Veena’s review of Searching for Perfect (Searching For, Book 2) by Jennifer Probst
Contemporary Romance published by Pocket Books 29 Apr 14

The three owners of the up-and-coming matchmaking agency Kinnections are making quite a name for themselves in helping their clients find forever. It’s almost like they bring a touch of magic when it comes to facilitating these connections. Now that Kate has found her own forever, it’s Kennedy’s turn to use her talents, much like Professor Higgins did in Pygmalion, to transform nerdy Nate Drunkle into a handsome young man who oozes sex appeal. So she takes to her project with the best will in the world building a  new Nate from the inside out starting with massage, exercise, hair, contacts and that perfect wardrobe. But now why does she have a pang in her heart as she tries to set him up with a right match from her database of candidates? Can she possibly be the best candidate for him?  She’s a good-time girl just looking to scratch an itch now and again! She and Nate are definitely not a match made in heaven. Or are they? 

Kennedy is the public relations and media expert in the partnership. Her expertise is in helping their candidates present the perfect public image. She’s walked a long, hard road to get to where she is, but hidden beneath her perfect exterior is still the fat, nerdy girl who was harassed and abused by the boys in her school. So when she met Nate Drunkle at a social mixer with his pocket protector and lab coat stained with remnants of his lunch, bewildered at the end of the hour without a single date, she knew he was the perfect candidate for their agency, and more especially her, because she could transform this nerd into a veritable bachelor swan.

Nate has his own share of angst. He’s an aerospace engineer, or the rocket scientist as he’s lovingly referred to by the people he comes into contact with. He was the class nerd that all the bigger boys loved to pick on. Fortunately his brother Connor was big and handsome and was able to shield Nate from the worst of it. Now Nate is successful in his chosen field and earning great money, but the one thing that hasn’t changed is his ability to attract the right woman to share his life with. His construction worker brother Connor is his role model and that just doesn’t work with the kind of woman that Nate hungers to settle down with. He’s read and memorized Cosmopolitan and all those how-to treatises, but they still don’t seem to be getting him the results he hopes for. Well, hopefully Kennedy and Kinnections can be his saving grace.

These two characters are adorable. I can almost visualize Nate calculating in his head about the velocity of his kisses in the same manner as he calculates everything else, striving to continuously improve. Kennedy, who forces herself on a tight regimen of diet and exercise – I wish I could be so disciplined – and how she melts when Nate makes her cheat every so often with a French fry here, a chocolate there, those are the building blocks to this wonderful love story. All the other characters are great, some of whom we met in the earlier book in the series and others whom we met in one of the author’s earlier series.

I am thoroughly enjoying this series and I have definitely added the author to my autobuy list.

Grade: A

Summary:

The highly anticipated second novel in the new Searching For series from Jennifer Probst, “one of the most exciting breakout novelists” (USA TODAY)—a spin-off of the bestselling Marriage to a Billionaire series—featuring a sexy matchmaker, and the rocket scientist who becomes her special project…

The up-and-coming matchmaking agency Kinnections is the hottest thing to hit Verily, New York—just like Kennedy Ashe, social director for the service she owns with her two best girlfriends. A coach, consultant, and cheerleader rolled into one super-sizzling package, Kennedy creates dream dates, encourages singles to shine, and never refuses a challenge—not even Nate Ellison Raymond Dunkle, rocket scientist, nerd extraordinaire, and Kennedy’s newest client.

Kennedy vows to work her magic and transform this hot mess in a lab coat with a disastrous relationship track record into the most wanted man on the Verily dating scene. If only she could turn the wand on herself…though she radiates confidence and sex appeal, Kennedy harbors deep-seated insecurities from a tormented past and lifelong struggle with weight issues. When she realizes she and Nate are cut from the same cloth and might be perfect together, can Kennedy learn to let her heart lead the way? Or will her fears sentence her to the sidelines as Nate finds love—with someone else?

No excerpt available.

Other books in this series: