Speed Dating with Book Contestants: A Literary Matchmaking Adventure

Welcome, to a special Once Upon a Book Club literary matchmaking adventure. We’re hosting a speed dating event with a twist. Yes, you heard correctly, speed dating! Our wonderful contestants are looking for the perfect partner who is willing to be whisked away on an adventure of a lifetime. 

Each contestant has a unique voice and story and can’t wait for you to take them in your hands and discover the secrets they hold. Our twist? These contestants are not people but books, each from a different genre with a distinctive story to be told. From the heartwarming depths of historical romance to the thrilling edges of suspense, these contestants are here to make a compelling case for why they should be your next read.

As you navigate through our lineup, you'll encounter eleven diverse contestants. Each with their own dating profile that even includes the very first words they will whisper to you upon meeting – think of it as the literary equivalent of a first impression. 

So, sit back and relax while you get to know our highly recommended contestants! Our speed dating promotion includes a fabulous book and a limited edition bookmark for only $16!

Contestants

Contestant 1: Historical Romance

A bit about this contestant:
Contestant #1 is heartwarming. During wartime, this contestant is focused on lifting spirits and mending not only clothing, but mending hearts. Could their next mended heart be yours?

The first words they'll say to you (a snippet from the first page):
The Vicarage, Aldhurst Village, England
January 1942
      “I found it!” the Reverend Ben Carlisle’s voice called from the attic. Grace felt her breath catch as she dashed across the vicarage landing to see him come down, a long, flat box held ceremoniously in his arms, a bittersweet smile on his face.
      “Where was it?” she breathed.
      “It was hidden in a corner behind some boxes of books.” Her father’s black trousers and shirt were flecked with dust, the edge of his white vicar’s collar smeared with dirt, but he still looked good for almost fifty, Grace thought, with his tall frame and his dark hair silvering at the sides.
    "Bring it into my bedroom," Grace said, as she raced ahead of him, tidying the small bed in the corner, smoothing down the quilt her mother had made for her. "I can't believe you found it after all these years."

Contestant 2: Women’s Contemporary

A bit about this contestant:
Contestant #2 is a bit of a trouble maker, but they're working on themselves. With this contestant's life in shambles, they embark on a journey of self-love, and they think you might be just the thing to help them change their life for the better.

The first words they'll say to you (a snippet from the first page):

Taurus
Season: April 20-May 20
Element: Earth
Themes: Self-Care. Sensuality. Pleasure.
Best Time to: Set goals to make your dreams come true.

Nina did not want to spend her thirtieth birthday in a prison cell. But unfortunately, it looked like that was exactly what was about to happen.

Contestant 3: Historical Fiction

A bit about this contestant:
Contestant #3 seeks adventure in the name of love. Their travels will take them across Europe to deliver three letters in an attempt to correct the past. Will fate entice you to join them on their journey?

The first words they'll say to you (a snippet from the first page):
Veneto Estate, East Hampton, New York
January 1937

     My grandmother didn’t often arrange luncheons in the middle of winter. She disliked entertaining in the colder months almost as much as she disliked the many pills and medicines Henrietta made her take every night, so I was surprised when she’d ask me to be home for noon, “on the dot.” Violet was very precise about time. “Seconds matter” was one of her favorite reprimands when one or the other of us dawdled. She'd said there was something important she wanted to discuss with me, and from the brightness in her voice I could tell she was up to something. Violet was often up to something, or about to be.
    I drove the familiar ocean road toward Veneto, our Long Island home. The golden beaches were shrouded in sea mist, the salty tang heavy in the air beneath the moody clouds. It was a seascape begging to be captured in oils–or watercolor, perhaps–but the prospect of sitting down to paint didn't appeal to me as it usually would. All I could think about was how empty our home would be without Violet tending her beloved rose garden, or listening to jazz on her old gramophone, the clink of ice in her glass at five o'clock.

Contestant 4: Cozy Mystery

A bit about this contestant:
Contestant #4 is an amateur sleuth. This contestant is a bookworm, loves cats, is humorous, and found a body in a bookstore. Could you be the plot twist they have been waiting for?

The first words they'll say to you (a snippet from the first page):
“I was promised chocolate.”
      I directed the reminder toward my best friend, Jolene Gomez, after entering the bookstore. I threw my gaze into every visible nook and cranny of To Be Read in search of chocolate-covered pecan clusters.
      Jo owned To Be Read, an independent bookstore on the southeast side of Peach Coast, Georgia. It wasn’t that I needed the food bribe to come to her bookstore–or any bookstore–especially when a bunch of authors were signing their books. It was just that, well...promises had been made.

Contestant 5: Thriller

A bit about this contestant:
Contestant #5 has a bit of a dark side. Part of them is still stuck in the 1980s while part of them is here in the present. Good news, they own a mansion. Bad news, you may not leave it alive. Are you up for a sinister game?

The first words they'll say to you (a snippet from the first page):
July 1988
    The house sat on a gentle rise in the otherwise flat landscape, as if it considered itself a castle in this kingdom of marshy scrubland and water channels and rustling green fields. Pale gray walls, broad steps rising from neat gravel to the front door, row upon row of gleaming square windows and –
    “Is that a turret?“ I craned my neck through the passenger window. “Is this whole place really just for three people?”
    “Four, if you behave yourself.” Caroline jerked the steering wheel to swing us onto the driveway, bumping me back into my seat.

Contestant 6: Historical Fiction

A bit about this contestant:
Contestant #6 is all about the intrigue. In eighteenth-century France, surrounded by the decadence of Versailles through a new era of revolution, it's important to remember both where you came from and where you end up. What history should this contestant know about you?

The first words they'll say to you (a snippet from the first page):
Paris 1793
    She runs after the tumbling cart, her heart tripping, racing, tripping again.
    The morning is crisp, the sky robin’s-egg blue. The streets are empty. Houses are shuttered, doors locked. Here and there chimneys belch plumes of thick smoke. Traitors are burning their sins, she had heard. Madame Guillotine is not swift enough.

Contestant 7: Historical Suspense

A bit about this contestant:
Contestant #7 puts family first. In the sumptuous Greenwich Village, how could they not? Gangsters don't take betrayals of those closest to them lightly. Are you the right fit for this family?

The first words they'll say to you (a snippet from the first page):
      I never needed to ask my godmother for a favor, until the day that my husband was offered a job at the White House. It was April in 1980, and James and I had been living in New York for only a year. We’d met each other in Paris and gotten married there, but, since both of us were American-born, we always thought of the United States as our home, so we were glad to be back. I thought our lives were pretty settled now, here in Manhattan. I was working as a news researcher for Time Inc., while James practiced law.
      But one bright spring day, James announced, “I’ve just had a very interesting chat with Cyrus Vance. He wants me to come work with him in Washington at the State Department.”
      “The Secretary of State wants you?” I echoed, awed.

Contestant 8: Psychological Suspense

A bit about this contestant:
Contestant #8 will soon be a Peacock Original TV Series! But don't let those lofty credentials fool you. This contestant is just looking for someone to love...if they don't murder you first. Would you be able to clear away some of their inner conflict?

The first words they'll say to you (a snippet from the first page):
      The bike lay on the side of the road beneath a gray oak, the handlebars at an odd, jutted angle as if it had been thrown with angry force.
      It was early on a Saturday morning, the fifth day of a heat wave. More than forty bushfires continued to blaze doggedly across the state. Six regional towns had “evacuate now” warnings in place, but here in suburban Sydney the only danger was to asthma sufferers, who were advised to stay indoors. The smoke haze that draped the city was a malicious yellow-gray, as thick as a London fog.
      The empty streets were silent apart from the subterranean roar of cicadas. People slept after restless, hot nights of jangled dreams, while early risers yawned and thumb-scrolled their phone screens.
      The discarded bike was shiny-new, advertised as a "vintage lady's bike": mint green, seven-speed, with a tan leather saddle and a white wicker basket. The sort of bike you were meant to imagine riding in the cool, crisp air of a European mountain village, wearing a soft beret rather than a safety helmet, a baguette tucked under one arm.
        Four green apples lay scattered on the dry grass beneath the tree as if they had spilled and rolled from the bike basket.

Contestant 9: Thriller

A bit about this contestant:
Contestant #9 is all about risk and reward. Giving up everything for a chance to make it big. Climbing a mountain? No problem. Surviving a killer miles above sea level? Problem. Do you have what it takes to survive together?

The first words they'll say to you (a snippet from the first page):

Summit Day

Breathe, Cecily.
    Cold air filled her lungs. It was strange. When she’d pictured breathing up here, she’d assumed it would feel like suffocating. Choking. Maybe, in a way, like drowning.
    But it didn’t.
    She could feel the sting of the wind on a tiny bit of exposed skin on her cheek, between her buff and her sunglasses, and then a stronger gust against her body, threatening to bring her to her knees.
      The air was there. It just wasn’t doing what it was supposed to.
    She was so tired. Her muscles struggled to work as she pushed through the snow. Not just her muscles. Her blood. Her lungs. Her brain.
    It was simple, really–there wasn't enough oxygen in the air, less than a third of what her body was used to. The altimeter on her watch read that she was still about eight thousand meters. In the death zone.

Contestant 10: Contemporary Fiction

A bit about this contestant:
Contestant #10 is a fan of redemption. They've had the struggles and they know what it's like to lose the ones you trust most. But they're ready to set aside their differences for the sake of one very special person. Could it be you?

The first words they'll say to you (a snippet from the first page):
    Sarah stood just inside the door and watched the bundle of mail slide through the slot. It fell in slow motion toward the floor, where it hit the hardwood and splayed like so many playing cards. Normally she would open the door and wave to the postman, Mr. Reidy.   
    But not today. Mr. Reidy liked to chat, and today Sarah’s stomach was roiling too much to listen. And if she opened the door, Leila would come running on her sturdy little legs, curious to see who it was. Sarah had been jubilant the first time Leila had come up behind her and, holding tightly to her leg, smiled up at Mr. Reidy. It had felt like they were home free, they would become a family, and at last Leila would be safe and loved and would finally learn to trust and love Sarah in return.
    Six days a week for almost two years, Sarah had picked up her mail with a sense of trepidation. You never knew when something would change, your life never completely your own. A simple white envelope could set your world spinning out of control. She tried to always be prepared. Maybe today would set them free.

Contestant 11: Women’s Contemporary

A bit about this contestant:
Contestant #11 comes from generations who knew how to celebrate trashy novels. And resurrecting that love of scandal might just be what saves their family's coastal winery. They're ready to heal old wounds and fight for what they deserve. Could you be their perfect pairing?

The first words they'll say to you (a snippet from the first page):
Crutchogue, New York
Spring, 1985

     It was the time of year known as bud break, that late-spring moment when the entire vineyard turned green.
    She looked out at the orderly rows of plants as far as the eye could see. The knotty wood trunk of the vines gave way to a lush canopy of leaves that her father tamed with wire, and little nubs of the fruit poked through with the promise of abundance. It was Leah’s favorite season, the moment before everything changed.

Conclusion

We hope we have sparked your curiosity and that among our fabulous contestants, you have found a story that is a literary love match. Books are more than just words on a page; they are a doorway to new worlds offering us bridges into uncharted territories. 

We encourage you to take a chance on love – literary love, that is. Choose a contestant that has captured your imagination and let their story unfold in the pages before you. Who knows? You might just find your perfect match in the world of books, where every turn of the page holds the promise of a new adventure. Happy reading!