Beach Reads and Deadly Deads by Allison Brennan

I recently learned the term cozy mysteries and I think it might be my new favourite genre for the next little bit.  Beach Reads and Deadly Deads certainly fits into that cozy mystery.  I'm not sure the true definition but for me it means murder and mystery without the blood and guts and maybe a love story on the side.

Beach Deads and Deadly Deads follows the story of Mia.  She's just arrived on the island of St Clair for a much needed vacation - mandated by her boss.  Just shy of her 30th birthday and she doesn't remember the last time she took time off.  She's also about to commit to becoming an owner of the accounting firm she works for and once she does that there will be no vacations ever.  So with a promise to relax and enjoy she steps on to the island of St Clair with the news a previous resort guest has gone missing.

Mia has read enough mystery novels that she figures herself part sleuth.  Also, it's hard to relax until she knows what happened to the woman who went missing - maybe she was murdered.  Intent to solve the mystery and also have a one night stand, Mia engages in conversation with everyone she crosses and there sure are a lot of mysterious people staying at the resort.

I really enjoyed this novel.  My first read by Allison Brennan even though she already has many titles.  I gave it 4 stars but I think I could move that to 4.5 if Goodreads would only allow half stars.  I would recommend this to anyone who thinks they only like romance novels and are ready for a change.  I will also note that I saw someone's comment on Goodreads that they didn't finish the book because of profanity and I would say that I barely noticed any profanity.  

The Matchmaker by Elin Hilderbrand

Dabney Kimball Beech works for the Nantucket Chamber of Commerce and she loves everything about the island.  The residents of Nantucket all think quite highly of Dabney too.  Dabney is responsible for matching 42 couples which gives her the well deserved title of matchmaker.  Sadly, as great a matchmaker as Dabney is, she let her own true love match slip away.  Clendenin Hughes was Dabney's true love match but he left the island to pursue a journalism career 27 years ago.  Although Dabney has moved on with her life Clen still holds a large piece of her heart.  

After years of silence between the two, the story begins with Clen emailing Dabney to let her know that he's decided to move back to Nantucket.  The moment Clen arrives back on the island Dabney begins to feel unwell and she is convinced it’s simply heartache.  To complicate matters, she is terrified of leaving the island and can’t get the courage to go to Boston for the medical tests to confirm her self diagnosis.  Her fear of leaving Nantucket is what cost her to lose Clen in the first place.  Between not feeling well and all the lies she is telling Dabney is having a hard time keeping it all together.  As Dabney begins to unravel she continues to keep matching friends and family with their true loves.

The Matchmaker by Elin Hilderbrand is a story filled with true love but a fair amount of heartache as well.  Like most, if not all, Elin Hildebrand novels, the setting for The Matchmaker is once again the beautiful island of Nantucket.  The setting descriptions will make you wish you were lying on a beach.  The Matchmaker is a perfect summer read.