To Spark a Match by Jen Turano - The Matchmakers, book 2

After five unsuccessful Seasons on the marriage mart, Miss Adelaide Duveen has resigned herself to the notion that she's destined to remain a spinster forever--a rather dismal prospect, but one that will allow her to concentrate on her darling cats and books. However, when she inadvertently stumbles upon Mr. Gideon Abbott engaged in a clandestine activity during a dinner party, Adelaide finds herself thrust into a world of intrigue that resembles the plots in the spy novels she devours. Former intelligence agent Gideon Abbott feels responsible for Adelaide after society threatens to banish her because of the distraction she caused to save his case. Hoping to return the favor, he turns to a good friend--and one of high society's leaders--to take Adelaide in hand and turn her fashionable. When danger surrounds them and Adelaide finds herself a target of the criminals in Gideon's case, the spark of love between them threatens to be quenched for good--along with their lives.

This is Jen Turano at her Turano-est: wacky social situations, adorable animals, a full cast of quirky characters, and very wordy (yet very funny) dialogue. I will confess a bit of jealousy toward Adelaide--I would really love to play with a grapple cannon, just for an afternoon. Adelaide has won the jackpot in Gideon. Granted, there's a lot more to him than just his extremely cool weapons stash; he's very considerate, chivalrous, and a man of unexpected talents (who'd have guessed embroidery?). But Adelaide is also perfect for him. They are neither complete opposites nor carbon copies--they land somewhere in the middle, and are very complimentary. Entertaining, as usual!

Thank you Bethany House and NetGalley for the complimentary e-book. I was not required to write a positive review, and all opinions are my own.

The Matchmakers

1. A Match in the Making

2. To Spark a Match

The Lost Boys of Barlowe Theater by Jaime Jo Wright

Barlowe Theater stole the life of Greta Mercy's brother during its construction. Now in 1915, the completed theater appears every bit as deadly. When Greta's younger brother goes missing after breaking into the building, Greta engages the assistance of a local police officer to help her uncover the already ghostly secrets of the theater. But when help comes from an unlikely source, Greta decides that to save her family she must put the threat of the phantoms to rest. Decades later, Kit Boyd's best friend vanishes during a ghost walk at the Barlowe Theater, and old stories of mysterious disappearances and ghoulish happenings are revived. When television ghost-hunting host and skeptic Evan Fisher engages Kit in the quest to identify the truth behind the theater's history, Kit reluctantly agrees to work with him in hopes of also finding out what happened to her friend. As the theater's curse begins to unravel Kit's own life, she sets out not only to save the historical building and her friend, but to end the pattern of evil that has marked their hometown for a century.

Wright consistently writes dual timeline novels better than anyone else I've read. Both timelines are fast-paced and filled with suspense--there's never one timeline that seems boring compared to the other. Instead, the timelines alternate from suspenseful moment to suspenseful moment. I also appreciate that no matter how weird events get, there is always a real-world explanation. Sure, there might be a psychic trailing Kit around with knowledge she shouldn't have, and Greta might be facing doubts to her sanity because she saw something no one else saw or believes, but there's always an explanation that doesn't rely on the supernatural. Always.

I love how the setting--Barlowe Theater--is nearly a character in its own right, hiding secrets in the past and present. The creepy old theater ties the two storylines together with its history of disappearances and aura of mystery. But it isn't only the setting that connects the timelines--Wright also does an excellent job with connecting them on a thematic level. A fear or reality in Kit's timeline is echoed in Greta's, and vice versa, increasing the sense that the two stories are intertwined. Excellent, as always!

Thank you Bethany House and NetGalley for the complimentary e-book. I was not required to write a positive review, and all opinions are my own.