I’ve been waiting so long for this final chapter in the HEAVEN’S MATCHMAKER series to be born and today’s the day!
YOU’RE MY MATCH is a sweet with heat, enemies to lovers, opposites attract, workplace romance about two people who never thought the other was their soulmate, or even a person they would want in their life.
Charity Quinlan is a workaholic, independent woman who wants nothing more than to have a successful career and a marriage as happy and long as her parents.
Kolby O’Brian in a professional photographer and a man who thinks one-night stands are as far as a committed relationship goes. He has a reason for keeping women at arm’s length, and once Charity discovers what that reason is, she is stunned. And intrigued.
YOU’RE MY MATCH ends the HEAVEN’S MATCHMAKER series and ties the original series, A MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN, into it, giving us a glimpse at the O’Dowd sisters’ lives and how they all interact with Charity and Kolby.
As a reminder, 100% of all the royalties on every book sold in the month of November is going toward my local food bank charity FEEDING TINY TUMMIES. FTT serves the children and families of the Monadnock region and they are one of the most worthwhile organizations I have ever known. I am proud to help sponsor them, so please, help me help them and buy the book! LOL ( Shameless plug and ask!)
In a little over 1 week (10 days to be exact but I’m the only one counting, lol!) PERFECT MATCH, book 3 in the HEAVEN’S MATCHMAKER series releases into the book reading world.
You don’t have to have read books 1 and 2 to understand what is going on in book 3. The same people roam in and out of the books, but this one centers on the actual town matchmaker, OLIVIA JOYNER.
But….if you’d like to know about the people in the town before reading Liv’s love story, books 1 and 2 are available now. MIX AND MATCH is only 99 cents on Kindle, so it’s an inexpensive way to start the series. Then LOVE MATCH follows. Both are slow burn, sweet with heat, small town, and later in life ( 35+) romance stories about people who are looking for that everlasting love and the bumps, starts, and stops that occur along the way to their HEA.
PERFECT MATCH releases 2 weeks from today, so I thought you might want to know a few things about the main characters.
Today, it’s OLIVIA JOYNER, Heaven’s Matchmaker. This is how I’ve pictured her since day 1, book 1 MIX and MATCH:
she’s been a widow for 21 years
She’s 40 years old
she has a 23 year old daughter
she got married at 17
she has a 99% success rate for matches/marriages
Tomorrow, you’ll meet Hunter Reinhart – the main male character.
Third-generation matchmaker, Olivia Joyner, enjoys a 99% success rate when it comes to helping people find their happily ever afters. But her newest client is proving to be part of the 0.1 percent.
All the women Olivia have matched geriatrician Hunter Reinhart with have been perfect on paper. None of them, though, have resulted in a second request for a date, and all the women say the same thing: Hunter, although handsome and successful is just…dull. And boring. And too reserved.
Olivia can’t understand it, because to her? Hunter is none of those things. In fact, he’s the exact opposite of dull, boring, and reserved. He’s a man she would consider worthy of marrying herself – if she was in the market for a spouse.
Which she isn’t.
Olivia needs to figure out why she can’t find Hunter Reinhart the perfect match, and it just may require her to do something she’s never done before: go on a “date” with a client.
Purely for research and educational purposes, that is.
This is the part of being a writer I hate – all the marketing. I swear, if I ever hit Powerball, I’m hiring a PR and marketing firm to do all this for me!
Anyhoo…
So, Perfect Match is book 3 in the series, and it’s the story of matchmaker Olivia Joyner and Hunter Reinhardt, one of the .01% of clients she can’t find a match for. Since she has 99% success rate, she figures finding him a wife should be easy peasy. After all, he’s handsome, successful, rich, and actually wants to get married again. Shouldn’t be a problem, right?
Yeah…no. So far, none of the dates she’s set him on have worked out and for the life of her, she can’t understand why the women think he’s boring and reserved and no fun, since she finds him none of those things.
Liv devises a plan to find out just what’s happening on those get-to-know-you-dates. What ensues, is a story filled with acceptance, caring, and a slow burn love awareness of one another. I loved writing this book and was so happy I could give Liv her HEA.
Here’s a little sumthin; sumthin‘ from the book to ( hopefully) whet your appetite to preorder it.
“You are the most capable woman I’ve ever met,” he said, simply, because it was the truth. Without knowing why, he rose and crossed to her side of the table. Squatting in front of her, he was fascinated when her eyes went wide as he took her hands and squeezed them. “But even the most capable people need someone they can just,” he shook his head, once, “let loose with. Unburden to. Discuss and digest everything with.”
“I-I’m…okay,” she managed, her gaze never leaving his. Her eyes were huge, wet pools of emotions. His insides quaked when he found her eyelashes spikey with unshed tears. The urge to kiss her, yank her into his arms, and calm away all those fears he knew she carried about inside her, hidden from everyone, was so strong, he physically had to pull his head from leaning down and sliding his lips across her beautiful mouth. He’d give anything to just spend the day with her. Just her. No fake date attached to it all.
He swallowed.
“I know you are Olivia, but please know, please realize, it’s okay not to be okay at times.”
Wonder crossed her gaze as one wet, fat tear cascaded down her cheek. Hunter released one of her hands and swiped at it with his index finger.
“And,” he added his voice hushed, “there’s no shame in asking for help. Especially from people who care about you. Please believe and know that.”
“I- I…do.” She managed to say. Her voice was raw and raspy, like she’d given fifty public speeches that day and now her vocal cords were revolting.
He squeezed her hands again, the rest of what he wanted to say going unspoken as his pager blared from his belt buckle.
With an unsaid oath, he stood and pulled the device from its holder, simultaneously taking his phone from his pocket.
“Excuse me,” he said, seeing fear jump to her face. Gentling his voice, he said, “It’s the Arms, not the hospital.”
So, since THE VOICES OF ANGELS re-released yesterday, I figured I’d give you a little teaser into the story if you haven’t already read it.
Mike stared up at the house, liking the white clapboard Vic- torian design, and the solid, sturdy way it stared right back down at him as if saying, I’ve been here longer than you and seen things in life of which you can only dream.
Secure. Able to withstand whatever was thrown at it. A house rooted in strength, built on stability, roofed with resilience and balance.
Much like the woman he found himself thinking of non-stop.
After Carly left the gallery the night before, he’d wanted to run after her and explain about Cassandra. The timing and the situation, though, prevented him. Cassandra was capable of causing an emotional display, which would have ruined Serena MacQuire’s event. Mike had witnessed numerous of her public tantrums during their few months together and was loathe to be embroiled in another one.
No, speaking privately with Carly was the better option all around.
Every time Carly’s hurt and confused face came to mind, Mike swore, fingers itching to hit something. What must she think, making his desire so blatant for her, while Cas- sandra gave everyone the impression they were still lovers? What woman wouldn’t be upset and angry if she believed the man pursuing her was involved with another? Of course, she wouldn’t answer his call. Why should she? To her eyes, his intentions must appear suspect and despicable.
He wished Cassandra had never shown up at the opening. She possessed an amazing ability to be where she could do the most damage, almost as if she’d planned it.
He took a deep breath, tried to put it out of his head, and concentrated on the reason he was standing outside this magnificent home.
Using the antique brass knocker in the shape of a pineapple on the door, he announced himself. Serena’s face broke into a wicked grin when she answered.
“I knew you’d come.”
The tension left him immediately. His smile was as fast and filled with good-natured humor as hers. “Yeah, I imagine you did.”
I received the rights back to the entire MacQuire Women series last year from my wonderful publisher THE WILD ROSE PRESS and decided to re-release them, one book a month, this year. The stories have been updated, but nothing has been changed from the central core of the romances. They are all still about strong women, the families who support them, and the men who can’t live without them.
This series is so dear to me because it is the very first series ever published by me. If you know the story, I wrote SKATER’S WALTZ first, submitted the first 3 chapters to a contest, won, and then received an email from Rhonda Penders, the publisher of TWRP, asking if I had a full manuscript. I told her I did and the rest was history! The VOICES OF ANGELS was initially the third book in the series, but when I decided to republish them, I thought it would be better to rerelease them in chronological order according to the storyline than the way they were originally done.
So…enjoy Carly and Mike’s story. It’s the one that starts the whole Cleary Clan off…
It’s available in Print, Kindle, and KU. It will be going wide later in the year.
Next month, Serena and Shamus’ story releases on 2.3.25, PASSION’S PALETTE.
Next up in my 2025 publishing calendar is PERFECT MATCH, book 3 in the HEAVEN’S MATCHMAKER series.
Third-generation matchmaker, Olivia Joyner, enjoys a 99% success rate when it comes to helping people find their happily ever afters. But her newest client is proving to be part of the 0.1 percent.
All the women Olivia have matched geriatrician Hunter Reinhart with have been perfect on paper. None of them, though, have resulted in a second request for a date, and all the women say the same thing: Hunter, although handsome and successful, is just…dull. And boring. And too reserved.
Olivia can’t understand it, because to her? Hunter is none of those things. In fact, he’s the exact opposite of dull, boring, and reserved. He’s a man she would consider worthy of marrying herself – if she was in the market for a spouse.
Which she isn’t.
Olivia needs to figure out why she can’t find Hunter Reinhart the perfect match, and it just may require her to do something she’s never done before: go on a “date” with a client.
Purely for research and educational purposes, that is.
“So, tell me, Olivia, why matchmaking?”
Okay, not the question she would have led with, but he was making an effort.
She answered honestly. “Because I’m good at it. Always have been, even when I was in school. Plus, it’s the family business. I’m the third generation of Crally women to be a matchmaker.”
His eyes widened and he stopped cutting the roll in half to stare across at her. “Your grandmother is a matchmaker?”
“Mom, too. You didn’t know?”
“About your grandmother? No. She never mentioned it or even gave any indication she was in all the interactions we’ve had.”
“Well, in all fairness, the mantle was passed a while ago. First to my mom, and then from my mom to me.” She sighed. “It dies with me, too, because my daughter has no desire to take over for me.”
“You have a daughter.” Surprise lit his eyes. “I had no idea.”
She nodded. “Freya. She’s twenty-three and just got her Master’s Degree in physical therapy.”
“You have a twenty-three-year-old daughter. How is that possible?”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re what? Thirty-two? Thirty-three, tops?”
She laughed. “Okay, I know I shouldn’t have to say this, but you should never ask a woman her age on a first date. Or ever! Whether it’s a real date or fake,” she added when he began to protest. “But thank you for the compliment, and for the record, I just turned forty a few months ago.”
“Impossible. That means you had her at,” he thought for a moment, “Seventeen?”
She nodded.
“You were a child, Olivia.”
Not the first time she’d heard this from someone who didn’t know her past. “A little more than a child, I think.”
“How?”
She cocked her head, her lips twisting into a grin. “The usual way.”
He shook his head. “No, I mean…” His face pulled into a confused mask. There was no judgment in his tone or his expression, just bewilderment.
She took pity on him. “My boyfriend and I had been together since third grade and had always planned to get married after college.” She shrugged. “Freya just upped the timeline a bit.”
“You were married at seventeen?”
“Sixteen, actually. And before you say I was a child again, my mother was married at seventeen, my grandmother at fifteen. Early marriages are another thing we’ve passed down through the generations in my family.” She rolled her eyes. “And Freya broke the mold on that one too, since she’s twenty-three and single.”
He sat back in his chair, the roll and his hunger forgotten, and simply stared at her.
“Why are you looking at me that way?”
“Because I have a million other questions and I’m trying to discern if I should ask them.”
She waved her hand in the air. “Go for it.”
“Did you finish school? Go to college?”
“Yes and yes. I graduated high school as did Jon, my husband, and we both went to college in Concord. I majored in communications before you ask.”
“Where did you live?”
“With my parents.”
“They were…okay? With your…situation?”
“I told you, young marriages aren’t uncommon in my family. My grandparents and parents helped out, all of them thrilled to have a new baby to care for. My grandfather was the town pediatrician at the time and Freya couldn’t have had better care than from him and my grandmother and my parents. My grandparents said helping raise her made them feel young again.”
“I didn’t know your grandfather was a physician.”
She shrugged. “You didn’t grow up here, so why would you? He practiced for almost forty years and was still in practice when he…died.”
“I’m sorry,” he said automatically.
“You don’t need to be. He had a fabulous, fulfilling life, a thriving, rewarding practice, married his childhood sweetheart – see a pattern here?- and lived every day of his life with joy. That’s more than most people get in a fraction of their life.”
Again, the way he was staring at her, peering at her as though trying to see inside her head and body was a little disconcerting…but…alluring, as well.
“You are a surprise, Olivia Joyner,” he said as their waitress brought out their entrees.
Preorders are up here: PERFECT MATCH. Release date is 4.9.25! I can’t wait.
So this one is from my next HEAVEN’S MATCHMAKER book that is releasing on 4.7.25…
Blurb:
Third-generation matchmaker, Olivia Joyner, enjoys a 99% success rate when it comes to helping people find their happily ever afters. But her newest client is proving to be part of the 0.1 percent.
All the women Olivia have matched geriatrician Hunter Reinhart with have been perfect on paper. None of them, though, have resulted in a second request for a date, and all the women say the same thing: Hunter, although handsome and successful, is just…dull. And boring. And too reserved.
Olivia can’t understand it, because to her? Hunter is none of those things. In fact, he’s the exact opposite of dull, boring, and reserved. He’s a man she would consider worthy of marrying herself – if she was in the market for a spouse.
Which she isn’t.
Olivia needs to figure out why she can’t find Hunter Reinhart the perfect match, and it just may require her to do something she’s never done before: go on a “date” with a client.
Purely for research and educational purposes, that is.
He couldn’t have heard her correctly.
Date? The two of them? Like as in date-date? That made no sense.
She was his matchmaker. The person he’d hired to find him a wife, not be a- potential – one.
Before he could say anything, she added, “Not for real, I mean. That would be unethical and I’m certain would get me kicked out of the Matchmaker’s club.”
His brow creased. “There’s a Matchmaker’s club?”
Flipping a hand carelessly in the air, she rose, saying, “Professional ethics,” as if that explained anything. “I think we should go on a fake date or two.”
Hunter shook his head, still trying to get around the fact she wanted them to date.
Fake date? Just what the hell was that?
“Now,” she crossed to her desk and lifted her table, tapped it a few times, then brought it back to the couch, reading. “When you filled out the intake questionnaire for me you indicated you enjoyed winter sports, which is good since you live here and winter’s nine months of the year in a good year.” She grinned across to him. “But you also stated you’re open to trying new things as long as they don’t involve potentially hazardous outcomes.” She lifted her gaze again. “Give me a for instance.”
He blinked a few times. Was she seriously just leaving him hanging with no explanation about the two of them dating statement?
“What do you mean, fake date?”
Liv pulled her bottom lip under her top teeth, her gaze dropping down to her tablet for a moment before rising again and connecting with his. “It wouldn’t be a real date, not in the true sense of the word and the outcome. It would be more an educational experience, from a professional perspective. We’ll pretend to be on a date and you act like you would on a real one.”
“Why?”
“Why?”
“Yes, why, Olivia. Why would we go on a date, fake or real, for educational purposes, which, by the way, I can’t even imagine the meaning of?”
Her smile bloomed quick and bright for a moment he lost his train of thought.
“I see. Well, what I mean about educational purposes is that doing this will allow me to see and evaluate how you interact when you’re on a real date. Understand?”
He cocked his head. “Why do you need to…evaluate me? You said I wasn’t the problem.”
She took a breath and he wondered if she was trying to measure her words so they’d be diplomatic.
Who was he kidding? Of course she was.
PERFECT MATCH Liv and Hunter, Book 3 in Heaven’s Matchmaker is up for preorder right now, right here
With the publication next month of A CHEF’S KISS CHRISTMAS, I feel I’ve given you guys a lot of teasers, LOL.
But…
What’s one more? Hee hee.
His first thought was to run.
Just pack his meager belongings, jump into the car, and hightail it out of Dickens without a backward glance.
But he couldn’t leave, not now. He’d given his word to Amy Charles and respected her enough to keep it.
And this little snippet sets up the rest of the book!
Tropes: Grumpy/sunshine, smalltown, Holiday romance, Family, surviving loss, Post Covid life, starting over. Life after divorce. Chef. Later in life romance.
Since I’m still promoting the preorders for my upcoming 6th Dickens Holiday Romance, A CHEF’S KISS CHRISTMAS, i figured another little tidbit about food was a good idea today.
Portia Avon is no cook. Not even close. She has one go-to item she can cook, though, and makes it for Tony when she discovers he hasn’t eaten anything in almost 14 hours. She makes him a simple ham and cheese grilled sandwich, and he thinks it’s the best thing he’s eaten in a while.
ANother little tidbit in the book that concerns eating is all the sauces Tony makes taste even better with different spices and ways of cooking them.
Food and cooking play heavy in this book and serve to show Tony the reasons why he should rejoin the “land of the living and walking around,” again.
You’ll understand that quote once you read the book. Oh, and looks: it’s up for preorder right now, here:
Peggy Jaeger, Author 