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Love Songs: A Novel
Love Songs
Barbara Delinsky
In these two classic novels from America's beloved storyteller, Barbara Delinsky captures those special romantic moments that make the heart sing…
UP ALL NIGHT
Alanna Evans is a busy young executive with a bad case of insomnia. Desperate for a good night's sleep, she decides to check out a renowned sleep clinic, the Knight Center. It's the last place she'd expect to meet the man of her dreams. But when Alexander Knight—the clinic's gorgeous benefactor—takes a very personal interest in her case, Alanna's afraid those sexy bedroom eyes of his might keep her up all night long…
SWEET SERENITY
Serena Strickland runs a candy shop in Minneapolis that's every bit as wonderful as its name: Sweet Serenity. Unfortunately, her serenity is all but shattered when Tom Reynolds waltzes back into her life. Years ago, the rising young journalist turned her father's trial into a front-page scandal, and Serena has never forgiven him. But when Tom turns on the charm, she's surprised to find that he's as sweet as candy—and just as hard to resist…
Barbara Delinsky
In these two classic novels from America's beloved storyteller, Barbara Delinsky captures those special romantic moments that make the heart sing…
UP ALL NIGHT
Alanna Evans is a busy young executive with a bad case of insomnia. Desperate for a good night's sleep, she decides to check out a renowned sleep clinic, the Knight Center. It's the last place she'd expect to meet the man of her dreams. But when Alexander Knight—the clinic's gorgeous benefactor—takes a very personal interest in her case, Alanna's afraid those sexy bedroom eyes of his might keep her up all night long…
SWEET SERENITY
Serena Strickland runs a candy shop in Minneapolis that's every bit as wonderful as its name: Sweet Serenity. Unfortunately, her serenity is all but shattered when Tom Reynolds waltzes back into her life. Years ago, the rising young journalist turned her father's trial into a front-page scandal, and Serena has never forgiven him. But when Tom turns on the charm, she's surprised to find that he's as sweet as candy—and just as hard to resist…
404 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 29, 2013
25 people are currently reading
396 people want to read
About the author
Barbara Delinsky
312 books4,366 followersI was born and raised in suburban Boston. My mother’s death, when I was eight, was the defining event of a childhood that was otherwise ordinary. I took piano lessons and flute lessons. I took ballroom dancing lessons. I went to summer camp through my fifteenth year (in Maine, which explains the setting of so many of my stories), then spent my sixteenth summer learning to type and to drive (two skills that have served me better than all of my other high school courses combined). I earned a B.A. in Psychology at Tufts University and an M.A. in Sociology at Boston College. The motivation behind the M.A. was sheer greed. My husband was just starting law school. We needed the money.
Following graduate school, I worked as a researcher with the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, and as a photographer and reporter for the Belmont Herald. I did the newspaper work after my first son was born. Since I was heavily into taking pictures of him, I worked for the paper to support that habit. Initially, I wrote only in a secondary capacity, to provide copy for the pictures I took. In time, I realized that I was better at writing than photography. I used both skills doing volunteer work for hospital groups, and have served on the Board of Directors of the Friends of the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center and on the MGH’s Women’s Cancer Advisory Board.
I became an actual writer by fluke. My twins were four when, by chance, I happened on a newspaper article profiling three female writers. Intrigued, I spent three months researching, plotting, and writing my own book - and it sold.
My niche? I write about the emotional crises that we face in our lives. Readers identify with my characters. They know them. They are them. I'm an everyday woman writing about everyday people facing not-so-everyday challenges.
My novels are character-driven studies of marriage, parenthood, sibling rivalry, and friendship, and I’ve been blessed in having readers who buy them eagerly enough to put them on the major bestseller lists. One of my latest, Sweet Salt Air, came out in 2013. Blueprints, my second novel with St. Martin’s Press, became my 22nd New York Times bestselling novel soon after its release in June 2015. Making Up, my work in progress, will be published in 2018.
2018? Yikes. I didn’t think I’d live that long. I thought I’d die of breast cancer back in the 1900's, like my mom. But I didn’t. I was diagnosed nearly twenty years ago, had surgery and treatment, and here I am, stronger than ever and loving having authored yet another book, this one the non-fiction Uplift: Secrets From the Sisterhood of Breast Cancer Survivors. First published in 2001, Uplift is a handbook of practical tips and upbeat anecdotes that I compiled with the help of 350 breast cancer survivors, their families and friends. These survivors just ... blew me away! They gave me the book that I wish I’d had way back when I was diagnosed. There is no medical information here, nothing frightening, simply practical advice from friends who’ve had breast cancer. The 10th Anniversary Volume of Uplift is now in print. And the money I’ve made on the book? Every cent has gone to my charitable foundation, which funds an ongoing research fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital.
Connect with me on Facebook: facebook.com/bdelinsky
Look for my photos on Instagram: instagram.com/barbaradelinsky
Following graduate school, I worked as a researcher with the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, and as a photographer and reporter for the Belmont Herald. I did the newspaper work after my first son was born. Since I was heavily into taking pictures of him, I worked for the paper to support that habit. Initially, I wrote only in a secondary capacity, to provide copy for the pictures I took. In time, I realized that I was better at writing than photography. I used both skills doing volunteer work for hospital groups, and have served on the Board of Directors of the Friends of the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center and on the MGH’s Women’s Cancer Advisory Board.
I became an actual writer by fluke. My twins were four when, by chance, I happened on a newspaper article profiling three female writers. Intrigued, I spent three months researching, plotting, and writing my own book - and it sold.
My niche? I write about the emotional crises that we face in our lives. Readers identify with my characters. They know them. They are them. I'm an everyday woman writing about everyday people facing not-so-everyday challenges.
My novels are character-driven studies of marriage, parenthood, sibling rivalry, and friendship, and I’ve been blessed in having readers who buy them eagerly enough to put them on the major bestseller lists. One of my latest, Sweet Salt Air, came out in 2013. Blueprints, my second novel with St. Martin’s Press, became my 22nd New York Times bestselling novel soon after its release in June 2015. Making Up, my work in progress, will be published in 2018.
2018? Yikes. I didn’t think I’d live that long. I thought I’d die of breast cancer back in the 1900's, like my mom. But I didn’t. I was diagnosed nearly twenty years ago, had surgery and treatment, and here I am, stronger than ever and loving having authored yet another book, this one the non-fiction Uplift: Secrets From the Sisterhood of Breast Cancer Survivors. First published in 2001, Uplift is a handbook of practical tips and upbeat anecdotes that I compiled with the help of 350 breast cancer survivors, their families and friends. These survivors just ... blew me away! They gave me the book that I wish I’d had way back when I was diagnosed. There is no medical information here, nothing frightening, simply practical advice from friends who’ve had breast cancer. The 10th Anniversary Volume of Uplift is now in print. And the money I’ve made on the book? Every cent has gone to my charitable foundation, which funds an ongoing research fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital.
Connect with me on Facebook: facebook.com/bdelinsky
Look for my photos on Instagram: instagram.com/barbaradelinsky
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
March 17, 2013
There’s romance, and then there’s hokey. This compilation of two Barbara Delinsky stories borders on the hokey. The first half is Delinsky’s “Up All Night.” This features Alanna, a young working executive who has a problem with insomnia. When she goes in to a clinic for some testing, she meets Alexander, a wealthy benefactor of the clinic. From the very start, their chemistry is off. She is busy, and can’t sleep. He is busy and direct, yet comes off as a sort of stalker-esque creepy. Who meets a man at a sleep study anyway? While their story of boy-meets-girl was unique, it certainly wasn’t my cup of tea.
The second half features candy shop owner, Serena, in “Sweet Serenity.” She is enjoying her life as a confectioner until the journalist responsible for smearing her father’s name in the papers, Tom, shows back up in her life. Her internal struggle over her developing feelings for Tom is expected, but their rom-com romance is lacking. Typically, when you’re dealing with feelings over someone that’s hurt you in the past, there’s an electrifying passion. With Tom and Serena, however, it was fizzling. Their romance was far more believable and sweet than that of Alanna and Alexander, and gave this book a little more life. However, I felt as though it needed more realism and a little less Hollywood script.
Overall, if you’re looking for a different kind of romance, or you’re a fan of romantic comedy type stories, then this book is definitely for you.
Reviewed by Marie for Cocktails and Books
The second half features candy shop owner, Serena, in “Sweet Serenity.” She is enjoying her life as a confectioner until the journalist responsible for smearing her father’s name in the papers, Tom, shows back up in her life. Her internal struggle over her developing feelings for Tom is expected, but their rom-com romance is lacking. Typically, when you’re dealing with feelings over someone that’s hurt you in the past, there’s an electrifying passion. With Tom and Serena, however, it was fizzling. Their romance was far more believable and sweet than that of Alanna and Alexander, and gave this book a little more life. However, I felt as though it needed more realism and a little less Hollywood script.
Overall, if you’re looking for a different kind of romance, or you’re a fan of romantic comedy type stories, then this book is definitely for you.
Reviewed by Marie for Cocktails and Books
July 29, 2018
Love Songs is actually comprised of two books Delinsky wrote in the early eighties. Both are love stories. There isn’t an intricately developed plot or multidimensional characters as we know them in today’s novels, but rather an unsophisticated view of traditional roles for men and women along with a HAPPY ENDING.
March 25, 2013
1st story - 1 star
premise two executives in their late 30's who have trouble sleeping participate in a sleep study. Within an hour of meeting each other in the cafeteria before the study the man tells her he's going to marry her & he loves her... C'MON - ridiculous.
2nd story - was ok.
premise two executives in their late 30's who have trouble sleeping participate in a sleep study. Within an hour of meeting each other in the cafeteria before the study the man tells her he's going to marry her & he loves her... C'MON - ridiculous.
2nd story - was ok.
May 29, 2014
Plot is not believe able, I like some steam in my books but this was saturated.
February 24, 2016
I normally love Barbara Delinsky but this compilation of two shorter stories was just corny and completely predictable. Not a fan of this one...
May 4, 2016
Way to much sex, was this porn or a romance?
October 3, 2021
Romance is not my genre, nevertheless I'm trying hard to read out of my comfort zone.
This is a fast paced romance book, that has two stories in it. Wait for it, both the stories have creepy men. Men who force themselves, who can't take no for an answer, and act much like air heads.
The first story is about Alanna, who is working hard on a corporate world, putting up with men and bumps into Alex Knight, (the creepy man) apparently the gorgeous guy at a clinic. She vowed never to marry, she wasn't romantically interested and was attracted to Alex since she laid her eyes on him.
The second story of about Serena, a sweet shop owner. This story is on the enemy to lovers trope. Tom, a journalist wrote a scandal about her father a few years ago and now he's back into her life. She's discovering the sweet man he apparently is.
The author describes the manliness of the men, and the softness of their lips probably to overshadow everything else problematic in them.
It kept nagging me right from the beginning to the end.
The cover is beautiful and the writing simple. The stories had so much potential. Maybe if the men weren't saturated with toxic manliness I would've found it way interesting.
This is a fast paced romance book, that has two stories in it. Wait for it, both the stories have creepy men. Men who force themselves, who can't take no for an answer, and act much like air heads.
The first story is about Alanna, who is working hard on a corporate world, putting up with men and bumps into Alex Knight, (the creepy man) apparently the gorgeous guy at a clinic. She vowed never to marry, she wasn't romantically interested and was attracted to Alex since she laid her eyes on him.
The second story of about Serena, a sweet shop owner. This story is on the enemy to lovers trope. Tom, a journalist wrote a scandal about her father a few years ago and now he's back into her life. She's discovering the sweet man he apparently is.
The author describes the manliness of the men, and the softness of their lips probably to overshadow everything else problematic in them.
It kept nagging me right from the beginning to the end.
The cover is beautiful and the writing simple. The stories had so much potential. Maybe if the men weren't saturated with toxic manliness I would've found it way interesting.
June 12, 2018
I made the right choice when I chose to read this book when I was in romantic mood.
There are 2 distinguished stories in this book: Up All Night and Sweet Serenity. What I like the most about this book is both of the stories featuring a strong and an independent woman, and a protective gentleman: the kind of man who says I love you every night and proves it every day!
If you are a hopeless romantic like me, I believe you will enjoy reading this book.
There are 2 distinguished stories in this book: Up All Night and Sweet Serenity. What I like the most about this book is both of the stories featuring a strong and an independent woman, and a protective gentleman: the kind of man who says I love you every night and proves it every day!
If you are a hopeless romantic like me, I believe you will enjoy reading this book.
September 17, 2017
The second book is far better than the first in my opinion but everyone is different.
November 26, 2019
For the second book am giving a 3 point rating. The first was just superfluous
March 15, 2021
The male character in each story came across as total creeps. I honestly don't know why I finished either story.
February 5, 2022
Written years ago… still a GREAT book.
BD never disappoints!
BD never disappoints!
January 10, 2025
2 easy to read short love stories in one book.
May 23, 2019
I have read others by this author that I liked very much. Unfortunately, these early works of heres fall short. This book contains two of the author's early works. I found them both to be disappointing. The stories are just average. The first one, Up All Night, is a highly unbelievable plot, and I did not like the hero of this story at all. The second story, Sweet Serenity is more believable and the better of the two stories.
May 5, 2013
I loved the three wishes that she wrote, this book which contained 2 of her first books not so much. The first book was about an attraction two people had just as they saw each other. Most of the book was about that and never developed the characters until the last two chapters. Once you got into the characters the book ended. The second book was similar but developed the characters with about 4 chapters to go. Not her best work, just her early works.
March 20, 2013
This is two books that she wrote back in the 80s, and it kind of has an 80s flare to it. I personally liked the first book better than the second, but I enjoyed both of them.
July 21, 2014
3 stars
August 18, 2013
1st book... Yuck 1 star
2nd book... Just ok 3 star
2nd book... Just ok 3 star
January 9, 2014
Both stories were really good. The love that developed between all four characters was so endearing. Great book!
August 4, 2014
4 1/2stars
August 3, 2015
2 stories in 1 book...cheesy quick but good reads
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews