BOOK REVIEW: MERRY & BRIGHT, BY DEBBIE MACOMBER

 

Merry Knight is pretty busy these days. She’s taking care of her family, baking cookies, decorating for the holidays, and hoping to stay out of the crosshairs of her stressed and by-the-book boss at the consulting firm where she temps. Her own social life is the last thing she has in mind, much less a man. Without her knowledge, Merry’s well-meaning mom and brother create an online dating profile for her—minus her photo—and the matches start rolling in. Initially, Merry is incredulous, but she reluctantly decides to give it a whirl.

Soon Merry finds herself chatting with a charming stranger, a man with similar interests and an unmistakably kind soul. Their online exchanges become the brightest part of her day. But meeting face-to-face is altogether different, and her special friend is the last person Merry expects—or desires. Still, sometimes hearts can see what our eyes cannot. In this satisfying seasonal tale, unanticipated love is only a click away.

 

My Thoughts: From the first page of Merry and Bright, I was swept away into this romantic tale of finding love in the 21st Century, with online dating sites proliferating all around.

I also enjoyed the play on the characters’ names: Merry Knight works for Jayson Bright…and their worlds could not be more different. At work, he seems cranky and stressed and a little bit annoying, with his stick-to-the-rules regime.

After her mother and brother create an online profile for Merry, she finds herself connecting and regularly chatting with someone named Jay…who, coincidentally, also shows his dog as his profile photo.

What will happen when the two decide to meet? Merry can’t believe what she discovers as she approaches the Starbucks meeting place. How could she have been so naïve?

In the rest of the story, we see how misunderstandings, near misses, and unexpected events bring them to a point of reexamining what they thought they knew. Delightful holiday feels in a setting I love: Seattle. 4.5 stars.***