The Matchmakers of Minnow Bay/Kelly Harms A young painter, Lily has reached a crossroads in her life. Her career hasn't taken off, her best friend may no longer be the trusted friend she thought, her boyfriend is a disappointment, and now she can't keep up with the rising cost of living in the city. With no one to turn to, Lily is forced to move from her beloved apartment, but while packing she comes across a piece of mail that had slipped to the back of her junk drawer: a letter detailing further action needed to finalize the annulment of a quickie Vegas wedding. Ten years ago!
Lily decides it's time to turn over a new leaf and the first item on her list of things to fix is getting the annulment... but you can't just send a reply ten years later, "Hey by the way we are still married." This is something that must be addressed in person. Lily takes to the road to track down her husband - the charming, fun, and sexy man she connected with all those years ago - Ben Hutchinson.
Ben Hutchinson left a wealthy dot-com lifestyle behind to return home to his family and the small town he loves, Minnow Bay. He's been living off the grid and the last thing he expects is a wife he didn't know he had to show up on his doorstep.
By chance, Lily arrives at the magical Minnow Bay Inn, and there she will discover not just a place to lay her head, but new friends, a thriving art community, and maybe even the love of her life.
I loved this. I adored this. From basically the first pages, this book made me happy and was just uplifting to read. Even when Lily was making horrible choices, reading about her was somehow comforting.
Normally characters who are poor with finances really stress me out, but Lily was such an optimist and so set on pursuing her dreams that I couldn't help loving her anyway. It's definitely challenging to go to art school in today's society, so it was cool to see one girl going and becoming a successful lawyer after art school while Lily became a starving artist but managed to remain relatively happy.
There was a lot of emphasis on sticking up for oneself and also on generosity. Lily was one of those people it seemed who had been extremely giving to the people in her life for a long while but didn't think highly enough of herself to really ask for much in return until the situation was dire. I relate a lot, and found myself realising that I've been in Lily's shoes a few times.
I loved the descriptions of the inn at which Lily stayed in Minnow Bay, and as a city girl myself, seeing her attachment to Chicago felt very realistic. There were some really beautifully written scenes, some that even made me wish it was winter (a strange thing after the snow I've been having!)
There wasn't a terrible amount of romance which made what there was even more intense and special--my heart was in my throat at multiple points. I can't imagine getting inebriated enough to marry someone let alone being calm enough to forget having done so, which made this premise feel unlikely but kept it a lot of fun. Seeing how the two had changed
I'm not sure what exactly about this book made me love it so much--perhaps it was reading it during a stressful period of worrying about jobs or perhaps it was that I wasn't sleep deprived for once so I happily stayed up half the night to read this--but it really stood out to me as a genuinely happyifying novel.
Highly recommend this for anyone who needs an uplifting book or who enjoys women's literature.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
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I don't normally draw parallels, but think Mary Kay Andrews, or Jennifer Crusie minus the purposeful hilarity, and you have a good idea of what The Matchmakers of Minnow Bay is going to deliver.

Lily is one of those artists who has the potential to make it big, but she's a doormat; a cheerful, I-just-want-everybody-to-be-happy, doormat. Normally I'd have tossed this book aside because I don't like reading about doormats, but Lily never wallowed, so that during the clueless stage of the story the irritating bits washed over me.

While packing to move out of her apartment, Lily stumbles across a 10 year old notice from Nevada telling her the annulment she applied for is incomplete. She's been married to a guy she can't even remember for a decade, and of course she's feeling all her shortcomings so determines to go to Minnow Bay to apologise in person and fix things. This is when she has her "I'm a doormat" epiphany, and while her turnaround is a work in progress, her wry humor about herself and the way she owns up to her shortcomings made it easy for me to relate to her and like her more than I normally would.

Added to her likeable qualities are the characters of Minnow Bay, all of whom are poster-small-town-perfect and quite a lot of them the kind I wish I had for neighbours. Colleen and Jenny's antics trying to keep Lily in Minnow Bay are funny and Simone is acerbic but hilarious.

I thought the writing really readable and I easily finished it yesterday afternoon and evening; it's not a long book and the engaging narrative sucked me in. I'm not sure I'd say it's worth the sticker price, but it's definitely worth the used bookshop price (in hardcover) and I thought it was a fun read, perfect for the mood I was in. ( )

I fell in love with this book and all its craziness. Let's face it, Lily's life is a hot mess. She's been living in the same apartment since graduating from art school, her paintings, while selling, are not bringing in enough to support her, and she's blocked. Her dubious choice of boyfriend - who is her gallery agent - is a disappointment, and her brother isn't anxious to help her out financially, either, so she loses her apartment.

Packing up, she find annulment paperwork that she never filed 10 years earlier after a drunken quickie marriage in Vegas. Determined to get her life back on track, she sets out to right this oversight, hunting down Josh Hutchinson living off-the-grid in Minnow Bay, Wisconsin. He doesn't want to be found by anyone and isn't thrilled with being found by Lily - so much so that he starts off on a really bad foot.

Short on cash but big on heart, Lily is taken under the wing of several Minnow Bay residents who are hopeful that she is just the person that Josh needs.

The story is hilarious and fun, the characters colorful, and the plot just out-there enough this book is a great escape and just what I'm looking for in romantic fiction.

I was provided an e-galley by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion. ( )

With an appealing small-town setting, an eclectic cast of characters and laugh out loud humor, The Matchmakers of Minnow Bay by Kelly Harms is a engaging journey of self-discovery for lead protagonist Lily Stewart.

Just as Lily's career is coming together, the rest of her life is falling apart. Evicted from her apartment, her bank account is practically empty, her credit cards are maxed and none of her friends or family are willing to help her out short term. After discovering she is still married to the stranger she married in Las Vegas ten years earlier, Lily impulsively heads to Minnow Bay, Wisconsin to explain the situation to her "husband", Ben Hutchinson, in person. After their antagonistic meeting, her new friends bolster her flagging spirits and their encouragement provides her the impetus she needs to finally start standing up for herself. After becoming temporarily stranded in the picturesque town, Lily finally begins painting again and she revels in her newfound friendships but she still plans on returning home as soon as possible. Will she rethink her decision once she realizes she has feelings for her soon to be ex-husband?

Likable yet extremely frustrating, Lily is a little immature, rather naive and entirely too trusting of the people in her life. She is incredibly loyal and she finds it easy to forgive the people who hurt her. While Lily is not a shallow person, she takes everyone and everything at face value so she never looks for hidden meanings or delves too deeply below the surface although she is often puzzled by incongruous details. Lily is refreshingly uncomplicated but her lack of guile makes her shockingly easy to manipulate and her self-doubts leave her questioning her judgment so it is fairly simple for anyone to take advantage of her.

However, slowly but surely, Lily begins to come into her own during her stay in Minnow Bay. At first a little dismissive of the picturesque town, she is quite charmed at how easily she is accepted by some her new acquaintances. Lily is surprised yet pleased by her unexpected friendships with B&B owner Colleen O'Donnell and gallery owner Jenny Cho. However, her trust in her newfound friends is fragile and she finds it difficult to believe some of the unsettling information they uncover about someone close to her. Plagued with uncertainty, Lily's faith is in Colleen and Jenny is shattered after she learns shocking information which leads her to make an impetuous decision that threatens her happiness.

The Matchmakers of Minnow Bay by Kelly Harms is a heartfelt story that is fast-paced and compelling. The town and residents of Minnow Bay are absolutely irresistible and it is incredibly uplifting watching them work their magic on Lily. With an unique storyline, a gruff but loveable hero and Lily's phenomenal transformation, this wonderful novel is sure to be a hit with fans of contemporary women's fiction.
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Fun, easy, fluffy read. ( )