Heartstrings and Diamond Rings by Jane Graves is a nice, light, contemporary romance. Our heroine Alison Carter is a 31 year old who works in the marketing department for a sweets company. She lives in her condo with her three cats – one less than the required amount to be a crazy cat lady. All she wants to do is to settle down, get married, and start a family. Unfortunately, Alison has been unlucky in love. Brandon Scott, a real estate investor down on his luck recently inherited his grandmother’s matchmaking business. He decides to give it a go to earn some much needed cash for his next deal. Did I mention that Brandon is also very handsome?Around the same time, Alison decides that she will use a professional matchmaking service. She is surprised to find Brandon as the matchmaker. Alison is a trusting sort of person and she decides to use Brandon’s services to find a potential husband. The results are hilarious. You see, Brandon doesn’t really know what he’s doing and he doesn’t properly vet the dates. Alison’s dates are disastrous. The man who worked in pharmaceuticals was a drug dealer. The man looking for Mrs. Right still pined for his ex-wife and so on….It was so easy to relate to Alison, even if I haven’t had her issues with love. Alison is just a normal girl, normal sized, with a weakness for chocolate. I loved how she rationalized her chocolate habit. I’ve so done that! I felt so bad for her when her dates ended badly. I loved how Brandon started falling in love with Alison. Brandon was torn between being a professional matchmaker and admitting his true feelings for Alison. This is a sweet romance with lots of hilarious moments. The supporting characters are entertaining and I liked the little side romance for Alison’s father. Yes, it is a little predictable, but it was an enjoyable read. I have never read this author’s books before. Now I’ll be on the lookout for more of her books. Review posted on Badass Book Reviews.
