Frankie Lane, a widow, 50 something owner of Holiday Happiness, a small-town shop specializing in holiday decorations and similar items. Among the other characters we meet Frankie's mother, sister and daughter who also work in her shop as well as a host of other residents and shop owners in her town.
Readers learn that Frankie's matchmaking attempts sometimes fail. this book really felt like a too long hallmark movie. There are so many point of views, it got confusing. However, I did enjoy the characters.
Frankie's family and corky are my favorite characters.

A Jane Austen's Emma Christmas mashup and I loved it! Go in for the feels, for the fun, for the joy of a charming story!

I wanted to love this story as it is based off of one of my all time favorites - Emma by Jane Austen. This book fell so flat for me.
There was a massive cast of characters where you get multiple POV’s and it’s extremely dialogue heavy.
POV’s switch mid chapter with no warning and as the dialogue is so prevalent it’s hard to know who is taking. It was also so hard to keep track of who is who and how they connect as there is no distinction between them.
The characters also fell flat in my opinion, likely as it always felt hard to know whose POV we were in. The single dad character drove me insane, I am aware he is grieving but the attitude towards his young child made me so angry.

The story felt so slow to build and then the last 30% felt rushed to get to an ending. Overall I didn’t enjoy this and wanted more.

A note for the publisher - there are many weird formatting issues in this and multiple times where words that begin contain the letter “f” have spaces added - for instance snowflake looks like snowf lake.

Unfortunately, I ended up dnf this book for me. I had a hard time connecting with Frankie and honestly found her a bit annoying.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

The Merry Matchmaker is a Jane Austen/Christmas combination that you need to read. It is a sweet story about a matchmaking widow who finds out that her actions don't always turn out as planned.

Thank you netgalley for The Merry Matchmaker by Sheila Roberts

This was such a fun Christmas read! I loved this reimagining of Jane Austen’s Emma and it really put me in the holiday mood! I especially loved the second chance at love aspect of the story.

I loved the cast of characters in the holiday tale, even though I didn’t relate to them as much as I had hoped with them all being in a different stage of their lives than me.

Full of holiday charm and cozy Christmas vibes this is the perfect read to cuddle up with in front of a fire. I recommend picking this one up when you are ready to get into the holiday spirit.

Thank you to @uplitreads for the gifted copy.

Charming Holiday story! I love the relationships these characters have with each other. It is so nice to read about an older person romance!

Frankie focuses so much on her family and friends that she sometimes overlooks her own needs and wants. There are great characters and some great Christmas traditions featured. However there are just so many characters and so many side quest that it can get confusing who is in the scene and what is going on. I loved how much Frankie loved her family, friends and community but i would have preferred the story focused more on the central characters and did away with some of the subplots.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the copy for review.

I am a sucker for a Christmas story. I read several every year. The Merry Matchmaker is a retelling of Jane Austen's Emma. Frankie is a widow who tries to find matches for her family and friends. She believes that she will not find another love herself. But her meddling does not always work out the way she plans.
This is a warm hearted Christmas story told from the small town of Carol. Frankie owns a Christmas shop in the town. If you like Christmas stories then you will enjoy this book. If you have never read a Christmas book, it is time to give one a try. It will warm your heart.

Thank you to #NetGalley, #SheilaRoberts and #MIRA for a copy of this book.
#TheMerryMatchmaker

This was such an adorable read. I had a hard time getting into it because it is set at Christmas time and I was reading while it was incredibly hot outside. Once I got past that the storyline hooked me and I love the matchmaker aspect of this.

This book!! I loved it so much! I’m feeling a little speechless. It was fun, made me laugh, and oh the last paragraph gave me happy tears.

Frankie is only trying to help. She swears she knows exactly what everyone needs and is determined to help them, even if they really wish she wouldn't.

Frankie's "help" is a comedy all in itself. I fell head over heels in love with all the characters and truly hope the author will revisit the town of Carol in the future.

Highly recommend!

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Frankie Lane's life is fine, really, just fine. She has a loving family, fulfilling business, lots of outside activities, a dependable best friend…really everything she needs. So why is it that Frankie can't help meddling in everyone's love lives? In a modern twist on Jane Austen's Emma, Frankie spends the majority of the book attempting to pair up her family, friends and employees with hilarious degrees of failure. Add to this, the town’s annual Christmas celebration, and a realization that she is in love with her best friend, and you have a charming Christmas romance.

THE MERRY MATCHMAKER is a fun story about a widow, Frankie Lane, who is always trying to matchmaking everyone she knows including her best friend, Mitch.
Her meddling matchmaking of Mitch almost turns into a disaster for their friendship. Will Frankie realize that Mitch wants her as more than a best friend?
I really like stories where best friends find their happy ever after in each other.
I highly recommend.

The Merry Matchmaker is my first Sheila Roberts book and I’m excited to read more.

The small town of Carol has a strong Hallmark movie feel, right down to the nosy, opinionated inhabitants. None more opinionated than Frankie! She also knows “what you should do”, and is not shy in telling you. It was engaging, a little predictable, but entirely enjoyable.

This is an enjoyable, Christmas cheer themed read that I enjoyed, and recommend. I appreciate Netgalley and the author for supplying my free ARC, and voluntarily leave my review.

This a fun, cozy holiday read and will get you in the mood to sit by the fire reading with a latte!

Frankie Lane is a fifty-year old widow and the shop owner of Holiday Happiness. Frankie wants everyone to have a partner and is a matchmaker at heart. She thinks she is helpful; others see her as a meddler. Her matchmaking alienates her best buddy, Mitch, sister, Stephanie, and sales clerk Eleanor while completely ignoring herself as the one truly needing a match.

Lots of interesting small town quirky personalities contribute to the interest and the storyline.
For readers who enjoy Hallmark movies, this book is for you!

I am late to the book party celebrating new-to-me author, Sheila Roberts, and I have a lot of reading to catch up on!

This was my first Sheila Roberts book and I absolutely loved it!

Frankie is a meddler. She means well with it all, but like her mother warned her, it comes back to bite her in the behind. It’s the holiday season and the town is getting ready for their big celebration. Frankie just wants all the people she cares about to be happy. She’s so busy sticking her nose in other people’s business that she completely misses the handsome man who has been pining for her heart for years.

With one disaster after another, hurt feelings, a jealous business owner trying to take over Frankie’s festival, and love around the corner, this book is one you won’t want to put down. Perfect for the upcoming Christmas season.

Everyone will want to work at Holiday Happiness and be best friends with Frankie Lane, the owner!!
A year round Christmas store is the dream of so many…and one that comes with characters you want in your life is simply a plus!

This whole cast of characters that make up the town of Carol. There is so many people who have dealt with death and divorce it almost feels like a plague on everyone. Throughout this book you go on a journey of people learning how to love again whether it is other people or themselves. It’s also never too late to take a leap of faith. You cheer for the characters as you learn more and more about them all. If you love love and Christmas hallmark movies give this book a try. Thank you Netgallery, MIRA and Sheila Roberts for choosing me to be an arc reader for this book.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC. One of the descriptors of this book includes the sentence, "Frankie Lane knows what's best for just about everyone but herself." The sentence should be changed to Frankie Lane thinks she knows what's best for everyone. This book is laugh out loud funny as widowed Frankie goes on a mission to help everyone in her life, and maybe herself in the process. You can see the ending of this book coming from a mile away, but with it all wrapped up in Christmas you don't mind. It's funny and engaging with a few little surprises thrown in. GIve yourself a gift this holiday season and find time to read this book!

I'm not sure what it is about this book, but it gave me all the "Sweet Magnolia" and "Gilmore Girls" feels. Frankie owns Holiday Happiness, where her mom and daughter both work. There, she's the reigning queen of Christmas and self-appointed meddler (for good, of course)! After losing her husband, it's a lot safer to help others than to imagine a life of happiness for herself. But when her fairy godmother antics thrust her once-mousy employee into the arms of her best friend, she wonders if maybe she's missed her chance at happily ever after... again. A cute, cozy, Christmassy read!