The Matchmaker titular character, Nura, has been a successful matchmaker for years. Now, her business is flourishing even more and her fame is growing. With this fame comes some naysayers and some people who are not so happy with her services - in fact, they are so unhappy that they stoop to wedding sabotage, kidnapping. stalking, and more.

Nura has to deal not only with these work place shenanigans, but with family drama, friendship drama, and trying to figure out if she is going to be the matchmaker who is going to end up unable to find her own match

I thought this was a fun mix of drama, mystery, and romance. Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced digital copy!

The cover looks rom-commy, the book seems like a murder mystery, but when it comes down to it its a great book about NON romantic relationships like friends and family.

This book was an interesting mix of some romance and a mystery. I enjoyed my time reading this and if you like cozy mysteries with a splash of romance you will like it too! There were times when the story felt slow but overall it was good and a new concept that I haven't read before. Overall I would recommend this book to someone, especially in the cozy season!

Read if you like:
❤️ cozy mystery
❤️ matchmaking
❤️ couple's drama
❤️ a splash of romance

Thank you to the publishers and NetGally for this Advanced Release copy. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

i think the cover does a good job telling you what you're getting into. romance and fun chunks, yeah! mysterious stalker? also yes! could be better gelled, though. 4 stars, tysm for the arc

Reading challenge category - 2024 Flourish and Blotts: Charms - Expecto Patronum: Includes a happily ever after

Nura Khan is a 3rd generation matchmaker. She has her own business, the Piyar Agency, inherited from her Khala (aunt). She's in love with her best friend, Azar, who poses as her fiance for her clients' weddings - yet she won't tell him she's in love with him. She has a supportive team at the office and invested clients. Yet someone is stalking her and trying to ruin her business. Can she discover who it is before it's too late? (mostly).

I can tell that this is the author's first adult novel. Some of the storyling tropes, red herrings, resolutions - jk not yet - situations are very reminiscent of middle grade/YA books. That being said, it wasn't 'bad.' I enjoyed a lot about this book. I learned a lot of desi cultural information through reading this. The story itself could have been improved and edited for more flow, but I liked Nura as a main character and Azar as the love interest. 3.5 stars, rounded down. Thanks to #Netgalley for the ARC ebook.

3.5 stars- I was engaged in this one and overall enjoyed the story, the romance, and mystery. I went in blind honestly not really expecting the thriller aspect and enjoyed it. However, it seemed implausible someone wanting her dead. I felt a little lost in the second half of the book with her precious family history and then the last 10% seemed a little thrown together/messy. Overall, I did enjoy the book and the characters.

3.5 stars

This is a solid mystery with an intriguing main character and a fulfilling romance as an added bonus! In fact, the mystery might be the bonus to the romance in this case.

I really enjoy Saeed's middle grade books and have taught them many times, so I was excited to read this debut for adult audiences. It's an engaging if generally chaste read.

Nura, the m.c., is a matchmaker in Atlanta, and while she's had success pairing many others, her heart really lies with her best friend, Azar. It's a bit of an occupational hazard that Nura proclaims she can find love for others while struggling to land it for herself, so the focus on a potential romantic relationship holds more weight here than it would for characters in different careers. While Nura's relationship status presents her own internal case to crack, she is also contending with a troubling situation: someone is trying to sabotage her business and maybe even bring physical harm to her and to those she loves. Although solving this mystery is a central point of the book, for me, the romance was an unexpectedly more interesting storyline.

I enjoyed this read and look forward to more from Saeed, regardless of the intended audience!

Title/Author: The Match Maker by Aisha Saeed
Release Date: April 8, 2025
Genre: Romance, Mystery Thriller, Fiction
Format: E-Book
Other Books I’ve read by this author: none
Rating: 4.25 ⭐️
Time to read: 21 days

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced reader copy of this book. This is my very first ARC and I am truly grateful for the opportunity for this review.

Nura Khan is a nationally recognized third-generation matchmaker based in Atlanta, GA. The Piyar Agency, passed to her from her Khala (aunt) is doing very well and business is booming. Nura has an incredible track record, wealthy clientele, and a great team
working behind her. Nura is also single, which is why her best friend Azar, whom she is secretly in love with, poses as her fiancé as she attends the lavish weddings of her clients. When some of these weddings are sabotaged, Nura realizes that not only is her reputation in danger, so is she! Can Nura get to the bottom of this before it is too late?

I went into this with the expectation of another basic fiction romance novel. I was so wrong.
Talk about T H R I L L E R with a tad bit of romance. This story was suspenseful, well written, and wonderfully paced. It took some time for things to heat up, but once the things began to happen, the intensity increased. The plot is THICK, and I loved every single second of it! I enjoyed the family involvement, and the characters were well developed. There were some repetitiveness and spelling errors, but it wasn’t super annoying. I plan to read more of this author’s work.

Themes: Grief, Violence, mental health, Love and Relationships, Revenge, Family

I honestly love how three-dimensional this book felt, and how it defied the usual genre of mystery.

This book is a thriller mystery that can switch up what it makes you feel with a snap. I would go from cozy and warm feeling to stressed and on edge, and then back to feeling the warmth in the next chapter. I personally really loved this and it made it feel like this book had a lot to it.

While there's this whole tense mystery thriller happening there is also such a big focus on culture and family, and this mixture truly made it such an interesting read. It constantly felt like it was trying to send a message while also creating such a hard novel to put down, and I love books that successfully do that. Often I feel like mystery books only want to tell a story about the mystery, but this book did more than that.

I truly love the familial ties this book had, and how you feel in love with the family and friends written into this book. It just was such a great cast of characters that each had something to them.

Overall I was really happy with this book, and deeply enjoyed my time reading this!

Thank you to Random House Publishing for allowing me to read and review this book!

*+:｡.｡𝓣𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓮’𝓼 𝓪 𝓼𝓹𝓮𝓬𝓲𝓪𝓵 𝓴𝓲𝓷𝓭 𝓸𝓯 𝓶𝔂𝓽𝓱𝓶𝓪𝓴𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓹𝓮𝓸𝓹𝓵𝓮 𝓭𝓸 𝔀𝓱𝓮𝓷 𝓲𝓽 𝓬𝓸𝓶𝓮𝓼 𝓽𝓸 𝓵𝓸𝓿𝓮. 𝓣𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝓫𝓮𝓵𝓲𝓮𝓯 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓲𝓯 𝔀𝓮’𝓻𝓮 𝓬𝓸𝓷𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓾𝓪𝓵𝓵𝔂 𝓭𝓻𝓪𝔀𝓷 𝓽𝓸 𝓼𝓸𝓶𝓮𝓸𝓷𝓮, 𝓲𝓽’𝓼 𝓫𝓮𝓬𝓪𝓾𝓼𝓮 𝔀𝓮’𝓻𝓮 𝓶𝓮𝓪𝓷𝓽 𝓽𝓸 𝓫𝓮. 𝓘𝓷 𝓶𝔂 𝓮𝔁𝓹𝓮𝓻𝓲𝓮𝓷𝓬𝓮, 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓵𝓲𝓽𝔂 𝓲𝓼𝓷’𝓽 𝓪𝓵𝓵 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓭𝓮𝓮𝓹. 𝓘𝓽’𝓼 𝓼𝓲𝓶𝓹𝓵𝔂 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓸𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝓹𝓮𝓻𝓼𝓸𝓷 𝓱𝓪𝓼 𝓫𝓮𝓬𝓸𝓶𝓮 𝓪 𝓱𝓪𝓫𝓲𝓽. 𝓛𝓲𝓴𝓮 𝓼𝓷𝓪𝓬𝓴𝓼 𝔀𝓲𝓽𝓱 𝓪 𝓶𝓸𝓿𝓲𝓮. 𝓢𝓶𝓸𝓴𝓲𝓷𝓰. 𝓑𝓲𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓷𝓪𝓲𝓵𝓼. 𝓙𝓾𝓼𝓽 𝓪𝓼 𝓱𝓪𝓻𝓭𝔀𝓲𝓻𝓮𝓭 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓳𝓾𝓼𝓽 𝓪𝓼 𝓼𝓲𝓶𝓹𝓵𝓮— 𝓸𝓻 𝓷𝓸𝓽— 𝓽𝓸 𝓺𝓾𝓲𝓽.｡.｡:+*

Woah, to be totally honest with you guys, I requested this book cuz I thought it was romance, but I was pleasantly surprised when I read it and found out that it was a mystery/thriller. And no I didn't get the culprit right; and that's a first

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚𝕿𝖗𝖔𝖕𝖊𝖘˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆
🌸 𝙲𝙷𝙸𝙻𝙳𝙷𝙾𝙾𝙳 𝙵𝚁𝙸𝙴𝙽𝙳𝚂 𝚃𝙾 𝙻𝙾𝚅𝙴𝚁𝚂
🌸 𝙼𝚈𝚂𝚃𝙴𝚁𝚈/𝚃𝙷𝚁𝙸𝙻𝙻𝙴𝚁
🌸 𝚂𝚃𝙰𝙻𝙺𝙸𝙽𝙶
🌸 𝙳𝙴𝚂𝙸 𝚁𝙴𝙿

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚𝕻𝖗𝖊-𝖗𝖊𝖆𝖉˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆

I received the eARC 💕 Thank you so much Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine

Nura Khan is a third generation matchmaker. She is very successful, but must turn away many customers for various reasons. When some of her wealthy clients’ weddings go awry, she comes to the realization that someone is trying to sabotage her, possibly one of the many clients that she turned away. She must get a handle on this before she loses her family business.

Part romance novel, part mystery, this book is engaging and fun. It has quite the twist that I did not see coming. I thoroughly enjoyed this one. Thank you, NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine.

Nura is a matchmaker- it's a family business and she's good at it like really good, but she's 30ish and single and her bestie plays as her finance when needed at weddings (she hides her feelings for him) sounds like a fun rom com right.....nope it's a mystery too someone is out to get Nura and sabotage her business and maybe more her bestie Aamzar is there to help figure out what's going on

Thank you netgalley for this arc l!

This was my first time reading a book by Aisha Saeed, and I really enjoyed it! The Desi culture and the successful matchmaking business made for such an engaging and unique backdrop. The sweet romance combined with the dynamic family relationships really took the story to the next level.

What made this book stand out was its blend of romance and mystery, which is a bit different from what I usually read, as I tend to stick to one genre or the other. I thought the characters were well-written, and their narratives were compelling. While the storyline was enjoyable overall, the pacing felt a bit uneven at times. Still, it was a great read, and I’d recommend it to anyone looking for a heartfelt story with a touch of intrigue!

Fans of Jesse Q. Sutanto, check out ‘The Matchmaker”! The Desi culture and successful matchmaking business were already entertaining to read about, so the high stakes puzzles, sweet romance, and dynamic family relationships took this book to the next level. Nura Khan has so many interesting people in her corner when accusations fly against her business, and it is satisfying to see them work together unravel the mystery. I could see this making a fantastic movie as well! Though the romance was clean, note that the F-word is used multiple times.

Special thanks to the Publisher, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, and NetGalley for a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

3.5🌟
Ready to find your perfect match?
When I first glanced at the cover for this book, I thought I was going to be a fun rom-com.
An ironic situation that finds a matchmaker who finds the perfect person for everyone…but unable to find her own match.
And yes, that was part of the book. But, there was also a completely different side to this storyline. More on that shortly.

Nura has taken over the family business, providing an exclusive matchmaking service. Highly successful, many apply but only a few are selected. When two recent weddings are sabotaged Nura knows it somehow ties back to her.

Now she finds herself being stalked in person and on line. Her home is broken into and threatening messages are being sent.

Wait! Hold up, here! I thought this was going to be a sweet romance? Not a murder mystery!?

This book definitely had an identity crisis. Apparently it's listed as both a mystery and a romance. Something I clearly overlooked when accepting this read.😅

But with both genres competing for dominance each gave up a bit of themselves along the way. I wanted the author to choose a lane and stay in it. But just as I got comfortable in the romance or the mystery, oops…It would flip again!‍🤦🏼‍♀️

Overall I did enjoy this ro-mystery.😉.
I think this author has the talent for both genres. But maybe just pick one at a time?‍🤷🏼‍♀️

Thank you to Random House Publishing via NetGalley

The best part of reading books for me is exploring and discovering things I never would or experience in my own life. This book is full of cultural references and things I have never discovered in my own life. While trying to unwrap the mystery of why someone would want to sabotage a matchmaker your opened up to the world in which Nura lives. While unearthing the mystery of who would want to hurt Nura your thrown into her uneasy past of who she really is… can you figure out which life it is that is coming for her?

Nura Khan isn't just in the match making business, she IS the matchmaking business. I am not usually one for cozy mysteries, but the synopsis on this book really drew me in and kept me going!
Let's start with Nura. I felt like she was incredibly realistic and gave me a really good idea of who she is and what her values are. I really enjoyed how she was written, and felt like I got a very solid understanding of who she is and what she cares about. I felt like her reactions to things made sense and that any misunderstandings she had were understandable, not annoying like they can be with some characters.
Okay, plot. THIS STORY. When we got to about the 60% mark and the "mystery" was solved, I was left wondering what was coming next and what was going to happen for the rest of the book, and that feeling did not last long at all. I felt like this book had so many twists and turns, and all of them were actually realistic. Reading it didn't feel like "oh seriously, another one?" It felt like they took a very natural progression and made a lot of sense. I felt engaged through the whole story, the side characters made sense and felt like real people. Overall, the story was deeply entertaining.
The reason for 4 stars instead of 5 is just because I didn't feel like the fake/double identity thing fit into the overall story, and I just didn't feel like it ever tied in. It put distance between Nura and her family, but I don't really see the reason. I think we could've gotten the same ending without that part, and all it did was remove a support system from our main character, I just think it wasn't needed and didn't make a whole lot of sense.
Overall, this book was so engaging, the pacing was good, and the characters were very well written. Can't wait for it's publish date!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The rich tapestry of culture and tradition woven into the story was both fascinating and immersive. The mystery was masterfully crafted, keeping me engaged throughout. I especially appreciated the depth of the characters and their relationships, as well as the way they evolved and deepened their understanding of one another.

The premise of this book sounded like so much fun. I love the idea of combining romance and mystery together. With that being said though, this book didn’t entirely work for me. If I’m being honest the book never drew me in. I was bored from the very beginning. I also found it very hard to connect to any of the characters. The mystery elements were pretty good, but I was surprised that there wasn’t as much romance as I was anticipating. Overall I think it’s a cute cozy mystery that many people will enjoy.

Third generation matchmaker Nura Khan has an exclusive business for well-heeled clients in Atlanta. Focusing mainly on Desi matches at first, her business has expanded to include many of the rich and famous. But when someone starts to bash her business on social media and later, marriages she has planned fall through in rather bizarre ways, Nura knows that someone is out to get her and kill her business. Focusing on clients she had rejected in the past leads her team into dangerous territory and Nura finds herself and her extended family at great risk. Trying to track down the person who is out to get her gives readers many different possible suspects from disgruntled parents, clients, family, reporters and those within her own organization. Sharp readers of mysteries may have a clue as to who is the perpetrator before the end. A touch of romance for Nura keeps readers engaged.