My thanks for the ARC goes to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Bantam. I'm voluntarily leaving a review, and all opinions are my own.

Genre: Crime Fiction, Mystery Suspense, Thriller
Language: Brief moments of profanity, including F-bombs
Spice Level: Complete fade to black
Representation: Most of the characters are South East Asian

THE MATCHMAKER completely drew me in—I even dreamed about this book and had to finish it as fast as possible to know whodunnit!

I loved the twists in this book. That's one of my favorite things actually because I kept trying to figure out who was guilty. AND I was surprised! (The author gets a standing ovation for pulling it off.) Another fun element is all the cultural details from Pakistani Americans.

There is a romance (that shouldn't be a surprise since it's about a matchmaker, but it's not the main plot). I wanted these characters to really talk to each other and not stuff their feelings. It worked out to my satisfaction.

The main reason I recommend this book is for the twisty, fast-paced action.

Happy reading!

I’m not sure what I expected from this book, but this was not it. I wasn’t expecting a family history mystery, a stalker, or a kidnapping. This was a wild ride and I really enjoyed it. I did end up predicting the ending but that didn’t take away from the story. I think a lot of people will love this one.

Wish this website let you do half star ratings, because this is a 3.5 every day of the week! Enjoyed reading this one, but did not strike me as completely memorable. I think fans of the genre will really like it.

I like a good thriller or mystery story, but this book disappointed me. As other reviews have mentioned, I find it hard to provide a summary of the book. There were a lot of storylines going on, but they never came together for me. I was intrigued by the suspense and romance in the opening chapters and appreciated the way the author introduced the characters and setting. However, as the story went on, I wasn't sure where it was going. If I hadn't skimmed, I would've DNF'ed the book.

This was a good read. Not exactly a cozy mystery but a mix of mystery and romance…. A first for me. I wish it didn’t end so quickly!

The Match Maker was a fun read! The suspense and story development kept me invested and anxious to keep reading. I liked the writing style and the connection to the character’s culture. The ending felt a bit rushed and I would have liked to stay in the world Aisha Saeed created a bit longer. This is great for fans of suspenseful romance.

A society matchmaker realizes she’s in danger when her clients' weddings are sabotaged in increasingly disturbing ways.

At its heart, this novel is about finding love. A task that is not a always easy. This can be evidenced by the sheer number of matchmaking apps dedicated to pairing people up that one can find on the internet. This book tells about Nura, a woman who runs an extremely successful matchmaking company that caters, not only to the average person, but also the very wealthy. Not everyone can find a love match on their own. But, Nura has a strict policy about not accepting all those who apply for her services. There is a vetting process!

The concept of this story is very appealing, because everyone wants to find THE one. But add to this a stalker, a kidnapping, hackers trying to bring down the business, a humdinger of a family secret, and you have a winner of a novel. This mystery/psychological thriller is a real page turner. And I highly recommend it.

Okay y’all! This book had me from the start. It started off with bliss and then went haywire real quick. And the person who was behind it all?! Was not expecting that! I’m so glad to have had the chance to read this story and to love Nura’s character. Also, I was Gertie so bad! Such a loyal cat. There were a lot of moving parts but it kept me engaged all the way through.

5/5 stars for family, matchmaking, mystery, and love!

**Thank you to NetGalley for a free review copy. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I felt this book was too heavy with too many topics thrown in together. there wasn't much of the romance and there were parts it would have fit in better to make the story flow.

⭐️ 2/5 | 🌶️ 1/5
First Person Narrative | Closed Door Romance
Suspense, Mystery, Romance, with a little bit of Thriller.

**SPOILERS AHEAD**

Content Warnings: threats, stalking, drugging, impersonation, sabotage, hacking, hospitalization, blackmail, forced confinement, car accident, lost pet, dementia, unhealthy work-life-balance, murders, physically abusive relationship, gun use, tense family dynamic, troubled upbringing, manipulation, violence, cultural indifferences, knowledge hiding, stolen identity.

There was A LOT going on and it all seemed to fight against each other. I love romance mysteries and appreciate a good subplot, but there were way too many subplots happening. I could see potential for this book/author but it just wasn’t working out this time. I don’t even know how to write a short summary of this book. But the most frustrating and annoying thing (besides what happens with the cat) was the reason for the extreme sabotage and murder. NONE of this would’ve happened if Khala hadn’t withheld from Nura, the crucial, life changing information about Nura and her traumatic family history! Had Nura known all of this she maybe would‘ve been able to better explain to her clients, friends, and employees why there are such strict requirements and standards in place to be taken on as a client with the agency! That’s seriously all what it comes down to. Ugh. But besides that, the whole premise of who was behind everything and why just didn’t work for me. I guess the way the story was given to us as the reader left me feeling like this was a bit over dramatic and a lame excuse to terrorize someone like that. Even though there was so much going on, something was missing for me to find it plausible.

The romance and spice part of the book was disappointing and lacking. I didn’t find myself swooning. And with all the chaos, fear, and danger that she was going through, there was definitely opportunity for tense, vulnerable, passionate intimacy with someone she felt safe with.

Many thanks to Net Galley, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, and Bantam for an electronic ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Incredibly witty touching quite heavy subjects. You get drawn from the start. Aisha Saeed is an automatic buy for me since i discovered her first book

Fun twists and turns as well as a hint of romance! Fast paced and a really interesting and unique premise.

The Matchmaker by Aisha Saeed

A mystery and heartfelt romance all in one!

Nura is a third generation matchmaker. She’s single but her childhood best friend is always willing to be her fake fiancé at her clients weddings. Nothing is ever perfect though. Someone is trying to mess with her business.. who could it be? I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. I loved that there was some romance and some mystery to the story. The twist near the end was good.

I’m looking forward to reading more books by Aisha! Thank you NetGalley, Aisha and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the ARC!


Publication Date: April 8th 2025
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

#NetGalley #TheMatchmaker

This read was a fun change of pace! We meet our main character, Nura, as she's doing her best to keep up with the steady stream of work from her aunt's matchmaking firm. Routinely working her client's weddings with her best friend/"faux fiancé" Azar, Nura's world starts spinning when it becomes clear that someone is set on ruining her business (and, just as importantly, her reputation).

While I was expecting much more of your standard mystery/thriller plot and pacing, the timeline of events and the uncovering of information felt a bit slow through the first half. The first big plot twist was exciting and really deepened the overall story, but I found myself disappointed that we didn't get more out of it. Regardless, the final plot twist still caught me by surprised and the writing overall kept me intrigued!

Strong 3.75 stars, I hope we see more of Nura and her family in future books!

Ok this took me by complete surprise. The twists and turns were so fun and I haven't read a premise like this before. Nicely paced and loved the characters. Overall I would so recommend this!

I read one of Aisha Saeed’s YA books years ago and really enjoyed it, so I was excited to read her adult debut.

The Matchmaker started out a bit slow for me. However, once it picked up there was so much suspense and the mystery had quite a few twists and turns to keep you reading.

This was not just your standard mystery though. Saeed also tackles family and relationship dynamics and includes a romance. Though I felt that she succeeded in a number of respects, especially her discussions of abusive relationships, the romance did not work for me. There wasn’t enough tension and a lot of the feelings felt like we were told rather than shown.

Overall, I think this was a great adult debut and I look forward to seeing what Aisha Saeed does next!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-Arc in exchange for an honest review!

What a solid debut adult novel. Ms. Saeed takes on many issues and while none are to the detriment of the others I would have difficulty classifying the genre. Love of family and the many pitfalls along the way have a strong identity. The difficulties and successes of running a dating service business is in the forefront as is Desi culture. Romance, love and the inherent mistakes people make are dropped in and left to simmer. Mysterious subterfuge and business attacks threaten to overtake the narrative. So you decide, but read this book as all of the elements are well done and coalesce perfectly.

Thanks to Bantam Books and NetGalley for a copy

I truly enjoyed reading this book! It was so hard for me to stop reading because I was invested in the story. The book was part mystery and part romance which kept the story interesting for me. I love the desi representation and the details Aisha Saeed put it the story to have a visual of the characters and setting. I loved reading through Nura's POV and seeing her connection to her family,friends, and culture.

I only wish the romance was a bit more developed. I feel like it rushed toward the ending with Nura and Azar and I barely really knew Azar's character. The chemistry felt lacking on his part.

For the mystery, I think it was well developed. I only wish there were way more thrills. I wanted higher stakes in my mystery/thriller but this was definitely more "cozy" to me. I didn't hate it but I wasn't expecting it.

Overall, I think this is a 3.75 stars. It was a quick book, with a fun mystery, and a sweet romance that I would recommend.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this book. I thought this was a fun twist - combining two genres I read frequently - romance and thriller. The writing was fine, but nothing special. It had good twists, and some interesting stuff to learn about Desi culture.