The Matchmaker is a cozy romance mystery which could have been a great read but falls short with its predictability and overly dramatic storyline.

Synopsis
“Business has never been better for Nura Khan, a third-generation matchmaker in Atlanta. Her exclusive clientele benefits from her impeccable track record. And while a single thirty-one-year-old matchmaker would normally raise some perfectly threaded eyebrows in the community, Nura’s childhood best friend, Azar, is willing to double as her pretend fiancé at her clients’ weddings—even though Nura’s feelings for him might not be so pretend.

But all that glitters isn’t gold. While it’s not uncommon to get the occasional hate mail from rejected prospective clients, Nura is blindsided after a couple’s carefully constructed wedding implodes, the first in a cascading chain of suspicious and increasingly terrifying events. Someone is taking things too far, and with Azar and her matchmaking team by her side, Nura embarks on a dangerous cat-and-mouse game that threatens not only her safety but everything she’s worked so hard to build.”

What’s to like
This is Aisha Saeed’s first foray into adult fiction, being an author of children’s and young adult stories previously. The prose is simple and well written. The descriptions of the fancy weddings for Nura’s clients were fun to read and I wish that there were more of these in the story. Overall, it is a decent ‘Feel Good’ category novel.

What’s not to like
There are many things that a reader would wish were different about this book. For starters, everything is a tad bit over dramatic and over-hyped. Whether it’s the suspense or the romance aspect, it seems lacking. There are many parts of the plot that are surface level only and the story and its characters need greater depth. Along the same line, there are parts of the book where the narrative seems to be repetitive or dragged on such as the part about Nura and Azar’s relationship or the dissatisfaction of rejected clients. I found myself skimming this part of the story to get it to move along.

Moreover, for a mystery novel the worst critique can be predictability of storyline and unfortunately, it is true for The Matchmaker. Readers will most likely be able to guess or predict three-fourths of the story. I was able to anticipate most of the plot about Darcy and Azar.

Perhaps the main thing I did not like about the novel was my own expectation about what its multi-cultural storyline will offer. Nura Khan belongs to a family of Pakistani immigrants and is in the match making business, while there are parts about her Indian clients and their desi weddings which bring in South Asian culture, we do not get anything else from the story about Nura’s Muslim and Pakistani American character that would speak about this part of her identity. Even in her interactions with her family, something was missing.

Book Review Rating: 3/5 (rounded up from 2.5)

This was a fun read, if you didn't think too hard. I'm a sucker for matchmaking stories or tv shows, so this was an immediate request from NetGalley for me. I didn't entirely LOVE the MC, who seemed rather selfish when it came to how she treated her loved ones. Like making her best friend be her pretend date to weddings every single weekend? Even if he said he was okay with it, that is an incredibly selfish ask.

The mystery part was fun also, though I didn't think either genre of the book was particularlysuccessful

I think this book was the victim of poor advertising. What I thought would be a cute romance with a touch of mystery was really more of a mystery with a rather terrible romance. It also seemed to poorly sprinkle some family relationship topics in there too. Since none of the themes were done particularly well (nor paced properly) it was really hard to sink into this and care about the main character's journey. Probably won't read more from Aisha Saeed.

Nura is a well-respected and trusted matchmaker, specializing in helping people become their best selves before matching them with their perfect matches. She has a huge success rate, and has quite the following... until someone starts sabotaging the weddings of matches she's made. Suddenly, Nura needs protection, and her staff is scrambling to find the culprit.

First, I am the whitest white girl, so I will not be commenting on how well the South Asian community is represented because I'm not equipped. I will only say that everything with regard to their culture as a whole seems to be respectfully written.

That said, this was quite the ride. I've read a few books lately that deal with matchmaking, and this definitely takes a look at a different side to the whole idea. This one focuses on what might happen in a match went wrong. There's documents being faked, people being kidnapped and drugged... and when everything feels like it's pretty resolved, you still have a third of the book to go!

I really liked the storyline, and the twists of how and why. I think my one hesitation is that I didn't like the romance parts. It felt like they were shoe-horned in, making the "obvious" become the direction the plot went, instead of letting the eventual partner resolve things the way they were already going until the last 50 or so pages. It felt almost like a cop-out. If I could have taken off half a star, I would have because of this.

I received an Advanced Reader Copy via NetGalley in return for sharing my thoughts on this book. Thanks to the author and publisher for this opportunity!

Cover: Gives fun rom-com vibes. May pick up at a book store depending on my mood. Would for sure pick it up from a Little Free Library.

What I liked most about this book: This book was part mystery, part thriller, with a dash of romance. I thought this was the most unique book I have read in a while, it had me guessing, smiling and saying aweee all at the same time. I also loved the Indian culture and some of the wedding ceremonies

What I liked least about this book: The book was a little slower then I like.

Rating: 4 Stars

Neither a good romance nor a good mystery. An over the top villain and a cartoonish final confrontation.

Nura Khan is the best matchmaker in town, and everyone knows it. She's taken the family business and made it bloom. She doesn't just help her clients find love, she helps them become the type of people who can sustain love, then matches them with their perfect partners. It's not a service for everyone, and she turns down a lot of clients. Sometimes, they're not so happy about it.

When strange and dangerous things begin to happen surrounding her and her business, and disgruntled potential clients begin coming out of the woodwork, Nura and her closest friends must work to piece together who could be behind the attacks.

Did I mention she's also in love with her fake fiancé slash best friend in the world?

The Matchmaker is a fast-paced thriller surrounded by and fueled by the darker side of romance, the part where things don't always work out the way you plan. Sometimes the pursuit of love brings out the worst in people instead of the best.

The stakes rise quickly in this book. It is one incident after another and is immediately clear that someone is out to get Nura and her company. It gets quite intense and follows a thriller arc closely. I was personally hoping for a little more romance because that's what I'm the biggest sucker for, but it is a pretty solid storyline. True feelings are always revealed when one, or both parties are in mortal peril.

Overall I enjoyed the book, but it didn't draw me in as much as I like to be. While I was interested in the story, I wasn't held in a grip with emotion for these characters. For me it was a solid three stars.

Note:: I received an early copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

In THE MATCHMAKER, written by Aisha Saeed, Nura Kahn runs Piyar’s Matchmaking Agency, not to be confused with promoting arranged marriages. The agency offers a matchmaking app and a more expensive personalized matchmaking experience. The complaints made by dissatisfied customers is causing problems for the agency. I read on to see what happens.

This is a cozy with the addition of romance. I think the premise is good, and I like the inclusion of client testimonials at the beginning of the book. As I read on, however, I quickly lose interest in the plot. Thank you, Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine and NetGalley, for the chance to read and review an advance reader copy of THE MATCHMAKER.

This book is full of drama: family drama, wedding drama, romance, mystery, sabotage... yet I still though it was just okay.

I think I might have enjoyed this more if it was a Netflix movie where I can just watch in the background while I did something else. This probably is because I used to watch Millionaire Matchmaker many years ago on Bravo tv...

I did have a problem with:
1. Nura brushing off Azar when he made a comment about Darcy possibly cultural appropriating.
2. Nura never allowing Azar to speak when he tries to explain himself. Which was what led to their fallout in college. It was frustrating that if she just let him speak then a lot of problems could have been avoided. I do understand that she was scared and was trying to avoid any pain.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an early copy for review.

Nura Khan is a matchmaker in Atlanta. Some people try to demean her as someone who does arranged marriages, but her VIP program is much more than that. She also has an app that can be used by less affluent folks. Her rich clientele, however, are used to getting what they want when they want it, so she’s used to having disgruntled folks she turns away for various reasons. But when weddings start imploding, and the comments online get increasingly angry in nature, it seems Nura’s very life might be on the line.

Even though there are a lot of twists in this novel, which also has a background romance in addition to the mystery, for some reason I found this boring. Maybe because even though it’s written in first person, I never really felt pulled into the story and there really isn’t a character arc. Too much telling instead of showing maybe? I’m having a hard time putting my finger on why this didn’t work for me.

NetGalley provided an advance copy of this novel, which RELEASES APRIL 8, 2025.

The Matchmaker is a fun, cozy mystery. I enjoyed the characters and while the plot was fairly predictable, it was well-written and kept me hooked. If you are looking for a palate cleanser between darker thrillers or want a little romance (no spice) in your mysteries, this book is a great option.

What I Liked: No plot holes, fully developed characters, and a fast-paced story.

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advanced copy!

Despite what the media says, Nura does not do arranged marriages. Her highly modern matchmaking service helps her clients become their best selves before pairing them off. The time- and labor-intensive process does lead to a high number of rejected applicants, one of whom seems intent on destroying Nura's life. That the only explanation for the sudden spurt of ruined engagements and creepy online and in-person attacks on Nura herself. Luckily, she has a loyal staff on her side, not to mention Azar, the best friend she pines for. Wavers between romance, suspense, and family drama. Thanks, Netgalley.

Nura Khan’s exclusive matchmaking business is suddenly experiencing unexplainable difficulties. As her best laid plans continue to implode and endanger her business she begins to investigate. But that is not her only problem. Her best friend who has played at being her “fiancé” at events wants to pursue his own love life. Why does this bother her so much. This is a fun read.

I enjoyed this more than I was expecting! I do think that sometimes genre crossings do not work, and this book did have a bit of an identity crisis, romance and mystery combine usually have to be done in such a perfect manner for it to work for me, so there were some misses with this. I think the writer is very talented and I did overall enjoy this!

I think this book is trying to mix genres (romance, general fiction and mystery) but the result didn’t quite work for me. The story isn’t particularly romantic and the main character is rather dull.

I ultimately did like the mystery, but it was pretty clear who the villain was and their behavior at the end was quite broad and over the top.

Not my favorite but enjoyable enough.

Matchmaking, elaborate weddings, attempted murder. A bit of everything in this fun read that kept me guessing until the very end.

This title is a fun mix of mystery and matchmaking, murders and mayhem, along with some family drama and romance. A fun, light read.

Nura is a matchmaker who has just taken over the family business, and her wealthy clients are all raving about her services. She has a great team at work who all have her back. She even gets to attend weddings with her best friend since childhood, Azar, who is handsome, a doctor, and her pretend fiancée. However, she soon starts getting threats and there are attempts to ruin her client's weddings. Things turn scary quickly and she has to figure out how to stop it before somebody, or her business reputation, gets hurt.

This was such a cute book! I was not expecting a romance/mystery/thriller mashup, but it was such a fun ride! Just when I thought things were all revealed, something else would happen that I wasn't expecting. This book also contains a super sweet romance that I enjoyed, despite the fact it involved my least favorite trope - the miscommunication one. It did not hit me as annoying as I often find this and that was a huge plus. I liked the characters so much, and there was so much else happening in the book to capture my attention. I loved how the family relationships were portrayed, sweet Lilah is adorable and reminds me of my own daughter (who I can't turn my back on for a minute either!). Such an interesting premise too, I loved exploring the matchmaking business and the Desi wedding culture. The FMC had a great personality and was written so well, I wanted to be her friend in real life and could relate to her on so many levels!

Overall, a great read with a fast pace. I really enjoyed this book, and recommend it to all cozy mystery fans who enjoy light romance. I feel it's heavier on the mystery side and the romance aspect takes a bit of a backseat. I would definitely read more writing from Aisha Saeed! I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley for my opinions.

4.5 stars rounded up

This book starts off as a slightly slow burn. It’s based off modern day match making through a team of people. Although there is romance throughout the book it’s also a thriller alongside it. I feel like the twist is really good in this story and something I did not see coming. This story keeps you on the edge of your seat.

This book had an engaging mystery along with the romance but I thought the balance would be more romance than thriller and the balance was the other way. Perfectly fine! Just not what I expected. I’m not the perfect audience