A VERY MERRY MATCH by Melinda Curtis is a sweet, holiday romance that is both heartwarming and delightful. This book could easily turn into a Hallmark movie as it’s everything you’d expect on the Hallmark Channel for a holiday movie. There are enough cute Christmassy events, but not too much to make it saccharine. Plus, you throw into the mix, the Sunshine Widows Club with the matchmaking and Grandma Edith with her husband hunting and their conversations, will have you giggling out loud.

It’s been a year since Mary Margaret’s husband lost his battle with cancer. While she does miss him, she doesn’t miss the fact he racked up a huge gambling debt that has been left to her to settle. To meet the demands of the debt collector thugs, Mary Margaret has resorted to getting a part time job on top of her full time job as a teacher. Having no other choice to get cash fast, she starts to dance again. She had to be careful to hide her identity or else she could be fired from her teaching job. A VERY MERRY MATCH kept me flipping the pages every chance I had to spend with this holiday romance while it was 98 degrees outside!

Melinda Curtis can write a sweet, lovely Christmas story like nobody else. She balances some tough issues, inside a sweet small town, with just a bit of Christmas magic that is perfect for the holiday season. I could feel the conflict that Mary Margaret was going through and couldn’t wait for her to find her way to happiness. As usual, this Melinda Curtis story, A VERY MERRY MATCH does not disappoint.

I recommend A VERY MERRY MATCH to anyone looking for a sweet holiday romance.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Forever and Netgalley. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Melinda Curtis is a new to me author and I have to say I am looking forward to reading more by this author! I loved this book

4.5 stars!!

Super cute small town holiday romance. Mary Margret is Widow who’s late husband, apparently had a large gambling problem, and debt collectors are coming for her. Kevin is a recently divorced dad, who is major of their small town of Sunshine, with a crazy ex wife. This is book two in the series, but it can be read as a standalone. If you like small town romances I would recommend reading in order because this town of Sunshine has all the feels and you really get to know the characters which I absolutely loved.

This is my first Sunshine series books but I am going to read the first one and I’m excited for the third that is scheduled to release Feb 2022!

Melli’s Book Breakdown
🤍narrator POV
🤍holiday romance
🤍widow romance
🤍single dad
🤍small town romance
🤍clean romance

Mary Margaret Sneed, kindergarten teacher by day, burlesque dancer by night. Mary Margaret’s late husband ran up a great deal of debt before he died. After a visit from some dodgy characters, she must find a way to pay them back. Teaching doesn’t quite do it. Kevin Hadley is the town’s mayor whose son is in Mary Margaret’s class. The attraction is strong between them, but can she risk damaging his political aspirations with a scandal if they ever found out about her night job. Kevin also has many issues to work through as well. He has to make a decision about bringing an unpopular development project into town and also dealing with his ex wife.. As all of this is going on, Mary Margaret and Kevin must also dealing with the schemes of the Widow’s Club to bring them together.

What a great way to begin Christmas in July. I cheered for Kevin and Mary Margaret as they found resolutions to their problems and finally realized they would be a great pair. I enjoyed the story.

This was a great read and excellent second book in the Sunshine Valley series.
This cute clean romance story has all the elements for a fun read, a damsel in distress, a cute knight in shining armour, a couple of bad guys, the town busybody and the funny sidekicks. I love when the next book in the series is as great as the first......I was rooting for the romance and laughing at some of the high jinx’s. This is a great book to curl up in front of the fire with a good cup of tea and loose yourself for a few hours.

I received a free copy from NetGalley. I have given an honest review and all opinions are mine

Kindergarten teacher by day and an exotic dancer at night. What could go wrong?
Mary Margaret is in trouble when she realizes she is in thousands of dollars in debt due to her late husband’s online gambling. The only way to bring in extra money is exotic dancing, but with a small town and a possible romance with the town mayor, Kevin Hadley, will she be able to make it?
The beginning was a little slow for me, but gradually the author drew me in and the story kept me wanting more. It has romance, a bit of mystery, humor and is around Christmas time. A great combination.

I graciously received an advance e-copy from Netgalley for review. All opinions are my own.

Mary Margaret Sneed is a kindergarten teacher. She has the patience of a saint in order to deal with the kids. It's the adults who need to be dealt with in the same way. Her deceased husband is someone you just wouldn't like. All the crap he put her through. You will love her Grandma Edith and the women in The Widows Club. Mayor Kevin Hadley is in a slump personally. He is divorced and has the cutest son. Politics doesn't allow you to date just anyone if you are thinking of moving up. There is one thing that has the town split. No matter what he chooses to do, odds are against his re-election. So for once he sees Mary Margaret as a person to date/marry. Only she is leading a double life. When both sides collide, there is a big no. Sometimes your parents and grandma know best.

When I read the summary for A Very Merry Match, I was intrigued by the story and the potential for it. I noticed that this was the second book in the series, but I picked this up as a standalone, and I didn’t feel like I was missing any major plot points from the first book when I jumped into this one. It seems that each of the books in this series focus on different characters in the town, so it’s easy enough to jump into any single book.

We’re introduced to Mary Margaret, a kindergarten teacher whose husband died and left her with a large amount of gambling debt. With no way to pay off the money, Mary Margaret returns to her love of dancing and takes on a disguise to perform as a dancer at a club for the extra money. Kevin is a newly divorced single father with an overbearing ex-wife, and he’s looking to take his career from the mayor’s office to higher levels of government. The last thing he’s looking for is a scandal, but when he sees Mary Margaret’s alter-ego dancing, he can’t help but being attracted to her without realizing who she really is.

As much as I loved the premise of this one, the story didn’t pull me in as much as I hoped. The ladies of the Sunshine Valley Widow’s club, particularly Mary Margaret’s grandmother, were some of my favorite characters in the book. They added entertaining subplots that helped to flesh out the rest of the story.

I have a hard time putting my finger on exactly what about this story was the thing that kept me from getting lost in it. The plot was somewhat predictable, but I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing, and while I liked Mary Margaret and Kevin and was hoping for them to get a happy ending, I didn’t connect with them as much as I’d hoped to.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the digital copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I read half of this one and just wasn’t feeling a connection. I think it’s me and not the book and I also really liked the authors other books. Wrong reader for the book I think

This was such a cute Christmas romance! I loved the main character and I loved the story of how they met! If you’re looking for a good meet cute, this is it!

A Very Merry Match is a fun light-hearted romp, perfect for the Christmas season. It is full of festive holiday cheer and a sweet romance. I loved the connection between Mary and single dad Kevin. Bring on all the single dads for Christmas!!

The synopsis for A Very Merry Match sounded so cute! Unfortunately I’ve tried a few of Curtis’ books and none have clicked for me. I think her writing is a little too sweet and isn’t right for me. DNF

A Very Merry Match is a wonderful small town, holiday romance about Mary Margaret, a kindergarten teacher who begins moonlighting as a burlesque dancer (loved this!) after being extorted for her dead husband's gambling debts. Mayor Kevin needs to find a stable girlfriend after his divorce if he wants to get ahead in his political career and maybe Mary Margaret is the perfect match. Then comes along the Widows Club who intends to find a love interest for Mary Margaret.

Small town, Sunshine, Colorado is a fun setting. Many fun and diverse characters.

Melinda Curtis was a "new to me" author and I enjoyed her writing and style. This book is refreshing and heartwarming, easy to read, enjoyable, whitty, and uplifting

Thank you #Forever #GrandCentralPublishing and #NetGalley. #MelindaCurtis

I really liked this book. There was a little suspense, but not enough to over power the love story of two people learning to love and trust again after heartbreak. I think Kevin however could have handled finding out about Mary Margaret better.

Charming Christmas Romance for sitting by the fire on a cold day. Widow gets her second chance at love. Thank you to Forever for the ARC to read and review.

Forever Publishing is promoting Christmas in July by sharing a free digital copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This book was published in Sept 2020

Melinda Curtis is a kindergarten teacher. Her husband died just over a year ago and left her not only with medical bills but an enormous amount of debt for his shopping and gambling habits. The latest collectors are thugs who claim to be owed $100,000. As a way to make quick money she falls back on her love of dancing in a club. She creates a popular burlesque (not stripping) show to earn extra cash.

Kevin Hadley is the mayor of the town with hopes of going on to higher offices. He is divorced with a son in Ms. Curtis class. He is attracted to Melinda but his political aspirations are a driving force and he can't be involved in anything scandalous.

This is a cute, wholesome holiday romance. I like the author makes Kevin's appearances matter most attitude similar to Melinda's father's. He was a preacher who couldn't accept her dancing to get through college. Unfortunately that didn't make me like Kevin much even when he redeems himself with a grand gesture. This is the second in The Sunshine Valley series but I read it easily as a stand alone. (3.5 stars)

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Mary is a teacher and a widow. She lost her husband to cancer and us working two jobs to make ends meet. She has the mayors son in her class but is not interested in a relationship at this time this was an enjoyable read.

What a sweet book! I love Christmas books and absolutely loved reading this book. I hadn't read the first in the series so I'm glad that I could read this as a standalone and didn't get lost among the storyline.

A Very Merry Match had an engaging plot, Reminded me of a Hallmark movie. It's a quaint, charming holiday read that will get you in the spirit of the holidays.

I loved the characters and the storyline development of this book. It was absolutely one of my favorites so far and I can't wait to delve in to the next one that this author writes. The storyline was simple, enjoyable, and entertaining.