The Matchmaker and the Marine by Lucinda Race is a very sweet romance between a Mel , a former psychologist and current matchmaker, and Adam, a former marine. Mel’s husband died 5 years ago and she is having a hard time moving on beyond his death. She has not dated. Adam was forced to retire from the marines after an IED explosion damaged his leg. He is an amputee and does not reveal this to Melinda when he asks her to help him find a match.
Mel hires Adam to build a pergola in her backyard. They have a mutual attraction but Mel feels she is being disloyal to her deceased husband, a police officer who was hit by a drunk driver.
The two characters are well developed. The author has a very clean writing style and great dialogue. The tension and attraction between the hero and heroine develops naturally. Their relationship is the nicest part of the story.
I really liked that the hero was not a perfect person like in other books. Being an amputee made him more relatable. His former girlfriend was uncomfortable with him being an amputee after he left the marines. I love military romances where the hero unfortunately gets injured and has to re-integrate into society.
I am disappointed the author chose the standard trope of the hero being a leader and broken up about the men who died in his unit, men he did not save. This is an overused ploy to give the hero an internal obstacle to overcome. Every military romance has the hero injured by an IED. There must be other ways soldiers are hurt. Plus not everybody can be the platoon leader. It would have been nice to have a more creative back story for Adam. However, he is very likeable, and more so because of his disability. He is a true gentleman and puts Mel’s needs before his own, which was very nice.
I wish that there had been more obstacles the two had to overcome, more angst, more emotional tension.
Adam and Mel have separate rooms at the bed and breakfast they stay at to attend a couple’s wedding in Newport, RI. This was a heartwarming and uplifting read. It was an appealing read with intelligent and likeable characters to deserve the HEA they get in the end.
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