Category: Romance

Title: Met Her Match (Summer Hill #2)
Author: Jude Deveraux
Genre: Romance
Publisher: MIRA
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: September 17, 2019
Rating: ★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

In small towns, no one lets the facts get in the way of juicy gossip…

Terri Rayburn is a girl with a reputation. She doesn’t deserve it, but having grown up on the outskirts of Summer Hill, Virginia, she knows how small towns work. The only way to deal with vicious gossip is to ignore it. So she keeps to herself as she runs the summer resort on Lake Kissel.

When she returns home from a short trip to find a handsome stranger living in her house, she smells a rat. Someone is trying to fix her up, and she has to admit that Nate Taggert is just her type. However, Nate is engaged to the daughter of the mayor and strictly off-limits.

Nate and Terri form an unlikely friendship while he throws himself into life at the lake. As Nate starts to hear rumors about Terri he’s confused. Knowing how smart, beautiful and strong she is, he’s determined to discover the source of the gossip. Terri doesn’t want to revisit the past, but Nate won’t stop until he discovers the truth—even if the truth might be more than either of them can handle.

Set in the beloved fictional town of Summer Hill, Virginia, Met Her Match examines the tensions between the wealthy townspeople, the summer vacationers and the working-class people who keep the town and resort running. Told with humor and heart, Met Her Match is the perfect summer escape.

Review:

This story was a mix of a romance and mystery. It began with hints of romance, with Nate arriving in town. He meets Terri and there is lots of attraction between them. However, Nate is engaged to the mayor’s daughter. Close to the end of the story, once the relationship problems were solved, it turned into a murder mystery. A decades old case was brought up. It was an unusual change to the story. It would have made more sense if the mysterious elements were brought up earlier in the story.

There were so many characters that I had trouble keeping track of them. I thought I was missing out because I didn’t read the first book in the series. The characters often spoke about things that had happened in the past, but I don’t know if they happened in the first book or not. By the end of the story it was getting difficult to follow because I couldn’t remember all of the characters.

This story didn’t work with me, but if you like romances with some mystery, you will probably like it.

Thank you MIRA for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What to read next:

Have you read Met Her Match? What did you think of it?

Title: We’ll Always Have Christmas
Author: Jenny Hale
Genre: Romance
Publisher: Bookouture
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: September 29, 2017
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

An enchanting story about the magic of Christmas, the importance of family, and the joy of falling in love during the most romantic season of the year… 

Christmas has always been a special time for Noelle Parker. Winter evenings spent with family and friends, drinking hot chocolate and eating cookies at her family’s cozy bakery have shaped her love for all things festive. But this year everything is changing… 

The beloved bakery is facing closure and Noelle needs a miracle to save Christmas. 

Determined to raise funds for the family business, Noelle sets about revamping the bakery while juggling a surprise new job, caring for the elderly and cantankerous William Harrington in his luxurious, sprawling mansion. 

As Noelle melts the frostiness of the house with cake baking, snowball fights and glittering decorations, she helps William to reconnect with a romance that has spanned decades and unexpectedly finds herself falling for his grandson – the gorgeous but mysterious Alexander Harrington… 

In the countdown to Christmas, can Noelle save the bakery, reunite a family and create some magical memories of her own along the way?

Review:

This is a great holiday romance. This story was predictable and comforting. I could tell what would happen to the main character, Noelle, since it was a holiday romance. Once Noelle met Alex, I suspected there would be some romance between them. However, Alex was a stubborn man, so it wasn’t a smooth ride. Some of the parts were slow because there was a lot of time spent baking treats in the bakery. I would have liked to see more action with the characters so the story moved forward, but that is just my personal preference. This is a cute story, perfect for reading during the holidays.

What to read next:

Have you read We’ll Always Have Christmas? What did you think of it?

Title: Pride and Prejudice and Mistletoe
Author: Melissa de la Cruz
Genre: Romance
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Source: Library
Format: Ebook
Release Date: October 17, 2017
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Pride and Prejudice and Mistletoe, from New York Timesbestselling author, Melissa de la Cruz, is a sweet, sexy and hilarious gender-swapping, genre-satisfying re-telling, set in contemporary America and featuring one snooty Miss Darcy.

Darcy Fitzwilliam is 29, beautiful, successful, and brilliant. She dates hedge funders and basketball stars and is never without her three cellphones—one for work, one for play, and one to throw at her assistant (just kidding). Darcy’s never fallen in love, never has time for anyone else’s drama, and never goes home for Christmas if she can help it. But when her mother falls ill, she comes home to Pemberley, Ohio, to spend the season with her family.

Her parents throw their annual Christmas bash, where she meets one Luke Bennet, the smart, sardonic slacker son of their neighbor. Luke is 32-years-old and has never left home. He’s a carpenter and makes beautiful furniture, and is content with his simple life. He comes from a family of five brothers, each one less ambitious than the other. When Darcy and Luke fall into bed after too many eggnogs, Darcy thinks it’s just another one night stand. But why can’t she stop thinking of Luke? What is it about him? And can she fall in love, or will her pride and his prejudice against big-city girls stand in their way?

Review:

This is an amazing retelling of Pride and Prejudice for the holidays!

Darcy Fitzwilliam is a successful New York business woman, who no longer has time for her family back in Pemberley, Ohio. I loved that the Darcy character was a woman in this story. It put a twist on the original story of Pride and Prejudice, because the story is told from Darcy’s perspective.

Though this is a retelling, some parts of the story are slightly different from the original. Both Darcy and Luke had other partners at certain points in the story. Some characters played different roles from the original story, and some parts were removed from the story but it still headed in the same direction. 

I also loved the holiday elements of the story! There were Christmas parties, mistletoe, and lots of eggnog.

This is a great holiday story! I already know it will become a classic that I will read every year!

What to read next:

Have you read Pride and Prejudice and Mistletoe? What did you think of it?