Haven't read any romances in awhile so I decided to pick up this anthology when I saw it at the library the other day (I'm a big fan of Julia Quinn so that was the main draw for me). The anthology is built around the premise that four women found a lucky sixpence as schoolgirls and decided that the sixpence would bring them luck in love a la the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and as the sixpence goes to each woman in turn, romance ensues.

Something New - ☆☆ 1/2
In Stefanie Sloane’s story, Anne Brabourne's guardian has decided that she must marry by her twenty-first birthday or retire to the country as a spinster. Having grown up within a tumultuous marriage that made her more of an adult than either parent, Anne wants no part of a lovematch and has set her goal as finding a malleable husband who will allow her to conduct her own affairs. As you might expect, things don't exactly go as planned.

This was a somewhat cute but unfortunately predictable and boring story. It was brutally obvious that the only thing in the way of the romance was the ability of the hero and heroine to recognize what was good for them and none of the obstacles were convincing enough to make the wait to the end sensible. I enjoyed the characters and their interactions but it just seemed too contrived and silly.

Something Borrowed - ☆☆☆
In Elizabeth Boyle's story, Cordelia Padley, has invented a betrothed to keep her family from pestering her to wed. Cordelia has a love of adventure and no desire to settle down and be restrained by a spouse so she decides to borrow a fiance long enough to convince her family and then give herself some time to "grieve" about being tossed aside. When she asks a childhood friend to help her out, the sixpence guarantees it won't go as planned.

Aside from Quinn's story, probably the second most enjoyable story in the collection. Cordelia and Kipp have changed a fair amount from when they were adventurous kids and life got in the way so watching them re-adjust to their new positions and selves was interesting and entertaining. The romance was cute and enjoyable, for as short as it was.

Something Blue - No rating
In Laura Lee Guhrke’s story, unlucky Lady Elinor Daventry has her sixpence stolen from her and must convince the rake who pilfered the coin to return it in time for her own wedding.

To be completely honest, I made it a few pages through this story before getting bored and skimming to the last one. I didn't particularly care for the characters and I'm not a huge fan of the antagonistic way that it set up things between them. Since I didn't read it terribly carefully, I'll leave off reviewing this story.

... and a Sixpence in Her Shoe - ☆☆☆☆
Julia Quinn finishes with the story of Beatrice Heywood, a logical and practical young woman who has doubts about the lucky nature of the sixpence despite it working for three friends. After she literally runs into a rather cranky man with his own issues, the sixpence ends up guiding her to a new and intriguing set of circumstances.

Apparently Quinn can do no wrong in my eyes. I love the way she writes flawed but interesting characters and having a hero with a disability was treated with empathy and made both characters easy to admire and be interested in. It was a shame to have this be a short story as I very much would have enjoyed Quinn having more time to explore the romance between Bea and Frederick. It has the expected silly Quinn humor that so appeals to me and honestly made me enjoy the anthology more than I would have otherwise.

Overall I enjoyed enough of the anthology to give this one three stars. It's not the best romance anthology I've read but if you enjoy Victorian romances, it's worth your time just for the Boyle and Quinn stories.