A Very Merry Match
A Sunshine Valley Novel
Melinda Curtis
September 29, 2020
Forever
Blurb: The holidays are served up with some spice in this small-town romance featuring a woman who must maintain a secret identity and the man who begins falling for her.
This Christmas, all Mayor Kevin Hadley wants is to give his five-year-old son whatever his heart desires. Only Tad has fallen head over holly for his pretty, sweet-as-sugarplum teacher. When attraction sparks between Kevin and Mary Margaret, the single dad thinks she may be the answer to his and his son’s dreams. But after Mary Margaret reluctantly turns him down, Kevin decides it’s time to embark on a new campaign — one for Mary Margaret’s heart.
Mary Margaret Sneed usually spends her holiday baking and caroling with her students. Yet this year, she’s swapped shortbread and sleigh bells for a second job to pay off her late husband’s debts. Mary Margaret would love to go tree trimming with Kevin and his son, but she won’t risk his political future with her controversial side gig. Only the town’s meddling matchmakers have determined there’s nothing a little mistletoe can’t fix . . . and if the Widows Club has their way, Mary Margaret and Kevin may just get the best Christmas gift of all this year.
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Hot chocolate, kids standing in line for Santa, Christmas tree shopping–the book world must be ushering in the holidays!
In the latest installment of Melinda Curtis’ Sunshine Valley series, the ladies of the Widows Club have decided that maybe it’s time to match Edith’s granddaughter, Mary Margaret. Or is it too soon? Mary Margaret seems a little too sad. Maybe a little too preoccupied.
A Very Merry Match very much matches the season and is the kind of escapism for anyone currently requiring that in a read. (All of us?)
Kindergarten teacher Mary Margaret is up to her ears in debt, not her own, but that left after her husband dying of cancer went on spending sprees during his last months. And now another, more ominous debt appears forcing Mary Margaret to make a decision she would much rather not make.
Sunshine Mayor Kevin is considering moving his career in politics to the state level, but first, there’s the matter of development he would like to bring to the town, not to mention, the reputation his philandering, controlling wife has left him with. Mary Margaret seems like she would be the perfect pick for him, free from scandal.
There’s a lot going on in A Very Merry Match to keep the reader engaged. It is a sweet romance. There’s not much heat between Mary Margaret and Kevin, and pretty much no swoon. The romance almost seems platonic, but I liked it regardless.
The fact that Mary Margaret was very much her own woman and didn’t allow herself to be controlled by those around her was a huge plus. I also liked the fact that she and her grandmother had time for each other and even danced in the kitchen together.
Kevin, on the other hand, was not my favorite character. The fact that he was willing to kiss two different women in a short amount of time said a lot about his character, to me at any rate.
While A Very Merry Match doesn’t have the robust humor that the first novel in the series, Can’t Hurry Love (see my review here) had, it nevertheless, is a sweet seasonal story that might make you long for cold weather, hot chocolate, and sugar cookies.
I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
rating:
4 out of 5 butterflies