The book is about Katie, who lives in a small Irish village named Ennisbown. A hotel is being construed just outside the town, which indirectly resulted in the destruction of many historical places, including the pub she works at. To save the business, Katie decides to revive and Organize the Matchmaker Festival, the same festival where her parents met and fell madly in love with each other.
Enters Callum, who is a construction worker on the same hotel project.

Overall I like the Author’s writing style. The small-town setting was done perfectly, with all the side characters adding a bit to the story narrative, and I enjoyed reading through their parts. Katie was a likable character, and there were so many times you could relate to her ( special mention to the circumstances that led to her first meeting with Callum). Callum, too, was nicely written as an individual character; however, I felt it was a little shot at the romance part, especially the way their relationship buildup I wanted a little more

3.5 ⭐️
Funny and heartwarming this book was entertaining and so was Katie. With endless gumption and bravery taking on the Corporation threatening her town, she was sassy and fun to watch. I also loved her relationship with her Granny.

There were a few parts that dragged a little in the middle. I liked Callum but he was such a grump at first and then, all of sudden, he was into Katie. I would love to have seen a few more instances of him slowly falling. I love the sunshine/grump trope but even Katie was surprised by his interest at first!

This is a cute rom com book.

It felt so much like the plot of a Hallmark movie: evil corporation is buying up all of the land in the tiny Irish village, and they discover that their local pub is in danger. Cue Katie Collins, bartender and lifelong resident of the village, who proposes they resurrect the Matchmaker festival to save the pub and the town. On the other side, working for the hotel is the oh-so-handsome Callum Dempsey. Sparks fly between the two, can they both achieve their purposes?

I've read one other book by this author ( One Night Only). The romance here is fun and this is a very quick, entertaining read, but I didn't really connect with it like I did with that other book. The Matchmaker was just a little too Hallmarky for me, and I don't love the evil corporation vs small town trope.

Overall though, if you're looking for a light, fun read, this one is delightful and worthy of the time it takes to read it.

Another incredible book by Catherine Walsh!

I demolished this book in 2 days and it was so heartwarming, fantastical and lovey-dovey!

I loved the premise of this romance, a construction worker, Callum, working on the new hotel project to completely uproot and change Katie’s magical, small hometown in Ireland, except I think instead of uprooting her hometown, he just about tipped her world upside down.

Filled with community, cheer, found family and a scorching romance, this book was such a pleasure to read and I loved every second of it. The passion and drive of Katie’s love for the town, its community and keeping her parent’s memories alive really had me invested and it’s another book to add to my favourites!

Congratulations to Catherine for another incredible book to add to the list!

Catherine has done it again! I’ve been lucky enough to read a number of Catherine’s books as arcs over the last couple of years and with every book, she knocks it out of the park! Catherine’s way of writing just lets the story flow so naturally. I read The Matchmaker in under 24 hours. The Irishness of some of the sayings made me laugh so hard- best line ever is “what crawled up your hole”- perfection! 😆

Katie is a feisty protagonist, not afraid to say what she’s thinking and at times overthinking things a bit too much with hilarious results! I love her loyalty to her grandmother, her friends and her little village. Her determination to save the pub she lives in and to keep the spirit of the village alive is really touching.

There’s slow-burn romance with Callum and I love the scenarios that Catherine puts Katie and Callum in. Some hilarious moments that you could easily see working on the big screen as well as in the book. There’s some spice too 😉

One of the standout characters for me is granny. She reminds me so much of my nanny in how she deals with life, being very opinionated and stubborn- I know she would have loved this book too.

The Matchmaker is the perfect Irish romantic comedy that will have you transfixed from start to finish. And if you learn nothing else from reading this book, never mess with a woman’s good night’s sleep!

Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for the arc. The Matchmaker is out tomorrow. 4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Such a fun cute little rom com! Loved the Irish setting, the folklore and the drama. Will definitely be recommending this book to my friends!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this arc!

this book was such a light and fun read. the chapters were short, the characters were great, and i really like the concept itself. however, i did not feel any sparks between katie and callum. it was very cute and i enjoyed reading it, but i was expecting a bit more.

thank you netgalley for the arc!

I first discovered Catherine Walsh when I read Holiday Romance last year. Usually I'm not a romance lover, but Catherine had me hooked right from the beginning.
When I received The Matchmaker, I couldn't wait to start it. It had everything I enjoyed from her other books; likeable characters, funny moments and a great romance. I love Catherine's writing and how she develops her characters. She's also hilarious!
If you've read any of Catherine's previous books, or even if you haven't and just appreciate a good romance, I recommend picking this up.

This was so sweet and I loved the Irish elements throughout. The side characters really helped to flesh out the story and I loved how they added those extra layers to Katie and Callum’s character. It made me laugh and cry and was such a joy to read.

I tried my hardest to love this book but honestly it was really hard to enjoy this book. I loved the Holiday Romance so immediately wanted this book but it truly was a let down. The characters were okay but I got to 40% and was like where is the story? Is this it cause nothing has happened so far. I thought we would get a two weeks notice vibe of him being the bad guy trying to buy all the businesses and ruin the community and she would be his enemy trying to stop him but that didn't happen. Instead we got insta love. If this had stayed like an enemies to lovers with her hating him instead of blushing over him each time she sees him this would have been more interesting.

Katie Collins has grown up in a small, quiet town. Quiet that is until Callum Dempsey and his development team move in to construct a luxury resort and spa. And not only does he want to build a resort and spa, he wants to tear down Kelly's, the local pub and the heart of the town. Now, Katie and her friends are going to take on the developer with his good looks and strong chin. Will they be able to save their beloved pub and will Katie lose her heart in the process?

This was such a fun little read. I loved the quaint setting and it makes me want to travel to Ireland! The characters were fun and I laughed a lot while reading this book. I loved the witty banter and the fun that the characters had. There were some really sweet moments in the book too. This was my first book by Catherine Walsh but it won't be my last! Thank you bookatoure, Netgalley, and Catherine Walsh for the ARC of this book.

This was my first Catherine Walsh book and I can guarantee I’ll be reading more of her work!

While I found the story a bit slow at first, it picked up after a couple of chapters and then kept the momentum until the very end. The enemies to lovers, kinda forbidden love tropes are quite cute and well captured. The story is filled with humour, banter, strong friendships and small-town charm. It’s a sweet RomCom with plenty of lol and swoon worthy moments (Swipe right for some cute annotations). The FMC is quite relatable on many occasions and the MMC is charming and simply perfect, he is both sweet & spicy! I adored the friendships shown in this book and how this small town is almost like a little family, watching out for eachother no matter what. The dialogues are witty and hilarious and some of the side characters like granny Maeve and Nush are just amazing! I rarely come across books where the other characters are just as great as the MCs.

This book will have you craving to live a sweet and simple, small-town life! If you like slow paced, but fun and witty romcoms, you can’t miss this one. Although, do give it some time to pick up the pace, you’ll surely be hooked once it does!

My thoughts



Narrative and Plot





The Matchmaker follows Katie Collins who loves her town Ennisbawn and works as a bartender at the local pub, Kelly's. The story follows her perspective as she inadvertently spearheads taking down the big corporate realtor by organizing this Matchmaking festival.

For a book that is titled asThe Matchmaker, there is a very little aspect of matchmaking involved here. It is all about how Katie deals with this major change happening in the town while having a soft spot for the person working on the other side. The pacing in the middle felt a bit slow, but then it picked up around the three-forth mark. As always, the author creates this nostalgic atmosphere of the good old rom-com days and I love that about her books.





Characters and Conflicts







Katie is charming, and witty, and has that self-deprecating humor that I love in rom-com heroines. It makes the story all the more interesting. Callum on the other hand, leaves you wanting for more.

There is good chemistry between the main leads. However, in order to see where Callum is coming from and why he makes the choices he made, I wish we got his perspective of things too. Without that, it felt a bit abrupt.

The ensemble cast is lovely and quite memorable. I have always enjoyed the sense of community and family in Catherine Walsh's books. This one had some amazing friendships and bonds. I enjoyed the romance that was going on around for the side characters as well and was equally rooting for them too.
Also, I could totally picture the Indian actress, Anushka Sharma as Nush because it is the kind of role that she usually goes for.


Conclusion



Overall I enjoyed the experience of reading the fun romantic comedy. However, I came into it expecting a comedy of errors relating to the matchmaking festival. Somehow, the blurb made me feel like that was what the story was about. The book also lacked the usual grounded and realistic way of approaching things which is a big highlight of the author's previous works. This one was leaning a bit much on us buying into that whimsical story of where everything works out in the end. To conclude, while I enjoyed the book, it is my least favorite book from the author so far.

3.75/5⭐️

This is actually my first Catherine Walsh book, and I really enjoyed it. The whole story was a breath of fresh air, it feels like I really went to Ennisbawn and had my vacation there. It was so cozy and warm!

The romance was super cute, and the characters were so funny (especially Katie's grandma!) I can't hold my laugh every time they exchanged banters and stuff. Also, the whole matchmaking thing was super adorable. I just wish that the author elaborates more into this part because I think it was a bit rushed, but still, it was adorable.

All in all, I had a great time reading this book, and I'll recommend this if you like a light, cozy, and heartwarming read 💖

Thank you to Catherine Walsh, Bookouture and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

As usual and as expected, Catherine Walsh doesn’t miss. She is able to craft an incredible rom com that will have you laughing and leave you feeling every spectrum of emotions. 4.5 ⭐️’s. An easy book to recommend and I’ll be purchasing immediately on release day.

I thought this was such a cute book and such a cute concept. I absolutely love Callum, he's the soft big looking boyfriend, a teddy bear boyfriend. I loved the setting and the idea of saving a small-knit-together village by a strong-headed frantic girl. Some swoon-worthy moments you need to look for are the belt loop, his "flowers" and his favorite place. It's also incredibly sweet to see the side couples as well and see little bits and pieces of them. Highly recommend it for a cute short read (284 pgs).

This is the first book by Catherine Walsh that I've read, the blurb caught my attention and it didn't disappoint.

Katie is such a passionate character, she is even willing to go out and confront contractors in her yellow duck pyjamas and this leads to the meet cute (minus the cute) of our love interests. The relationship developed in typical enemies to lovers fashion with lots of banter. I felt it occured quicker than the usual enemies to lovers slow burn stories that I love but it wasn't exactly insta love either which I liked.

Callum is a caring MMC and is the type who will rescue you from a rainy bus stop and will perform a big grand gesture to win you back.

The romance wasn't the be all and end all of the plot, I liked that the main story revolved around reviving the festival to try and save the pub.

This is a cute small town romance and a quick and easy read.

A delightfully cheesy save-the-town romcom! Katie Collins started out as a bit of a character that I couldn’t take seriously, but with each page turn I found myself rooting for her more and more! A great vacation read!

3.5 stars. Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture. This is not by first rodeo with a book by Walsh and just like with Holiday Romance I was totally here for it. I like Katie am for a small town but our town has just grown and grown and grown lol. I loved how she felt inadequate but still tried her best to save her town. This was written in such a way that everything just flowed and it was an effortless read. Cant wait to read more from this author.

I am such a fan of Catherine Walsh and her books. Walsh’s story is light, full of friendship, full of discovery and how scary it can be to lose everything important to you. Both the storyline and the characters are easy to relate to and this is simply a feel good book with so much friendship, romance, love and support of a strong community. The characters she creates all fit like puzzle pieces and this book is no different - Katie & Callum are a couple so well suited (even though it does not appear so) and even the character of Jack, who seems to be the biggest jerk, surprises the reader in the end. Katie comes to discover were she wants to be, who she wants to be an be with and she knows the community she wants surrounding her everyday - even if it makes her appear boring. Also, the reader has to respect the feisty determination of Katie. Walsh provides subtle one liner comments between the characters that make it difficult not to smile and laugh out loud. One of my favorite aspects of Walsh's writing is her ability to create swoon worthy male characters who always support the woman they love. Trust me, I love Callum (pretty sure you will as well) and who doesn't want to experience toe-curling kisses? I will definitely read this book again!