Perfectly Matched ~ Review

Perfectly Matched
The Blue Willow Brides #3
By Maggie Brendan

Perfectly Matched is the third book in The Blue Willow Brides series.  This book follows Anna Olsen as she marries a man whom she has met only in letters when he advertised for a mail-order bride. Leaving the comfort of what she has known behind Anna travels to Denver where she weds Edward Parker.

But can two such different people who don't really know one another truly ever become a harmonious couple?  Anna's youthful caring heart is about disrupt Edward's orderly world in a way he never expected.  Her exuberant spirit both attracts and distracts him.  While his orderly structure annoys Anna especially when it is presented in a list of expected daily duties and chores the moment she enters her new home.

When Anna finds a need in Denver she decides this is the mission that has been given her.  But Edward doesn't want any animals in his home much less the entire stray population that roams the city streets. Is there any hope of compromise and a happy understanding?

Perfectly Matched has Anna bringing the ASPCA to Denver as she attempts to be a champion for the abandoned and abused animals of Denver.  Along the way she makes friends who help her with her endeavor and she learns the value of give-and-take in marriage.

I have to say what I liked best in Perfectly Matched were some of Anna's antics like playing peeping-tom on the neighbors and her first suggestion for the literary circle's reading selection.  Though she's impetuous Anna has a caring heart, and I'm sure when she gets a little age and experience (after all she's 18) she'd be an outstanding person in everything she puts her mind to after giving it careful thought.  Edward and Anna need each other to balance one another and to draw out what each lacks in themselves - thus they are Perfectly Matched.

I love the cover of this book with the Blue Willow design in the background and Anna's lacy blouse / dress is so lovely with the Battenberg lace.  The cover alone would have convinced me to review this title, if I hadn't read Maggie Brendan's previous Blue Willow Brides title.

There was a little too much intimacy in the book to suit my personal reading preferences so I was a little disappointed in this book.  Maybe there should have been a little pre-wedding story before the wedding.  I really liked the previous two titles in this series so I was a little surprised with this book.

I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

Available October 2013 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.


About the Book:

His life runs like clockwork.  Hers is a spontaneous adventure.  

But God's timing is always perfect.

Anna Olsen knows it's time to leave her sister's increasingly crowded house and start a life of her own. Following both sisters' examples, she becomes a mail-order bride, and after a short correspondence with clock maker and jeweler Edward Parker, she moves to Denver to become his wife.

Almost immediately it's painfully apparent that Anna and Edward are very different. Anna is a free spirit who would rather be painting and enjoying the company of friends than cleaning house. Edward is a consummate perfectionist who, on their wedding day, hands Anna a list of chores that need to be done around the house daily.

Can this mismatched couple see past their differences to a harmonious future? Or will their disparate passions create obstacles neither is willing to surmount?