Blog Tour #BookReview ~ Matchmaking at Port Willow (Port Willow Bay #2) @KileyDunbar #RomanticFiction @rararesources @HeraBooks #TuesdayBookBlog

I’m delighted to join the blog tour for Matchmaking at Port Willow, courtesy of Rachel’s Random Resources.

My Thoughts

I was looking forward to another visit to Port Willow after reading Summer at the Highland Coral Beach, getting reacquainted with the residents and imaging myself in the beautiful setting. Since she arrived in Port Willow earlier in the year, Beatrice Halliday has found the love of her life in Atholl Fergusson and turned the Princess and the Pea Inn into something special creating, among other things, crafting holidays which bring in more guests and visitors than ever before. A true romantic at heart, Beatrice hopes some of them would find what she had, but if they needed a nudge a little help along the way wouldn’t go amiss.

She revelled in the sense of promise. The inn managers never knew what kind of guest was about to arrive in the village, but what Beatrice did know from her own experience was that nothing could prepare newcomers for the magic they’d encounter in their little corner of the Highlands.

In New York, expat Nina Miller has fast tracked to a successful career and glamorous lifestyle thanks to her rich, jet setting boyfriend, Luke. The company sources the newest luxury products to tempt the rich and set trends. Nina believed she’d talked Luke into taking Christmas week off and had organised the perfect romantic Christmas for two. Or so she thought. Luke had other ideas, and Nina found herself on a flight to the Highlands on assignment as a product scout, looking for traditional crafts such as whiskey, tweed, and crystal.

The story follows the fortunes of the guests staying at The Princess and the Pea Inn for the Christmas festivities, as well as the residents of the village. One shock piece of news seems a step too far after a devastating previous experience. More than one person is coping with heartbreak and it was good mix the generations and have some more mature characters who had lost their way.

As I found in previous books, Kiley Dunbar has a distinct talent for bringing characters to life and evoking a real sense of place and community spirit. There’s a good mix of angst, romance, humour, emotions, and sensitive issues are treated thoughtfully. It took a while to warm to Nina but I could understand why she was irritable and touchy. Second chances and self discovery also feature, leading to very satisfactory outcomes, and someone gets a well deserved comeuppance. I enjoyed it immensely.

Beatrice Halliday has been working hard at the Princess and The Pea Inn, loved up with landlord Atholl and enjoying planning events for the locals. But at Christmas there’s a kick – as she realises she’s expecting. Despite being fearful of the future, Beatrice is graced with a distraction: the prospects of helping a romance flourish when a married couple spend their first child-free holiday at the Inn – and it becomes clear they need some help rediscovering each other. In true Beatrice fashion, she cant help meddling.

Featuring the story of a first love, a new family, a marriage in crisis, and an octogenarian love affair, you’ll fall head over heels for this heart-warming rom-com.

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Kiley Dunbar writes heart-warming, escapist, romantic fiction set in beautiful places, with One Winter’s Night being shortlisted for the RNA Romantic Comedy Novel Award 2021. Kiley’s five novels include: The Borrow a Bookshop Holiday (May 2021), One Winter’s Night (September 2020), Summer at the Highland Coral Beach (2020), Christmas at Frozen Falls (2019) and One Summer’s Night (2019).

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