BOOK BY: Jody Hedlund
Calling on the Matchmaker is the first book in a brand new series by Jody Hedlund, 1847 in St. Louis during the cholera outbreak.
Finola Shanahan is determined to become a nun, a penance for something she believed she was guilty of. Riley Rafferty is determined to fulfill his father’s dying wish of getting married again. Bellamy has more than it takes to take over his father’s matchmaking business, and Finola and Riley will be the couple just to prove it.
This is a fun, but sizzling romance (in the Christian Fiction world). There’s a lot of chemistry between Finola and Riley right from the first introduction, and the chemistry continues to mount right until the last page. Readers are immersed into the Irish Catholic population of the time period through dialogue and a descriptive narrative of the tenement buildings and community.
Finola tries to thwart the matchmaker’s efforts and Riley is in hot pursuit of her. Riley is a hero that anyone can like, but Finola isn’t as easy to warm up to.
There are plenty of funny moments, but just as many frustrating moments (it takes more than half the book for her to realize what she actually wants).
And in the end, readers are left with a glimpse of what’s to come in book two. I have a strong suspicion who the bride will be for the last character introduced in the final chapter.
And, I’d love to see Bellamy have his own matchmaking story…
I received a copy of the book from the publisher through NetGalley. All opinions expressed are my own.