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 is the first book in the Matchmaker Bay series. I really enjoyed this second chance romance between Eve and Sawyer. They were both each other’s first loves, but Sawyer breaks Eve’s heart when they are teenagers.
Growing up, Eve spent every summer at her Great Aunt Lillian’s inn in Moonflower Bay. When Sawyer breaks her heart, she doesn’t return. Ten years pass, and when Aunt Lillian passed away, she left the Mermaid Inn to Eve, with the stipulation that she live there a year before selling it.
Any fan of a good Hallmark movie knows what comes next. I did enjoy the story and the characters and look forward to the next book in the series
Jenny Holiday has become one of my go-to authors in the past year. The perfect mix of sweet and steam, Hallmark and heat, her novels bring me so much joy. This series in particular seamlessly mixes small town vibes and beach/lakeside romance for a happiness-inducing combination.
I read Sandcastle Beach (the third book in this series) first, then circled back to this one with Paradise Cove (the second book in the series) next on my TBR! While these can definitely be read out of order, it probably would have been better to read them in order–oh well! I really loved this second chance romance, where high school sweethearts Evie and Sawyer are reconnected after Evie inherits her aunt’s inn, bringing her back to Moonflower Bay (aka Matchmaker Bay). I listened to this one on audio, and honestly I wouldn’t recommend it. The narrator is terrible. I got used to it after a while, and then we got to the first intimate scene and I was reminded of how poor it was. I wish I would have read it, instead.
There’s an ongoing thing about Evie finding her “voice,” which was super annoying, but maybe was made more annoying by the narrator. I think it was included to be a Little Mermaid reference, but it was presented in a weird way. Thankfully, it didn’t detract from my love of the rest of the book.
I highly recommend this book, this series, and Jenny Holiday in general!
5 stars – 9/10
Mermaid Inn is a super fun and whimsical read that has all the feels… and laughs!
I really enjoyed the story, it has everything I look for in a contemporary romance! Second chance romances are my favorite trope to read because the hero and heroine have a past and I find that it helps me flesh out the characters in my mind. And boy do Eve and Sawyer have a past!
I was absolutely charmed with this mermaid-themed coastal Canadian town and its inhabitants! The story is fun and beautiful and heartbreaking and endearing! The secondary characters are just as rich and well-developed as the main characters and I absolutely fell hard and fast for them all! I’m looking forward to reading all of their stories!
*I voluntarily read a Net Galley copy of the book in exchange for an honest review*
This was a cute small town romance. Enjoyed the quick banter between Eve and Sawyer.
The cover made and title me stop and read the editors blurb. I am so glad I requested and received a copy to read. An absolutely sweet lovely read perfect escape from the hectic world we live in. Eve left Matchmaker Bay 10 years ago with a broken heart and made a promise to herself that she would never ever return. She kept that promise until her beloved aunt passed away and left her the Mermaid Inn. It used to be a summer town, but has grown into a year round getaway with a beloved funny cast of characters. She wanted to get in and get out. No chance of that happening in the tiny town where privacy is just an illusion and a word in the dictionary. The last person she wants to see is Sawyer, aka, the heartbreaker. Not likely as he is the police chief and sees to be everywhere. Join Eve over the next year while she rehabs the Inn, reestablishes old relationships, finally discovers why Sawyer pushed her away and comes to terms with all of it. A well written fun second chance romance with of course a terrific happily eve after.
I loved everything about this story!!! I’m so glad that Eve and Sawyer got a second chance at their love for one another. They make such a fun, adorable couple. There were so many hilarious scenes. I cannot wait to return to Moonflower Bay!!!
I fell in love with Jenny Holiday’s writing while reading her Bridesmaids Behaving Badly series. When I saw she was launching a new series with a small-town beach setting, I was all in. As soon as I learned the first book, Mermaid Inn, was a second chance romance, I was even more excited. I didn’t get to it before release, but I am so happy I read it when I did. Not only was it absolutely delightful, but it also helped break me out of a bit of a book slump.
Y’all know I love the second chance romance trope. But I’m also seriously picky about my second chance romances. I need to know the “why” and it has to make sense. Even if it’s not necessarily pretty or a reason I can support. When the characters are face-to-face again, I want to see that chemistry. And I want at least a little bit of a grovel. The size of the grovel I desire is based on what went down previously. But, I digress. Eve and Sawyer gave good second chance romance in Mermaid Inn. It checked all my boxes.
Honestly, everything about Mermaid Inn was flat-out wonderful. I was super invested in Eve and Sawyer’s story. I was totally enamored with the small beach town — and the Inn itself! — and its nosy, meddling residents. I swooned my way through this book with a big cheesy grin on my face. (Hello, Sawyer builds Eve a Little Free Library! ) The Matchmaker Bay series is off to a strong start and I can’t wait for more!
I really enjoyed the audio for Mermaid Inn, too. Meghan Kelly is a new-to-me author and I thought she did a great job bringing Eve, Sawyer, and the other characters to life. The bottom line is I think this book would be enjoyable no matter how you read it, but if you’re an audiobook fan it’s absolutely worth a listen.
The story by Jenny Holiday is not unique however the list making Eve does along with her renegade mouth and the sexting between Evie and Sawyer make it an enjoyable read. The characters Jenny has created for the town, Pearl, Karl, Art, Maya, Law, Jake and Clara are a hoot. Good beach read.
Mermaid Inn by Jenny Holiday is everything I needed and more. It is the HEA I needed that was both charming and hot, sweet and sassy, yet is also cute and sexy! Oooh Holiday can really make me blush in this second chance story about Eve and Sawyer who reconnects after ten years, when she has to return to Moonflower Bay (in Canada) when her great aunt leaves her The Mermaid Inn.
I loved Eve’s character and her obsession with making lists, her ability to always get in trouble, and she is a librarian – dream job! Sawyer is now the small town Chief of Police who once broke Eve’s heart; he is handsome, charming, sensitive and amazing with kids. What’s not to love!
I loved reading about Eve and Sawyer, though some parts were a slow burn, I enjoyed the groveling and certainly their attraction was undeniable! Swoon worthy read!
It’s a cute story that I enjoyed and exactly what I needed to get me out of a slump!
The Mermaid Inn was a sweet, second chance romance, with all the makings of a Hallmark movie.
The Mermaid Inn and Matchmaker Bay are where Eve Abbott spent most of her childhood. Her aunt raised her as much, if not more than, her parents. But after the boy she thought she’d spend the rest of her life with broke her heart, Eve left town and never planned to return.
When her aunt died and left her The Mermaid Inn, Eve learned a condition of her aunt’s will was that she remain in Matchmaker Bay for a year. The town wasn’t big enough for her to hide from her first love, the town’s Police Chief, Shane Collins – let alone the town’s meddlers.
The story progressed a little too slowly for me. And while it does pick up, and there were some funny, and poignant moments, I never became fully invested in the characters nor their story. I don’t think it was the writing – because it was great – as much as the formula that kept me from truly loving this book.
Matchmaker Bay #1, An adorable, heartwarming, and sexy small town romance. Eve Abbott use to spend her summers in Moonflower Bay, she even fell in love there but the last time she was there the love of her life, Sawyer Collins, broke her heart in such a horrible way she didn’t return for ten years. The only reason she did return was because her great-aunt left her the Mermaid Inn with the stipulation she had to stay there a year before she could sell the place. The Inn was in serious need of some TLC and Eve’s parent convinced her to use the year remodeling the place so she could get more money when she sold.
Police Chief Sawyer Collins as much as it hurt he knows he did the right thing ten years ago and now she’s back and he can’t help but want her. Eve has every right to hate him but there’s a fine line between love and hate. Sawyer has one year with her and he isn’t sure he wants to risk is heart again only to have her leave again, but his Evie is hard to resist especially when all the little old biddies keep trying to put them together.
Eve’s plan isn’t just to fix the inn she going to finally get over her fear of water and learn to swim and she’s finally going to get over Sawyer. She, at first, tries to hate Sawyer. That doesn’t last long it’s hard to hate him when he’s such a good guy and then she finally gives in and thinks one last time get it out of their system but Sawyer is remarkable. Between raising his little sister protecting her from their erratic father, taking care of the townspeople, and not-so-covertly helping her renovate she slowly realizes she still loves him. Eve has a life back in Toronto a job and a promotion waiting for her she can’t run the inn on her own, and this thing with Sawyer is supposed to be casual, right?
Overall, it was such a sweetly sexy read. I enjoyed all the characters especially the old matchmaking biddies. Jake’s story is next and I do love a strong silent type. I also can’t wait for Maya and Law they are going to combust! This is a well written well paced second chance romance and a great start to a new series.
Eve Abbott has been dreading her return to Matchmaker Bay for some time now, but with her aunt’s recent passing and her business to take care of she feels as though she has really no choice but to go home. Her plan is to swoop in, take care of a few minor things on the Mermaid Inn, prepare it to sale, and get out of town before anyone really notices that she was even there.
But her little plan hits a snag when she sits down with her aunt’s lawyer and learns that her aunt had a little contingency plan in place for the inn. Now she maybe sticking around a little longer than she had anticipated, which also means interacting with a part of her past that she had hoped would stay buried.
Mermaid Inn is a story of new beginnings, forgiveness, personal growth, and finding love. It was a lot of fun following Eve on her journey back to Matchmaker Bay, and watching her embrace all the new changes to her life, and get reacquainted with old friends. I especially liked her reunion with lost love Sawyer, they had a lot of baggage to sort through, but once they got that squared away, a friendship bloomed, and shortly after the sparks started to make an appearance. The secondary characters were quite entertaining as well, I am hoping to see more of them in future installments, they brought joy and many laughs to the pages! I’d say this was the perfect way to kick off a new series, the story line was engaging, the words were heartfelt and easy to get lost in, and the characters were perfectly constructed… a win on all fronts! If you like small town romances than I have no doubt the folks of Matchmaker Bay are certain to keep you thoroughly entertained and bring joy to your heart! Highly recommend!
I requested an advanced copy of this title from the publisher, and I am voluntarily leaving my honest and unbiased opinion.
Mermaid Inn by Jenny Holiday is an entertaining and heartfelt read. The characters are fun, interesting, and easy to get to know. The story is set in Moonflower Bay, a small coastal town about three hours from Toronto. The locals consist of elderly matchmakers, mermaid lovers and forever friends.
Moonflower Bay became Eve Abbot’s home every summer while she was growing up. Eve’s aunt owned the Mermaid Inn and she loved spending her summers there. Eve even had her own bright pink bedroom waiting for her each season. So when her aunt passed away, Eve inherited the inn. Although Eve and her aunt were very close, it had been ten years since she visited the area. The inn is quite a bit tattered, and according to her late aunt’s will, Eve is not allowed to sell it for a year. Since Eve’s life and job as a librarian are in Toronto, she has no desire stay for any length of time. Eve has many fond memories of Moonflower Bay, with the exception of the love of her life, now the police chief, publicly kissing another girl on a float during the annual Mermaid parade.
Police Chief Sawyer Collins cannot believe that Eve is back in town. He has always been in love with her, and does not regret his decision of a decade ago in order to force Eve to leave the area to pursue her literary dreams. Sawyer’s life is a bit complicated, with raising his younger sister, policing the town and keeping his estranged father away. He and Eve start spending time together and Eve realizes what Sawyer did for love.
I truly enjoyed this book. The story is emotional at times and the supporting cast is genuine. When Eve and Sawyer finally get together, their sexy times are hot. The secondary characters are quite fascinating and I liked their respective story-lines. This is a well-executed second chance romance.
Complimentary copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley.
I loved this book. It had it all and I enjoyed it from beginning to end. I am looking forward to the next book in this series. I definitely recommend this book, and this author.
This story comes as a fun, enjoyable read. It’s a second chance romance that started out really great for me even though almost from the beginning I could predict what was going to happen. Jenny Holiday’s writing was engaging, thorough, and convincing. The characters are ones you want to root for and spend time with. The second chance aspect of the story fit well with the drama that happened to them as kids even though I wish it would have been a bit more fleshed out and dramatic so I could really feel that old connection. However, the chemistry they had once in the same town again was ever present. The entire cast of characters was colorful and motley creating a true sense of friendship and understanding. The setting itself and the very aptly named Mermaid Inn was as fitting as it was charming. The predictably of the story was a strike for me and then the book really drug on from around 50-75% with the forward motion being stunted. I started to get bored with it because I wanted something a little deeper for these two adults. I was so invested in the characters though that I had to see how it ended and I’m really glad I did. It’s a great beach type read for holiday or a relaxing reading experience. I’ll look forward to more from Matchmaker Bay particularly a couple of secondary characters that Holiday really left interesting breadcrumbs about.
This was so charming and sweet! It was light and fun with the right amount of emotion mixed in. I found myself smiling and laughing all the way through. Eve and Sawyer were fantastic. I loved them reconnecting and going through all their ups and downs as they figure out their feelings. A really great second chance romance!
Mermaid Inn by Jenny Holiday is the first book in the Matchmaker Bay Series. This is the story of Sawyer Collins and Eve Abbott. Sawyer and Eve were young friends / sweethearts but Sawyer ended up breaking her heart and Eve left Moonflower Bay. That was about 10 years ago and now she is back in the small town because her aunt Lucille left Eve her Mermaid Inn. We learn that Sawyer is now the Chief of Police and both are surprised that there are still such strong feeling between them. Eve isn’t planning to jump back into anything with Sawyer so he has to work to get her back.
Sweet second chance at Love.
Sweet Small Town Hope & Romance
Mermaid Inn is a sweet small-town, second-chance romance, and the beginning of a new series by Jenny Holiday. Meet Eve, our heroine who’s returning to Moonflower Bay following the death of her great-aunt Lucille. She’s found out she’s inherited her aunt’s Mermaid Inn – but it comes with a catch. Eve must stay in town and live at the Inn for a year before she’s allowed to sell it. The last thing Eve wants to do is leave Toronto and her promising career path to take up residence in the town where she lost her heart to summer love at age 18. Especially since the break-er not only still lives there, but is now the Chief of Police.
The second-chance romance trope rarely lets me down, and this book is no exception. Holiday paints a vivid picture of this charming town and it’s inhabitants with her wonderful storytelling, bringing laughter, tears, frustration and cheers to our slow-burn smitten, romance-loving hearts. Sometimes the best things in life come to us when we’re busy making other plans! I enjoyed the timing and build up to the HEA; it didn’t feel rushed. After everything these two went through in their younger years, jumping right back to a relationship would not seem very natural.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, I received an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. Holiday has set us up for more Moonflower Bay books in the future, and I’m looking forward to checking out what else the meddling townspeople have in store for us and our future H&h.
Sometimes you read a book that is just so perfect for the reading mood that you are in. For me, this book struck all the right notes, a lovely, hopeful romance with small-town quirkiness and charm to start my 2020 reading off right! I’m a fan of Jenny Holiday’s anyway but this book is definitely at the top of my favorites list. Sawyer was the very definition of a caretaker alpha, my favorite kind of hero. Strong, protective (sometimes too much so), caring, compassionate, and willing to sacrifice anything to take care of the people he loves. Eve is kind, smart, open, and a bit too wedded to her current life plan to see what’s in front of her but she grows and changes of the course of the book and gains the power to listen to and articulate her true wants.
The basic plot is that Eve’s beloved aunt has passed away recently and left Eve her quirky, rather run down inn in a small town on Lake Huron, a few hours from Toronto. Eve has a load of student debt and is angling for a promotion to a collections specialist in her library system in Toronto, so she plans to sell the inn quickly and get out of the small town where she spent her summers as a child, and where her first love, Sawyer, now the town police chief, broke her heart at age 18. Her bad memories have overwhelmed and buried all of the good ones to the point where she hasn’t been back for 10 yrs. The only problem is that Lucille’s will specifies that Eve must live in the inn for a year before she can sell it. Over the course of the year, she is slowly reabsorbed into the town’s rhythms and rediscovers her strong feelings for Sawyer as well as making new friends and learning to communicate what she wants. Although Eve was in her late 20’s, this almost felt like a coming of age story, not in the sense that Eve acts immaturely (she doesn’t) but in the sense that although she’s already accomplished a lot professionally, she still has a lot of personal growing to do. There is (of course) a set up for the next few books, presumably with Sawyer’s close friends as heroes, and I will be looking forward to all of them.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book from Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
**I voluntarily read an early copy of this title courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review**
Mermaid Inn is the first book in Jenny Holiday’s new Matchmaker Bay series and it has everything you’d expect from a small-town, second chance romance!
Eve Abbott is a librarian in Toronto and she has just been willed her Aunt’s dilapidated Mermaid Inn following her death. While the Inn, and the small town it is located in, used to be a summer oasis for Eve, that all changed a decade ago when her then boyfriend broke her heart and she hasn’t returned since. Now faced with what to do with the Inn, she’s finding the reasons why she loved being in Moonflower Bay so much in the first place.
Sawyer Collins didn’t have the best childhood and ended up basically raising his younger sister. Now he’s the police chief of Moonflower Bay and he seems to have his life pretty well under control. Well, that is until Evie Abbott shows back up. He’s never gotten over her leaving and now that she’s back, he’s finding all sorts of reasons to spend time at the Mermaid Inn.
As Eve and Sawyer spend time together, the chemistry they have is still as strong as ever. It’s clear that Sawyer wants to make amends, but Eve isn’t so sure and she lets him know it! Will she finally let him in again?
What I loved about this story was the theme of finding your voice and really speaking up for and doing what is best for you. Sometimes we need growth before we are ready for things and sometimes when we think we are in the exact right place, maybe we really aren’t and I felt like this story showcased a bit of that. Another well done story by Jenny Holiday and I’m really looking forward to the upcoming books in this series!