The Perfect Match

The Perfect Match
Kristin Higgins
Published by: Harlequin
Publish Date: 29th October 2013
Genre: Contemporary romance
Pages: 448
Format: e-Arc
Source: Publisher via NetGalley

Summary from Goodreads.

What if the perfect match is a perfect surprise?  Honor Holland has just been rejected by her life long crush.  And now - a mere three weeks later - Mr Perfect is engaged to her best friend.  But resilient, reliable Honor is going to pick herself up, dust herself off and get back out there, or she would if dating in Manningsport, New York, population 715, wasn't easier said than done.

Charming, handsome British professor Tom just wants to do right by his unofficial stepson Charlie, but his visa is about to expire. Now Tom must either get a green card or leave the States - and leave Charlie behind.

In a moment of impulsiveness, Honor agrees to help Tom with a marriage of convenience - and make her ex jealous in the process.  But juggling a fiance, hiding out from her former best friend and managing her job at the family vineyard isn't easy. And as sparks begin to fly between Honor and Tom, they might discover that their pretend relationship is far too perfect to be anything but true love.

My thoughts:
This is the second book in Kristin Higgins Blue Heron series - the first being The Best Man ( a book I really enjoyed).   I enjoyed The Perfect Match as well. It has all the previous characters from the first book, including Pop and Goggy - Honor's grandparents.  While the book is mostly about Honor there are some great updates for the family. However this book could easily be read as a stand alone.

 What I really liked was there were times when I was surprised by something so humorous that all I could do was chuckle aloud.  Kristin Higgins has a talent for writing the scene that will tickle your funny bone!  While this book has a tone of comedy to it, there are some serious events and issues that make this book more than a light contemporary comedy romance.  A good book will have the reader questioning their own values and thoughts about how they might handle certain situations. This book did that for me.

Both Honor and Tom, have issues around abandonment and trust.  Honor's mother died in a car accident when she was about sixteen, and now her long time friend and a man she loved has turned her down, and her best friend has really 'done the dirty' on her.  Tom had his mother walk out on him when he was about six years old, his previous fiance went off for a weekend with her ex partner (and the father of Charlie - Tom's almost stepson).  Watching them work out all this was very engaging, and I was up late one night to finish it and find out how it all worked out.

I liked Honor the main female character, although there were times I wished she would be really mean to Brogan - the man she told she loved and Dana her best friend. (Probably this says more about me than Honor!).  While she did stand up for herself, at times I was frustrated when she was more forgiving than I wished.  As a normal human being she had her points of weakness, however she did also have guts and the strength to be loving, caring and forgiving where it counted.

The relationship between Tom and his almost stepson Charlie was a part of the book I also was interested in.  A boy who has lost his mother and whose father only breezes in and out of his life occasionally and then deserts him.  He lives with grandparents who at best were far from ideal to raise Charlie - a young teen.  Charlie's growth and change is a part of what made this book heart warming for me.

The Perfect Match is a warm, wonderful book about love and the importance of belonging and family.  A delightfully funny story that will both entertain and provoke thought and may lead you to  stop and question some of your own values.