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An Old Fashioned Love Story
“Promise that you’ll wait for me.”
The promise of his girl’s love and a basket of homemade donuts is all Drayton Michaelson has and needs when he enlists in the army and heads off to war. A young man with his whole future ahead of him and the love of Vera Thompson, has no idea the cruel fate life has in store.
Fifty years later, Vera Thompson is still waiting for her love to return and hanging on to the promise of a life together with Drayton. A beautiful and sassy woman who’s holding a lifetime of love in her heart and a secret recipe for sweets, has no idea what a simple request will set in motion.
Will a wedding and some old fashion donuts create magic and an old-fashioned love story?
The promise of his girl’s love and a basket of homemade donuts is all Drayton Michaelson has and needs when he enlists in the army and heads off to war. A young man with his whole future ahead of him and the love of Vera Thompson, has no idea the cruel fate life has in store.
Fifty years later, Vera Thompson is still waiting for her love to return and hanging on to the promise of a life together with Drayton. A beautiful and sassy woman who’s holding a lifetime of love in her heart and a secret recipe for sweets, has no idea what a simple request will set in motion.
Will a wedding and some old fashion donuts create magic and an old-fashioned love story?
Unknown Binding
Published February 15, 2020
5 people are currently reading
51 people want to read
About the author
E.S. McMillan
127 books476 followersE.S. McMillan is a self-proclaimed Superhero. She is a mom to 4 amazing boys. Married to one of her best friends and has plans to take the world by storm.
E.S. was born in California, raised in New York, and now resides in Connecticut.
E.S. is a lover of the written word and cannot remember a time when there was not a book in her hand or an open notebook waiting to be filled with her stories.
E.S. was born in California, raised in New York, and now resides in Connecticut.
E.S. is a lover of the written word and cannot remember a time when there was not a book in her hand or an open notebook waiting to be filled with her stories.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
February 22, 2020
I just loved how this was about never giving up on your one love even though years and years pass. It was sad that Vera did also put her life on hold waiting and hoping Drayton would come back. The family dynamics was great with how close and understanding the family are and the ending is super sweet.
December 30, 2022
Stunning
Wow what a story sweet, gorgeous, loving, heartbreaking will Drayton keep his promise to Vera?
Its a story that pulls you in fron start to finish such a gorgeous read.
Wow what a story sweet, gorgeous, loving, heartbreaking will Drayton keep his promise to Vera?
Its a story that pulls you in fron start to finish such a gorgeous read.
February 19, 2020
This is a touching story, filled with all the stages of love. Nicely done, Author McMillan.
July 23, 2023
Made me smile and cry
Such a sweet love story. True love never dies is the point of this story. Well written story and characters.
Such a sweet love story. True love never dies is the point of this story. Well written story and characters.
August 8, 2020
Nooooooo!!!!!!! What an ending!
Before anything I have to say how much I love the Dedication at the beginning of this book, just looove it.
With that being said, I enjoyed the story. If your looking for a short enjoyable story, this is it.
Although the end made my heart break a little.
Vee is waiting to be reunited with Drayton, the love of her life.
Before anything I have to say how much I love the Dedication at the beginning of this book, just looove it.
With that being said, I enjoyed the story. If your looking for a short enjoyable story, this is it.
Although the end made my heart break a little.
Vee is waiting to be reunited with Drayton, the love of her life.
November 23, 2020
This was a terrific little read that took me on quite the unexpected adventure and had me craving some old-fashioned donuts in the worst way. I liked the creativity of the story as well as the all the great characters I met along the way.
August 1, 2020
Great novella! I loved the characters and the family dynamic. Sometimes you need a feel good story, and this left me happy. I can’t wait to read more by E. S. McMillan!!
January 17, 2023
Another amazing story done by the talented author. If you have not read a book by E.S. McMillan, I highly encourage you to remedy that right now.
July 21, 2023
Wow, just wow. Vera's love for Drayton sustained her. I don't know if I could do it. I loved her relationship with Allison. I am glad that Drayton was a stand up guy. This was a nice story. I teared up a time or two but, I laughed more with this book. I can't wait to read more. I like the fact that the books I've read by MacMillan are short yet thorough reads. Thank you so much for sharing your gift with us.
July 15, 2025
⭐ 4
🌶️ 0
📚 Tropes/Themes: later in life, it's always been you, soulmates, childhood sweethearts, first love, novella, flashbacks/dual timeline
👀 Single POV 1st person
💬 This was such a beautiful and heartwarming later in life romance story about soulmates finding their way back to each other 🥹 I didn't expect it to be so emotional!
It's a short and sweet novella set in the same world (Allenville) as the other books in the series, and this one focuses on Vera who's first and only love (Drayton) was declared MIA during the Vietnam War.
This was a great little palette cleanser after a strong of not so great reads, definitely recommend (but make sure you got your tissues ready!)
🌶️ 0
📚 Tropes/Themes: later in life, it's always been you, soulmates, childhood sweethearts, first love, novella, flashbacks/dual timeline
👀 Single POV 1st person
💬 This was such a beautiful and heartwarming later in life romance story about soulmates finding their way back to each other 🥹 I didn't expect it to be so emotional!
It's a short and sweet novella set in the same world (Allenville) as the other books in the series, and this one focuses on Vera who's first and only love (Drayton) was declared MIA during the Vietnam War.
This was a great little palette cleanser after a strong of not so great reads, definitely recommend (but make sure you got your tissues ready!)
May 12, 2023
An Old Fashioned Love Story
This is a beautiful homely story about a man and woman separated for 50 years.
A young Dayton promised a young Vera that when he returned from fighting in the war, he would marry her.
Vera waited 50 years for him to return after being declared missing, 3 months into his service. We never did find out he mystery of where he was.
I loved this book.
This is a beautiful homely story about a man and woman separated for 50 years.
A young Dayton promised a young Vera that when he returned from fighting in the war, he would marry her.
Vera waited 50 years for him to return after being declared missing, 3 months into his service. We never did find out he mystery of where he was.
I loved this book.
July 17, 2025
Vee and drayton
This was a sweet short novella. The love two people can carry is beautiful. I loved how everything worked out. This was a fun short read.
This was a sweet short novella. The love two people can carry is beautiful. I loved how everything worked out. This was a fun short read.
July 15, 2020
This is a sweet short story that spans decades. Two people so in love in wartime that promises are made and held to for 50 years. I truly enjoyed the story of Vera and her love Drayton, as well as the love story of Allison and Dre.
It is heart-melting in every way.
It is heart-melting in every way.
December 31, 2021
Vera and Drayton are teens in love, but Drayton is joining the army. He promises that they will marry when he returns, but then goes MIA. This story follows Vera and her family (particularly niece Allison) in the intervening years. I love the relationship between Vera and Allison. Their family is very tight knit and it’s heartwarming to see. I also am happy to see a romance between older characters. You don’t see that often enough in my opinion. Thank you ES McMillan for giving a love story to last a life time!
July 18, 2021
Vera has been waiting on Drayton to fulfill his promise to come home to her after the war. 50 years later she is still waiting for him. Meanwhile life has continued on and her niece is marrying his nephew. When Drayton comes home to her, I cried like a baby. This was everything I wanted in a story.
The author knows how to pack an emotional punch. This is why I love her stories so much. They inspire hope and no matter how bad things are in my life, I can count on her books to get me through it. I will recommend this story to others. I give it 5/5 Platypires.
The author knows how to pack an emotional punch. This is why I love her stories so much. They inspire hope and no matter how bad things are in my life, I can count on her books to get me through it. I will recommend this story to others. I give it 5/5 Platypires.
July 24, 2025
“Promise that you’ll wait for me.”
When Drayton Michaelson enlists in the army and heads off to war all he needs in the promise of his soulmate Vera's love and a basket of homemade donuts. Drayton is a young man who has his entire life and future ahead of him and the love of Vera Thompson keeps him going. Yet, he has no idea of the cruel fate that life has in store for them.
Still after fifty years, Vera is still waiting for her one true love Drayton to return to her from the ravages of war. Vera clings onto the promises Drayton made to her before he left, of the life they would have together. Vera is still the stunningly beautiful and sassy woman she was all those years ago and she's clinging onto a lifetime of love that she's had in her heart, a secret recipe for his favourite sweets, and Vera has no idea what will happen when she makes a simple request, she has no idea what that request is going to actually set in motion.
Can a wedding and some old-fashioned donuts really create magic and ignite an old-fashioned love story?
Tropes/Themes: Later in Life, It's Always Been You, Soulmates, Childhood Sweethearts, First Love, Novella, and Flashbacks/Dual Timeline.
And Old Fashioned Love Story is part of The Donut Shop Series by E.S. McMillon. I love E.S. McMillon's writing and I'll be honest and say that this novella is different than the other books that I have read by this author. And as different as this novella is from those other books, it was stunning, and in so many ways it was heartbreaking.
I have to start by saying something about the dedication before I say anything else. That dedication was just so beautiful and I just loved it so very much. It touched the very heart of my soul.
Drayton enlists in the army secure in the love of his soulmate Vera and he heads off to fight in the Vietnam War. He believes that he'll be home soon and when he gets home he plans to marry Vera and live their lives together in their own HEA. Unfortunately, 3 months after he ships off to Vietnam, he disappears and is taken as a prisoner of war. And through all this, I found that Drayton was a stand-up guy and he did everything in his power to get home to Vera.
For 50 years Vera never let go of her love for Drayton. She holds firm that the day is going to come when he is going to come home and they will get married and they will have their HEA just as they had always dreamed before he shipped off.
To me, it was the love that Vera had for Drayton that sustained her all those years. Even though I found her to be intelligent, brave, strong, relatable, and compelling. She never lost her faith or her love in Drayton and always believed that he was going to come home to her one day, she just needed to be patient and wait for the day that he came back to her.
The rest of this story really follows Vera and her family as they grow and live their own lives. It focuses on the relationship that Vera has with her niece Allison. This family is very close and is the kind of family that most people would dream of having.
The relationship that Vera had with her niece Allison was stunning. Even though Vera was holding onto her grief that Drayton had not yet come home to her, she loved her niece and wanted her niece to find her true happiness and she saw in her niece and her niece's fiancé the happiness that Vera herself had once had with Drayton before he left her for war. And Vera loves her niece's fiancé especially as he is Drayton's nephew and Vera feels like this is finally bringing their two families together after all these years.
I'll admit that I had to put my Kindle down and find a box of tissues when Drayton finally returned home to Vera. This was the perfect moment, their reunion was everything that you could have ever wanted in that moment.
E.S. McMillian has written an amazing soulmates romance about a later-in-life romance story where the soulmates finally find their way back to each other after 50 years. I love that we got this story with an old-fashioned love story. It's something that we don't get often and I loved that. It's a reminder that we can find love at any age and any stage of life.
E.S. McMillan knows how to write the most emotional gut gut-punching stories ever. This was a story that I had never expected that I was going to read. This is the love story of the ages and one that will last a lifetime. And it was a story that I never knew I wanted in a novella.
This is one of the reasons that I love E.S. McMillans stories so much. They don't just tell simple stories. The stories that she tells inspire hope, they inspire joy, and they inspire courage and they remind us that no matter how bad things are in our life, things can always get better and there is always a way to find a better way and that love will be found in the most unexpected of places.
This is one of those books that I have to recommend and I think everyone should read An Old-Fashioned Love Story at least once. It is such a beautiful and touching story that you'll never forget.
And of course, I can't recommend this book without recommending anything and everything by E.S. McMillan. She is such a talented author and anything that she writes is worth reading and you'll enjoy it just as much as you enjoy this book.
When Drayton Michaelson enlists in the army and heads off to war all he needs in the promise of his soulmate Vera's love and a basket of homemade donuts. Drayton is a young man who has his entire life and future ahead of him and the love of Vera Thompson keeps him going. Yet, he has no idea of the cruel fate that life has in store for them.
Still after fifty years, Vera is still waiting for her one true love Drayton to return to her from the ravages of war. Vera clings onto the promises Drayton made to her before he left, of the life they would have together. Vera is still the stunningly beautiful and sassy woman she was all those years ago and she's clinging onto a lifetime of love that she's had in her heart, a secret recipe for his favourite sweets, and Vera has no idea what will happen when she makes a simple request, she has no idea what that request is going to actually set in motion.
Can a wedding and some old-fashioned donuts really create magic and ignite an old-fashioned love story?
Tropes/Themes: Later in Life, It's Always Been You, Soulmates, Childhood Sweethearts, First Love, Novella, and Flashbacks/Dual Timeline.
And Old Fashioned Love Story is part of The Donut Shop Series by E.S. McMillon. I love E.S. McMillon's writing and I'll be honest and say that this novella is different than the other books that I have read by this author. And as different as this novella is from those other books, it was stunning, and in so many ways it was heartbreaking.
I have to start by saying something about the dedication before I say anything else. That dedication was just so beautiful and I just loved it so very much. It touched the very heart of my soul.
Drayton enlists in the army secure in the love of his soulmate Vera and he heads off to fight in the Vietnam War. He believes that he'll be home soon and when he gets home he plans to marry Vera and live their lives together in their own HEA. Unfortunately, 3 months after he ships off to Vietnam, he disappears and is taken as a prisoner of war. And through all this, I found that Drayton was a stand-up guy and he did everything in his power to get home to Vera.
For 50 years Vera never let go of her love for Drayton. She holds firm that the day is going to come when he is going to come home and they will get married and they will have their HEA just as they had always dreamed before he shipped off.
To me, it was the love that Vera had for Drayton that sustained her all those years. Even though I found her to be intelligent, brave, strong, relatable, and compelling. She never lost her faith or her love in Drayton and always believed that he was going to come home to her one day, she just needed to be patient and wait for the day that he came back to her.
The rest of this story really follows Vera and her family as they grow and live their own lives. It focuses on the relationship that Vera has with her niece Allison. This family is very close and is the kind of family that most people would dream of having.
The relationship that Vera had with her niece Allison was stunning. Even though Vera was holding onto her grief that Drayton had not yet come home to her, she loved her niece and wanted her niece to find her true happiness and she saw in her niece and her niece's fiancé the happiness that Vera herself had once had with Drayton before he left her for war. And Vera loves her niece's fiancé especially as he is Drayton's nephew and Vera feels like this is finally bringing their two families together after all these years.
I'll admit that I had to put my Kindle down and find a box of tissues when Drayton finally returned home to Vera. This was the perfect moment, their reunion was everything that you could have ever wanted in that moment.
E.S. McMillian has written an amazing soulmates romance about a later-in-life romance story where the soulmates finally find their way back to each other after 50 years. I love that we got this story with an old-fashioned love story. It's something that we don't get often and I loved that. It's a reminder that we can find love at any age and any stage of life.
E.S. McMillan knows how to write the most emotional gut gut-punching stories ever. This was a story that I had never expected that I was going to read. This is the love story of the ages and one that will last a lifetime. And it was a story that I never knew I wanted in a novella.
This is one of the reasons that I love E.S. McMillans stories so much. They don't just tell simple stories. The stories that she tells inspire hope, they inspire joy, and they inspire courage and they remind us that no matter how bad things are in our life, things can always get better and there is always a way to find a better way and that love will be found in the most unexpected of places.
This is one of those books that I have to recommend and I think everyone should read An Old-Fashioned Love Story at least once. It is such a beautiful and touching story that you'll never forget.
And of course, I can't recommend this book without recommending anything and everything by E.S. McMillan. She is such a talented author and anything that she writes is worth reading and you'll enjoy it just as much as you enjoy this book.
August 24, 2021
An old fashion love story is a tale old as time. Star crossed lovers separated. Parallel stories between generations. Fast paced novella with Christian overtones of love acceptance and perseverance.
September 21, 2021
A sweet novella that reminds you love is worth waiting for.
October 3, 2021
A heartwarming story that spans generations. I felt a range of emotions as their lives were being revealed.
September 10, 2022
This is a sweet novella with enduring characters. A wonderful story with first love and second chances.
Read
February 15, 2020Worst book I’ve ever read. No explanation for the 50 year disappearance - literally none. And she’s been waiting for him the whole time, never so much as looked at another guy. He also says her father gave him rings (her mother and fathers wedding rings) before he left for the army. Which makes no sense cuz they were still married and you know using them at that time. Also he interrupts the wedding of their niece and nephew (literally interrupts the officiant) so that he can marry her first - what kind of an asshole does that? The kind of asshole who fucks off for 50 years and returns with no explanation and asks his doormat to marry him! Also what was all the fuss about the dress she was gonna marry him in and refusing her niece it, and then she ends up in a dress shop buying another dress to marry him in after a weird ass conversation with her dead mother. This was a 70 page novella and the lack of continuity was horrifying. I would never read a full length novel by this author or anything else for that matter. 1 hour of my life I’ll never get back.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 26, 2023
Vera never gave up on her true love Drayton even when he was presumed missing in Vietnam. Fifty years later, Vera is in for the shock of her life. As Drayton readjusts to life at home, he gets a second chance at love with Vera.
This was a sweet story, one that will tug at your heartstrings. Vera and Drayton are the epitome of an old fashioned love story. Vera could’ve moved on, but she remained hopeful Drayton would return and she receives her wish.
There were a lot of heartwarming moments along with a mix of humor. One critique I have is I would’ve liked more details about why Drayton went missing and how he found his way back.
This was a sweet story, one that will tug at your heartstrings. Vera and Drayton are the epitome of an old fashioned love story. Vera could’ve moved on, but she remained hopeful Drayton would return and she receives her wish.
There were a lot of heartwarming moments along with a mix of humor. One critique I have is I would’ve liked more details about why Drayton went missing and how he found his way back.
July 22, 2025
An Old Fashioned Love Story is part of The Allenville Series.
This story shows how love conquers all, even with time and space between two people. Vera has been waiting for Drayton to come home, after promising to wait for him. She shows true dedication and love towards him as there was nothing that was going to prevent her from keeping her promise to him. There is a lot of emotion with this story and it was a very heartwarming read.
This story shows how love conquers all, even with time and space between two people. Vera has been waiting for Drayton to come home, after promising to wait for him. She shows true dedication and love towards him as there was nothing that was going to prevent her from keeping her promise to him. There is a lot of emotion with this story and it was a very heartwarming read.
July 28, 2025
I just loved this book although my heart was shattered throughout. Vera and Drayton had a long wait for their HEA and Vera’s faith and determination was what held me captive. The characters were all brilliant book was truly a book about an old fashioned love that survived the test of time. Excellent read by E.S. McMillan.
September 1, 2025
Omg what a beautiful and emotional read. Gaahhh pass me the tissues. My heart instantly took to these characters and their story. I couldn't stop reading it. Highly recommend.
“Promise that you’ll wait for me.” 😭😭
“Promise that you’ll wait for me.” 😭😭
October 3, 2022
I really enjoyed this old fashioned love story. Made a great holiday read.
September 3, 2025
I really liked this sweet short novella. I loved the characters so much. It was such a nice change to what I usually read ❤️
September 16, 2025
Nice to have a romance with older folks!
February 4, 2021
This is a phenomenal story that takes you on an unexpected journey of two peoples love. No review can give this story the justice that it deserves. This story is just so beautifully written, it brings tears to your eyes and a pain to your heart as you read it. All the characters are amazing but Drayton and Vera will melt your heart. Then what an ending to this special love story - this book just leaves you speechless.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews