The Merry Matchmaker by Sheila Roberts
This holiday novel is set in the small town of Carol in the U.S. The central character, Frankie Lane grew up there and started a store called Holiday Happiness shortly before her husband Ike's death in a car accident caused by a distracted driver. She employs her daughter Natalie, her mother Adele, and a newcomer to town, Elinor. Frankie is a woman who is always trying to help those around her, whether they asked for her help or not. For example, Natalie makes small batches of delectable chocolates and Frankie often tries to get her to make it a full-time business. Natalie prefers to do it in small batches, and spend time with her husband Jonathan and young son Warner. She's also trying to set up friends and family who are single, despite not being interested in starting a new relationship herself.
A couple of years ago she came up with the idea of having a Santa Walk shortly before Christmas, on December 21st. She's been Mrs. Claus the last couple of years and is looking forward to a repeat performance. Her late husband's best friend, Mitch Howard, who runs Handy's Hardware next door to her shop, has been Santa Claus.
Besides her best friend Viola, Mitch is her closest friend. They watch action movies and a show called Cop Stop together, eat together often, and bring each other lattes from the local coffee shop.
The head of the Santa Walk committee this year is Barbara, a local businesswoman that Frankie doesn't get along with and she soon finds that Barbara's changes affect her own role.
When she tries to set up her divorced little sister Stef with a new man, she finds herself the focus of male interest, which confuses her. Stef works at the local paper and is the person who answers the children's letters to Santa, although sometimes she doesn't get that right, and finds herself the target of a parent's frustration.
It took me a while to get into it, as I could see one of the potential romances quite quickly, while the character seemed oblivious to blatant remarks from her admirer. But it improved as more romantic entanglements showed promise and didn't always move forward in a predictable way. An upbeat holiday read.
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