Read the matchmaker's story to find out where it all starts . . .Mae Li has been in love with Chen Zhu for years, and he with her. But when the matchmaker arrives at the Zhu family home, she recommends another village girl for Chen. Heartbroken, Mae Li watches as Chen does his duty by marrying another. Mae flees her village with the clothes on her back and her only possession-a pearl embedded comb, given to her as a goodbye gift from Chen Zhu. Upon Mae's arrival in Shanghai, she quickly learns that she'll starve within days unless she sells her prized comb or joins a courtesan house. She goes to the Huangpu River and promises the River God that she'll always be selfless if he will save her from becoming a prostitute . . . Her wish is granted when Ms. Tan, the matchmaker of Shanghai, finds Mae. But Mae must completely change her future and her name if she is to become the next matchmaker.
Remember back almost a year ago when we first talked about this series, where one book was to be published each month in 2016? Well, it's now 2017, folks, and that means that all 12 of Power of the Matchmaker books are out! Happy dance! Each novel is written by a different author and they take place in a variety of time periods and locations. The one thing they all have in common, however, is the matchmaker Pearl, formerly known as Mae Li. If you need a refresher, read the novella and then be prepared to go on a fabulous journey through all 12 of the Power of the Matchmaker novels.
If I had the luxury of spending a few days relaxing on the beach with no one to bother me, unless I chose to be bothered, I would take all 12 of the Power of the Matchmaker novels, a cooler of Godiva chocolates, Cheetos, and Coke Zero and go into complete escape/relaxation/bliss out mode.
I wanna come with you. Please. Now.
Seriously, I'm one inch from getting in the car. But what I must say to you (before I decide whether to stay in this frozen tundra wherein I live or to go on the lam from adulting with Bubby) is that the Power of the Matchmaker novels need to be on your reading list right now. I mean it. Go buy them. Give yourself a lovely no-calorie treat. Happy Spring!Happy Spring? There's a foot and a half of snow outside and more on the way. I've come to believe that spring is now just a myth. Let's go get in the car and head west.
It is March, dangit. That means it's spring. There's a flower under the snow and mud in my yard, I'm sure. Now spring on out there and read these books! (All listed below!).Celia is in desperate need of a change-a change of scenery, a change of pace, and a complete redo of all relationships. Not knowing what else to do, she opens a map, closes her eyes, and lets fate decide her future. Then she packs her meager belongings and buys a one-way ticket to a little town on the fringes of Oregon's Deschutes National Forest called Sisters. She's wanted a family for years. Will she find one in Sisters?
What Celia doesn't plan to find is a strange Chinese woman whose meddling ways keep throwing her in the path of a handsome, but reserved, forest ranger. But no matter how kind or dependable Silas seems to be, there are some things in Celia's past that neither of them can escape, and this time, the damage might be too much to mend.
Lani has lived in Hana, Hawaii for five years. She's learned to surf, fish, dive, and manage her grandmother's bed and breakfast. She's also learned to take one day at a time the way it should be taken-relaxed and unrushed, savoring every moment.
But, like a large wave on the brink of breaking, her life is about to crash out of control. A proposal of marriage, a conniving grandmother, a cryptic Asian woman, and a handsome guest, and suddenly everything calm begins to churn, everything clear becomes confused, and all that was normal segues into peculiar.
As Lani struggles against the current to hold her ground, she realizes that she can either continue to fight and eventually lose, or take a take a leap of faith, hold her breath, and ride the wave wherever it takes her.
NYU freshman Nate Anderson is a triplet who is desperate to escape his wild and crazy brothers. After they screw things up for him one too many times, Nate flees his housing situation and takes the first available room for rent as far from his brothers as he can get.
Enter his new roommate Jordan-a quirky LA girl who believes that everything in life has already been done in the movies. In this heartfelt tale of love, friendship and family, Nate learns how to deal with his new adult life using Hollywood films as a guide.
Nelle Thompson lives a life of privilege during the turn of the century New York City. When her parents are killed in a terrible accident, she's forced to live with her aunt's family in a small town in Connecticut, and treated as a poor relation with no financial independence. Broken hearted and riddled with insomnia, Nelle's health begins a downward spiral. When a locked part of her heart blossoms around her cousin's fiancé Mathew Janson, Nelle doesn't know if she can endure one more heartbreak. Miss Pearl, owner of the local apothecary shop, becomes a mother figure to Nelle, but a fateful summer day has Nelle questioning everything she's ever believed and wondering if she'll ever love again.
Every time Andra Stone crosses paths with Everett Covington, trouble follows. First she loses her scholarship, then she loses the apartment she'd wanted more than anything. But tragedy hits hardest when she loses her grandmother-the best friend Andra has ever known. She determines that Everett is a talisman of ill fortune. When Everett comes to work in her hospital and is applying for the same position she'd been working toward since residency, Andra believes him to be her personal poltergeist.
The human heart has four chambers-four chances to get it right. Andra has only one chance left.
Irish heiress Caroline Fulton knows this house party, ostensibly celebrating the victory of Waterloo, is really an audition: will she make a suitable wife? Her host, an English lord, has already won over her father, who's determined to buy a title with Caroline's dowry. She is far from taken with the baron, however, especially once she meets Niall Doherty, the impoverished, perceptive tutor to her host's younger brothers. He shares her love of Irish fairy tales and seems to guard a troubled past...but neither quality will earn Caroline's father's approval.
My sisters think I'm crazy. But, I've never forgotten the mysterious woman from my childhood who told me Paul is the name of my one true love.
She told me to search far and wide for him. I haven't stopped looking ever since. When I stumble across an article about a successful American entrepreneur named Paul who lives and works in China, I'm intrigued. When the opportunity to teach English in China presents itself on the same day, I know it's not a coincidence. It's destiny. My sisters say I'm chasing a dream. Just like the fireflies we tried to catch on the warm summer evenings of our youth, the dream seems beyond my grasp. Will my quest for the elusive Paul always be just short of fulfillment? My sisters tell me it's a fool's errand. Until I remind them of the day we saw the Red Bird. The memory silences them. The Red Bird Incident remains inarguable-and proves my search for Paul is not a silly fantasy. I will find Paul . . . I will.
August
Cassandra Webb's every waking minute is devoted to being a great mother and wife. She takes five-year-old Noah to the library each week, volunteers in his kindergarten class, and even coaches his soccer team. She makes sure her husband's uniforms are always laundered-even though he hasn't worn them the last six years-always has his game day snacks on hand, and meets him for date night every Friday-which consists of one sided conversations at his bedside and watching his favorite take out remain untouched.
Pearl, a mysterious visitor at the care center, suggests that it is only Cassie's love still tying Devon to Earth when he has been ready to move onto Heaven for quite some time. If Cassie will but open her eyes and heart, she will discover the path she should travel, one that will bring relief to Devon and much joy to her own life. But Cassie vowed never to give up on him. She never has and she can't now, even after meeting hapless, single soccer-dad Matt.
September
Esme Taylor has an amazing fiancé, a lifelong best friend, and a problem. The problem stems from the fact that her best friend is named Hunter and, well. . .he's kind of (totally) hot. It's hate at first sight when her fiancé, Jon, and Hunter meet. Jon's convinced that Hunter is in love with Esme, and that Hunter must be out of the picture if their upcoming marriage is to succeed. Esme thinks Jon is paranoid. The truth is, Jon's not that far off.
Hunter is in love with his best friend and always has been. What Jon has wrong, however, is that Hunter never had any plans of ruining Esme's happily ever after. Hunter wants what's best for Esme, even if that's not him. When Jon pushes hard to end Esme and Hunter's friendship, opposition comes from the most unlikely of places. It's an eccentric lady with a cookie cart who suggests a different solution to Esme's problem: Hunter and Esme should give each other a chance. They've both thought of the possibility over the years-of course they have.
But with a ring already on Esme's finger and a heap of hurt feelings and broken trust in the mix, there hasn't been a worse time to explore the depths of their feelings for each other. Both Esme and Hunter think it's time to move on and leave childhood crushes in the past. The question is: Can one woman and the taste of one cookie change their minds?
Eve Brannon never had to bother planning out her future. In the Yorkshire dales where life is harder, it is also simpler. Next in line to inherit her family's farm, she will raise another generation of children and sheep high in the uplands of England. Waiting until next year when she is 19 to marry her father's handsome hired hand, Alan, is the detail she added herself.
But in 1939 even the most stalwart corners of the world are vibrating with the tremors of change. Eve's long-anticipated proposal comes on the wings of losing Alan to the Royal Army and at the brink of the farm's profitable war years the sheep herd is decimated by a mysterious illness. With her steady future suddenly in the clutches of a capricious fate, Eve is introduced to Jonathon Doran, a land manager anxious to prove himself in a crisis, and she discovers that the solid earth beneath her feet is moving after all.
November
Back in college, Marco Winslow never thought of Belle as anything more than a friend. If she crossed his mind on his wedding day, it was probably only to wonder why she hadn't shown up to be a bridesmaid. After all, his new wife had been her roommate.
Six years have passed since then, and Belle just found out that Marco is divorced and vacationing with his parents in a Cancun resort. She's not about to let the right man get away twice. She heads to the resort where she plans to casually bump into Marco and ignite some flames.
But Belle hadn't planned on one thing: Flynn Winslow, Marco's handsome, charming, and determined older brother. Flynn thinks Marco and his ex-wife can make amends and he's not about to let Belle stand in the way.
December
Mary Buchanan has bigger worries than the radical journalist moving in next door who's spoiling her father's digestion: unrequited love for a footman, a fractious aunt, patiently awaiting her destiny...
Already she's nearly eighteen. No sign of destiny yet, but Mary's certain he'll be handsome.
Then she meets the reformer, this Mr. Samuel Brown. Destiny is closer at hand than Mary has supposed-if she can just get Mr. Brown to realize it.