This is the second book in the Matchmaker Bay series. Nora Walsh has just reset her life. She left her cheating boyfriend, her job, and her life in Toronto behind to move to Moonflower Bay, where she has agreed to work as a physician in a clinic she leased for two years. On her very first day she met Jake at the hair salon and he seems to just keep reappearing. Jake is divorced and very quiet. He surprised everyone by fixing up things in Nora's rental house and confiding in her about his son, Jude who died. He still believed it was his fault.

It was interesting to watch their relationship turn into best friends from friends with benefits. It was also fun to watch Moonflower Bay grow on Nora. This book will make you happy and sad as you experience everything Nora goes through with her reset and life in general in Moonflower Bay with its wonderful, interesting characters. I received an advance copy of this book and I willingly chose to write an honest review.

Paradise Cove by Jenny Holiday is an engaging and heartfelt read. The characters are fun, interesting, and easy to get to know. The story is set in Moonflower Bay, a small coastal town about three hours from Toronto. The locals consist of elderly matchmakers, mermaid lovers and new friends.

Moonflower Bay needs a new town doctor, and Dr. Nora Walsh desperately needs a new beginning. As a result, she moves from the city to the area, and is shocked to find everyone so nice and welcoming. Jake Ramsey is town's carpenter and the first person to befriend Nora. He suffered a tragic loss that he is still blaming himself for. Nora brings happiness back into his life and overtime they fall into lust and love.

I truly enjoyed this book. The story is emotional at times and the supporting cast is genuine. Nora and Jake are a remarkable both as individuals and as a couple. Their sexy times are meaningful and hot. The secondary characters are quite fascinating and I liked their respective story-lines. This is a well-executed small town romance. This is the second book from the Matchmaker Bay series and it can be enjoyed as a standalone.

Complimentary copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley.

Jake is content in Moonflower Bay. He is surrounded by a wonderful community - and if they meddle sometimes he's gotten used to it by now. A lot of the townsfolk don't really consider him a big talker and he's used to being solo. If you've read Mermaid Inn then you know that Jake's past involves a lot of heartache, but is a bit of a mystery.

Doctor Nora Walsh needs a fresh start and Moonflower Bay seems like the perfect place. She has just ended a long term relationship and likes the vibe she gets from the quaint and charming small town. Nora and Jake's paths soon cross and they develop a sweet friendship.

If you love a friends to lovers, slow burn then this is the perfect book for you! I loved how Nora and Jake's friendship was always center to their relationship. They opened up to one another in ways that they hadn't been able to do with other people in their life. They talked openly about grief, past relationships and life in general. And although grief was a big part of this book, so was healing. I felt so much for both Jake and Nora and their respective struggles with grief and how to overcome it. The way Jake and Nora always seemed to be there for one another was so sweet and I loved their relationship even more for that. But don't let the sweet cover fool you! Once Nora and Jake move past the friendship stage they definitely know how to burn up the pages.

Moonflower Bay is so charming with it's meddling old folks. I absolutely love the relationships that are formed in this small town community. The people here may come off as intrusive, but they sure do really care about one another.

If you're looking for a sexy friends to lovers/slow burn romance then grab yourself a copy of Paradise Cove! I couldn't put this book down once I started reading it and can't wait to return to Moonflower Bay.

I thoroughly enjoyed this sweet small-town romance from Jenny Holiday. I thought she created such a wonderful setting in Matchmaker Bay - I could feel the town's close-knit nature and enjoyed the individual quirky personalities and dynamics of its residents. I especially loved Nora and Jake's characters and the romance that grew between them built off of strong friendship and support. I appreciated their emotional depth and how they came together because of how well they understood each other. I also found the town's traditions, festivals, and band of matchmakers completely charming! This was a beautiful, heartwarming story that showed how two people can help heal and support each other with love. The book was also quite steamy, so be prepared! Thank you to Forever, Grand Central Publishing, and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Plot Summary:
When Dr. Nora Walsh moves to the little lake-front town of Matchmaker Bay after a terrible breakup, she expects to spend two years working in a small family practice, building her savings, and healing to start fresh. There is no room for romance in her agenda. Jake Ramsey, a local, is also still trying to heal from a devastating loss. He attends to the town's every need but, known for his quiet nature, Jake surprised to find how easily he can open up to Nora. With the local matchmakers pushing the two together, will their friendship become something more? And will it be enough to make Nora stay?

I enjoyed Mermaid Inn, the first in Jenny Holiday’s Matchmaker Bay series, and I was excited to return to this charming Canadian small town and its quirky collection of residents.

I was curious about Jake in Sawyer and Eve’s story - he was a man of few words, one who had obviously been hurt, and who mostly preferred to keep to himself. Nora was new in town, and her stay was meant to be a temporary one before moving back to Toronto for good. Neither of them was looking for any sort of romantic entanglement, which any seasoned romance reader knows will lead to lots of delicious push and pull, will-they-won’t-they, and emotional highs and lows. Paradise Cove delivered on all of that and then some.

From their adorable meet-cute to the two of them working together during a medical emergency, to Jake quietly stepping in to fix Nora’s new house and clinic without any sort of expectation or ulterior motive, these two were a joy to watch. They developed a beautiful, close friendship where they relied on each other while still maintaining their own lives and independence. They had fantastic chemistry and hilarious banter, and I loved watching them grow closer and fall for each other without realizing it.

This book was funny and super sexy, but it packed an emotional punch too. It handled grief in an open, realistic way. As someone who is unfortunately well-acquainted with grief, it really resonated with me and made me love this book even more. Jenny Holiday did a fantastic job of balancing really deep, often painful emotions with humour and sexytimes. This book had it all.

Come for the pizza and zombie movies, stay for the giggles, feels, and swoons. I can’t wait to return to Moonflower Bay in the near future, and I’ll definitely be recommending this series to fellow romance lovers in the meantime.

I’m such a big fan of this series & Paradise Cove is no exception! I was so happy to see Jake get his HEA! He was in need of it! Nora is our heroine, who is new in town and the doctor of the clinic. She first meets Jake at the hair salon. Jake ends up helping Nora with a lot of projects. Along the way they become friends. They learn why Jake is so closed off. Nora decides to take it the next step by offering sex to Jake without the relationship. He’s all for this as it has been so long for Jake! These two have sparks that fly off the pages! Nora soon realized that Jake is her best friend! These two go through so much to get to their HEA! My heart ached for Jake! I was rooting for him to finally let love in! All in all a wonderful sexy, emotional ride but worth every page!!

This is the second book in the Matchmaker Bay series.
Paradise Cove is the story Nora who needed a new start in her life after an ugly breakup and Jake who has always been there and needs to restart his life after losing his son. Moon flower Bay gives Nora the exact place to rebuild her life and takes over the medical practice in town.
The relationship that build between Nora and Jake will keep you glued to the book until the end.
Their lives are filled with amazing people and each and everyone makes the story better and better.
I have now added Jenny Holiday to my list of go to authors.
Thank you to NetGalley , Jenny Holiday and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for the ARC of this book. This is my personal review.

I can’t express how much I loved the pairing of Nora and Jake. While both have suffered losses, arguably Jake’s is much more heartbreaking and life changing. Yet he has come out of his shell to welcome, engage and protect Nora during her time in town. From their first meeting and conversation, their connection is electric and the chemistry, even just as friends, is off the charts. Neither is asking the other for anything the other isn’t willing to give and Nora being new to town helps in that she doesn’t know anything about Jake except what he wants to tell her. The shock the town has when learning that they are friends and that...gasp...Jake is talking, was hilarious! Paradise Cove made me laugh and cry and was definitely one of my favorite reads of the year. Jenny Holiday’s building of Matchmaker Bay makes me want to book my plane ticket now...although I’d probably appreciate more if I went via road trip! Every character was memorable, every bit of scenery I could envision in my mind’s eye and every emotion felt in my heart. I adored it!

This one wrecked me. The writing is much improved from book 1, because that choppiness, episodic quality of the scenes that felt so clunky in that one is much smoother here, probably because the narrative isn't actively trying to keep the main characters from being together. Also, in this book the hero isn't a cop, so...

But the grief is so well done, the connection between the two MC's is wonderful, and the ex wife is an actual character and a good person. Do check the spoilery content warnings because the story unravels through a sketchy device that, although I had no issue with how it was handled, is a hard limit for some.

CW: loss of a child that's discussed in detail and permeates the whole story; grief; SPOILER cancer and death of a beloved family member; and EVEN BIGGER SPOILER accidental pregnancy, which isn't a miraculous one, but it's what brings about the denouement.

Review copy provided by the publisher.

Perfect. It was everything I didn't know I needed.
I had heard that this book was fantastic, but knowing the little bit about Jake from Mermaid Inn I knew it may be a bit hard to read. It wasn't hard...it was soothing.
A little personal part here: Good friends of ours and neighbour lost their daughter a few years ago. Watching them go through their grief was, and continues to be, hard. They have taught me never to say things like "in our prayers", "it was in God's plan", "you need to move on". Those words mean nothing..nothing to them. They want you to remember her, talk about her, share in their memories. This is exactly what Nora did for Jake. She was there to listen and "hear" him. Asking those right questions. If you read this book, please let this be something you take away from it. Those grieving for a lost loved one needs that.
Now, onto the other stuff. I LOVED Jake. I adored him in Mermaid Inn and my love for him grew exponentially throughout Paradise Cove. The friendship that Jake and Nora developed was perfect. That it grew into more, oh so much more, was perfect. I'm a sucker for Friends to Lovers and I fell for these two hard. Their love was simple yet profound.
The friendship between the 3 men...*sigh* love it. The easiness to which Nora fell in with the ladies and the town was wonderful.
I really can't recommend this book enough. Read it. Seriously. READ it.

This book was super cute! I pictured Jake as Jason Momoa so naturally I was obsessed with his every move and he was wonderful! There are heavy topics and grief is on full display. I appreciated the way “Doc Hon” communicated with him in regards to that event and the ultimate ending of his processing it. The setting is so picturesque that I want to find my own little Paradise Cove to visit! Thank you NetGalley for this ARC that is available tomorrow 7/28!

It's been a bit since I've read a book by Jenny Holiday. I can say that the ones that I did I liked but maybe not enough to rush out and buy more. For me, she was good but not great. That all changed when I tried Paradise Cove. The funny thing is I didn't remember reading her prior so I went into this series totally open. Plus it was the second book in the series so I have to go back and read the first.

Can't wait.

I can't tell you how much I loved Nora and Jake. Both of them are so very special. I got into the fact that Jake isn't a talker, at least with others. It's what makes his relationship so much more special with Nora. I loved how Nora just got him and what he's gone through. Yes, she's a doctor so you'd think she'd understand how someone might feel losing someone but it was more than that. She understood down deep where it really matters.

Sigh...

Love them! I also loved how Jake treated her grandmother. So sweet.

I'm sure you'll see right away that these two just work. You can see how they are slowly falling in love. It's wonderful to enjoy it. I really liked these two and can't wait for the next book and I hope to see them in. I wonder if the author will have Jake talking more to others or she will keep him the same.

I can honestly say after reading this I will have to go back to her prior series and check them out again and see if they go from okay to love like this one.

For a book that deals with some very heavy and depressing topics, Paradise Cove is a surprisingly cathartic and heartwarming romance. Jenny Holiday really takes her writing up to the next level with this one (I enjoyed her previous books, but this one was truly excellent!).

Nora moves to Moonflower Bay after answering a help wanted ad to fill in for the small town doctor. She plans to use the 2-years stint as a way to reset her life before moving back to Toronto. There, she meets Jake Ramsey (who we met in book 1), who is still grieving the death of his infant son several years earlier. Despite his reputation in town for being silent and brooding, Jake appreciates Nora's straightforward and pragmatic approach to life and starts opening up to her. The two bond while Jake helps Nora fix up her run-down rental and solve any other problems she encounters.

Aside from some big drama at the end (which I thought veered a bit out of character), I really liked how Jake and Nora's relationship really focused on the little moments and their desires to help each other heal themselves. Neither one serves as a magic solution to the other's serious problems, but their love grows as they support and encourage each other to succeed (in Nora's case, as the small town doctor tackling the town's many problems, and in Jake's case, learning to cope with his grief and depression).

Thank you to Forever and Netgalley for providing an ARC for review!

If a book starts with a quaint coastal town, I'm in. Nora is a newly arrived family doctor in a small Great Lakes town. She is very clear that she is there for a two year stint, to save money and then return home. She meets Jake, small town guy extraordinaire. They are both broken from past relationships and loss, but they find comfort and friendship in each other, which ultimately turns to more. Loved this book, a bit predictable but that is okay in these types of books. It's got all the right elements - quaint small town, two broken people, and a nice little romance.

I read Mermaid Inn and Paradise Cove, the first two books in this series, back to back. While the stories were OK, they did not have the sparkle or the charm, I expect out of this genre.

Holiday checks all of the boxes of a contemporary romance, but it just felt tired and that these stories have been told already. I am sure for die-hard romance genre fans will find a lot of goodness in both of these books. This is genre I enjoy, but not my favorite, so I want them to have something extra.

Thank you NetGalley and Forever for an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This story was the second in the Matchmaker Bay series, and I'm definitely enjoying them. I originally got the first one because of the title (yes I sometimes do that), but it turned out to be a good read so I wanted the second one 🧜‍♀️🧜‍♀️

Surprise! They are sweet, heartfelt stories that follow the people of a small town called Moonflower Bay, aka Matchmaker Bay. This small town has all kinds of characters, including the older generation that likes to meddle with the romantic lives of their neighbours. They are comical, and each character has their own past that really draws you in and engaged with the ins and outs of their lives.

Nora and Jakes friendship was genuine. He never talked about his grief with anyone, preferring to keep to himself. But he felt safe talking to Nora and he found himself opening up to her without even trying. Nora was the same. The two of them had completely different experiences with life so far, but they were able to understand each other without any kind of judgement.

Small town stories are one of my favourites to read. I just love the environment of everyone knowing everyone. Not necessarily everyone knowing each others business, but I guess that tends of come with being in a small town. You can't really have one without the other. I also really enjoyed the setting and the fact that these books are set in Canada 🇨🇦 This small town was set on one of the Great Lakes in Canada (Lake Huron) and those sights are ones of the places I would LOVE to see. I haven’t been there yet, but one day for sure!

This book was right up my alley. I read it quickly, and I was always wanting to know what happened next. Well done Jenny Holiday 😊 I can’t wait for the next book in this series (coming in 2021) because I already know it will be GREAT!

4.5 stars

I wanted Jake's story pretty much from the minute I met him in Mermaid Inn. I knew that his book wouldn't be a light read due to his tragic past, but I loved how Jenny Holiday wove humor and steam into it as well. This friends to lovers small town romance hooked me right in from the start and took my emotions on quite the ride.

As one of my fellow book friends stated, if fixer men is your thing, Jake is your man. I pretty much fell in love with this gruff hermit right away. His meet cute with Nora at the hair salon was adorably unique and their chemistry was amazing and jumped off the page. I loved seeing their friendship develop and grow into more. They just clicked in this way that quieted the demons and ghosts of their pasts, but also put them on a path to face them once and for all. I will admit that I wasn't a fan of his history with "Mrs. Robinson" (I felt it detracted from the story more than anything) and the twist towards the end wasn't my favorite. The decisions and actions both characters made because of it made the conclusion feel a little rushed. The ending and so very sweet epilogue felt true to our characters, but I personally would have loved a bit more groveling.

Jenny Holiday's writing really shined in Paradise Cove and she tackled grief and guilt in such an honest and sincere way. My heart broke for Jake as he struggled to heal and come to terms with his feelings and pain. His scenes with Kerrie were particularly moving. Grief was prevalent through the entire novel and was almost a character itself. Speaking of characters, I love the residents of Moonflower Bay! They meddle and gossip and you can't keep anything a secret, but they are always there when you need them and always have your back. Nora's friendship with Eve and Maya was wonderful and no one writes strong female friendships like Jenny Holiday. I can't wait to read Maya and Law's story next!

CW: grief, death of a child and grandparent, cancer

*I voluntarily read an advance review copy of this book*

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
After a bad breakup, big city ER physician Nora decides to over a family practice in Matchmaker Bay for just 2 years to reset then move back to the city. She didn’t plan on meeting Jake her first day there. Jake has a permanently broken heart for a very different reason. Maybe small town living is just what Nora needs. And maybe Nora is just what Jake didn’t know he was looking for.
After meeting Jake in The Mermaid Inn, I was so excited to return to Matchmaker Bay because I knew his story would be something special. And oh my gosh, it really was. Jenny found a way to describe Jake’s “waves” of emotions in such a real way that you could feel his sadness and rooted hard for his happiness. His “silence” was extremely powerful. I was so happy to see mental health and grief addressed in such a real way.
Okay. So when we start abook describing the hero as Aquaman - you know I am 100% here for it!! Jake and Nora found an instant connection with each other. Jake was basically a dream man... hot, handy, dedicated. Nora was smart, hardworking and loving. This friends with benefits arrangement got super steamy in the very best way!!! 🔥 Add in a cute dog, great friends and family and the sweet small town setting - you’ve got the perfect romance.
TW: death of a child, death of a loved one

I liked this one much more than the first one in the series. I really liked Nora - she was just a really competent, smart heroine with perfectly understandable doubts and fears about getting into a new relationship given how her last one ended. But it was Jake who broke my heart with his incredibly sad and painful backstory. And I couldn’t even get mad at his reaction to Nora’s announcement at the end (though, boy did I feel for her, too) because I could really see where his fears and pain stemmed from. All in all, really enjoyed this one and it made me super excited for Law and Maya’s story.

***** Triggers - death of infant child

This was a great story. I haven't read the first book yet but after reading this, I got the first book in the series.

I love the idea of Mermaid Cove (1 - Canada, 2. - caring community) and plan on reading more of this author.


My thanks to Jenny Holiday, Forever. (Grand Central Publishing), and NetGalley. for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.