A delightful book! As always, Jen Turano weaves an extraordinary tale with fantastic characters! Gwendolyn was a true delight! She knows her own mind and isn't afraid to take charge of a situation. The love story is sweet and full of hilarious situations! A definite must read!
I was provided an ARC copy from Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own. ( )

This book was an absolute delight to read. It is chock full of witty banter and clever rejoinders. I could not help but love Gwendolyn and her quick thinking. This book is a delicious recipe made up of one cup women’s fiction, half a cup found-family, 8 Tbsp wit and humor, and frosted with a sweet romance. The romance is definitely more subtle, but it is the perfect compliment to the rest of this story.
Poor Walter was not prepared for the force that was Miss Gwendolyn Brinley. Their interactions had be chuckling from the very beginning. Gwendolyn is so quick on her feet, she is always two steps ahead of Walter. Just when he thinks he’ll have her bested, she quips with something remarkably witty, and leaves him with the dust swirling as he struggles to figure out how he lost the upper hand. I laughed out loud more than once. And then seeing Gwendolyn interact with Walter’s children just made me smile. As the oldest of a bunch of siblings, I could relate to the desire to jump into a fractious situation concerning sibling rivalry and calm it. I’m pretty sure Gwendolyn is better at it than I am, though. Also, Gwendolyn’s set-down of her grandmother was applause-worthy. Bravo!
I loved how naturally, and slowly, Walter and Gwendolyn’s relationship evolved. They both had a lot of preconceived ideas and stubbornly held beliefs they had to reconsider, and the way they did so was lovely. And it’s so different having a romance with children of one of the MCs playing such a big role in the story. I liked it a lot.
4.5 stars

**I received a copy from the publisher via Netgalley. I also enjoyed listening to the book via audio, through an app I paid for using my own funds. These thoughts are my own. ( )

I enjoy funny stories and quirky characters. I enjoy stories that have engaging conversations. This story began with a lot of frivolous conversations between flighty ladies of society (the 400 set) of the period, was slow and uninteresting reading and failed to engage my interest. I found it hard to believe that even in a humorous novel ladies could be so exasperating.

And then there was the introduction of three grandly precocious and lovable children, a hilarious beach scene with a "near drowning" and my interest was sharpened. So I read on.

The ladies continued to be aggravatingly intolerable in terms of manners and consideration, but the heroine of this story kept finding solutions, mending lives, bringing joy.

And the children continued to be winning stars and hearts.

So in the end I totally enjoyed the story and found laughter, joy, and entertainment within its pages.

I won an ARC via the Early Reviewers program on Librarything.com ( )

MY THOUGHTS ON THIS BOOK
Jen Turano gets it done right with her books. Her writing is phenomenal, and her stories are fun and entertaining. I never tire of the hilarious humor throughout her books. Gwendolyn was a hoot as she tried to find a match for the high society Mr. Townsend. He really doesn’t want much, just a mother for his wayward children, who are strangers to him. Townsend wasn’t my favorite character at all. It’s hard to like a man that neglects his children, but they are loved by many, especially Gwendolyn. It’s fun and entertaining to watch the banter between Walter and Gwendolyn. Neither could see that the match was between the two of them.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story so much that I didn’t want it to end. I kept looking forward to the last page and counting how many pages I had left, and I would read slower. For me, the children added so much more to the story. They were delightful and added a lot of variety to the scenes. I am looking forward to the second book, To Spark a Match, which releases in November 2023. If you enjoy funny laugh-out-loud stories, you will enjoy this one. Or if you enjoy a good clean story with a faith element running through and hits on matchmaking, you will love Jen Turano’s A Match in the Making. This is a book I highly recommend and I'm giving it Five Stars.

A special thanks to the author/publisher for a copy of this book. I am not required to write a positive review, the opinions here are mine alone. I am disclosing this with my review in accordance with the Federal Trab731a3ff-pde Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255. ( )

I love books set in historical settings. I love the characters and the storyline. It was interesting to see how she became a companion and then got to do more.