I appreciated the diversity of these five stories. They were mostly with sad/bittersweet endings to the courtship and written from the male romantic interests' limited POV. Different emotions were evoked in the course of reading them. I felt pity but also exasperation at Angela as the narrator was an incredibly passive romantic who did not try to actually truly know even the name, let alone the personality of the woman he was falling in love with. There was satisfaction at the Parson's Daughter - this was one of two stories to delve into the female lead's POV and I liked Patience's character. Anthony Garstin's Courtship felt promising but unfinished, like a prequel to a compelling story where we'd see how Anthony, Rosa and Anthony's mother navigate the complexities of their relationship with each other. A little grey glove had the most traditional happy ending out of all the stories, but felt the blandest. The woman beater evoked similar feelings of pity and exasperation for the protagonist as with Angela, not for any passivity but rather at how obviously he was putting rose-colored goggles over his romantic situation.