Celebrate Lit / May 31, 2026

Love Under Construction

About the Book Love Under Construction

Book: Love Under Construction

Author: Linda Shenton Matchett

Genre: Christian Historical Romance

Release Date: January 6, 2026

Can two stubborn people tear down the walls of independence to find love?

Nadine Krause took in boarders to help her family climb out of debt after her father’s death. Business has gone well, and she’s earned enough to expand the house. When her brother’s friend agrees to take the job – the only man in town willing to work for a woman – sparks fly. But not the good kind. Or are they?

Looking for something different, Leo Albrecht takes a project working for Nadine Krause, the spunky owner of Cocoaville’s favorite boarding house. An easy job. Then he manages to injure himself and needs her help to finish making it nearly impossible to ignore his growing attraction.

Should he break his rule of not mixing work and his personal life?

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My Thoughts on Love Under Construction

Love Under Construction is a wonderful historical fiction novel from a wonderful author who researches everything in her books! And I mean everything. I’ve never found a word used that didn’t come into existence until later, or a device or mannerism that wouldn’t have been. I love her attention to detail.

I also love old houses. It pains me when old houses are just knocked down instead of fixed up. So, of course, I love the fixing up that’s happening in this novel. And I loved the author’s personal story of fixing up a bed and breakfast as well. As the wife of an electrician, I can probably tell you some horror stories of what a helpful Harry did to fix someone else’s wires for “cheap”. Shiver. It’s awful.

What isn’t awful is this book!

It’s part of a series but can be read as a standalone novel.

Nadine is our heroine in this novel. And Leo is our hero. Nadine has a boarding house that she runs. She’s finally doing well enough to fix it up. That’s where Leo comes in. He’s hired to be the repairman. But maybe he’s there to repair more than just the house.

Leo gets injured, and Nadine has to jump in and help. As you can imagine, that leads to loads of laughs and fun. Plus romance, of course. But don’t give me that raised eyebrow. This is a solid, clean Christian romance novel. Nothing shady or spicy about this one.

I have voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book, which I received from Celebrate Lit. All views expressed are only my honest opinion. I was not required to write a positive review, nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC regulations.

About the Author of Love Under Construction

Linda Shenton Matchett writes happily-ever-after historical Christian fiction about second chances and women who overcome life’s challenges to be better versions of themselves.

A native of Baltimore, Maryland, she was born a stone’s throw from Fort McHenry (of Star-Spangled Banner fame) and has lived in historical places all her life. She is a volunteer docent and archivist at the Wright Museum of WWII. She now lives in central New Hampshire, where she explores the history of this great state and immerses herself in the imaginary worlds created by other authors.

More from Linda

In 2002, my husband and I purchased a 4,000-square-foot “fixer-upper” bed and breakfast in New Hampshire. The building had “good bones,” but a bit of deferred maintenance and poorly executed “Harry Homeowner” repairs and updates provided plenty of projects, not including a complete overhaul of the kitchen and adding a bathroom.

Here are just a few:

Wallpaper that had been applied directly to unpainted drywall (for the uninitiated: this means the wallpaper pulls off the paper facing, leaving the gypsum core exposed).
Floral wire was used to attach the toilet handle to the flapper in all eight bathrooms, leaving a pile of floral wire at the bottom of the tanks because that repair was repeated countless times.
A rotted 12X8X8 sill was discovered while painting the outside of the house.
Windows that had to be locked to remain closed, and windows that had to be set on “chocks” to remain open.
Floors that sloped because the joists had rotted.
Walls that had rotted behind wallpaper.
Replacing the subfloor in one room that had a 12” round hole that had been carpeted over. Good thing it was near the wall, and a chair had been set over the area.
Discovering a live wire in the basement that had been cut off and stuffed into the wall.

My “favorite” was the pantry that turned out to be propped together.

None of the walls or the ceiling were connect/nailed/screwed to anything, so when the shelves were removed, the closet fell in on itself.

We didn’t begin anything new after March because we couldn’t risk getting caught with an unfinished project when the season began. Despite the challenges, I loved the historicity of that house, and even though it was much too large for just the two of us after we closed the business, I sometimes miss it.

However, not while I’m cleaning!

When I was noodling through possible plotlines for the second book in The Chocolate Chronicles, it didn’t take long for me to realize I could use our experiences for Nadine, who operated a boarding house. Add a hunky flannel-shirted (hello Hallmark) hero, and I had the makings of a story. I had fun creating construction problems for the pair as they fought their growing attraction.