This was a nice, sweet holiday romance. Macy is a matchmaker. Deacon is in town to help his aunt get settled. His aunt happens to be obsessed with love/marriage and wants Deacon to get married. To make his aunt happy and to buy him more time, he hires Macy to setup him up on dates with women who just want a date. He has no intention of settling down and hopes the dates with settle his aunt down.
Of course this being a romance, Deacon is intrigued by Macy and vice versa. They spend a lot of time together and I think you know what happens. I did think aunt Fran was over the top and way too obsessed with marriage. It was cute at first, but quickly got annoying (both her over the top personality and marriage obsession). Macy was a little too perfect. Not bad, but not great.

A slow, sweet, Halmark-esq story that, at times, was too slow. The passion was tame and innocent. If you like romances that don't focus on the sex, this is definitely perfect. I thought the characters could have been stronger, especially Hank. He fell flat a few times. There also wasn’t a lot of emotional tension even though the plot had the possibility of having some great moments of tension. I enjoyed Greer and Ford's story more. They had obstacles to overcome that were believable. This story's conflict wasn’t believable because from the get-go Hank acknowledged to himself that he wanted a second chance with her, but then he was like, 'oh, wait, that means I have to quit being a famous actor, which I gave her up to be in the first place.' He, I guess, assumed she would be ok leaving her life or didn’t think beyond wanting a second chance. He came across as thinking it would happen without working for it, or that he would have to prove to her he was serious, being his choices ten years ago were what broke them up in the first place.  Ella was a stronger character and I am glad that she wasn't willing to give up her dreams or the life she built for herself for a second chance on his terms. I din't however understand how she went from resisting him to taking her clothes off when they played scrabble. It was a sudden change in the plot and I am not sure it worked with how the story was going. I do understand that being the story had to take place in only 1 week that things had to move quickly, I would have preferred to see Hank coming across stronger rather than passive in trying to win Ella. He should have been more assertive. The story did have a cute romantic ending. If you like sweet, almost innocent (or at least not a lot of description) romances this is definitely a good one. The plot was good, I just want more passion and more tension between the characters in order to overcome obstacles and have a happy ever after.

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and to NetGalley for offering me an ARC copy of this novel that I freely chose to review.

Although this is book two in The Two Love Lane series (a series about the owners of a matchmaking agency), I have not read the first one and can confirm it can be enjoyed as a standalone read, although I’m sure that knowing the set-up and the characters would add to the reading experience.

I don’t want to discuss in too much detail the plot, as the description introduces the main characters and some of the main themes. There is  a contest for a wedding dress, that ends up becoming a reality show, an English baron (quite a few of the reviewers have commented that considering his father and his older brother are alive and well, that does not make sense), a nasty store owner and his side-kick who become the villains of the piece (well, perhaps), several side-plots (a designer with an interesting idea and a hidden love story, the background stories of both protagonists and their families, the stories of the other couples involved in the contest, and  a big win at the TV quiz show The Price Is Right), and Charleston. The Charleston of the book is a genteel and lovely place, full of great restaurants, fascinating shops, and lively characters. It is also a welcoming place where people from all over are made to feel at home, and where everybody feels inspired.

Many of the usual tropes and themes of romantic novels are at play here, and also quite a few typical of chick-lit. Greer is alone and very good at finding love for others but not so good at getting finding her own. She is obsessed with creating the perfect wedding, not only for her clients but for herself, and has been collecting wedding scrapbooks since she was a child. Although she is supposed to be the logical one in charge of the technical side of things at the agency and the ever important algorithms, she plunges head first into crazy situations and keeps denying what is plain to see. We have an English nobleman, who is, of course, very attractive and also a talented painter, but needs a muse to find his true art. He’s been jilted at the altar but still offers to play Greer’s fake partner. We have pretend relationships, secrets, will they won’t they, not quite love-at-first-sight, but close enough, and a good cast of secondary characters that all sound interesting enough in their own right (Personally, I’d love to hear more about Miss Thing). Ah, and donuts, cakes, wonderful wedding dresses, intrigue, and misunderstandings galore. There are plenty of fun moments, some sad ones, and some inspiring ones (I was particularly interested in Ford’s struggle to connect with his art), and the book is an easy and light read, although I agree with some reviewers that it tries to pack so many things in that at times it feels too busy, and some of the side-stories deserve more time and development than what they get.

The characters are likable enough (I’ve never been obsessed about weddings, but quite liked Greer’s idea of entering the contest as a single participant), and although the novel stretches our suspension of disbelief on occasions, I don’t think it goes beyond genre expectations. The writing is fluid, with nice local touches and British expressions, and includes descriptions that put readers right in the middle of the action, without overdoing it.

After spending a fair amount of time with the characters, the ending felt a bit rushed, and I agree with reviewers that felt there should have been another chapter to clarify matters (I think we all felt as if they had banged the door on our faces), although perhaps the author has something up her sleeve and it has something to do with the next book. (Let me clarify. It does not end up on a cliff-hanger, but we miss the big event, perhaps because after talking about it so much, it could never have lived up to everyone’s expectations).

A light and fun read, recommended if you need an injection of sun and romance, in a great setting, with many secondary stories to keep you occupied if you easily get bored.

Greer is a partner in a  matchmaking business r and always loved weddings and everything to do with them. She also,loved having people find their true love but she if yet has found hers. Greer even has  scrapbooks of her favorite wedding things for when she gets married.  Greer had a ex that had proposed to her but she had said no and ended the relationship. Now her 3ex was engaged to be married. Greer was at a charity auction and saw a wedding gown called “ Royal Bliss” which is said to bring luck to the owner. Greer felt she had to have that gown and did something she didn’t normally do - got into a bidding war with Pierre who is a failed matchmaker person. Pierre has a vendetta against Greer for the failure of not matching him with someone and Pierre wins the gown. But pierre is having a contest- for publicity and the prize will be the wedding gown. Greer enters the contest even though she isn’t romantically involved with someone. Her ex and his fiance are also entered. Ford is a Baron who is disillusioned about love as he had been engaged about to marry and his fiance was found with a groomsman so Ford was left at the aisle. But Ford is also an artist looking for a muse then he sees greer at the auction and feels he must paint her. Greer and ford make a dead ford be her fake fiance and he could paint her. Greer thinks Ford is a destitute artist.

I enjoyed this book for the most part. I did love Greer and ford together. This was a lighthearted fun romance. I didn’t like that Ford kept his identity a secret but understood. This also made me chuckle at times. This book really does have a little of everything: a charity auction , a bidding war, a disgruntled unmatchable man, a vendetta, a magical wedding gown, a fake engagement, an artist, adeal, drunk frat boys, going to the Price Is right tv show, drama, humor, seeing the ex, and so much more. But this was a little too busy at times for me. I also felt the ending was rushed. But that wasn't enough for me not to like this book and i loved the characters and the ins and outs and I recommend.

A Wedding At Two Love Lane by Kieran Kramer is book Two in the "Two Love Lane" series.  This is the story of Greer Jones and Stanford Elliott Wentworth Smythe, the Eighth Baron of Wickshire aka Ford Smith.   I have read the previous book but feel this is easily a standalone book.
Greer and her friend run a match making/dating agency business.  Although Greer was once engaged she never found that spark with him or any other man.  But she always had a dream book filled with wedding wishes and stuff.  One day at an auction she spies the dream wedding dress and goes into a biding war but looses it.  Then she finds out the new owner will be doing a contest for the winner to get the dress.  Greer happens to meet Ford who she thinks is a poor fellow and sets in motion a pretend engagement to help set in motion her chances of winning the dress.
Ford has just recently gotten out of a bad relationship where the women was just out for his money, has distrust in women now.  So when he first meets Greer he thinks she is just another women out to get something and doesn't tell her who he really is.   But the more he gets to know her the more he is finding out he was wrong....but how will she take the truth of his true self?