MATCHPOINT – Elise Sax
The Matchmaker Series , Book 2
Ballantine
ISBN-13: 978-0-345-53224-4
August 2013
Contemporary Romance

Cannes, California – Present Day

My name is Gladie Burger, and now that I've moved in with my grandmother, Zelda Burger, I'm learning the business of matchmaking.  Finally, I'm starting to fit into this small town.  All I need is a few new clients to make a love match so I can pay my cell phone bill!

The last time we saw Gladie Burger, she had just solved a murder and made a love match for two people; she then snagged herself not one, but two, new boyfriends: her neighbor, Arthur Holden; and local police chief, Spencer Bolton.  (AN AFFAIR TO DISMEMBER, February 2013).

Gladie's newest client is Belinda Womble.  Belinda is the receptionist for the local dentist, and the state of Gladie's checkbook demands that she tamp down her fear, enter the dentist office, and ignore the pain in her tooth as if it does not exist.  Gladie desperately needs the money Belinda's match will bring, but at this moment, all she wants is for her tooth to stop throbbing.  Belinda, ever the good receptionist, talks her into an appointment with Dr. Dular.  Despite her fears, Gladie allows the doctor's assistant, Nathan, to put her under anesthesia, but when she wakes up, her tooth is still throbbing, and the dentist is deader than a doornail…and missing his face!

Why does this always happen to Gladie?  She's supposed to be taking over Grandma Zelda's matchmaking service, but all Gladie attracts is trouble, not love.  But Gladie would rather be investigating a murder anyway, and she won't be happy until she solves this murder.  Local heartthrob, aka Police Chief Spencer, isn't much help either.  Spencer needs a place to hide, so he chooses Gladie's bedroom!  In explanation, he whines about a revealing post on Facebook that has him on the run.  It seems there are multiple women out for blood—Spencer's!

Spencer warns Gladie to stay out of the dentist's murder investigation, but she has to get involved.  She was there!  Spencer can't do his police chief job because he is hiding in her bedroom, and well, someone has to investigate, and it might as well be Gladie!  Meanwhile, as if there isn't enough trouble in town, they've been invaded by a strange cult of weirdoes who are waiting for the arrival of something, or someone, from outer space.  No one in town is able to figure out what these people want, but they've set up tents just outside town and it looks as though they mean to stay awhile.  As if she doesn't have enough to worry about, Gladie is wondering about her other almost-boyfriend, Arthur Holden, who says he has to disappear for awhile. Gladie really thought they had a connection, but lately Arthur seems to be mad at her.  Now, if only she can get Spencer out of her bedroom, solve this murder, and match Belinda with the love of her life, things will be better (and her checkbook will be so much happier!).

MATCHPOINT brings us back to Cannes, California with its quirky characters keeping us entertained.  While Gladie Burger learns to be a matchmaker, she dabbles as an amateur detective, and romances two men!  Arthur and Spencer are still vying for her attention, but in this novel, Gladie's interest is leaning dangerously toward Holden, even though Spencer has invited himself into her grandmother's house and Gladie's bedroom!  Second in The Matchmaker Series , MATCHPOINT is full of suspense and fun, do not miss it!

Diana Risso