Escape to Matchmaker Bay in this hilarious and heartwarming second chance romance from the USA Today bestselling “master of witty banter” (Entertainment Weekly). Eve Abbott has a problem–actually, make that a lot of problems. And they’re all going to get worse the moment her toes hit the sand in Matchmaker Bay. Once a blissful summer escape, now the tiny town just reminds Eve of loss. … summer escape, now the tiny town just reminds Eve of loss. Inheriting her aunt’s beloved Mermaid Inn is the only reason Eve is coming back. She’s definitely not ready to handle nosy neighbors, extensive renovations, or the discovery that a certain heartbreaker still lives down the street…
Police Chief Sawyer Collins always does the right thing, even when it costs him everything. Like Evie. He’s spent the past ten years trying to forget her–to forget how right she felt in his arms, to forget the pain in her eyes the day she left. The last thing he expects is to see her back in town or to find that the spark between them is as strong as ever. Sawyer knows this is his only chance to prove that his feelings have always been real… before Eve turns tail and leaves for good.
Includes the bonus novella Meant to Be by Alison Bliss!
This was just what my heart needed after coming off of a heavier read. It was sweet and quirky and had me smiling throughout. I can never resist a second chance romance featuring childhood friends to lovers. Throw in some forced-ish proximity and even a little hate love to start and I was sold. Yes, Sawyer and Evie’s story was fairly predictable, but that didn’t detract from my enjoyment at all. Sawyer was pretty much one big swoonfest for me. He was all the things I love in my heroes and then some. Seriously, how can anyone not fall in love with a man who builds them little free libraries?? Evie was a relatable and hilarious heroine and I just about died of laughter when she discovered the note she left for herself on her phone.
There isn’t a ton of angst in Mermaid Inn and I appreciated that Jenny Holiday gave Evie and Sawyer time to reconnect and gradually get to know each other again as adults. It felt truer and more natural and really helped build up the anticipation. I also loved how much the characters grew throughout the book and how they faced their personal demons. Even though I don’t agree with the reasoning and aftermath behind the initial separation (it is a second chance romance after all), I can understand it. Young love, especially first love, is so all consuming that I can recognize how earth shattering that “betrayal” would feel. I think both characters come to see that regardless of the pain, they both needed that time to grow and mature.
I laughed out loud at all the meddling townspeople and loved the colorful cast of secondary characters. Maya and Law have definitely piqued my interest with their bickering and back and forth, but it’s broody and quiet Jake who I’m dying to find out more about. This was a great start to the series and Jenny Holiday has set the stage perfectly for subsequent books.
*I voluntarily read an advance review copy of this book*
Eve Abbott has returned to Moonflower Bay after being away for the past decade. Eve would visit every summer and stay with her great-aunt Lucille and fell in love with the charming town and a boy named Sawyer too. After having her heart broken by Sawyer, Eve left and hasn’t been back. She now finds herself the owner of the Mermaid Inn and doesn’t quite know how she feels about the town and all of the people in it – specifically the Chief of police Sawyer.
I love a second chance romance and Eve and Sawyer had such great chemistry. The memories of the town and memories of Sawyer are interwoven so lightly in Eve’s mind that she is having a hard separating the two. I felt so deeply for both of these characters. They each had their own reasons for acting the way that they did, but missed it out on so much time together.
It did take me a bit to really get into the book, but I feel that sometimes that happens when an author is setting up the characters and plot for a series. The secondary characters were well rounded and added so much to this wonderful story. I’m already looking forward to the next book in the series!
I received a complimentary advance title of this book from the publisher.
The life of librarian and list maker extraordinaire, Eve Abbott, has just taken quite a twist. Her great-aunt Lucille, who was the epitome of life twists, has left the Mermaid Inn in Moonflower Bay to Eve with the stipulation that Eve can’t sell the inn for a year. Not only does this get in the way of Eve acquiring her dream job, but staying in this small town for a year absolutely cannot happen. How will she manage to avoid “He Who Shall Not Be Named,” the guy who broke her eighteen-year-old heart? Not only is he still in town, but he’s the police chief and an integral part of the town’s fabric.
Holiday does it again with this first book in a new small-town romance series, creating a vivid, lively, inviting setting in which the reader finds herself effortlessly immersed. With quirky, colorful secondary characters and a set of spry, meddling, geriatric matchmakers, you’ll find yourself falling in love and desperately wanting more of this small-town charm. And I dare you not to fall for Sawyer, a guy whose need to care, protect and do the right thing is only overshadowed by his big heart and his love for his Evie.
If you like small-town romance with unforgettable, charming characters, a swoon-worthy hero, and a heroine who learns that family can be a place and home is the people who reside in her heart, you’ll adore this wonderful, humorous, heart-warming story. Great-aunt Lucille is right, life can get twisty, but the best things are often unexpected and those twists can lead to the most rewarding life.