In trying to save her small town from destruction at the proverbial hands of a large luxury resort, Katie teams up with local friends to prove that this home of theirs will not being bulldozed for the sake of progress. In doing so, she brings back a longtime tradition of the Match Maker Festival -- but can she pull it off with the resort developer doing everything he can to sabotage her?

This was a great story. I wanted to go to the festival by the end. The whole town was so vivid. The whole conversation regarding the balance between bringing in new, honoring the past vs bulldozing the past was intriguing and honest.

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Katie Collins lives with her grandmother Maeve in Ennisbawn, a quiet town in rural Ireland. Quiet, until Glenmill Properties bought half the town and started building a hotel close to her house.

The book starts with Katie strutting into the construction site, asking for the trucks to stop passing in front of her house so that she can sleep properly. The problems get worse when Glenmill, in the form of one Jack Doyle, decides to buy the town bar, where Katie works.

To avoid this happening, Katie convinces everyone to help her revive the old matchmaking festival, where her parents met.

One part I’m missing? The on-site project coordinator is cute, funny, and seems to like Katie. At least, he rerouted the trucks so she could sleep…

I don’t know how Catherine makes the books seem longer than they are. And not in a bad, boring way! She packs so much information in what she writes that I get the feeling I read more than the page number I’m at.

The plot is interesting and captivating. I wanted to keep reading.

The characters are amazing, we could feel the love of the town and they were great entertainment. My favorite person is the grandmother. I would love to learn more about Maeve.

If you are looking for an entertaining funny romance with small town vibes and lots of family feelings, give this one a try.

4.5*

I thought this was a cute story! Yes, it was a romance, but it was more about the small town that the main character lives in and her relationship with her family and friends. I loved how the entire town came together to try to save their town from development that they didn’t want by hosting a matchmaking festival. The festival was a labor of love and this story was quite a ride.

what to expect:
- small town vibes
- Ireland setting
- enemies to lovers
- meaningful relationships

The matchmaker tells the tail of a small town gal doing everything in her power to save her small town called Ennisbrawn from a big hotel company coming to bull doze over everything that makes up Ennisbrawn. Of course along the way feelings and emotions get mixed in and mixed up which adds to the whole ensemble. You my dear will just have to read the MatchMaker yourself to find out if Ennisbrawn is saved and who falls in love with who.

Callum is the best Book boyfriend! I totally loved my favourite part is how truly confident he is with his feelings towards Katie! No wavering whatsoever! Katie in the other had had so much on her plate that it’s amazing how she did it all!

Do you know that book hangover feeling when you've just finished a spectacular book and you find it difficult to begin your next read because the author is taking a bit too long to set the stage for the story and you know you'll eventually feel connected to the characters but why is it taking so long?
This book is the opposite of that - it draws you in from the first chapter and holds you until the very last page! There isn't a thing about this book I didn't love.
The small Irish town fighting to keep their way of life had a lovely David vs Goliath feel without consuming too much of the story. All of the characters were lovable - even the terrible businessmen trying to take over their town had a lovely redemption arc - this book will truly just tug on your heart and leave you with a big smile across your face.

This is my first book by this author and I'm so thankful for a chance to read one of her books in advance of the publication and think I have discovered a new favorite romance author. Truly can't wait to dive down the rabbit hole of Walsh's other novels!

This was such a heart-warming and fun enemies-to-lovers book! It was a super easy to get into and well-written read, thanks to the story being immediately touching/relatable and never boring. It has various themes weaved together with romance, which made it even better to read, for example the love and support of the community, adult friendships, grandparents-grandkids relationships, activism, and the landscape change we are seeing in villages, towns, and cities. This book is very relevant to the present moment but it deals with some very important issues with a light and positive outlook. I would definitely recommend to read it if you are intrigued by the blurb :-)

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
The Matchmaker by Catherine Walsh is a lovely light hearted Irish romantic comedy that’s easy to read, makes you laugh, and keeps you engaged with likeable, realistic characters.

A "save our town" novel, The Matchmaker is fun and full of small town warmth.

A quick, light book with some characters with depth.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read and provide my honest feedback.

What a cute book! I loved the little town, the characters, their drama and interactions. I was easily transported into the town and could imagine being there with the characters. The romance was cute. It was a quick, fun read.

Katie's little town is perfect. Until Callum Dempsey, a developer, comes into town and starts to ruin it with a hotel... and terrible plans for her pub. Katie plans to bring the matchmaking festival back to life in order to save the town. Will Katie save her town? Will fate have other plans for her and the evil developer?

Thank you netgalley for my advanced reader copy.

A fab read. Determined to save her local pub from.developers, Katie goes to bring back the town matchmaking festival. A fun read full of great characters.

My sincere thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read The Matchmaker and give my unbiased opinion of it in the following review.

Katie Collins is content living with her grandmother and working at a local pub in a small village in Ireland. Everything was fine until a big development company swooped in to build a new luxury resort making their quiet community anything but quiet. The locals begin witnessing their surroundings becoming more and more changed and, in their opinion, not for the better. Expressions of concern and complaints about the disruption fall on deaf ears until one day Katie has had enough and barges into construction command central, in her pajamas no less, and makes a scene. She makes an impression on Callum, the construction foreman and right-hand man to the head of the project. Sparks begin to fly in more ways than one.

While this book is a romance, what I enjoyed even more was Katie's love for her small community and her desire to keep it alive without giving up what made it home. I loved that she was unapologetic in her desire to live where she had always lived. So many people who grow up in small towns can't wait to leave it for what they feel will be bigger, better, and more exciting. Katie doesn't fault people for wanting to live in bigger cities or moving from place to place, she just knows that she loves her life the way it is, and I love that about her. This is a change from the raft of small-town girl meets billionaire or pro-athlete and changes her life for love/him.

While I didn't love this one quite as much as Holiday Romance, which was my first book by Catherine Walsh, I still really enjoyed it. I love Catherine's writing style. 4 stars

DNF at 40%
I’ve loved the previous books by Catherine, they were all solid reads.
Unfortunately, this book didn’t grab my attention. I had to force myself to pick it up and I couldn’t connect with the MMC. I believe this book would have benefited from dual POV, since imo feels like we don’t know anything about the MMC.

The plot itself felt very weak too, and the conflict wasn’t relatable to me

That being said, I’ll continue reading this author, as I’ve loved her books in the past and really enjoy her humour.
I would recommend this book to people who want low conflict low angst book, that focuses on the fmc journey.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for my ARC.

The Matchmaker by Catherine Walsh

Another fun, charming, and witty romcom from Catherine Walsh! I’ve read all her books now, Holiday Romance is my favourite but this one came in a close second! Her books are so reliably entertaining.

The Matchmaker is about Katie, a small town Irish bartender who tries to save her beloved neighbourhood pub from being torn down to make room for a hotel. She reimagines the traditional matchmaking festival to gain attention and save her town. It was laugh out loud funny, heartwarming and so romantic.

Katie was a wonderful main character, I loved her right away, but Callum stole the show. He was surprising and adorable. All the supporting characters were fantastic actually, I would love a spin off in this little town!

Thank you to @bookouture for my copy! If you haven’t read this author before I can’t recommend her enough if you like romcoms! This one came out earlier this week so you can get your copy today!

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This was such a cute story. I was very intrigued when reading the summary of this book. It seemed like such a fun and unique concept, and I really enjoyed reading it. I loved the meet cute between our two MC's, Katie and Callum. (PS: love the name Callum). It was so funny and I felt like it summarized their characters very well. I liked the small town vibe and all of the side characters we were able to meet. It was fun to follow Katie's journey with saving her town. I would definitely recommend this book for a light, fun and easy read!

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

I really enjoyed this book. Catherine Walsh is quickly becoming one my go-to authors because of how entertaining and consistent she is. This book had such a full story, I was picturing it as a movie as I read. I loved Katie and Callum. I loved Ennisbawn, I loved Gemma, Noah and Adam. I loved it all. I do think Callum kinda fell in love ready to give it all up a little too quickly but hey ho, high emotions!

I love a cute small town romantic comedy but what sets this apart is the hilarious dialogue between the MC Katie and her grandmother. It’s a typical “save the town” story but set in the Irish countryside. I would definitely read a sequel with the villain Jack as the main character.

Lighthearted Hallmark style romance without a great deal of depth. A little 🌶️ in a single chapter. Classic hometown girl who meets hot city out of towner and together they will save a small business. She is dealing with her own childhood trauma of losing her parents and the fear of losing her home to big cutt development looms. Easy weekend read if you’re looking for shallow ligh hearted read.

Catherine Walsh is a new to me author and is now on my auto-buy list. Seriously run don’t walk to order this adorable small town rom-com. Katie is quirky and so authentically herself you can’t help but love her. The whole time I was reading I was picturing Emilia Clarke. And Callum is a strong, handsome man’s man with a sweet heart underneath all his stoicism.

I was caught off guard when one of Katie’s impassioned speeches about why she loves her town so much made me cry. This book definitely has all the feels.

Katie Collins loves her tiny Irish village of Ennisbawn, but developer Callum Dempsey is building a hotel just outside the village, and planning to knock down Ennisbawn’s only remaining pub. That place is the last connection for Katie to feel close to her parents, who met at Ennisbawn’s once-famous matchmaking festival, both throwing coins into the wishing well that sits in the pub garden. To save the pub, Katie plans to uncover the well and revive the festival, which she's sure can bring the town back to life again. In addition to battling Callum for the fate of her village, Katie also hopes to help her two best friends find love as well. What’s another project when she's already taking on the village's evilest man?

We open with the trucks and bulldozers waking Katie as they tear through the fields to lay the foundations for the hotel. Half of the town was bought up, and Jack has no intention of letting the village interrupt the building plans. Jack is the target of everyone's ire, and Callum works with him. He is cute and likes Katie, who loves her hometown and volunteers or is involved with most goings on. She was heartbroken when her hard work to build up the town is undone, and I felt that pain right along with her. She knows what makes her happy, and it's her village of people who love and care for each other. This is what Callum is looking for as well, even if he doesn't explain it to her right away. He doesn't mind her emotional rants, or that she is actively trying to block part of the project he's working on. If anything, he's very calm in the face of her drama, so it's a big deal when he has his own emotional moments.

I really enjoyed reading about the small town and the people in it. They had their issues at times, which is hard to avoid when most people in small towns know everyone else's business. They all really cared about each other and Katie's efforts, and I loved seeing them all together for her festival. It was a fun read, perfect with a cozy blanket and cup of tea.