3.5 ⭐, rounded down

I really wanted to love this. Last year, I fell in love with Catherine Walsh's Holiday Romance, which featured great humour, a swoony friends-to-lovers story, and an overall fun time. With The Matchmaker, I'm disappointed to say that I felt underwhelmed.

The first half of this book had promise; the premise was interesting, the small town in Ireland was charming, and the side characters were compelling. What fell flat to me were the overall plot and the lack of depth to the main characters, who I wasn't able to get a great grip on or relate to. Having read the book, I'm not sure the male lead, Callum, has a personality other than being in love with Katie. I wish his character got fleshed out more and received more development. At times, I felt myself rooting for the love story of a secondary couple more than the main couple, because there wasn't much left to worry about for them.

While this was still an enjoyable read, it's hard not to compare this to how Holiday Romance took me by surprise and how funny yet heartwarming it was.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Loved the characters. Loved the small town. Loved the resolution at the end. Loved everything. I chuckled and laughed out loud a quite a few times 🤩🤩 I just really loved the sweet romance and the good, good people and the happily ever after.
Instagram review will be posted to my feed (@laurensturningpages on April 5.

Trying to save her town's pub from the hotel people building in their village, Katie takes on big corp. Callum works for the hotel but eventually joins forces with Katie. Good chemistry between the two main characters, interesting secondary story for her friend Gemma. Good read. Definitely going to check out the author's other books.

Matchmaker, matchmaker make me a match …

Unfortunately, this wasn’t a love match, but we can definitely still be friends!

Katie Collins is a 29-year-old born and bred resident of charming Ennisbawn, Ireland. When developer Glenmill swoops in and starts building a hotel/golf complex to revitalize this close-knit, once robust village, it seems like a great opportunity. Then they start wanting MORE land - including the land that Katie’s workplace, Kelly’s Pub, sits on. It’s the last pub left in Ennisbawn, steeped in personal and community history, and she’s not about to give it up without a fight.

On the other side of this issue is Glenmill liaison, Jack Doyle, and his handsome, tattooed project manager Callum Dempsey, who pajama-clad Katie meets one morning after storming into his office to demand a solution to their traffic noise. While Jack is the guy whose picture decorates the dartboards at Kelly’s Pub and is the real threat, quiet Callum is more a victim of guilt-by-association. The blurb reads like he’s the ‘baddie’ in this story which is misleading.

Long story short, when Jack comes to lay claim to Kelly’s Pub one day due to a contract clause that gives Glenmill ownership, a desperate Katie fights back arguing the historical and cultural significance of Kelly’s and Ennisbawn for its annual Matchmaking Festival. She fails to mention that it hasn't been held for several years due to dwindling participation! Calling her bluff, Jack gives her a chance to prove the importance of this festival to save the pub.

I’m sure with a bit of imagination, you’ll figure out the rest of this David vs. Goliath story regarding Ennisbawn vs. Glenmill, and if I rated the book solely on that part of the story, I’d give this four stars. The festival, side characters and Irish setting were charming! I would’ve loved a story featuring more of Katie’s best friends, Gemma and Anushka, or her boss Adam.

Where the story lost some shine for me was the spotlight relationship: Katie and Callum. I was SO smitten with Catherine Walsh’s last book, Holiday Romance. Its MCs, Molly and Andrew, set the bar VERY high! Unfortunately, I just never felt that same spark with this couple.

Instead of a meet cute, Katie and Callum have a meet ugly (not my term … look it up), yet he’s utterly besotted and ready to go to the ends of the Earth with her soon after! They both had their cool, likable qualities, but there was so little time spent fleshing out why they even liked each other, that I couldn’t fully buy into their sudden love and passion for each other.

All-in-all, it’s a cute story with its own charms which I genuinely enjoyed, but this one won’t be a love for a lifetime book!

★★★ ½ (rounded to 3)

I thoroughly enjoyed this fast paced and modern story about found family and love. I could feel the sense of community radiating from these pages and although I've never been to Ireland, it made me feel like I have. Katie is sassy and smart but deals with her own struggles and really gives the reader a sense of apathy toward her challenges. This book really leaves you with butterflies in your stomach and the sense of just watching a Hallmark movie. If you're looking for a feel good romcom to binge in one day, this is it!
I wish there was more character development for Callum and Jack, but maybe in book two? I'd love to see Jack find his happiness like Callum did.

Thank you Netgalley and Catherine Walsh for this ARC copy of the Matchmaker!
I really really liked this cozy rom-com. Catherine does a great job of making the reader feel a connection to the small town of Ennisbrawn, and you root for Katie and her crazy plots to save her beloved town and the pub. The banter was top-notch, it had me laughing out loud at various points and smiling the whole time. I thought that Katie's character was really unique in that she loved who she was and where she was, and I appreciated that because you don't often see a character who is content with who they are and it's accepted and even praised in this book. I thought that was a lovely touch because women are allowed to be who they are and like what they like and it doesn't matter what they are. My main critique is that the book is more of an insta-love situation than the synopsis suggests and Callum isn't really ever evil (though I do like the banter in their fights in the beginning). Overall, I thought this was a really cozy, light read and really enjoyed it.

Katie Collins has barely ever left her tiny Irish village of Ennisbawn. She loves the tightknit community, friendly local pub, surrounded by rolling hills and perfectly mysterious forests, it’s a place of peaceful beauty.
Until Callum Dempsey a hot shot developer shows up. He’s not only building a hotel just outside the village, but now he’s also planning to knock down Ennisbawn’s only remaining pub, to make way for a good view from the golf course. Katie refuses to see her home disappear. Not to mention that the pub is the last connection to her parents. She decides to revive the matchmaking festival, and she’s going to single-handedly bring the town back to life again.

Katie is cheerful and optimistic. She wears her heart on her sleeve and loves deeply. I loved that she was happy with her life in a tiny village. The characters felt relatable with real issues. Loved Granny Maeve and her sarcastic humor. Callum was understanding of Katie's decision to never leave her small town. I loved that there was no forced third act - conflict. Its a light hearted and uplifting story with strong secondary characters. The writing is crisp with smart wit. Overall the book is short and fun with a lot of heart and positivity. In an over ambitious, capitalistic and materialistic world its refreshing to read Katie's perspective of choosing to be content and happy with her life. And there is no shame in not wanting more.

When Katie finds the new hotel construction down the lane is waking her up waaaaay too early- she goes to confront the boss. What she doesn’t expect is hunky site boss, Callum, to be so nice. His boss, Jack Doyle, is a terror and only wants to rebuild her whole quaint village. When Jack sets his sights on the local pub, Kelly’s…..panic in the village ensues.
Katie has a great idea to reinvent the Matchmaking Festival from years ago to promote their little village and get recognition for Kelly’s not to have it torn down.
What Katie didn’t expect was to fall for Callum as he’s on enemy territory. If she can just keep her heart in check and save the pub.
Great romance and appreciate the unique plot line

I received this ARC from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.

The Matchmaker is a cozy romantic comedy. It's a story about Katie and Callum. Katie is a bartender who lives in a small village in Ireland. She loves her home and her friends. Callum works for the "evil" development company. The company wants to "destroy" the village by building a golf course and a hotel to attract tourists. Of course, Katie and her fellow neighbors do not want that to happen. Because the construction is going to destroy their favorite (an their only) bar - Kelly's, where Katie works. One day Katie barges into the construction site in her pajamas and that's how she meets Callum. Aand their story goes from there.

Katie was really relatable to me - we're both socially awkward but in different ways. We're both terrible at driving - again, for different reasons (she had a traumatic experience and I just plain suck at it). She fights for what she loves and family is very important to her. Her inner fears are also very relatable, at least to me.
Callum was the guy who fell hard, and he knew what he wanted, and he went for it. Love a decisive guy who is also very respectful and caring. Their story was sweet with some tension but not much.
I my opinion, the real stars of the story are the side characters. I won't spoil anything but when you read it you'll know who I was rooting for! Sometimes it was like "Katie and Callum who? Tell me what happens next with these guys!".
Loved the subplots, loved the matchmaking festival and the role it played in the story. It was a very cute idea with a lot of romance potential and shenanigans potential, and Catherine Walsh definitely delivered! I laughed, I cried (like twice, which is rare), and I kicked my feet in the air and giggled like a teenager.

If I may name one thing that could be a bit improved - that would be Callum's character arc. There was nothing wrong with him, and we got his backstory, but I could use a smidge more info about his hopes and dreams, his fears etc. I guess he fell victim of the single POV.

Overall, The Matchmaker is the cutest romcom, low angst and with some spice in it too! Can see it being a movie easily.
Definitely will continue reading this author. I went in blind without looking up anything about the book or the author, and was not disappointed!


Thank you Catherine Walsh, the publisher, and #netgalley for trusting me with the ARC!

Before I give you my star rating let me give you a one-second summary of The Matchmaker: A plucky young heroine living in a small town in Ireland must plan a festival to help save her local pub. And the name of said pub: Well, it would be called Kelly's of course!

Obviously, a book written by the phenomenal Catherine Walsh with a pub named after ME is going to be a five-star read! I fell head over heels for Ms. Walsh's writing and humor and storytelling with Holiday Romance and she has now officially solidified herself as one of my top ten favorite authors.

Walsh's sense of humor is my favorite thing ever. I chuckled my way through every single page of this book and the banter and sarcasm is top notch. I loved every single character, especially Granny!

Katie and Callum's relationship may have happened a little quicker than I expected but 1) I'm not a slow burn girl and 2) it didn't feel like the dreaded instalove. Instead, it felt more like "I'm 30 and I know what I want and I'm happy with my decision."

The main focus of this book isn't really Katie's love life which was refreshing because I love a heroine that doesn't have all day to obsess about a cute guy. Katie has a job and a community and friends and family that she is wholly devoted to. There's even a little side plot romance and a swoon-worthy declartion that had my eyes sweating a bit.

Overall, highly highly recommend this one! Don't go into it expecting the typical romance novel but rather a cute plot, hilarious banter, and a sweet love story.

This book was absolutely fantastic, I read it in one sitting and couldn't put it down! Catherine Walsh is a new author to me and I will be reading the rest of her books ASAP. There were so many highlightable quotes, I loved all the side characters just as much as Callum and Katie. I was cracking up during the Headache girl vs Stomachache girl convo, I loved Adam and Gemma and Noah and would read a whole second book about their slow slow slow romance. "Come on, Gem. It's you." "It's always been you." SWOOOOOON! Like I said, this book is full of great moments. I hope that this eventually releases in Paperback as well as a kindle edition because I want to add this to my home library and also make all my friends read it!

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC copy of this book!

Katie lives in a small town in Ireland where she adores her home. Here she battles with a corporation as they take over her town to build a hotel. Their project keeps expanding and when they attempt to come after Katie's favorite place in town, the pub where her parents met, she claims that they can't tear it down because it's the location of the famous Matchmaking Festival.

Only...the Matchmaking Festival hasn't been famous in well....a while. Katie along with the rest of the town works together to attempt to bring the festival back to life. Meanwhile, Katie also keeps going toe-to-toe with the Foreman of the the hotel project, but they can only butt heads for so long before something has to give.

This was a really fun read. Katie was an absolutely delightful character. I really love how comfortable she was with herself and where she belonged. She owned her love for her town and her dreams of staying exactly where she was without apology. This book had some of the classic tropes including small town vs. big bad corporate, forced proximity, forbidden love, and opposites attract. I love a good slow burn romance mostly because they tend to avoid the dreaded dark moment at 80% or so, and this book delivers.

Katie and Callum's romance was sweet. Some of Callum's big speeches made me swoon; however, I felt like the romance took a back seat a bit to the story. Which would be fine, but I think that the slow burn moved very slowly and then BAM they were in love and it felt a little rushed. Callum's character in particular seemed to do a 180 in terms of his character traits.

I think that this book would have done well as a series where we got to know the side characters better instead of trying to cram their stories into one book. The resolution wrapped up very quickly and I wish there had been more focus on the actual Matchmaking festival and Callum/Katie's love story instead.

Overall, I enjoyed the premise of the book and I loved the small town Irish setting and it's witty characters. 3.5 stars rounded up.

The first half of this story was really cute. I always like to read about a cozy small town like Ennisbawn, because I can really relate to that. I could really imagine how it looked like and I liked how it was described. I had some laug-out-loud moments with Katie walking in on the construction site with her PJ's on. That scene was hilarious.
💘
I felt though that this book was pretty predictable. I didn't enjoy the matchmaking festival as much as I thought I would. The chemistry between Katie and Callum was really interesting at the beginning, but then I found him to be overly possessive. Their love story felt not that believable to me? If you are looking for a quick, fun and an easy romance book, this is it then.

The Matchmaker, by Catherine Walsh
hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced
Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0

This was SUCH a cute read. I love Catherine Walsh's writing style and the life she brings into her characters. I thought the plot for this was so fun — putting together a matchmaking festival to revive your small Irish town so that the 'big bad' developers don't ruin it? I ate it up. I really loved how the story unfolded and how much the main characters drew me in. I thought Callum was really great and authentic. The story developed so naturally. I don't think there was anything I didn't like, actually. Catherine Walsh is an auto-read for me now. Loved this one!!

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The Matchmaker was a happy, fun book with adorable banter. This is my third Catherine Walsh, and she is a must read for me now. She writes in such a charming, binge-able way that leaves me with a huge smile on my face.

The premise for this book is a little murky. Katie is a small town girl in rural Ireland, and when her village is threatened by a new hotel, she decides to fight back. Callum is the site manager for the hotel and is immediately enchanted by Katie and her passion for her town. But can they overcome the obstacle of his job destroying her village?

I really did enjoy this book so much. It was a delightful escape from reality. The sense of place was excellent. Take me to a tiny Irish town asap! The chemistry between Katie and Callum was great. I loved their banter. Catherine Walsh always does this really well. The side characters were wonderful and offered a lot of depth to the story. The one negative I have is the lack of a coherent premise. I would say this book was just rambling about for the first 20-30%. It was fun rambling, but I didn't feel immersed in the cause. The second half of the book was very strong to make up for it though!

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the advanced e-copy in exchange for my honest review.

A lovely, light hearted, charming, insta love, enemies to lovers read (talk about a mouthful). This book was cute and its focus on community had me rooting for Katie and her mission to save her village and the history that it holds. If you love a good underdog story, this is for you.

I absolutely adore Catherine Walsh books in this series and I personally think this one is the best of them. I get so lost in her books. I would give this 6 stars if I could.
I just reviewed The Matchmaker by Catherine Walsh. #TheMatchmaker #NetGalley
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first, this was adorable. that simple. just a feel good romance book with a cute cover. i enjoyed all the characters (especially adam and gemma, i was rooting for them the entire time.)

thanks to NetGalley and publisher for this ARC.

I received an advance copy through NetGalley. This book was a fun, lighthearted story. It’s got a sweet love story, great friendships, and a will-the-underdog-win storyline. Perfect for a summer beach read, I finished it in a day. I will say, being an ARC, there were a number of typos that I hope were caught before it is published next month!

I loved this book so much!! It's set in Ireland, enemy to lovers Rom-com.
I was literally laughing out loud throughout the book! I loved almost every single character.
I'd highly recommend this book!! It's released April 18th and available for preorder now ✨
I'm off now to go buy more of @catwalshwriter books