Loved this book. Such a great story that I couldn’t put it down. I loved all the dynamics of the different characters and they were very well described. I can’t wait to read another of her stores.

I loved this book!! Right from the start I knew I would like this book. I blame it on Blix. She had a way with words and told it how she saw it. I laughed when she tells Marnie and her friends, while waiting for the groom to show up to his own wedding, that men are "smelly, sweaty, grunting ball scratchers."

This book was a fun read. I loved the characters, story and writing style. The characters were my absolute favorite part of the book. Not all of them, just the ones in Brooklyn. So pretty much Blix and Houndy's friends. They all showed love and kindness and were always there to help their friends. Jessica, Patrick, Sammy, Blix and Lola treated Marnie better than her own family and didn't pressure her to be someone she wasn't. Honestly, I hated when Marnie's parents and sister would show up. They seemed to care more about their happiness how Marnie could fit into their own life. Marnie definitely makes horrible choices in men. First Noah and then Jeremy. Neither were a great fit for her. Noah was simply awful and I was glad when Marnie finally came to her senses and kicked him out. I don't know why she never changed the locks, especially after he took stuff the first time. She dodged a bullet by not staying in that marriage and being connected to his crazy family.

I have several of the author's books on my to-read list and I'm glad I finally read one. This book was full of magic. It made me laugh and cry. I didn't want to put it down. It was fun getting to know everyone. I definitely recommend the book and can't wait to read more books by the author!!

Thanks to NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing and the author, Maddie Dawson, for a free electronic ARC of this novel.

Favorite Quotes:

Pay no attention to Wendy… She missed the class on manners because she was attending two extra courses on personal intimidation.

The life force is running out of this room! I’ve been at funerals that had better vibrations than this.

We never got married because I’ve finally learned that if you have to bring the law into your personal relationships, then you’re doing it wrong.

One time he said to me, “You know, I had a great six-pack when I was young,” and I said to him, “Bragging about beer is so unbecoming for an old man.”

It’s like he’s a person who has his emotions in a safety deposit box somewhere, and he forgot where he put it.

My Review:

Matchmaking for Beginners was the second superbly written book of Maddie Dawson’s that I have had the pleasure of reading. It produced a near-constant smirk and frequent subvocal chuckling. I have a strong compulsion to stop everything and simply indulge in all the various publications of this woman’s clever and creative work as I reveled in her word skills. I adored her highly amusing, clever, and keenly crafted storylines from start to finish. Her quirky characters were each uniquely, inexplicably, and magnetically intriguing, even the villains.

The main character of Marnie was an oddly unobservant bubblehead who was all too easily tilted off the rails and careening towards ruin. While I may have wanted to give her a few smacks to the head with my Kindle, I also found her extraordinarily endearing and held my breath for her on numerous occasions. Ms. Dawson’s humor was well-honed, shiny, and crisp. I particularly enjoyed the witty exchanges between Marnie and Patrick, the “luminous” misanthropic hermit living in the dank basement. Sigh, more, please!

What a fun read. Lighthearted, without being TOO lighthearted of fluffy (if that makes sense). Relatable, quirky, flawed, real characters, some of whom were likeable and some of whom were most definitely not. Marnie was a little awkward and she didn’t always make the best decisions, but I really liked her. I enjoyed watching her interact with her new friends in Brooklyn and I enjoyed the development of those relationships. The thanksgiving scene was particularly enjoyable and funny. Marnie was a heroine. An unlikely one perhaps, given her flaws and her less than stellar decisions, but a heroine nonetheless.

This one left me with a smile on my face at the end. Always a good thing.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I stayed up finishing this.

I LOOOOOOOOVED it!

first off, it had one of the most arresting voices i have read in a long time. it balanced humour and tragedy deftly and it was an utter delight

whimsical and with splashes of magic realism, it has the notes of Sarah Addison Allen but with the joy and sly asides of Rainbow Rowell, not to mention the textured characters of Billie Letts.

Marnie is a completely relatable and snort-your-coffee-out hilarious commentator on what is happening around when she inherits a Brooklyn brownstone rightly (?) hers.....

A treatise on the impressions we make and the community that melds into family, this is a GLORIOUS summer read

to add, the love story was just my catnip---the hero flawed and funny ( oh so funny--- )and smart and the soft way in which they intersect at destiny winsome and loveable.

LOVED IT!

super thanks to EVERYONE who recommended it to me.

now playing pass it on

keeper shelf

Matchmaking For Beginners involves Marnie who gets divorced after two weeks. As she is putting her life back together and rekindles a relationship with an old flame, she finds out she has inherited a house from her ex-husband's kooky great aunt. The only stipulation being she has to live there for three months before selling.

I wish I could say that I enjoyed Matchmaking for Beginners, but I really didn't. I know I'm going to be in the minority on that one. It had the bare bones of a good story, it just didn't end up working for me. The one thing I did like about the book was the time spent with Blix and her friends. Those passages were really entertaining.

My biggest issue with the book was the main character. Marnie was not a very likable person. I couldn't get behind her decisions or reactions. On her wedding day, her fiance shows up an hour late and tells her he doesn't want to get married. She talks him into going through with it. Then proceeds to be really upset when, on their honeymoon, he tells her he is done and wants out. The guy told her the week before he didn't want to do it, but she talked him into it. Now she is going to be upset and angry with him? That baffled me. But the thing that really killed the book for me was the cheating. She gets engaged to another man before she moves to New York to live in the house. Once there, she proceeds to cheat on her fiance, Jeremy, with her ex-husband..multiple times. She reasons that the betrayal was probably bad but necessary. No, sorry. Nothing justifies infidelity. I lost all respect for the character at that point.

I ended up finishing the book. However, I didn't care for the ending. I felt most badly for Jeremy and I didn't think Marnie really changed all that much. I know others have said this is funny, cute chic-lit, but I disagree. If a cheating main character doesn't bother you, then you may enjoy the book. It just wasn't for me.