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Misty Meadow Matchmakers #1
Spirit of Love
2026 National Indie Excellence Award winner for Romantic Comedy
Welcome to the Misty Meadow Inn. Come for the matchmaking and memories. Stay for the hauntings and hijinks.
Maya Richards is up to her eyeballs in problems. Not only is the current crop of singles attending her inn’s week-long matchmaking event shaping up to be a doozy—who brings a taxidermied cat and a sock puppet to a matchmaking event?—but the new guest is trouble with a capital T.
Davis Holloway is a man on a mission—scout Cloverfield, Virginia for a new resort and get out of the annoying small town as fast as possible. Joining the Misty Meadow Inn’s Singles Mingle week definitely isn’t on his agenda. He’s got enough to deal with without mixing with those weirdos.
Unfortunately for Maya and Davis, the inn’s matchmaking ghost sees them as his latest target. And the Major doesn’t play fair when it comes to soulmates.
Between supernatural lockdowns and fuzzy handcuffs, Maya and Davis need to do something to avoid additional ghostly shenanigans. Faking a relationship seems just crazy enough to work!
But as fake dating turns into real feelings, will the truth about Davis’s job destroy their budding relationship? Or will he and Maya find their happily ever after?
If you like small-town Romcoms with fake dating, matchmaking ghosts, and a host of oddball characters, you’ll swoon for Spirit of Love!
Welcome to the Misty Meadow Inn. Come for the matchmaking and memories. Stay for the hauntings and hijinks.
Maya Richards is up to her eyeballs in problems. Not only is the current crop of singles attending her inn’s week-long matchmaking event shaping up to be a doozy—who brings a taxidermied cat and a sock puppet to a matchmaking event?—but the new guest is trouble with a capital T.
Davis Holloway is a man on a mission—scout Cloverfield, Virginia for a new resort and get out of the annoying small town as fast as possible. Joining the Misty Meadow Inn’s Singles Mingle week definitely isn’t on his agenda. He’s got enough to deal with without mixing with those weirdos.
Unfortunately for Maya and Davis, the inn’s matchmaking ghost sees them as his latest target. And the Major doesn’t play fair when it comes to soulmates.
Between supernatural lockdowns and fuzzy handcuffs, Maya and Davis need to do something to avoid additional ghostly shenanigans. Faking a relationship seems just crazy enough to work!
But as fake dating turns into real feelings, will the truth about Davis’s job destroy their budding relationship? Or will he and Maya find their happily ever after?
If you like small-town Romcoms with fake dating, matchmaking ghosts, and a host of oddball characters, you’ll swoon for Spirit of Love!
- GenresRomance
468 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 13, 2026
About the author
Roseanne Beck
11 books74 followersRoseanne Beck is an award-winning author of Romantic Comedies whose writing style has been characterized as “witty and funny and a little bit sexy.”
She loves to make things awkward for her characters, and her stories tend to feature strong, flawed women, injured men, and a hint of the paranormal.
Physician by day, she uses a mixture of writing, laughter, and 80s music to help relieve stress.
*2019 National Indie Excellence Award winner for Romantic Comedy*
*A 2019 Readers’ Favorite Silver Medal winner for Chick Lit*
*5-star Readers’ Favorite Romantic Comedies*
Find her at
https://twitter.com/RBeckWrites
https://www.facebook.com/RoseanneBeck...
https://www.bookbub.com/profile/rosea...
She loves to make things awkward for her characters, and her stories tend to feature strong, flawed women, injured men, and a hint of the paranormal.
Physician by day, she uses a mixture of writing, laughter, and 80s music to help relieve stress.
*2019 National Indie Excellence Award winner for Romantic Comedy*
*A 2019 Readers’ Favorite Silver Medal winner for Chick Lit*
*5-star Readers’ Favorite Romantic Comedies*
Find her at
https://twitter.com/RBeckWrites
https://www.facebook.com/RoseanneBeck...
https://www.bookbub.com/profile/rosea...
Ratings & Reviews
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
January 14, 2026
What a fun, humorous, sweet, cozy read! Enjoyed the characters - both two legged as well as four! The author does a nice job of bringing light romance together with humor (I had a few laugh out loud moments) and adversity. Learning to trust and to forgive in love. Well done - I look forward to the next book in this series!
January 21, 2026
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly with a bit of The Beguiled
The Good:
I've read all of Roseanne's books, and this one contains all the quirky humor I've come to expect from her. I loved the crazy way Maya and Davis came together after a matchmaking ghost locked them into Davis's quarters and then into a pantry. I also thought Davis's struggles to get some needed paperwork turned in was pretty funny, including having to get them signed by a mayor (Fuzz) who happened to be a goat. All the characters were definitely unique to say the least, and they made the story more enjoyable.
The Bad:
As an author/editor myself, I couldn't help but notice that in this book, Roseanne seemed to have been in too much of a hurry to write the book or didn't have a good editor. It was riddled with errors. The first thing I noticed was an aversion to the verb "had"; first instance, "this wasn't the first time they had this conversation"--should have been "this wasn't the first time they'd (they had) had this conversation", and I found many more instances throughout the whole book. On or around page 10 (I read the eBook version) the same phrase beginning with "her chest still tightened..." is repeated twice. On or around page 22, Maya's "brain cells were having difficulty firing." (Should be "neurons".) There are also instances where words seem to be turned around, words are left out, etc. etc., and as I got further into the book, I found the word "damn" both overused and misused many, many times. (It should have been "damned" instead of "damn" in most of the cases where it was misused.)
Beyond the obvious mechanical errors, were things like the ghost was "named" the Major. Roseanne should have given him an actual name; "Major" is a title. Chapter 2 is almost all Davis's backstory, which made it pretty heavy reading, and there is a place where it seems a whole paragraph is missing. And more...
The ugly:
What I really didn't like was the fish slapping incident after poor Davis had already fallen into a hole running from Norma, the goat, had torn his meniscus and had suffered through having to show the mayor, Fuzz, (another goat) around town. Too be weirdly slapped by a fish just seemed like a bit too much slapstick.
The other thing I didn't like, which I felt was unseemly for a business owner, was that Maya got drunk more than once. I felt it was okay in the case of having to deal with her ex, but...
A bit of The Beguiled:
The Major, the Union soldier ghost, is a beguiling character once you see past his pranks, and it's pretty awesome that he is only visible to soulmates. This book could have used quite a bit more polishing, which was why I only gave it four stars, but it's still a very enjoyable read, and as always, I look forward to Roseanne's next book in the series.
The Good:
I've read all of Roseanne's books, and this one contains all the quirky humor I've come to expect from her. I loved the crazy way Maya and Davis came together after a matchmaking ghost locked them into Davis's quarters and then into a pantry. I also thought Davis's struggles to get some needed paperwork turned in was pretty funny, including having to get them signed by a mayor (Fuzz) who happened to be a goat. All the characters were definitely unique to say the least, and they made the story more enjoyable.
The Bad:
As an author/editor myself, I couldn't help but notice that in this book, Roseanne seemed to have been in too much of a hurry to write the book or didn't have a good editor. It was riddled with errors. The first thing I noticed was an aversion to the verb "had"; first instance, "this wasn't the first time they had this conversation"--should have been "this wasn't the first time they'd (they had) had this conversation", and I found many more instances throughout the whole book. On or around page 10 (I read the eBook version) the same phrase beginning with "her chest still tightened..." is repeated twice. On or around page 22, Maya's "brain cells were having difficulty firing." (Should be "neurons".) There are also instances where words seem to be turned around, words are left out, etc. etc., and as I got further into the book, I found the word "damn" both overused and misused many, many times. (It should have been "damned" instead of "damn" in most of the cases where it was misused.)
Beyond the obvious mechanical errors, were things like the ghost was "named" the Major. Roseanne should have given him an actual name; "Major" is a title. Chapter 2 is almost all Davis's backstory, which made it pretty heavy reading, and there is a place where it seems a whole paragraph is missing. And more...
The ugly:
What I really didn't like was the fish slapping incident after poor Davis had already fallen into a hole running from Norma, the goat, had torn his meniscus and had suffered through having to show the mayor, Fuzz, (another goat) around town. Too be weirdly slapped by a fish just seemed like a bit too much slapstick.
The other thing I didn't like, which I felt was unseemly for a business owner, was that Maya got drunk more than once. I felt it was okay in the case of having to deal with her ex, but...
A bit of The Beguiled:
The Major, the Union soldier ghost, is a beguiling character once you see past his pranks, and it's pretty awesome that he is only visible to soulmates. This book could have used quite a bit more polishing, which was why I only gave it four stars, but it's still a very enjoyable read, and as always, I look forward to Roseanne's next book in the series.
January 23, 2026
This is such a fun story! And there are parts that just made me howl with laughter. Maya was dumped and has pretty much sworn off men, while Davis is hyperfocused on advancing at work so he can help support his parents. Davis does not make a great first impression, but eventually they spend time together and come to appreciate each other – and then more. That’s where the ghost comes in, along with Maya’s exuberant Aunt Clem. There’s also a support crew, from the Singles Mingle crowd to Maya’s two best friends, Davis’ best friend and his family. It was honestly a lot of names to keep straight at times, but they are wild, wacky, fun, and occasionally totally on point with the truth bombs. There is a Bad Reveal and, in the best tradition of the rom com, a Grand Gesture. Though a little draggy in bits, overall it was a light, entertaining read, and I’m pretty curious about everyone’s role going forward as Maya’s two friends hit the matchmaking crosshairs.
January 31, 2026
What a fun, small town, quirky, cozy romance read.
At first I wasn’t a huge fan of Maya, but after a bit she grew on me. However Davis was golden retriever lovable, probably one of my favorite characters in the book.
The chemistry and dialogue between the two main characters was fun, add in the situations they both found themselves in (animal mayhem and small town crazy situations) and I was laughing frequently.
Yes, there is a ghost called the Major so if you aren’t into that aspect, keep in mind he is pivotal to the telling of this story, but it added to the uniqueness of the book, and in no way was it scary or dark.
The romance is closed door, but there is some town lady sex banter (if you can handle innuendos, you will be fine).
Thank you for the enjoyable read Hidden Gems Books, this review is voluntary.
At first I wasn’t a huge fan of Maya, but after a bit she grew on me. However Davis was golden retriever lovable, probably one of my favorite characters in the book.
The chemistry and dialogue between the two main characters was fun, add in the situations they both found themselves in (animal mayhem and small town crazy situations) and I was laughing frequently.
Yes, there is a ghost called the Major so if you aren’t into that aspect, keep in mind he is pivotal to the telling of this story, but it added to the uniqueness of the book, and in no way was it scary or dark.
The romance is closed door, but there is some town lady sex banter (if you can handle innuendos, you will be fine).
Thank you for the enjoyable read Hidden Gems Books, this review is voluntary.
February 5, 2026
Omg this was too cute! I absolutely loved this. What an original take on a romcom. Maya sounds like she doesn’t believe in much of anything anymore. That kind of hurt my header a little tbh. And Davis sounds like he’s just all about work. So when the Major puts these two in each other’s path, you can’t help but giggle. Start believing Maya. You’re next lol. I had to laugh when these two honestly thought that faking a relationship would get Major to leave them alone…clearly this ghost has been around long enough that he knows. Little did they know, Major was right, and he knew exactly what he was doing.
This book was such a cute and fun read. I can totally see this being made into a movie.
Thx so much for allowing me to be a part of your ARC team.
This book was such a cute and fun read. I can totally see this being made into a movie.
Thx so much for allowing me to be a part of your ARC team.
January 16, 2026
She lives in a haunted house and she does single night to bring couples together. She does not believe in love or the ghost until he appears. The ghost believes they are soulmates with the man just arrived at the house. She will get loaches in with them and so they decide to fake it to get rid of the ghost. See just what is going to happen next for them all
I received an advance copy from hidden gems and a spooky read
I received an advance copy from hidden gems and a spooky read
September 28, 2026
Rounded up to 4.5! I really enjoyed this story! Having parents who used to own a B&B in Gettysburg that may or may not have been haunted, I felt a special connection to this book. My favorite part of the writing is the slow burn chemistry between the MFC and MMC. I enjoyed the development of their relationship, their banter, their moments of friendship slowly developing into more. This was just an overall great, cozy, rom-com. Perfect for my Fall TBR!
Review of advance copy received from Author
I really enjoyed this book. I just started reading for the first time in several years in October. This is my 13th book since then and I felt immersed in the story, which hasn’t been the case for all the books I’ve read. Glad to have been selected to receive an ARC for this book. Thank you!
February 10, 2026
This was a cute story with a nice sprinkle of humour in a quirky town, and some drama to keep the tension going for when the shoe will drop and how it will resolve. Overall, an enjoyable read. *I received an ARC of this book and this is my voluntary and honest review.
January 14, 2026
I absolutely loved this book and the characters. I loved the romance and characters development throughout the story.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews