I voluntarily read this ARC in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I've read a couple of Catherine Walsh's other books and enjoyed them. This one was nice too, it just took me a while to get into it. Once it hit 40% then it was easy reading from then on.
I enjoyed the interactions with Adam and Gemma, and giggled a few times with what the Grandma said. I'm glad there wasn't too much drama concerning her either.
Callum was pretty perfect really.
3.5 stars

A flirty, laugh out loud Irish romance that will have you packing up your bags and en route to your nearest down-on-its-luck Irish village in no time. This book has wishing wells, fairy circles, and charming community vibes. Catherine Walsh is unrivalled in her ability to write humour into her stories, but she balances it out with heavier topics and it all blends seamlessly to create very real feeling characters that are easy to relate to. Everyone in the village has personality in spades and I adore reading the connections between these people and their commitment to their community. It’s one big extended family all looking out for each other. Callum is an all-in, tattooed, big city man looking for a small town life he can make his own. Katie is warm and fun, getting stuck into everything and bantering with everyone whilst worrying about bills and protecting her village. Her grandma, Maeve, was maybe the star of the show? No, I loved them all, really, but she had great wit and stubbornness and I admired her grouchy demeanour and insolent humour.
Walsh’s books are so alive both with their characters and their settings and it takes incredible talent to manage that with words on the page - this book is definitely a hit!

I received a free copy of this book. All views are my own.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Actual Rating = 3.25

I've read all of Catherine Walsh's books and enjoyed them all; this is no different, though I do think it's one of her weaker works so far. I actually think a large part of my problems came from the ARC itself though, which made this really hard to rate. It seemed like the second half of the text was SIGNIFICANTLY less edited than the first half, and I truly think (and hope) that the final edition will be pretty different, which could impact my review quite a bit.

What I feel safe saying is that Walsh's quintessential humor very much makes an appearance, but I didn't feel the connection between the characters as much as I usually do with her work. The romance wasn't insta-love, but it did feel quick. There were multiple plot lines and I think some could've been cut to make a stronger story. Definitely worth a read but not as good as The Rebound or Holiday Romance.

Well I wouldn't say this was an exact match for me but, The Matchmaker was close!

I absolutely loved the setting and it was the perfectly charming and romantic setting for this one. However, I wasn't head over heels for the actual romance.

Don't get me wrong. I liked it, I enjoyed it. I would suggest this for everyone but, I wanted a bit more to buy into their love.

Thank you to the publishing team and NetGalley for this free ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Catherine Walsh has done it again… another heart warming read full of humour.

I’m not a slow burn type of girl so I loved how quickly this one started and how quickly relationships developed.

All of the characters are constructed well and as always Walsh has done a great job of describing the Irish town.

Overall the book is light hearted, fun and entertaining!

Thank you to Catherine Walsh, Bookouture, and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

An Irish love story! A dog on the cover. What more could I ask for? I am a sucker for any cover that has a dog. It is an instant read for me.

This one was good. I mean look at this quote:

“Anywhere you want to go. If you want me to, I’ll follow.”

*Swoon*.

Set in a cozy Irish village we meet Katie Collins. Katie works at the only pub in town and lives in a cottage with her grandma. Her life sounds idyllic that is until a company starts buying up land and is threatening to tear down the pub. Katie sets out to save the pub by proving its cultural significance and in the process, she meets Callum who seems perfect, if not for the fact that he works for the very company threatening to ruin her beloved village.

This book turned out to be both heartwarming and very relatable. Following not only Katie but also the romantic lives of her friends, was truly entertaining.
While this book is definitely a romance book it's equally a book about figuring out exactly where you're meant to be, overcoming tragedy, and how not all change has to be bad.
Cathrine Walsh managed to keep me entertained throughout and I'll definitely check out her other works.

I received this ARC through Netgalley

The Matchmaker

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I always feel like I get a little mini vacation in Ireland when I read Catherine Walsh’s books. The Matchmaker was no exception!

Katie is trying to save her local town from a big company building a hotel and golf course. I loved the highs and lows of this one and thought the peripheral characters were especially good. Gemma, Nush and Maeve were so good to watch in their support as they brought the festival to light!

Check this book out when it publishes April 18th! Thanks to @netgalley for this advanced copy!

I really enjoyed this book. As an Irish gal, you could see lots of how communities in Ireland are under threat in this book. So to see lots of modern Ireland in a rom-com was really exciting.

I really enjoy Catherine Walsh's writing and the characters she creates. While it took me a while to get into reading the book itself, once the pacing picked up it was a wonderful read.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for a review.

𝐀 𝐑 𝐂 • 𝐑 𝐞 𝐯 𝐢 𝐞 𝐰

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐫 𝐁𝐲 𝐂𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐖𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐡
𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 𝟑.𝟓/𝟓
𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐞: 🌶 /𝟓

This is my first ever Catherine Walsh book! She was able to describe the town in a way that transported me right in the middle of it! I felt as if I was watching the book before my eyes! That’s called clever imagery writing.

The characters in this Irish small town were so relatable! It kind of felt a little like Gilmore Girls. The grumpy bartender owner, the local woman who speaks word vomit every time she can’t get an idea out fast enough, the friends in town that aren’t around her age but get along like sisters! Just wow! Great character building! 🌷🌷🌷

The title did trick me into thinking I was getting into a swooning romance book.. that’s not the case. Yes, there were happy endings and love interests, but it was more about the town working together to help a local out!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It made me laugh in almost every chapter read! I hope she continues with this story for some of the side characters that I think deserve their own spotlight in the future! Overall a very cute, easy read!

Thank you Netgalley and Catherine Walsh for sending me this eARC in exchange for an honest review! It was a pleasure reading it 🤍

𝐀𝐯𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐀𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐥 𝟏𝟖𝐭𝐡!

This was such a pleasant surprise of a book! I had never read anything by this author before so I wasn't sure what to expect. This book is a small-town romance with found family and the feeling of a rom-com movie. I found myself smiling while reading this book. I just really enjoyed reading this. I will say, though, that I didn't love how fast the romance between Callum and Katie came together. I feel like only half of the book was about their romance and the other half was about Katie working to save the pub. I think this could have been 5 stars for me if their romance had been more of a slow burn.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Katie loves where she lives, but she does not like the amount of construction or traffic caused by Callum an his development team. Then she finds out that they have right to the only pub in town, where she works, that is basically where everyone goes to hang out and are planning to tear it down. Back in the day, they used to have a matchmaking festival which is where her parents met and fell in love. They haven't had that festival for years and Katie decides to revive the festival in hopes to save the town. What she doesn't realize is that the chemistry between her and the construction site manager is so strong.

I really enjoyed that matchmaking aspect of the book and the construction manager seemed adorable. It did see to accelerate quickly because one second they hate each other and then the next they are in love.

First of all I want to thank NetGalley and Bookouture for letting me read the ARC of this book! I really liked The Matchmaker, it was right up my alley and I loved the storyline. The first half of the book I loved with the build up of Callum and Katie falling for each other. Once the characters got together, it fell pretty flat for me. It picked up again once the festival started and I LOVED the ending. It was such a sweet and cute ending. I absolutely loved Callum and Katie and thought they were both sweethearts. It was a great rom-com and a perfect light and quick read!

This book was really sweet and cute and funny, and I really enjoyed reading it. This story is about Katie, who lives in a small village in Ireland and is trying to save the pub she works in from getting demolished and turned into a hotel by developers. She revives a matchmaking festival to convince the public and bring the village back to life. She meets Callum, who is part of the team of developers, and hates him because he’s tearing down her home.

I had a lot of fun reading this, the characters were good, I liked the matchmaking festival plot, and I also loved the community and friendships. The romance between Callum and Katie was low angst, but they were cute and sweet together. The side characters were so interesting, I hope we can get a book on Gemma and Adam. At times the pacing felt odd, and some parts were rushed, but overall this chick lit was a nice easy, fun read.

Thank you, Netgalley and Bookatoure, for this arc!

I loved holiday romance, Walsh’s last book, so I had high expectations going into this one. It was a cute small town story with a unique premise but it felt like it dragged on at times. There wasn’t enough interaction between the two love interests in my opinion. Loved some of side characters and still felt like it was enjoyable overall.

How hard is it to write a good rom-com? Very hard, judging from the last several books I read that either failed on the romance side or were not comedic at all. Catherine Walsh will be my new go-to, the banter was witty and clever and made me snicker every so often. The main female character was actually likable, is it so hard to create a strong woman role without her being entitled or needy? This was refreshing on so many levels, I loved every bit.

Netflix movie, maybe?

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book.

This was an adorably cute David versus Goliath. Katie is up against a large corporation that wants to, in her view, destroy her village to build a luxe hotel. When she commits herself to bringing back a matchmaking festival, the entire town has to come together to try to save itself.
I really liked how all of the characters were fleshed out and much more than just a side character.
It did feel like Katie and Callum fell in love pretty quick, though. They seemed to go from zero to 100 with not much lead up.
Thank you to NetGalley and Catherine Walsh for this ARC.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

I’m a sucker for a cheesy rom com especially when there’s a grumpy MMC but this felt a little more com than rom.

The Matchmaker is a story of a small town in a David Vs Goliath battle with the big guns (a hotel group) with a great focus on community and the love and compassion woven into the bones of small towns.

That being said, I found I wanted more of Callum and Katie, it felt like their relationship felt under developed from the start, as if it snuck into the story and popped up for the occasional chapter, with a title like “The Matchmaker” I’d expected it to be more prominent.
I didn’t feel as invested in their relationship as I usually want from a romance book, instead I was more bothered about the town beating ‘The Man’.

Furthermore, other side characters felt more developed than the mains, and were given backstory and motivation more so than the MMC Callum, I didn’t find myself swooning over him because I didn’t feel like I really knew him, instead I was rooting for other the supporting characters’ romance.

The story is a heartwarming tale of the little guys taking down the big guys, and a small town banding together for the greater good. It was entertaining the one liners and banter was realistic and mostly landed, and Katie’s grandmother now has a firm spot in my heart!

Overall a quick, easy, and enjoyable read about a small Irish town and even though the story was predictable I did enjoy myself, and I am especially fond of Adam now!

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and Catherine Walsh for this ARC.

I love small town stories, and the feeling of community in this book makes my heart happy! It's especially sweet to see how they all get together and work so hard to preserve the essence of their village. The romance is cute, but for me the best part was the the interactions bettween the residents of Ennisbawn and their connection to the village!
Also, I love her granny and wish there was more of her in the story!

Totally recommend!! Enemies to lovers, Irish folklore. This is an amazing book


I love Catherine Walsh books and this one was no exception!!

Katie Collins hates Callum Dempsey, the man who is building a hideous hotel and destroying her beautiful town Ennisbawn, and on top of that the next project is to tear down the last remaining pub!
She is determined to save it and with it the remaining charm of Ennisbawn! To do it she’s bringing back the once-famous match making festival and love is just around the corner!

Enemies to lovers, Irish folklore, great and entertaining plot!
Go read it the next 18 of April!!