The soles of Cynthia Sawyer's shoes squeaked on the damp flagstone walkway that meandered through Hawthorne Manor's formal gardens. Hazy rays of sun kissed the spring morning dew, glistening on the early-blooming flowers and foliage soon to blossom into a Southern Living-worthy wonderland. Perfect for tiny Maple Creek, Maryland's annual garden party - the most exciting event of the season, especially for the quirky retirees. Last year, crazy old Mrs. Osworth got lost in the winding boxwood maze and called 911 to get "one of those strong young fireman" to come rescue her. She'd said she felt faint, and claimed she'd need mouth-to-mouth resuscitation the moment they showed up.
The Review
Over the Christmas holidays I was introduced to Tracy March's series when I read The Practice Proposal (read my review). Like, The Practice Proposal, The Marriage Match is a light fluffy read that provides mindless entertainment. There is a book between these two that features Paige falling in love, but you don't have to read either The Practice Proposal or Tempted in the Tropics to enjoy The Marriage Match (I haven't read Paige's story).
Cynthia was a bit of a wild child, but as an adult she is trying to mend the relationship with her parents. She works for the matriarch of the Hawthorne family, owners of Hawthorne Resorts. "The Queen" as she has been dubbed by Cynthia, holds court from the gardens in Maple Creek while her grandson Trent runs the family business from the resorts in the Caribbean islands. The Queen wants great-grandchildren and a great ad campaign, Trent wants to find love and a wife, and Cynthia needs the $25,000 bonus to save her parents' house. What could be better than a Bachelor-like island love story? But the off-camera chemistry may be more than anyone was betting on.
I really identified with Cynthia, not the rebellious child rebuilding relationship part, but the single in a small town and wanting to do what best for her family part. She feels trapped by life, but at the same time she feels that she needs to be where she is.
Like The Practice Proposal, The Marriage Match is pretty predictable. But the journey was fun. I have visited both Bahamas and Jamaica so that added a nice aspect to the story since I knew several of the places.
This series would make a great beach read or books for curling up in front of the fire. You can get another little tease here.
Buy The Marriage Match at Amazon
Book info:
Published: January 2014 by Entangled: Bliss
Genres: romance
Target audience: adult
Source: Netgalley
Read: January 2014
Come to my Birthday Book Party to hear about other great books Jan. 18 - 23.
Girl Who Reads is an Amazon advertising affiliate; a small fee is earned when purchases are made at Amazon through the above link. A free egalley was provided for this review.
Posts
Sounds like a fun read...and I love the descriptions in the intro. Thanks for sharing...and here's mine: “VICTIMS”
ReplyDeleteI don't read this kind of books often, but every once in awhile 'fluff' is just what I need! Sounds like fun.
ReplyDeleteToday I'm featuring The Girl With A Clock For A Heart by Peter Swanson.
I have a couple of coworkers who are much younger than Mrs. Osworth, who have probably thought of that trick! LOL
ReplyDeleteLove the intro.
I don't think this one is for me, but I bet others will enjoy it as well.
ReplyDelete