Review: The Perfect Match by Matt Burlingame

Leaving his life in New York City behind, 33 year old Ira Hughes has moved back into his childhood home to help care for his ailing father. His overbearing mother quickly guilts him into looking after her interests in the family curio shop. That means dealing with her business partner Colton McCabe, the bully who made Ira's teen years a living hell. Ira is now forced to confront painful memories from his past. As he watches his father fight for his life, and his relationship with his mother become even more strained, he begins to find unexpected comfort in his time with Colton. Could it be that Colton is not the high school horror he used to be? Is the bane of his youth now becoming the love of his life?

Oh yay, oh yay - my first foray into Christmas cheer for the year and it was a winner! 

I'm am a Christmas story junkie. I devour them by the Kindle load (other e-readers are available) and they get me nicely in the mood for the festive season! There is a certain comfort to a Christmas story that I adore as much as my pyjamas and a nice cuppa - and this book ticked all the boxes.

Ira is the kind of good-guy character I love. Selfless but not a push over; hardworking but not a dweeb... he is just right for a seasonal story. At times I wondered at his relationship with his mum, for a clever lady she seemed rather ignorant and, well, rather nasty if I'm honest. I admired Ira for the way he dealt with her - she was very unlikable a lot of the time. Mostly I liked how he gave Colton a chance despite their formative years.

Colton was lucky. He got to move on with his life despite his bullying ways during high school. I like how the author managed to help the reader understand the bully without giving him a free pass. Colton had moved on from the teenager he once was. Understandably it was hard for Ira to completely understand this, or to trust this but he gave Colton a chance. Colton was trying to make ammends, he was trying to be a better person and I genuinely like how this was portrayed.

This is a great feel-good story about Christmas and giving. It's about help and forgiveness... but it isn't about being a pushover or accepting excuses. I really enjoyed this and if, like me, you like all things festive I'd definitely add this to your reading pile

A copy of this book was given in exchange for an honest review.
For more information see Goodreads.