Love Twice Served/Booked for Love by Malissa Chapin
The Booked for Love anthology started with a post in a Facebook readers group. Right there in the middle of it all, a woman typed out a question no one expected.
Does anyone know a sweet, book-loving girl who might want to meet my brother-in-law?
The group members loved it. So many people commented, and a handful of authors sat there watching a book club turn into a group of matchmakers in real time.
I thought, “Oh, there’s a story in this.”
Turns out there were nine stories.
Matchmakers have been around since long before musicals began singing their praises. Seniors at church, friend groups, and even families try to pair people of like faith, shared passions, or familiar community. But what if your people, book people, got together and drew two book-loving (or soon will be!) hearts together? It’s a match made in literary (if not literal) heaven!
So that’s what we did. Nine authors. Nine book clubs. Nine sets of well-meaning meddlers who have already decided they know best—and who are almost certainly wrong about the details and gloriously right about the big picture.
Here’s what’s waiting for you inside.
Love Twice Served by Malissa Chapin — Love is a dish occasionally served twice. In this gentle, faith-filled second-chance romance, split between the bustle of 1940s Harvey Houses and the comfort of a 1980s book club, you’ll enter a Midwestern town where community, grace, and a carefully guarded heart find their way back to hope.
Turnabout Is Fair Match by Chautona Havig — Imogen thought Olemann’s Books and their book club would match her grandson with the perfect bookish girl and heal his broken heart. But no one (including the Lord!) is following her carefully orchestrated plot, and the wrong people are getting matched! Or are they?
Connected by Susanna Haymond — Emily never imagined her grandmother’s book club would set her up with a cop who not only determines to keep her safe from a relentless stalker, but who she can also trust with her heart. But threats become attacks, and one question remains: will Josh stop this guy before tragedy strikes?
Match to Be Had by Martha Artyomenko Hurley — When newly widowed Mattie returns to her hometown, Elaine decides to rekindle a friendship and embroil Mattie in her latest matchmaking scheme at her newly formed Silent Book Club group. Can these two find the joy of friendship while helping others find love?
Hatched Marts by Joanne Markey — When discussing a romcom becomes solving major problems in the church, is a geriatric book club really the answer? Merry isn’t so sure, but she accepts the challenge and reinvents blind dates… with a book, that is. Add a bad guy and knitting needles, and book club just got way more exciting.
Monday Meddlers by Marisa Masterson — Introducing a book club that would rather scheme and matchmake than actually discuss the book. When the local librarian becomes their latest focus, secrets, laughter, and a little chaos follow. Will they reconcile the broken romance between a stubborn librarian and a proud rancher?
The Book Club on Willow Lane by Dannielle Norwood — When Nevaeh’s boss drags her into a book club filled with deeply intrusive women, she finds herself pushed into awkward conversations, unexpected friendships, and something even more terrifying: real connection. What was wrong with her nice, safe AI chatbot boyfriend, Max?
The Teacher’s Secret by Caitlin Nikolai — She’s running from the past. He feels broken from his. When a meddling book club brings them together, will he be enough to protect her? Together, can they find peace and healing in Jesus’ Name?
The Straight Path Home by Mishael Austin Witty — After a workplace accident, Jonah Calloway moves to Chokeberry Falls and finds a steady job, a quiet apartment, and a book club that adopts him. But when anonymous notes appear and danger edges closer, Jonah must decide between running or trusting that God might lead him down a path he never expected.
Nine stories, and not a single one of them goes the way the matchmaker planned.
You’ll find sweet romance in these pages, and suspense, and a fair bit of laughing at ourselves. Historical and contemporary. Grandmothers with agendas and spreadsheets. At least one set of knitting needles was put to a use the manufacturer never intended.
And all of it traces back to one woman in a Facebook group who decided her brother-in-law deserved a girl who reads.
So, if your book club has ever wandered just a little off-topic… if somebody has ever looked at you across the circle with that gleam in her eye… friend, this one’s for you.
Malissa Chapin writes wholesome, heartwarming Christian fiction you can trust—charming stories rooted in real life and grounded in God’s timeless truth. With warmth, wit, and honesty, she shares uplifting tales of friendship, redemption, and second chances that reflect the beauty of God’s grace. Her stories draw on years of ministry experience—including children’s, women’s, and care ministry—as well as her work as a domestic violence advocate.
A lifelong book lover, Malissa is still tickled that her childhood dream of becoming an author has come true. She enjoys creating with words, watercolor, fabric, and yarn. You’ll often find her in her garden, at the piano, homeschooling her bonus baby, or savoring coffee with friends. She lives—and sometimes freezes—in north central Wisconsin with her family and a fancy little dog sporting a pink tail
