I recently had the opportunity to read The Matchup by Laura L. Walker. The Matchup is an LDS romance novel – it talks a lot about being a member of the Mormon church – so it may not interest my non-LDS readers, unless you don’t mind and love reading Mormon stories! 🙂
This isn’t your typical LDS romance story. You know… the guy and girl meet at BYU in their ward, are both active in the church, get engaged in 3 months, get married in the temple, etc… oh wait, that’s how my love story went. 🙂 Still a good story, but a typical Mormon story.
The Matchup takes a recently divorced LDS mom of two (Valerie) and a less active LDS guy (Gage) who know each other from their childhood and puts them together. It’s a cute story and I love that it expresses real concerns that people who are divorced or less active can often feel. Valerie also has a son who is autistic which also brings a different perspective into the story. I know a few people who have autistic children and I appreciated the point of view that it showed to be a mother of an autistic child and how it affects their lives.
This book was a quick read and I loved how the story of Valerie and Gage worked out. It wasn’t overly cheesy and I thought it was well written.
Here’s an excerpt from The Matchup to give you a taste of the book.
The grim line of Gage’s mouth told her all she needed to know about how he felt about missions. He obviously hasn’t come back into the Church, she thought sadly. He was one against the world, a feeling she was very familiar with lately. For some strange reason, the thought made Valerie want to wrap her arms around him.
Which, if course, she would never do.
“What’s wrong, Gage?”
He shrugged as if whatever was bothering him was of no consequence, but Valerie recognized the signs of someone in distress–the averted gaze and loud swallowing. The jawline that was tight enough to crack his teeth.
And although he was obviously trying for a light tone, Valerie didn’t miss the strain in his voice. “I’m just trying to figure a few things out. Mainly, I’ve decided that I need to file for custody of my four-year-old son, but the logistics of that change will be difficult to work around, especially where my job is concerned.”
She hadn’t known that he’d gotten married. No sooner had that thought come when another followed, which formed a sick feeling in her stomach. What if he hadn’t?
You can find The Matchup on Amazon and at Barnes and Noble.