An Overdue Match

January 1, 2025

Evangeline wears her librarian uniform, including a pencil skirt, book themed t-shirt, and high tops, like a suit of armor--just daring patrons to try and slip damaged materials through her book return in Little Creek, TN. Eschewing a heroine arc for herself, she secretly tries to play matchmaker to single patrons with similar reading interests. When tattoo artist Tai, Little Creek's resident bad boy, offers to help her in exchange for a few dates, Evangeline fears her deepest secret will be revealed: the most important piece of her daily armor is a wig, defending her against stares due to her alopecia. VERDICT Lovingly poking fun at a variety of romance tropes, Monzon (All's Fair in Love and Christmas) delivers all the swoony feels, along with a message about true beauty and God's pursuing love, timely in an age of toxic social media comparison traps. Readers will be eager for more books about Little Creek's side characters and appreciate the zany situations similar to those in the work of Melissa Ferguson and Becca Kinzer.

Copyright 2025 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 9, 2024
A librarian becomes the heroine of her own story in this frothy contemporary from Monzon (All’s Fair in Love and Christmas). Six months after losing her hair from alopecia—and being dumped by her fiancé as a result—Evangeline Kelly seeks a fresh start in Little Creek, Tenn. Determined to avoid getting hurt, she dodges the advances of rugged tattoo artist Tai Davis, turning her attention instead to matchmaking locals based on their reading habits. When it turns out that one of the men she’s trying to set up is already engaged, Tai proposes a deal: he’ll give Evangeline the inside scoop on the locals if she’ll go out with him. She reluctantly agrees, and as they bond over books and their faith, Evangeline realizes that her own skin-deep judgments—like the assumption that tatted-up Tai isn’t a “man of God”—are dashing her chances for love and happiness. The chemistry between the two flawed yet lovable leads sizzles, propelling the plot toward its sweet if predictable conclusion. Readers will be charmed.