Review: Heartstrings and Diamond Rings by Jane Graves

Heartstrings and Diamond Rings
by Jane Graves
Mass Market Paperback, 400 pages
Published September 27th 2011 by Grand Central Publishing
ISBN 0446568481 
Courtesy of Publisher

HE'S THE MAN OF HER DREAMS . . . 
In a world full of frogs, Alison Carter is determined to find her prince. Maybe her dating past is more Titanic than Love Boat, but she's seen enough happy marriages to know that true love is possible. No matter what, she won't give up on happily-ever-after. If she can't find Mr. Right, she'll simply hire someone who can. 
SHE JUST DOESN'T KNOW IT YET 
When Brandon Scott inherits a successful matchmaking business, he thinks his prayers have been answered. Set up a few lonely ladies, collect the fee, how hard can it be? No one needs to know he's not really a professional matchmaker-especially not his first client, the beautiful, spirited Alison. Soon he's falling for her-and her dreams of kids and carpools. But Alison is getting close to figuring out his secret, and if she learns he's deceived her too, she'll walk right out the door, taking Brandon's heart with her.

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My Thoughts:
Heartstrings and Diamond Rings was a cute and funny romance about a Alison Carter, a lady unlucky in love having visions of a cat lady future, and Brandon Scott, a down-on-his-luck real estate flipper struggling in today’s economy who takes a con in his late grandmothers match making business to earn him enough money for his next flip. 

When Allison walks into 'Matchmaking by Rochelle' she expects an elderly lady, not a man that resembles her every wet fantasy. Skeptical at first about a male matchmaker Allison eventual caves and let’s Brandon match her up with three different men, and the dates from hell begin. Just when Brandon’s about to make the money he needs to leave town and start his new deal, and when Allison thinks she’s finally found a man she can have a future with, Brandon realizes that he’s the perfect match for Allison. Is it too late though? And will Allison ever be able to forgive him when she finds out about his deception?


Heartstrings and Diamond Rings had a wonderful cast of characters that were both humorous and likeable. I really liked Brandon as a main character even though he wasn’t entirely truthful, his character had dept and dimension. However, Allison wasn’t a favorite of mine. I didn’t like how she was content with just settling out of her fear of being alone and she was written as having low self esteem but some of her actions contradicted that; her clothing choices, minor comments, ect. I did enjoy the dialogue between these two though, it was witty and entertaining.  
The romance between Brandon and Allison was slow to develop and in-turn slowed the whole plot down for me, though I thought it was a fresh breath for the gengre how these two became friends first before getting romantically involved. There were several steamy scenes that I enjoyed between the pair but the story was pretty predictable. 


Overall Heartstrings and Diamond Rings was a good contemporary romance that was easy to read. It’s nice every now and then to take your time with a book instead of the suspense being so built up you can’t take a break from it.

Rating: 3.5 Wine Glasses - Good, not great

Sexual Content: Somewhat steamy, a few sex scenes but didn't really get my blood flowing.