Review of Married In Seattle by Debbie Macomber

I'm a big fan of Debbie Macomber and I own all of the Cedar Cove series. Whenever a new book hits the shelves, I am there. In December 2008, she released Married In Seattle, which is actually a compilation of two earlier releases, First Comes Marriage and Wanted: Perfect Partner.

In First Comes Marriage, Anton Hartman wants the best for his granddaughter, Janine and feels he has finally met the right man in his new business partner, Zachery Thomas. However, Janine and Zach are appalled at the very thought of an arranged marriage. Due to their vehement protest over Anton's match making, they decide to work together to defeat his plan. Unfortunately, love has other plans.

This story was a little dry for me. The characters, Zach and Janine, didn't have much chemistry and individually, they weren't exciting, either. Actually, my favorite character was Janine's grandfather. He was 3 dimensional and spirited. While I was happy that Janine and Zach ended up finding happiness, I was also happy to be done with the story! lol

In Wanted: Perfect Partner, 15 year old Lindsey Remington decides it's time for her mother to find a man. Combining forces with her best friend, they put a singles ad in the paper and set up a date. Meg is horrified when she finds out what Lindsey has been up to and goes to apologize to her poor blind date. She is pleasantly surprised to see Lindsey's choice wasn't far off the mark. Steve Conlan has also been duped by his sister and together, they try to fight the tide of fate.

I LOVED this short story! It was the polar opposite of the first one. From the very first page it was entertaining, light and funny. Lindsey and her best friend had me laughing so hard when they tried to explain to Meg that she needed a total make over in order to get a new life. And when Meg and Steve tried to pull the wool over everyone's eyes, they ended up being the ones who got burned. Meg and Steve had undeniable chemistry, chemistry that jumps off the page at you. With a unexpected twist at the end, this story delivers all it promises!