The Matchmaker’s Royal Mess by Frieda J. Downing [GUEST POST]

She’d rather give a mountain lion a bikini wax than mess with love again.

Been there, went viral, never going back. Hattie Montague’s life as a backcountry guide for the spoiled and famous suits her just fine, thanks. It’s the only place she feels completely safe being herself. So what if she has nightmares that she can only speak squirrel and craves pine cones for breakfast? It beats leaving yourself vulnerable to humans. Fine, all of them aren’t bad. She likes probably three, so when one needs her help, she drags herself back to civilization. If she can navigate white water rapids, she can babysit a matchmaking office for a weekend. It’s not like she’ll have to deal with people or, you know, be nice. Ew.

Alexander Greye ruined her life ten years ago. Not his proudest moment. Known as the Winter Warlocke, he’s a man born and raised to lead a country with logical precision. Yet around her, he can’t seem to think rationally. He’s never met anyone who dives into the unknown like she does or tames chaos like she can. In a world as perfectly controlled as his, that makes her irresistible and utterly dangerous. And he’s willing to risk it all to thaw his frozen heart.

It’s half past too late when he realizes his carefully laid plans to win her over covered everything except the theft of the Crown Jewels, an abandoned mine where they’d have to face their deepest fears, and the betrayal that forces them to let go.Quite literally.

Warning: Not for the faint of heart. Sassy romantic adventure, with instances of chaos, misunderstandings, and feels. Oh, and the occasional sheep. Sparks will fly, it’s gonna get awkward, and the Happily-Ever-After will be well-earned.

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Adult | Adventure | Contemporary | Romance

Published: November 25, 2022

Length: 308 Pages

Tour Provided by Xpresso Book Tours

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The Guest Post

TBR Asks Frieda:

What's The Craziest Thing You’ve Ever Done In The Name Of Research?

Social Engineering makes an appearance in several of my books that are coming out in April and then the end of the year. If you’re not familiar with the term, it’s basically the art of hacking people, of manipulating them in order to make them do things they shouldn’t. Two of the many methods used are asking people for help, which plays on our natural desire to be good humans, and the appearance of authority.

In order to test these theories, I decided to have some fun. I took my kids and my sister’s three kids, dressed them up in knight and princess costumes, handed half of them coconuts split in half, and drove us out to the mall. At that time, costumes weren’t allowed. So, my theory was I’d have the kids ask the grownups for help in a ridiculous way, see if anyone joined in or if they all just reported us instantly, then I’d try out the authority principle once security came by telling them we’re part of a Social Sciences Research Project. (Basically true, just fancied up a bit.)

If you’ve ever seen Monte Python’s Search for the Holy Grail, you’ll picture the following scene perfectly. The girls ran ahead, (still in sight) while the boys galloped behind and clapped their coconut halves together to make the sound of horse hooves, all the while asking, “Have you seen the princesses?” By and large, a lot of people played along and “helped.”

When security invariably came and asked us to stop the shenanigans or leave, I tried my Social Science Research Project speech. They didn’t remotely buy it. However, we still got to stay, but only because my son, who was missing his two front teeth at the time, handed his coconut halves to the security guard and offered to teach him to gallop like a horse. So the game continued for another ten minutes or so, only this time with a security guard joining in. After that, we packed the costumes in my oversized purse and bought cookies.

Conclusion? Missing your two front teeth can strongly work in a Social Engineer’s favor, but likely only if they’re under the age of seven. As for me, I’m going to leave the human hacking to my characters, who are much cooler than me. XD

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Nice to meet you. I’m Frieda. I write sweet contemporary romance as well as romantic adventure.

I blame it on my childhood babysitters. For some reason they thought I shouldn’t ride our family’s buffalo. Believe me, I was just as shocked as you. Though I never did get that buffalo ride, I found plenty of other creative outlets for my adventure needs. Some were good clean fun, some got me kicked out of various and sundry events, and others ended with me getting lost in catacombs. (Not metaphorically speaking. Somewhere there’s an Austrian catacomb caretaker? guy whom I owe dinner and a large apology.)

I like to think I’ve gotten a tiny bit wiser.

I married my best friend and dove head first into the magnificent cyclone known as raising kids. I mountain bike every chance I get, lose my coffee cup daily, and bake a mean lemon merengue pie, if I do say so myself. I may indulge in shenanigans on a regular basis, but I plead the fifth every time.

I suppose it’s important to me that you know how very much I love us crazy, broken humans. We dream so big. We try so hard. Yet somehow, so often, things just go terribly, horribly wrong.

That’s where my books begin… because that’s where the real love story’s found. I hope you enjoy reading them. Most of all, I wish you adventure, joy, and more love than you knew was possible!