September Events - Day 1 (Birthday Girl)

Someone turned 4 in September and today I'm sharing a few photos from her birthday celebration.  These first 2 were taken the morning of her birthday.  The rest are from her birthday party later that day.

Some of the many (Under the Sea) decorations that her mom and sister set up for the party.

Waiting to open presents and opening them.  There were lots more but I figured these 2 would be enough to share.

The cupcakes, blowing out the candle and enjoying the cupcake.
 

Grandma and Grandpa playing along with some of the props that were available for everyone to wear and have fun with.

It was 94 out that afternoon so I didn't get many pictures of the kids playing on the playground equipment.  They had fun, we did too but boy was it HOT.  Maybe next year she can have an indoor party.

Book Review - The Merry Matchmaker by Sheila Roberts

Today I'll be reviewing the book,  The Merry Matchmaker by, Sheila Roberts.  I received an unedited copy of the book in advance for my review of this book.

Below is the information given about the book when I requested it.

Inspired by Jane Austen’s Emma, this joyful Christmas romp tells the story of a woman who can’t stop trying to help everyone around her find their happily-ever-after—even when her help leads to disaster.

Frankie Lane knows what’s best for just about everyone but herself. Her divorced sister, Stef, who is too young to give up on love; her shy employee, Elinor; and her daughter, Natalie, who works in Frankie’s shop, Holiday Happiness, and really needs to start her own business selling the delectable chocolates she makes at home; even her best friend, Viola, who is trying to renovate her old Victorian. Frankie knows she could help all of them, if they’d just let her—and if all of her help didn’t end in utter disaster. 

Then there’s Mitch Howard, the owner of the local hardware store. They’ve been friends ever since Frankie opened her store, nine years earlier. He got her through the nightmare when she lost her husband in a freak accident, and he’s her favorite shoulder to cry on. He’s been divorced for years, and it’s such a waste of man! Mitch is the fittest, finest man Frankie knows. He’s easygoing, wise and kindhearted. Mitch needs someone. And she’s determined to help him find that someone—whether he likes it or not.

Here are my thoughts on the book:  The first thing that caught my attention was the fact that this book was set at Christmas time and was a romance story. Two of my favorite things. I thought it sounded like a really fun read.  

It took me a few chapters to start getting involved in the story but once I did I found it to be a very enjoyable book.  I loved the various characters in the story.  They were interesting people and the author made them sound believable.  Frankie, the main character was always trying to match up people or help them out with one thing or another even if they weren't aware of it.  This often caused some hilarious or disastrous results.

A lot of time these romance/rom-com type books seem very stereotypical of Hallmark type stories/movies.  - With this one it had elements of that in it but also was more involved with the different characters so you go to know them as people rather than just a "bit player" in the story.  I wanted to keep reading to find out how things would end up for everyone.

I'm not going to give away how it ended but I will say that it was indeed a fun read that had just the right touches of romance without being overly sappy.

I would recommend this book to those who like clean romance stories and a entertaining cast of characters.  I'd give this a 4 star rating.  The only thing that I'd mark it down on was perhaps that the book was a tad slow to start off and then towards the end of the story things picked up at a fast pace almost as if the author needed to get to the end of the story in a hurry.  That's just how I felt about the story.

Thanks for stopping by to read my review.