I tried my hardest to love this book but honestly it was really hard to enjoy this book. I loved the Holiday Romance so immediately wanted this book but it truly was a let down. The characters were okay but I got to 40% and was like where is the story? Is this it cause nothing has happened so far. I thought we would get a two weeks notice vibe of him being the bad guy trying to buy all the businesses and ruin the community and she would be his enemy trying to stop him but that didn't happen. Instead we got insta love. If this had stayed like an enemies to lovers with her hating him instead of blushing over him each time she sees him this would have been more interesting.

Katie Collins has grown up in a small, quiet town. Quiet that is until Callum Dempsey and his development team move in to construct a luxury resort and spa. And not only does he want to build a resort and spa, he wants to tear down Kelly's, the local pub and the heart of the town. Now, Katie and her friends are going to take on the developer with his good looks and strong chin. Will they be able to save their beloved pub and will Katie lose her heart in the process?

This was such a fun little read. I loved the quaint setting and it makes me want to travel to Ireland! The characters were fun and I laughed a lot while reading this book. I loved the witty banter and the fun that the characters had. There were some really sweet moments in the book too. This was my first book by Catherine Walsh but it won't be my last! Thank you bookatoure, Netgalley, and Catherine Walsh for the ARC of this book.

This was my first Catherine Walsh book and I can guarantee I’ll be reading more of her work!

While I found the story a bit slow at first, it picked up after a couple of chapters and then kept the momentum until the very end. The enemies to lovers, kinda forbidden love tropes are quite cute and well captured. The story is filled with humour, banter, strong friendships and small-town charm. It’s a sweet RomCom with plenty of lol and swoon worthy moments (Swipe right for some cute annotations). The FMC is quite relatable on many occasions and the MMC is charming and simply perfect, he is both sweet & spicy! I adored the friendships shown in this book and how this small town is almost like a little family, watching out for eachother no matter what. The dialogues are witty and hilarious and some of the side characters like granny Maeve and Nush are just amazing! I rarely come across books where the other characters are just as great as the MCs.

This book will have you craving to live a sweet and simple, small-town life! If you like slow paced, but fun and witty romcoms, you can’t miss this one. Although, do give it some time to pick up the pace, you’ll surely be hooked once it does!

My thoughts



Narrative and Plot





The Matchmaker follows Katie Collins who loves her town Ennisbawn and works as a bartender at the local pub, Kelly's. The story follows her perspective as she inadvertently spearheads taking down the big corporate realtor by organizing this Matchmaking festival.

For a book that is titled asThe Matchmaker, there is a very little aspect of matchmaking involved here. It is all about how Katie deals with this major change happening in the town while having a soft spot for the person working on the other side. The pacing in the middle felt a bit slow, but then it picked up around the three-forth mark. As always, the author creates this nostalgic atmosphere of the good old rom-com days and I love that about her books.





Characters and Conflicts







Katie is charming, and witty, and has that self-deprecating humor that I love in rom-com heroines. It makes the story all the more interesting. Callum on the other hand, leaves you wanting for more.

There is good chemistry between the main leads. However, in order to see where Callum is coming from and why he makes the choices he made, I wish we got his perspective of things too. Without that, it felt a bit abrupt.

The ensemble cast is lovely and quite memorable. I have always enjoyed the sense of community and family in Catherine Walsh's books. This one had some amazing friendships and bonds. I enjoyed the romance that was going on around for the side characters as well and was equally rooting for them too.
Also, I could totally picture the Indian actress, Anushka Sharma as Nush because it is the kind of role that she usually goes for.


Conclusion



Overall I enjoyed the experience of reading the fun romantic comedy. However, I came into it expecting a comedy of errors relating to the matchmaking festival. Somehow, the blurb made me feel like that was what the story was about. The book also lacked the usual grounded and realistic way of approaching things which is a big highlight of the author's previous works. This one was leaning a bit much on us buying into that whimsical story of where everything works out in the end. To conclude, while I enjoyed the book, it is my least favorite book from the author so far.

3.75/5⭐️

This is actually my first Catherine Walsh book, and I really enjoyed it. The whole story was a breath of fresh air, it feels like I really went to Ennisbawn and had my vacation there. It was so cozy and warm!

The romance was super cute, and the characters were so funny (especially Katie's grandma!) I can't hold my laugh every time they exchanged banters and stuff. Also, the whole matchmaking thing was super adorable. I just wish that the author elaborates more into this part because I think it was a bit rushed, but still, it was adorable.

All in all, I had a great time reading this book, and I'll recommend this if you like a light, cozy, and heartwarming read 💖

Thank you to Catherine Walsh, Bookouture and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

As usual and as expected, Catherine Walsh doesn’t miss. She is able to craft an incredible rom com that will have you laughing and leave you feeling every spectrum of emotions. 4.5 ⭐️’s. An easy book to recommend and I’ll be purchasing immediately on release day.

I thought this was such a cute book and such a cute concept. I absolutely love Callum, he's the soft big looking boyfriend, a teddy bear boyfriend. I loved the setting and the idea of saving a small-knit-together village by a strong-headed frantic girl. Some swoon-worthy moments you need to look for are the belt loop, his "flowers" and his favorite place. It's also incredibly sweet to see the side couples as well and see little bits and pieces of them. Highly recommend it for a cute short read (284 pgs).

This is the first book by Catherine Walsh that I've read, the blurb caught my attention and it didn't disappoint.

Katie is such a passionate character, she is even willing to go out and confront contractors in her yellow duck pyjamas and this leads to the meet cute (minus the cute) of our love interests. The relationship developed in typical enemies to lovers fashion with lots of banter. I felt it occured quicker than the usual enemies to lovers slow burn stories that I love but it wasn't exactly insta love either which I liked.

Callum is a caring MMC and is the type who will rescue you from a rainy bus stop and will perform a big grand gesture to win you back.

The romance wasn't the be all and end all of the plot, I liked that the main story revolved around reviving the festival to try and save the pub.

This is a cute small town romance and a quick and easy read.

A delightfully cheesy save-the-town romcom! Katie Collins started out as a bit of a character that I couldn’t take seriously, but with each page turn I found myself rooting for her more and more! A great vacation read!

3.5 stars. Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture. This is not by first rodeo with a book by Walsh and just like with Holiday Romance I was totally here for it. I like Katie am for a small town but our town has just grown and grown and grown lol. I loved how she felt inadequate but still tried her best to save her town. This was written in such a way that everything just flowed and it was an effortless read. Cant wait to read more from this author.

I am such a fan of Catherine Walsh and her books. Walsh’s story is light, full of friendship, full of discovery and how scary it can be to lose everything important to you. Both the storyline and the characters are easy to relate to and this is simply a feel good book with so much friendship, romance, love and support of a strong community. The characters she creates all fit like puzzle pieces and this book is no different - Katie & Callum are a couple so well suited (even though it does not appear so) and even the character of Jack, who seems to be the biggest jerk, surprises the reader in the end. Katie comes to discover were she wants to be, who she wants to be an be with and she knows the community she wants surrounding her everyday - even if it makes her appear boring. Also, the reader has to respect the feisty determination of Katie. Walsh provides subtle one liner comments between the characters that make it difficult not to smile and laugh out loud. One of my favorite aspects of Walsh's writing is her ability to create swoon worthy male characters who always support the woman they love. Trust me, I love Callum (pretty sure you will as well) and who doesn't want to experience toe-curling kisses? I will definitely read this book again!

Thank you to Bookouture for the ARC via NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.
What a lovely read! If you like small town dramas, this one is fighting against the big bad corporation, by way of reviving a matchmaking festival where the FMC's parents met. It's also an enemies-to-lovers romance with a tattooed, green-eyed love interest, so if either of those tropes are up your alley, I think you'll enjoy this one! I really enjoy Catherine Walsh's writing (especially her humor) and I'm so thankful I've had the opportunity to read all four of her books early!!
I started reading this book yesterday morning in NYC, after walking across the Brooklyn Bridge, and I read more on my train back to Boston in the afternoon. Today I continued reading it on my early AM flight, then read some on the beach, and finally finished it with a local USVI beer before eating dinner. What an adventure my Kindle has been on in the last day or so! While I can't promise you the same travels, I can promise you that this romance will whisk you away to Ireland mentally!

⭐⭐⭐.5/5 (Rounded up because I like happy reads.) If you love sweet romances, with happy ever afters, and the serenely rolling sheep-dotted hills of Ireland, you’ll love The Matchmaker. As one of the sweeter romances novel releases in April 2023, the spirit of change felt perfect this April! 🐑⛰️🍺💕

A SHORT PREVIEW: When a slightly hectic small-town Irish gal is finally fed up with the resort construction going on around her cottage… what does she do? Stomps down to the construction site of a massive hotel in her pajamas to give them a piece of her mind, of course. What Katie doesn’t expect is the handsomely polished façade of Cullum Dempsey.. or that he’s a construction site developer. When the plans for the resort start to veer towards taking over the pub she’s called home, Katie sets off to bring a matchmaking festival back to town and save her pub. But will the pub be the only thing getting a little TLC?

My Thoughts & Review:
I loved The Matchmaker for the simple, peaceful Irish countryside vibes it brought my way. Not every reader is meant to be that earth-shattering dramatic romance. Sometimes you need something simple, like the love between a small-town girl and a man looking for a home. Combine that with punny one-liners, an adorable border collie, and sweet countryside folk to create a loveable Irish romance! We’re all looking for a little more peace in the countryside these days!

**Thank you, Bookouture and NetGalley, for this advance reader copy. I received this book for free, but all thoughts are my own. – SLR

RATING: 3.5

If you are looking for a quick and fun romantic comedy, The Matchmaker is exactly what you should pick up. Small town girl trying to save her local bar by reviving the old match making festival. Love interest works for the bad guy corporation determined to tear the building down.

This story is cute, but predictable. You know they will succeed from the beginning, you know and root for the couple to get together. Everything seems a little too easy. However I did appreciate that there wasn’t a heavy reliance on miscommunication which seems to be the only trope romance authors are utilizing nowadays. And the dialogue did have me laughing out loud a few times.

Overall I would recommend this book as a fun summer read or when you want to take a break from reading anything to heavy.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. This book was really good. The humor and the way she writes was just chef’s kiss for me. I will say that some of it felt rushed while some of the book felt dragged out but otherwise this book is cute and the characters are cute and it’s also funny. The way they first meet was so amusing to me and really set the tone for the rest of the book.

✫✫✫

As someone with Irish roots, I was so excited to see a story representing a place that means a lot to me. This book takes place in a small Irish town, being overrun by the building of a giant hotel that is destroying this little place that is so magical to its' residents. In the process of trying to put an end to at least some of the madness happening due to the building of this hotel, Katie takes it upon herself to revive an old Matchmaking festival, in hopes that the tradition they once had, will help to cease the tearing down of a place she holds near and dear to her.

We do see a romantic element here, with one of the men who runs the construction site, Callum. As far as the idea of this book goes, it had a lot of promise but the romance is overall where the story did fall short for me. Katie and Callum had so few, and short, interactions before they're somehow head over heels for each other. It felt like insta love, but even with that, it felt like they didn't even have enough of a connection.

The first half of the book felt like a lot of filler. Some background info, which is of course important, but a lot of things happening that didn't feel super pertinent to the story.

I really enjoy the author's writing style and will absolutely be checking out more books in the future, but this one didn't quite hit the mark for me, it just wasn't my favorite. And that's A-OK in my mind and still certainly worth the read!!

It was a fast, easy read and still worth checking out!

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Catherine Walsh, and Bookouture for an Advance Copy of this book. The publish date for this book is April 18, 2023, make sure to check it out!

2.75/5

It's a bit of an unpopular opinion, but I can't say I loved this book. I really wanted to, and it had potential, but it wasn't for me.

I felt it was just okay. The romance took the backseat to the festival and I felt Katie's character could've been so great-but wasn't. I struggled with the pacing too, it took me a lot longer than expected to read it.

It just fell a bit flat for me, but others are loving it.

Tropes you may love:
Small town
He falls first

Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

A quick easy read. Great for people into cozy romances. I really wanted to like this book but unfortunately I struggled with the writing and found it difficult to relate to the characters. However, I've never read a book set in Ireland before and I loved seeing that! A refreshing change from a small town romance set in America. I do own Holiday Romance and am still excited to read that one! Thank you to Bookouture and Netgalley for the ARC!

Really really cute concept but I wasn't a massive fan of the execution. The single POV made it difficult to connect with Callum at all; I felt like I didn't really get to know him very well. This ultimately impacted the chemistry he had with Katie; I had a clear understanding of her personality and motives but felt disconnected from Callum. I also had some issues with the pacing of the book, it takes place over the course of a few months but feels like it's flying past events to get to the festival at the halfway point only to draw out the three-day event for almost the entire second half. Gemma and Adam really saved this one for me, I was invested in their budding relationship and enjoyed seeing that side story play out throughout the book. Overall the side characters were well thought out and definitely gave the book the feel of a small town that looks after each other like family.

Set in rural small town Ennisbaum, Ireland, Katie was happy with her life. One rough morning as construction started wreaking havoc near her changed everything... Katie will do whatever she can to prevent a development company from taking over the town including the bar near and dear to her heart, where her parents met during a matchmaking festival. The direction she takes lays in on the line for the bar and future for the town, and for her too.

This was a cute read with fun characters. It's fast paced with memorable scenes. Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC.