Paradise Cove by Jenny Holiday is her second book in her Matchmaker Bay Series. It was even better than the first – and I really enjoyed the first book. This book tells the story of Dr. Nora Walsh and Jake Ramsey. Nora is a newcomer to Matchermaker Bay and Jake is local resident. It is truly a story of life after loss that leaves you with a feeling of hope.
Dr. Nora Walsh moves to Matchmaker Bay for a year to save money to buy a house with her sister in Toronto. She is just getting out of a serious relationship and has no interest in finding another.
Jake Ramsey has lived in Matchmaker Bay all his life. His life has become routine and he’s been fairly withdrawn since losing his son a number of years ago. He has his friends and his job and gets by. You can quickly see that a quiet grief surrounds him.
Jake meets Nora her first day in town in a truly adorable meet-cute that involves hair – you will have to read to find out. Maybe it’s because she’s a stranger, or maybe just because she is Nora is able to open up to her more than he has been others and they become friends.
Whatever Nora needs, Jake is able to provide. This of course turns to other needs as well. But as they are totally upfront about where they stand in their friends with benefits relationship – really, what could go wrong?
It is quite adorable how Jake is completely unaware of how obvious he can be – there is a moment in the book involving a pineapple pizza lunch that probably reveals his hand to the whole town. Hehehe. But your can’t help but cheer him on, especially when he is completely clueless!
I really did love how Jake was always there to care for Nora, it was just small things but he was there and it meant a lot.
As I mentioned this book deals with loss. Sadly, most of us have experienced the loss of a loved one in our lives. We know just how hard this can be. I think this helps you connect with this book on a more personal level then maybe other books. But its watching these two characters face loss and fall in love.
That really gives me and I’m sure many others hope.
It was also a joy to see the other characters from Matchmaker Bay that we met in Mermaid Inn. I love this small town that Holiday has built with its interesting characters and friendships. I also like how we got to partake of more Matchmaker Bay town events.
This book gave me a lot to think about – but in a good way. How people live with grief, man buns aren’t always bad and should I reconsider pineapple on pizza? That last one is a HELL NO.
The friends to lovers story in Paradise Cove will make you laugh, cry and squee with joy! I can’t lie, I’m already looking forward to Law and Maya’s story in Sandcastle Beach! Something to look forward to next summer.
You can get purchase Paradise Cove and a little of that hope we all need right now on the Kobo and Amazon websites.
