Synopsis: Ennisbawn might seem like a blip on Ireland’s map to most, but to Katie this village is everything. When encroaching construction threatens the pub at the heart of her beloved town, Katie somewhat reluctantly but determinedly springs into action, going head-to-head with a real estate giant to save the pub that means the world to her.

In short: Damn the man; save the pub!

My thoughts: The Matchmaker has it all: cute village with a lovable cast of characters, a quirky grandma, a matchmaking festival, event planning, adult beverages, nature walks, a swoony love interest, and a heroine who refuses to back down when it comes to protecting what and who she loves. There are some serious themes interwoven in Katie’s story, such as the emotional trauma leftover from her parents’ deaths. It turns out that everyone is more than they seem, including the ruggedly handsome foreman we meet at the start.

Catherine Walsh, you’ve done it again. ❤️

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for the complimentary advance copy of this work! My opinions are my own.

If you are looking for a laugh out loud book - look no further! I loved this story, and found myself laughing several times throughout. Once I finished I immediately ran to my book besties and told them to add it to their must read lists ASAP!

This is the story about Katie, who lives in a tiny Irish village with her grandmother. She has RARELY strayed from her little bubble, and she is quite content with that. That is until a developer comes into town and really starts to cause a ruckus - tearing down buildings, excavating the woods, and making SO MUCH NOISE that she cannot sleep. So she decides to take matters into her own hands to save her small town, and her beloved Kelly’s - the town watering hole.

I loved how genuine the characters were in this story. Katie has an amazing group of friends, and a town that loves her - then she meets Callum who really shakes up her little world. I thought that the author did a great job of telling us just enough about each character without weighing the story down with unnecessary details. I flew through the last 80% of the book in one day just because I was so engaged!

This would be a great vacation or weekend read - it isn’t heavy, and reads quickly while telling a really fantastic story - love it :) I have already added more from Catherine to my TBR list, and my book club (should out to my Better than Therapy Book Club besties!!) has chosen to read her book, Holiday Romance, during the holiday season this year!

I have been suggesting this to my book-loving peers every time someone says they're looking for a fun light-hearted romantic comedy! You can't beat the fun, beautiful Ireland setting and the characters are perfectly relatable.

3.5 stars

Her small hometown has been taken over by a construction company, and Katie has had enough. But when she stomps over there in her pajamas to tell them off for waking her up so early, she meets Callum. Sure he’s handsome, but he also seems to be the right hand man of the guy ruining her town. But when they want to tear down the pub where she works, that has a sentimental history for her, that’s the final blow. Katie decides to bring back the town’s matchmaking festival as a way to prove that there can also be value in keeping some of the history. So Callum can either stand in her way, or he can join her.

I loved the cute small-town family vibes of this book. There was an overall sense of the people working together and caring about each other, even if they went about it in different ways.

But the thing I loved most about this book was Katie and Callum. Yes, she was determined. But she would also do absolutely anything for the people she cared about. But when Callum proves that he’s willing to do absolutely anything for her, it’s great for her to realize that she’s worthy of that too.

I’ve read a book by Catherine Walsh before, and her characters always seem to have good chemistry and banter. It was overall really cute!

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for an advanced copy of this book!

Loved Katie and Callum so much. They’re adorable and so quirky and easy to love. I didn’t like the lack of dialogue tags because it was super confusing sometimes trying to figure out who’s talking. I read a lot of books that don’t use many dialogue tags and it works, but there were many times in this book I was super confused. Otherwise, loved it

Open door, minimal swearing

Sooooo cute! I really like the writing and I LOOOOOOVE the characters. Their chemistry? Omg, so on point. Love that for them!

Okay but HOW did Catherine Walsh become one of my auto buy authors SO QUICKLY?! I absolutely LOVED The Matchmaker, which, honestly, is absolutely not surprising. It is just so well written, the humor and romance is on POINT! Cannot recommend this more :)

This book was cute and had all the makings of a Hallmark movie, but it was missing something for me. Overall I would give it 3.5/5 stars, worth the read but wont read again. I felt like some of the chemistry was lacking and just was waiting for a bit more out of the story. I think I sill loom into other books by this author though, maybe this one was just a miss for me 🤷‍♀️

Also side note i have nothing against books set in Europe or other places but I connect more with books set in America personally.

Thank you Netgallery for the ARC though!

This book was short, sweet and charming! The small Irish town aspects were delightful.

Although, it was a little lacking for me. It is a good pallet cleanser in between heavier books.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

After I devoured and absolutely adored Holiday Romance by Catherine Walsh, I knew I would read anything she put out next so I was very excited to receive an e-arc of The Matchmaker. If you've read Holiday Romance, then you know that the main characters in it, Molly and Andrew, set a high bar when it comes to relationships in rom-coms. Unfortunately, our main interests in The Matchmaker, Katie and Callum, fall a bit short. (Now, I think if you haven't read Holiday Romance, then maybe you'd absolutely love this one, but it was hard not to want the same warm, fuzzy feelings from Katie and Callum that we got from Molly and Andrew).

Anyway, I digress lol. The Matchmaker also takes place in Ireland, in a small village called Ennisbawn. I love any book set in Ireland or Scotland and this setting did not disappoint. When Katie's hometown is threatened by new retail development, including the beloved (and ONLY) pub that she also happens to work in, she will do anything to save it, including bringing back the annual Matchmaking event that hasn't actually been held in years, in order to bring in awareness and proof that the pub has too much cultural and historical significance to be torn down. And as luck would have it, Callum (who in and of himself was totally swoon-worth), works for said company. So what happens when your love interest is also working for the devil set on destroying your life as you know it? Hmm...I'm sure you can figure that one out ;)

All in all, this was a super cute read and I enjoyed the story and all of the characters. I just overall felt like the love connection between Katie and Callum developed far too quickly and wasn't fleshed out enough (when compared to Holiday Romance), but is pretty par for the course when compared to most rom-coms.

Katie Collins lives in the small Irish town of Ennisbawn and works as a bartender at the only bar in town called Kelly's. Her tranquility is disturbed when a property development company Glenmill comes to build a new hotel and in the process buys up all the land in the area including her place of business, She is determined to fight for Kelly's even if it is the last thing she does, so she makes up a story that it is of cultural importance for the community as it is the site where they hold the annual Matchmaking festival, the only problem is it is not. Jack Doyle (Glenmill's representative) calls her bluff and gives her a chance to prove the importance of this festival, so Katie is on a quest to revive the festival and save her place of work.

It is a charming book, but it was predictable and I was expecting more pushback on Glenmill's part to prevent the festival from taking place and not just demolishing the barn in which it was initially supposed to be held.

The Matchmaker written by Catherine Walsh was cute, I loved it, but I didn't <b>LOVE LOVE LOVE</b> it. I absolutely adored Holiday Romance by this author, so when I saw she had a new book coming out, I <b>knew</b> I had to get my hands on it. If y'all really want to know why I picked this book up, it was because of the cute dog on the cover. As a dog lover, I have to read any book with cute pups on the cover. There were a few disappointments I had with this book, the romance started to drag at about the half way point, and it had insta-love, which okay, <b>sometimes </b> it works, but for this book it just didn't work for me. Other than that The Matchmaker had everything you could possibly want, from a small town romance, to a feel good story, to quirky characters, to an amazing group of friends. I'm not a huge fan of an Irish setting, but Catherine Walsh definitely made Ireland dreamy. I can't recommend this book enough, please do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of The Matchmaker written by Catherine Walsh. Don't let some of my points stop you from reading this book, I just stated some that didn't work for me. Overall, it was a feel good, cute romance novel that should be read when you are looking for something fluffy. When the romance started going downhill at the halfway point, I found myself drifting off to sleep, but the amazing group of friends definitely lifted my spirits.

<b>VIO MADE ME READ THIS BOOK</b>💗!!!!!!!!!

THANK YOU TO NETGALLEY AND BOOKOUTURE FOR AN ARC OF THIS BOOK IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW!!!!!!!

Twenty-nine year old Katie Collins was born and raised in Ennisbawn, Ireland. Katie lost her parents in a car accident, and had to move in with her grandma. Katie has barely ever left Ennisbawn, but why would she want to? It's a tight knit community, a friendly local pub, Ennisbawn is surrounded by rolling hills, it's basically a place of peaceful beauty. Well, it was a peaceful beauty, until Callum Dempsey showed up. Callum is a construction developer with zero eye for charm or beauty. When construction disrupts Katie's sleep, what does she do? She marches down to the construction site in her rubber duck pajamas, only to learn that Callum and his crew plan to knock down the rest of Ennisbawn to build a hideous hotel just outside the village. Callum also plans to knock down Ennisbawn's only remaining pub, where Katie works just to make room for a brand new golf course. Katie has no desire for this at all, Callum is basically ruining the town Katie has ever known her entire life. Katie is going to find a way to stop this non sense from happening. I give kudos to Katie because she's the only one who thinks it's a good idea to put a stop to this.

When Callum tells Katie he's going to knock down the pub, it's the final blow to the village and the last straw for Katie, who refuses to see their home and town disappear. The pub is the last connection Katie has to her late parents, so why wouldn't she stop it? Well, Katie doesn't really have a lot of money to really do anything. Katie's parents had met at Ennisbawn's once famous matchmaking festival, both of them throwing coins into the wishing well that sits in the pub's garden. When Katie needs to do something immediately, she knows in an instant what she's going to do. Katie is going to uncover the now disused wishing well, she's going to revive the matchmaking festival, and she's going to bring Ennisbawn back to life again. Katie has a great group of friends supporting her and her decision to put a stop to Callum and his non sense building, at first they were a bit hesitant because they didn't know how they were going to revive the matchmaking festival with very little money. In order to find your true love, you'd have to throw a coin into the wishing well and hopefully your match comes along.

I absolutely adored the witty banter, the characters were just so quirky, it was adorable. I can't forget about the adorable Border Collie on the cover, <b>SO CUTE</b>. I absolutely adored watching Katie's group of friends blossom, they were so supportive of each other, and willing to help Katie save their small Irish village. Katie's relationship with her best friends had so much growing to do, but reading it over time definitely made me so happy, there's nothing better than an amazing group of friends who will always have your back. I absolutely adored watching Katie grow, from the minute she stomped down to the construction site in her rubber duck pajamas, to the minute she planned to put a stop to Callum and his construction crew. Katie made me laugh a numerous amount of times. The only thing I disliked about this book was the insta-love, but other than that it left a smile on my face. The friendship from the second hand characters stole my heart. The punny one liners had me giggling nonstop. If you can put aside the insta-love, then don't pass up The Matchmaker. If you love a feel good story with a happy ending, then this is the book for you, look no further than The Matchmaker by Catherine Walsh.

I found this book heartwarming and enjoyed the humour and quick wit that can be missing in some books. I did find some bits quite drawn out but overall it was a cosy book to lose yourself in. It’s interesting that some reviewers believe this isn’t the authors best book she has written so I will be on the hunt for the other books as I did enjoy the writing style. It is definitely one that could be made into a channel 5 romcom film!

»The Matchmaker« was the third book by Catherine Walsh that I’ve read and overall it’s my least favorite of her books so far but that’s not saying much because I adored both »Holiday Romance« and »One Night Only« and Catherine Walsh became easily an auto-buy author for me.

Catherine Walsh has such a a talent for writing witty and comedic dialogue, which made the interactions between the characters so enjoyable to read, the banter and conversations between all the characters were hilarious. I truly adore her writing.

However, the romance between the two main characters felt a bit rushed. I was on board with them having a crush on each other and the chemistry was there but I just didn’t really feel the romance, it was more like “hey, I’m attracted to this person” and then after a few interactions they were suddenly in love. That whole thing happened a bit too fast for me personally, I would have loved to have a few more scenes between Katie and Callum.

But honestly, that also didn’t bothered me a lot because I loved everything else about »The Matchmaker« so much - the small town, the secondary characters, the whole thing with the matchmaking festival. And also no third-act-break up, which is always something I appreciate.

In summary, »The Matchmaker« is a really solid rom-com, a super fun and easy read that I would absolutely recommend (even though I liked »Holiday Romance« best and would recommend that the most from the three Catherine Walsh books I’ve read so far.)

A sweet small town romance novel. The storyline is cute and plain vanilla 🍦but perfect for a sunny evening read.

I admire Katie to stand up for her town. I loved the description of the town it made me wish to visit it. The book has many cute convo and sweet moments to melf for. As the book title says Matchmakers it would have been perfect if Callum and Katie had a moment like for eg. they realise they are in love with one another or their first kiss💋 or some other sweet moment during the festival then it would have been a lot more fun and meaningful.

Overall the story is perfect for some mindless read and for someone who enjoys Hallmark kind of movies ❤️. Looking forward to read more of her books 😀

The publisher's tagline on this is that it's unputdownable. That almost throws down the gauntlet in my mind's eye. In truth, it was unputdownable. I don't know if it's the combination of characters in the Irish setting that drew me in or the idea of a matchmaking festival? Either way, sign me up! This isn't elevated literature (please say that in your fanciest English professor voice), but it's a fun & engaging read that has sent me to find more Catherine Walsh before I go on vacation in a few weeks!

A cute and a heartfelt small-town romance set in Ireland will always have a special place in my heart, no exception for this one!

I love it when the main characters stand on different side of an idea and one of them is not immediately give in to the other side. It took a lot of reasoning, explaining, and realization and this book has executed smoothly by end it with the grandest gesture (I ever found in romance books). All while the tension built around each other getting more intense on each interactions.

While I can't really connect with Katie, but I salute her bravery for defending her home, pub, and village. It shows how much she care though we can see her flaws--that makes her more humane and relatable at some point. Callum also is the sweetest boy ever??? Every time he shows up I was really anticipating what would he do or say. The friendship among the characters of the whole village and their side story is so adorable too!

I really enjoy this author’s writing style. I loved the setting of this one in a little Irish village and really liked both the main characters and the full cast of supporting characters. Despite the right components all being there this book didn’t grip me in quite the same way her other books have but I still enjoyed it.
3.5 stars rounded up to 4

I really loved other books by this author. I was not drawn into the romance with this one. Maybe it was the trope or that too much was going on but it was just okay for me.

3 STARS

The plot is very cliche and predictable, but that was what I expected and wanted from this book. It is the type of book where you can just relax and read without having to actually think about what you are reading. It's a great book to read as a palate cleanser between harder books (or at least it was for me).

I really enjoyed the descriptions of how peaceful the village and the nature is, and the contrast of the destruction and chaos that the construction brought. I think the descriptions of the village were my favorite part of this book, and it made me want to visit it.

The writing style is simple and easy to read, but a bit too repetitive for my taste. It is...okay, just not my personal preference. There are parts that are very very well written - the portrayal of trauma was amazing, and it made me love the writing a lot more.

The characters are too much for me, and most of the falling for each other part of the MCs just wasn't there. We got the attraction, and the fallen in love part, but not the falling, and for me that is the most important part of a romance novel. Thatis the main reason why, for me, this book is just an okay, 3 star rating book.


CONCLUSION

This is an okay, fun, simple and cringy rom com. It is a cute story perfect for the lovers of Hallmark movies, or for someone who just needs an easy and simple guilty pleasure type of book.
This is definitely not my favorite romance, but it is an all in all okay read that I did have fun with.




Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.