When I was a younger adult, I spent hours upon hours reading romances. Every Danielle Steele bestseller made its way into our house to be read in a few days time. I eventually realized that these books set an unrealistic example of what romantic love was really like and soon moved on to other types of writing. More recently, I have found some sweet romances that are fun for a quick read on my Kindle. These romances are often a tale of redemption or renewal for a young woman who has experienced heartbreak. One of my very first e-books was by Heather Wardell Life, Love and a Polar Bear. This free e-book is the first in what she calls The Toronto Series. I recently download the next four books in this series Go Small or Go Homes, Planning to Live, Stir Until Thoroughly Confused and A Life That Fits. The Canadian city of Toronto is an essential character in these books. Some characters even reappear briefly in other volumes. These books are a little bit formulaic, but are fun, easy reads. Wardell diverges from the common romances where a man is the key to a woman’s happiness. She build strong female characters and doesn’t always provide a storybook ending.

I also download another of her works Seven Exes are Eight Too Many. This book centered on a reality show theme. I have never been a big fan of this genre, so it took me a long time to really become engaged. I was able to figure out the outcome quickly and basically just worked to finish this one.

There are six more books in the Toronto collection and I look forward to reading those. I hope they are more like her earlier works and not Seven Exes. It is nice to experience a city that I have never visited and anticipate returning through Wardell’s book soon.