This book was a little slow to get into, but did pick up in the middle and was cute overall.

Abby’s friend Leo is adopted and wants to find more about his background so he asks for his two friends to do it with him. While Leo doesn’t learn anything, Abby discovers that she has a full blooded sister who is only a year and a half older than she is. Instead of confronting her parents, her newly found sister invites her to spend a month at the summer camp that she is working at so they can figure out what happened together. Little does Abby know, Leo is working at the same camp.

For me, the book didn’t really pick up until Abby had been at camp for a day or two. The beginning was definitely a lot of setup. I understand why it needed to be, but it made it a little harder to get into. The meat of the story where Abby and Savannah were getting to know each other and figure out why their parents gave up Savannah were the best parts for me. I wasn’t even crazy about the love story between Leo and Abby.

The writing was still good, but this book didn’t have the same spark for me as the first book. I could get rid of the beginning and the end of the story and just take the middle. I did like Abby and I liked the growth that she had. I think there is an interesting story of teenage grief and stress. Leo felt a little bit like an afterthought to me. Savvy was more of the secondary character and it seemed like Leo was thrown in there just because Lord felt like there needed to be a love story.

Overall, this book fell a little flat for me. I loved the idea of the story and I did enjoy the meat of it, but I wasn’t left with any strong impressions or feelings. I still look forward to reading anything that Lord writes, but it didn’t have that same magic as Tweet Cute for me.

This book gave me all the “parent trap” vibes. It was a slow burn camp read.. It was cute and silly. It’s a good YA read if you enjoy YA reads. I wish all the juicy things didn’t all happen at the end. For me this lost 2 star because it didnt pull me in until 65-70% in .... it drug out a little too much for me. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to read this.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was SO EXCITED to be granted an ARC of You Have a Match! I loved Emma's first novel, Tweet Cute, so I was so ready to see what she would bring to the table next.

You Have a Match was a unique family drama, with plenty of laughs and love along the way. There were so many twists and turns in such a good way. I could not put it down. This is my 4th book of 2021, and it's my first 4 star rating!

The characters were all likable and relatable. I feel like i would have acted exactly like they did if I were a teen in their situations. The family dynamics were strong and in your face, which I find refreshing in a YA novel. Not many I have read has had the whole family front and center like this one.

I want everyone to read this now, but it would honestly be a perfect summer read! Definitely recommend!

I would like to thank Netgalley and Wednesday Books for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I was pleasantly surprised by this book. The characters and the story line were very realistic and it was a great coming of age story. There is a little romance to the book but totally innocent and perfect for a younger crowd. This book had a very "Parent Trap" feel to it, except the girls were not trying to set their parents up.
Super cute book that I would definitely recommend to anyone.

I really enjoyed this book. It was cute, fun, and well written. The first few chapters were really, really compelling. I love the unique, timely premise. I did find that there were way too many coincidences in the plot and I would have liked to see a few more creative ways to get the adults onto the scene.

Happy Pub Day to this adorable story, and a big cheers to being selected as the Reese’s Book Club YA pick this month!!

I love the writing and humor that Emma Lord transfers through to her books, and I flew through You Have A Match.

It was the quintessential summer-love-at-camp with a crush on a best friend that pulled me in, and although I wanted this to be a bit heavier on the romance between our main character Abby and her crush Leo, I thought it was so sweet the way things played out.

*many thanks to Wednesday/St Martin’s press and Netgalley for the gifted copy for review

I was on the blog tour for Emma Lord's debut Tweet Cute last year. I really liked Emma's writing style and decided to request an early copy of her sophomore novel as well. And...WOW. You Have a Match was excellent. Emma put on display her total mastery of the art of storytelling in this book. I liked her debut but it can't hold a candle to her second novel in my opinion.

You Have a Match opens with Abby Day and her best friends, Leo and Connie, submitting a DNA test for an anthropology paper they're working on. When the results come back revealing that Abby has a full-blooded older sister she is in complete shock. And when she realizes her older sister is the instagram Influencer Savannah Tully and that she lives only 30 minutes away she can't turn her back on the opportunity to meet her and to possibly uncover the truth of the why behind her secret sister's existence.

It's so hard to decide where to start with a book that encompasses SO MUCH. You've got wholesome and 100% fleshed-out characters, you've got a lovely doggy sidekick, a wonderful and warm grandpa (in memory), friend groups you'll downright envy, organic character growth, love interests with ALL THE CHEMISTRY, a summer camp setting with huge skies and bonfires and nature that will bury you in nostalgia, and the family-owned coffee shop lending its smells and cozy atmosphere to the story. There is photography and foodie wars and so much more. I wanted to LIVE in this story. After the third time I lost count how many times the tears ran down my face- these characters just touch your heart so deeply.

Where Twitter was the foundation of Tweet Cute its Instagram in You Have a Match. Savvy's adoptive parents are quirky and rich and absolutely obsessed with health and wellness. In an attempt to make something that can be all-consuming into something fun Savvy and her best friend Mickey started an Instagram account highlighting all the ways to incorporate healthy living into your life while also making it enjoyable. She's also very open with her sexuality on her account, not shying away from the fact that she likes girls. Throughout the book we see how something that starts out as fun can become all-consuming and mean that you're missing out on important experiences happening all around you and how it can be hard to juggle being an influencer and also being just human.

Instagram also plays a part in Abby's life; not only does she take staged photos of Leo's amazing food creations for his account, but Leo himself created an instagram for Abby's photography and takes it upon himself to share her best photos there. Abby is too shy to share her work so Leo does this in an attempt to show her how wonderful her photos truly are. Abby is also too shy to tell Leo how she really feels about him, especially after an embarrassing incident happens and changes their friend group dynamic. Connie also plays a part in the miscommunication that's running rampant between the friends.

"I breathe in the sticky warmth of the air, the pine and the electricity and the ache of something deeper than I can name, knowing that no view I can capture will ever compare to this feeling-seeing it through my eyes while seeing it through his, letting us both bleed into a world where those two thing can be the same."


Savvy and Abby's worlds collide when they go to the same summer camp with the goal being to uncover as much as possible of their shared past. But when Abby discovers that Leo and Savvy already know each other from this camp it truly becomes a merging of all their lives and the drama unfolds from there.

Emma Lord does a fantastic job with this storyline, incorporating both current times and nods to the 1990's/2ooo's that'll ensure that every reader no matter the age will find this book inclusive and fun. She is also the queen of metaphors; some made me literally laugh out loud.

"Savvy ducks her head down so Mickey can untangle the tag from her wet ponytail, but the two of them are cracking up so hard at how ridiculous Savvy looks with her head upside down and her arms extended out like she's about to burst into the world's most aggressive jazz hands that they aren't making much progress."


This probably isn't as funny without the context behind it and I could share a million more like it but each reader should experience the wonder of Emma's writing themselves. All of the characters are significantly different from one another- some are goofy, some are witty, some are shy- but the one thing they all have in common is how lovable they are. You'll find yourself rooting for them while also wishing you could give them all a hug. Go ahead and get yourselves a box of tissues when you settle down with this book because there is no way you won't tear up a time or two as you watch these characters bear their hearts to one another and help each other heal. It's just so damn good.

"...I hear Poppy's voice in my head-If you learn to capture a feeling, it'll always be louder than words. I don't know if I'll ever feel one louder than this."


After reading both of Emma's books she is definitely on my auto-buy list and that's really saying something coming from me as I don't normally love YA contemporary and rarely buy from this genre. But there is no denying that this is an author to watch and I can't imagine anyone giving this book less than five stars.

Quotes shared in this review were taken from an uncorrected proof and are subject to change upon publication.

You Have a Match by Emma Lord is a delightful YA novel. Abby signs up for a DNA service and ~surprise!~ she has an older sister that her parents never told her about! Abby and her new sister Savvy decide to meet up at summer camp and try to solve the mystery of why Abby's parents gave Savvy up for adoption. There are so many lovely things about this book: friendship, family, and a little romance too. Highly recommend! Thanks to NetGalley for the free digital review copy. All opinions are my own.

You Have a Match by Emma Lord is delightful YA novel about a teen, Abby, who discovers she has a sister after taking an ancestry test with her friend (and secret crush) Leo. Emma's newfound sister, Savannah, is a stunning influencer who is put-together and loves to control everything in her life, the opposite of Abby. When the girls realize their parents have kept this secret and likely have no intentions to explain, the sisters decide to meet at Camp Reynolds to connect without parent interference. As soon as Emma gets to the campgrounds, things get interesting with strict rules, tensions with Leo and Savannah, and just general camp shenanigans. This is a heartwarming novel filled with endearing friendships, a bit of romantic tension, and a poignant story on creating a family whatever that looks like -- even when things get messy. I absolutely loved the characters and was rooting for all of their character arcs. Each character is unique and feels like a 3-dimensional person, rather than a caricature. The pacing is great and the ending leaves you with all the smiles. This was a wonderful 4.5 star read and I want to press this book in the hands of both teens and adults. If you are looking for a book to give you a warm fuzzy feeling, I highly recommend this book!

Many thanks to the publisher St. Martin's Press - Wednesday Books and Netgalley for the ARC in return for an honest review.

Overall: Outside of the fame-lines, this is a solid follow-up to Emma Lord’s debut.

Pros:
Friends-to-lovers romance. I did not mention this is in the requested section, but this is one of my favorite romance tropes and Leo and Abby really have an organic pairing in the friends-to-lovers department.
Secret siblings and the bonds found with them. What can I say, I love a good, well-told sibling story.
The setting. Okay, I was a bit hesitant when I saw that this was going to be set at summer camp because that could go really well or really poorly, but I was pleasantly surprised and ended up enjoying the camp as a background character for this story.

Cons:
Savvy and the fame. Okay, I know it’s part of who she is as a character. She’s a rule-follower, a narc and casually an Instagram-star. Unfortunately, fame is just sometimes not a category for me when it comes to stories like these.

I could not get enough of this book!! There was a relatively diverse cast of characters, the mystery of how Savannah and Abby were separated, family dynamics, summer camp, and a lot of cute romantic relationships!! As someone who never got to attend summer camp, it was fun to read a book set in one, and it definitely would be the perfect summer read! The side characters made me laugh and were well fleshed out. The mystery of Savannah's adoption was not one that I saw coming and I definitely couldn't put the book down until I found out what happened.
The pacing in this book was excellent, once Abby discovered Savannah, things moved quickly to summer camp and all the various shenanigan's that happen there. Abby and Savannah both grow as characters as the summer continues and watching them bond was heartwarming. There was plenty of drama to mess with my emotions just a bit and some excellent quotes. I also love books that can poke fun at themselves so I loved all the jokes about Abby's life becoming a CW drama. If you're looking for a little escape or a book that will leave you smiling, look no further! I highly recommend this book

This was a really fast read. It was cute but very unbelievable. A little too unbelievable and cutesy for me.

“Brave. It’s a word I’m still getting used to, after a lifetime of ducking from my problems. But maybe I’m growing into it in my own way.”

⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
The very anticipated sophomore novel from Emma Lord is here! I read Tweet Cute as an ARC and was extremely happy to do the same for this one. Though I am really stunned by this author’s ability to tell a wholly unique story with such signature writing.

You Have a Match is the story of Abby, who loves photography despite being terrified of showing anyone her pictures and is doing way worse in school than she should be. On a whim, with encouragement from her friend, Leo, she takes a DNA test and discovers a full-blooded, surprisingly-close-in-age surprise sister Savannah. The two hatch a scheme to go away to camp together and bond, which back-fires as the summer slowly descends into what can be called chaos.

This was an auto-buy author read for me. I got an email offering the new Emma Lord book and I honestly did not read the synopsis. I just dived in. This back-fired a bit as I was pretty bored for maybe the first quarter of the book. I couldn’t get invested into these characters and I wasn’t very interested in the story. It picks up rapidly once they get to camp though.

The camping hijinks ensue and remind me of why I love camp stories so much. This book is shameless, wacky Parent-Trap trope with so much heart to offer. At some point, I really loved Savvy and Abby’s relationship. The banter and drama of it all. I really loved the group of friends they have that push the story along and make it truly memorable. The book is incredibly funny when it wanted to and tugs at your heart when it needs to.

The romance sublots were also adorable. I really liked Savvy’s whole mess that she has going on. I think the book was doing a love triangle with Abby that I was never really sold on. Maybe it’s really just to make more obstacles for the real romance, but I did feel like this book fell victim to the whole “if they just talked, the whole thing is solved in two minutes” and of course, that’s essentially what happened. But regardless, it was very cute. I didn’t get as frustrated as I normally do.

I did however, get frustrated with the way the characters were set-up. Some books have this habit of setting up all their characters with One Cool Thing that they do bafflingly well, as half their personality and kind of set everyone up to be Super Successful in life, by Living Their Dream. I probably didn’t explain that well, but in this book it shows in Abby being a Super Talented Photographer, Leo being a Super Talented Chef, and Savvy being a Super Talented Instagram Influencer. Maybe I’m bitter at not having a cute, passionate, yet luckily marketable talent, but it always just seems unrealistic to me. I know it’s just set-up for the story, but it tends to come off as TOO set-up.

Aside from that very small portion of the book, I was really blown away by the relationship between all the parents, it was sweet and adorable and I just really enjoyed the Parent Trap portions of this book. I thought the parts where Abby had to work through her insecurities were the best.

TL;DR: Easily one of the cutest, most enjoyable books I’m likely going to read this year. I can’t recommend this one enough for its humor, heart, and fabulous dessert ideas.

E-galley provided by Wednesday books in exchange for an honest review. All quotations and opinions are based off an uncorrected proof.

No other way to describe it-
This book made my heart happy.

You Have a Match by @dilemmalord released today!!! If I wanted to describe this YA book in one word I would say REFRESHING. I just felt so uplifted and happy. My little reader heart just smiled with this story. The book is so well written. And the story definitely unique. The book played like a movie and I enjoyed the whole thing!

“If you learn to capture a feeling, it’ll always be louder than words.”

If you love a good true teen/YA book, go read this one. You will get so lost in this book.
Thank you @netgalley and @wednesdaybooks for allowing me to read an early copy.

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘞𝘦𝘥𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘉𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤 𝘷𝘪𝘢 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸.

"𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝."

Impulsive and accident-prone Abby Day is struggling in Seattle suburbia. Between the loss of a loved one, failing grades, and awkward will-they-won't-they energy with her best friend, Leo, Abby just wants to escape into her photography and avoid any new changes.

But after taking a DNA test for a bet, change is 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 what Abby gets. Because in addition to discovering she's 35.6 percent Irish (take that, Connie😉) she also discovers she has a full-blooded older sister. A secret sister who wants to meet up for answers. And after a brief meeting in a nearby park, the duo decides a month-long stint at summer camp should provide adequate time to solve this 18-year-old mystery.

Full of campfires & chaos, Emma Lord's sophomore novel channels all the nostalgia and transformative powers of a teen's first time away from home. She nails the balance of the fear of the pending unknown with the joy of gained independence. She tackles friendships, first loves, and finding yourself in a setting that allows for pranks and a pressure-free environment.

And while the story got a little "lost in the woods" in the middle, I think the emotional scenes in the last third make it worth the journey. This YA contemporary lacks the snark I loved from Lord's debut, but makes up for it with heart. I think this is a super solid read for the teens in your life and no matter what your age, it will make you thankful for your "forever kind of people."


TW: death of a loved one, parental abandonment

You Have a Match is the follow-up to Emma Lord's hit debut book, Tweet Cute and I can happily say that it did not disappoint! I would describe it as as mash up of three different genres:
women's fiction, young adult, and rom-com. You're probably thinking women's fiction is a weird category, but it really does make sense. This story is about two sisters who find each other and the emotional upheaval that follows. Replace these teens with women in their 30s or 40s and you have a WF that focuses heavily on family relationships through delicate self-examination. There's not only the sisters' relationship to forge, but both sets of parents' friendship to reconcile. While it could never actually be women's fiction, it does have that feel to it. Of course we got the wonderful, sparkling humor that you would expect from Emma Lord which kept the tone of the story nicely balanced.

While reading this, I couldn't help but make parallels to the movie The Parent Trap. I skimmed some early reviews, and I found that I wasn't the only one who noticed the connection. This was one of my favorite movies growing up and I think the way the author put her own modern twist on it felt really refreshing. While the two sisters got to know one another at summer camp is a common element, in Lord's version they found each other through a DNA test. Instead of two sisters trying to rekindle their separated parents' romance, they were attempting to mend the broken friendship of their mothers and fathers. This gave it a fresh feel while still bringing back some of the nostalgia of the movie.

There are two main focus points of the book: Abby's effort to build a relationship with her newfound sister, and discovering why Savannah was given up for adoption and kept secret. Of course, we also saw Abby grow in maturity through the whole process and discover how to communicate better with her loved ones. One of her faults is being a peace keeper rather than a peace maker. She avoids conflict and confrontation even when keeping quiet is harmful to her well being. When her grades slip after her grandfather's death, she holds her turmoil in and doesn't tell her parents that the strict schedule of tutoring is doing more harm than good.

This theme of feeling lost and unsure about the move into a new stage of life is a genuine one that teens face at her age. It's also very common for teens to have a hard time communicating in a healthy way which Abby is guilty of. She holds her tongue with her two best friends after the BEI (big embarrassing incident), avoiding talking about her uncomfortable feelings rather than airing it all out. Sometimes we are our own worst enemy and need to learn how to have hard conversations in order to bring positive things in our life.

Savannah is Abby's opposite in many ways. They have a clash of wills when they meet at camp to start to get to know one another. Abby is impulsive, Savannah is a rule follower. They put up walls and grow resentment towards one another causing a lot of friction. There are some funny parts between the two of them playing pranks back and forth that made me laugh. In a way, even that was helping to form a sisterly bond, because let's face it, those with siblings know sometimes things get combative. At the end of the day though, we learn to love our family and friends despite our differences. It was really sweet to see these two grow closer and lean on each other through such a difficult point in their life.

Personally, the romance aspect wasn't as strong as I was hoping for, but that's not to say that it detracted from the value of the story. It's just important to note that you shouldn't expect that to be in the forefront. Overall, I really enjoyed this one! There was a big mess of tangled emotions to straighten out which I think was realistically done. I appreciated the depth put into each main character and the humor infusing even some of the tough moments. I'm a big fan of this author already and look forward to reading more from her in the future.

Whereas Emma Lord's debut novel Tweet Cute updated You've Got Mail for the 21st century, her follow-up You Have A Match is a smart, modern take on The Parent Trap. Sixteen year-old Abby Day only takes one of those Ancestry-DNA-type tests out of solidarity with her best friend Leo, on whom she also happens to have a huge crush. Leo was adopted from the Philippines, and while his parents are supportive of him trying to find out more about his birth family, his sister Carla is far more ambivalent, hence his need for moral support. When testing turns up nothing for him but informs Abby that she actually has an older sister living in the next town over, she's absolutely flabbergasted. The eldest of four kids herself, she doesn't understand how it's possible that 18 year-old Savannah Tully could genetically be her full sibling.

Savvy, as she's known, is also everything accident-prone, academically-indifferent Abby isn't. A polished Instagram star with great hair and a wealthy family, she's just as confused as Abby, and insists that Abby come spend time with her that summer at Camp Reynolds so they can get to know one another better and figure out how all this happened. Abby is desperate for a break from her parents' strict regime of SAT tutoring, so she accepts the invitation while dodging summer school. Little does she know that Leo is going to be at camp as well, and that this is going to be a summer of revelations and heartbreak that could turn out to be the most important summer of her life.

I had pretty low expectations going into this book, but I was blown away by how delightful it was to follow these fallible, relatable characters as they desperately tried to figure out who they were and who they loved and what it means not only to be family but also to be friends. Abby is constantly saying the wrong thing -- forgivable in a 16 year-old -- but she's also extremely conflict-avoidant, and it was fascinating and heart-breaking to read how she reacted when she and Savvy finally confronted their parents, initially blaming herself for "tricking" them but exploding later in an anger born of an entirely understandable vulnerability. It's so nice how she feels like a real person, and not a zero to sixty stand-in for an author's grinding plot axe, as is unfortunately common in both the YA and romance genres to which this book belongs. It was also nice how Ms Lord presented Abby and Savvy's parents as people who'd made awful mistakes but who with time were capable of overcoming the past in order to mend broken relationships.

I really appreciated the side plot regarding Leo's attempts to learn more of his background and birth culture, as well. It's nice that he and Mickey, another Asian character, were never exoticized even as they played important romantic roles in the narrative. It was also pretty great how Savvy being lesbian was presented and treated so matter-of-factly. It's so heartening to think of this generation of kids growing up with one less thing to have to feel unnecessarily bad about -- it's a process, but if we're lucky, it'll keep being true for more and more people as time goes on.

Books like this give me hope for the future, that we can find family, make new friends and fix old friendships, while moving forward together with honesty, accountability and compassion. You Have A Match may not be one of the best YA novels I've ever read, but it's certainly a lovely, thoughtful YA romance that I greatly enjoyed. Bonus points for the hilarious callouts to social media and pop culture memes throughout.

You Have A Match by Emma Lord was published today January 12th, 2021 by Wednesday Books and is available from all good booksellers, including <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/15382/9781250237309">Bookshop!</a> Want it now? For the Kindle version, <a href="https://amzn.to/3igOYV3">click here</a>.

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐇𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 by @dilemmalord was one of the 2021 YA releases I could not WAIT to read. I was thrilled when the members of @loveARCtually also wanted to read this adorable book about friendship, family and growing up, it was a book full of great discussion points for our ARC club!

“Poppy had this thing he always said when we were out with our cameras. He’d show me how different lenses captured different perspectives, and how no two photos of the same thing were ever alike, simply because of the person taking them. If you learn to capture a feeling, he told me, it’ll always be louder than words.”

As someone who LOVES the moments captured from a lens, this book and especially the main character, Abby were just full of joy and nostalgia. As she navigates family secrets + newfound friends + dealing with growing up, and I thought Lord did a great job of weaving so many of the realities of being a teenager together with a nod to The Parent Trap that left this 80’s baby feeling happy.

For me it was nice to have the focus of the story be on these new to each other sisters, the friendships new and old with a little bit of teenage romance. A huge thank you to Wednesday Books & NetGalley for the advance readers copy, I really enjoyed this one!

Emma Lord's books are like a breath of sunshine because they are always full of family and food. Her characters are so detailed and rich (if you love a YA book with the family and friends heavily characterized, I highly recommend this book) and I always love that there is always one character who is obsessed with cooking/baking. I loved the strong family element of this book especially with the adoption plot line. The setting of the book is a summer camp so I highly recommend reading this one during the summer or if you are missing summer.

Abby Day is a 16 year old high schooler with parents micromanaging her academic life to pursue a successful pursuit. It’s through her academic track, Abby submits a DNA test for her coursework, and she gets the biggest shock of her life: she has an 18 year old big sister.

Well what a trip and a half this was. I loved it, plain and simple. I am a large sop for Emma Lord. You Have A Match is a brilliantly composed contemporary that hits in the feels in every way with an enjoyable and easy readability to make it all the more wonderful.

The book is comedy gold. It made me think back to playing as a kid on the playground and the antics I got up to. It’s got so many dimensions of nostalgia - not only in its premise as a retelling of The Parent Trap. The setting of the book, Camp Reynolds, was clever and enjoyable to imagine. I could see the campers in their cabins, I could see the hiking trails, I could see the lake and canoes, I could see the food hall... It was just great.

You Have A Match had me grinning ear to ear, chuckling, eyes welling up, ugly frowning and ugly crying and worrying the heck out of my lip. I think reading this book will make the majority of bookworms reflect on your bonds with people and what life is all about. I know that’s soppy, but it’s the truth. It was a really emotional read, and made me want to hug my family close.

With Tweet Cute, Lord demonstrated the relevance and power of Twitter. In You Have A Match, the influence and popularity of Instagram is in the limelight. Also similarly to Tweet Cute, food is integral to the story again and will most definitely make any good foodies wish they could literally pull the food out of fiction and make it real.

My only quibble was the romance angles. They weren’t bad or ineffective in any major way, they were just weaker in their overall impact. I was happy to read all the mushiness and cared about the tension, but in my opinion, it didn’t contribute much to my enjoyment of the book. If anything, it irked me somewhat by how unneeded the love triangle elements were.

The themes in this book - and how they were crafted - really deserves a round of applause. We have focus on the dynamics of family, bereavement, navigating impending adulthood, first loves and general growing pains. I got really choked up at certain points by how invested I was in the character.

Emma Lord should be so full of pride in what she’s made here, and with Tweet Cute. There are aspiring writers and renowned authors alike who cannot achieve one ounce of the heart Lord has in her books. Although this didn’t leave me on a high like Tweet Cute did, I think Lord is a true talent. You Have A Match has insured I’ll continue to follow this author into all and any future projects. I think Lord has only just cracked the surface in her storytelling ability and I’m beyond excited to see what else she can cook up - I’ll be keeping a very close eye on what 2022 might bring!