Anna Madison is in a dilemma. Her beloved Fireside café
burned down. Added to that, she is in deep debt because
of investing in her late father's book shop to keep it
afloat and expanding it into a café with coffee and baked
goods. She cannot afford the loss of income from the main
café. The only way to stay afloat is to keep the Annex
supplied with goodies and for that she needs a large
kitchen.
The only available kitchen belongs to Mark Hastings'
diner from across the street. The problem lies in the
fact that Mark is Anna's ex; her one true love who no one
in Briar Creek knows about and one who broke her heart
back in culinary school, seven years ago. Mark on the
other hand, regrets nothing more than letting Anna go
back then and shattering her heart but he still firmly
beliefs he was right in his decision. Still Anna was once
his best friend and he longs for that friendship more
than anything else. The kitchen wars are on with a
meddling aunt determined to be a matchmaker between Anna
and Mark and a culinary competition three weeks away
which can set them free from all the debts and get their
plans in motion if they win it as a team.
A MATCH MADE ON MAIN STREET did not live up to its blurb.
In fact I found the blurb pretty misleading. For one
thing, the café's name is wrong, another thing is instead
of looking at the café burning down as a way of starting
fresh she is very very worried about the debts and how to
keep everything from drowning till the café is back up. I
understand her concern but as I said the blurb misleads.
Also Mark just wants to get their relationship back to
cordial friendship rather than blatant ignoring. He has
not even entered the Fireside café once in six years
despite it belonging to his mother and being his father's
legacy because he knew Anna will not like it. He still
believes she deserves more than he can give her.
Apart from the blurb issue, A MATCH MADE ON MAIN STREET
is an okay read. Nothing memorable. I had a hard time
liking Anna. She is one stubborn fool who would rather
bake in her tiny kitchen than in a big diner one just to
avoid Mark, would rather go bankrupt than admit to her
sister for help or change a recipe they practiced even
though she knew Mark is an instinctive cook which made
him top of his class. She takes the heartbreak way too
far compared to her sister who is going through a divorce
from her childhood sweetheart. Mark's reasoning for
leaving Anna could have been solved long ago if he had
ever confronted his mother or she had thought to confide
in her kids the reason behind their father's leaving. The
story felt dragged at times, too many characters in
between, some with their own side story. The romance felt
a bit forced with not much chemistry.
This kitchen isn't big enough for both of them . .
.
If there's anything Anna Madison knows,
it's how to turn life's lemons into a lemonade cocktail
served in a vintage glass. So when her beloved Briar Creek
café burns down, she sees it as an opportunity to start
fresh. But the only kitchen available to her is in the diner
down the street-owned by her sinfully sexy ex.
If
Anna thinks she can take over his greasy-spoon kitchen with
her high-end cuisine, Mark Hastings is about to set her
straight fast. Their breakup is his biggest regret-not that
he'll ever admit it to her. Nope, he'd rather show her
exactly what she's been missing. With desire set on a high
simmer, their menu is about to get a whole lot spicier . . .