace the job, and coax him out of his shell and back into life? And, will a family vacation to Paris fulfill their wildest dreams?
This title is on sale in eBook format for $0.99 USD during the tour!
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Have some fun with an online jigsaw puzzle of the cover!
Excerpt
Professor Knows Best ~ 1957
Monday morning, Susan left the boarding house an hour earlier than necessary. She’d spent the last two days doing everything within her power to avoid Matt, even going so far as to claim illness to keep from joining the boarders for Sunday supper. Now, she hoped to avoid bumping into him on the walk to school.
She reported to the head of the history department, as she’d been instructed. Professor Nelson was a distinguished man in his late fifties or early sixties. He reminded Susan of the Professor Jennings she had known from her own time.
“I’ve got an assignment for you, Miss Kelley,” Dr. Nelson told her. “It’s a continuation of something our previous research assistant had started.”
“I’m eager to get busy,” she admitted. Anything to keep her mind off of a certain handsome professor. “What would you like me to do?”
“We began compiling an historical accounting of this current decade, a listing of the specific accomplishments, social activities, items of cultural or historical significance. We’d hoped to publish the work at the end of the decade. Right now, we have records from 1950 through 1954. We need you to read through the material so you can familiarize yourself with the style and then continue on with the last two years, and this year to date.”
“Sounds like an exciting project,” she said.
“The university has been publishing their journal every decade since our inception in 1890. We wouldn’t want to be known as the faculty who dropped the ball, so to speak.”
Susan knew from her own research, and from her familiarity with the university’s archives, that they did, indeed, continue on with the legacy of their predecessors. The thought of being part of the process excited the historian within her.
“You’ll find everything you need in the workspace next to my office,” he told her. “I’d like to see a draft of your work by the end of the week.”
“Certainly, Professor. I’ll get started immediately.”
A couple of hours into her assignment, Susan realized she’d give anything for a word processor. A typewriter, even an early-model electric one, and an eraser stick, were definitely not her preferred tools. Engrossed in fixing her latest typo, she barely noticed when the door opened. It wasn’t until he spoke that she realized she had a visitor.
“Hard at work, Miss Kelley?” The deep baritone of Matt’s voice worked like a trip switch on her pulse.
“Dr. Nelson’s given me an assignment.” Susan hoped she sounded business-like, rather than as nervous as she felt.
“Yes, I know. He’s assigned me to be your faculty advisor.”
Oh, great! Just what I need.
“I’m fine on my own, thank you very much. I’ve got everything under control.” She only wished her emotions were as easy to negotiate as her workload.
“No doubt you do. Unfortunately, for you it would seem, the university requires that each research assistant have a faculty advisor. And, like it or not, I’m yours.”
“The ‘or not’ seems to fit,” she said, doing her best to fill her tone with as much sarcasm as she could muster.
My Review
My Rating: 4 Stars
Consider liking my review on Goodreads.
I was granted complimentary access to Yes– These Are Your Grandma’s Romances as part of my participation in a blog tour for this title with Goddess Fish Promotions, and I was specifically asked to review the story “Professor Knows Best,” so my review will be primarily based on that. Thank you to all involved in affording me this opportunity! My thoughts are my own and my review is honest.
I’m going to start off by saying romance is not my genre, not because I don’t like a really cute romantic relationship cropping up in my fiction but because I’ve been burned too many times with expectations that were apparently far too innocent. (Please keep the tentacle porn out of my vampire murder mysteries, thanks!) But fear not! This book has no such nasty surprises. These stories are sweet, well set-up, and tasteful.
Fraser’s characters feel like real, complete people, and her plots are also well developed and intricate. This may be primarily romance and follow certain beats you expect, but there’s more to the plot than just a pair of people trying to get one another in bed. Susan is an intelligent young woman with quirks and goals that kept me invested, and the tease of a murder mystery in the prologue (you’ll just have to read it for yourself to find out whether or not one really developed) ensured I would fly through the rest of the story in as little time as possible!
I love the fact that each story is followed by a list of historical events from the year the story took place in. This daughter of a huge Elvis fan is ashamed to admit that I only just learned that Graceland was purchased in 1957 because of the facts at the end of my assigned story.
If you love historical fiction and romance, especially if you’re looking for a collection of bite-size stories rather than a full length novel, check out this collection!
About the Author
Nancy Fraser —Jumping Across Romance Genres with Gleeful Abandon— is an Amazon Top 100 and Award-Winning author who can’t seem to decide which romance genre suits her best. So, she writes them all.
Like most authors, Nancy began writing at an early age, usually on the walls and with crayons or, heaven forbid, permanent markers. Her love of writing often made her the English teacher’s pet which, of course, resulted in a whole lot of teasing. Still, it was worth it.
Published in multiple genres, Nancy currently writes for two publishers, and has recently thrown her hat into the self-publishing ring. She has published over thirty-five books in full-length, novella, and short format.
When not writing (which is almost never), Nancy dotes on her five wonderful grandchildren and looks forward to traveling and reading when time permits. Nancy lives in Atlantic Canada where she enjoys the relaxed pace and colorful people.
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Giveaway Alert!
Nancy Fraser will be awarding a $20 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
a Rafflecopter giveaway| May 17 | Andi’s Book Reviews |
| May 18 | J. Lynn Rowan – Author of Romance & Historical Fiction |
| May 19 | Hope. Dreams. Life… Love |
| May 19 | Dawn’s Reading Nook |
| May 20 | Fabulous and Brunette |
| May 20 | Stormy Nights Reviewing & Bloggin’ |
| May 21 | Romance Novel Giveaways |
| May 24 | Seven Troublesome Sisters |
| May 24 | All Things Romance |
| May 25 | The Avid Reader |
| May 25 | Westveil Publishing |
| May 26 | Iron Canuck Reviews & More |
| May 26 | The Pen and Muse Book Reviews |
| May 26 | It’s Raining Books |
| May 27 | Locks, Hooks and Books |
| May 27 | The Faerie Review |
| May 28 | All the Ups and Downs |
| May 28 | Long and Short Reviews |
Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Thanks for hosting!
Thank you for hosting this stop on my tour and for taking the time to read about Susan and the Professor. And, of course, for your review. I will check back later for comments.
Thank you for the review.
Great review
Thanks for the excerpt and review!!