Book 4/100 The Matchmaker by Catherine Walsh
(Coming to bookstores and Kindle Unlimited 4/18/23)

“I’ve spent my life trying to figure out what made me happy, what I wanted to do with my days if I was brave enough to try. I never found it. Not until I came here.”

Katie is the independently assertive Ennisbaum bartender that not going to let Jack and Callum tear down the village she loves to develop their new hotel. She plans to revive the Matchmaking Festival at the pub she works at, Kelly’s, when she finds out the developers want to tear down the pub for the hotel.

I loved how witty and lovable these characters were! The chemistry between Katie and Callum are just 👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻. The Matchmaker by @Cathwalsh had me smiling and laughing until the very end. If you need some feel-good and funny vibes, this is the book for you!

What a joyful read, i’ve come to learn that Catherines books are such cozy and charming reads. You know you’re going to get a hilarious read peppered with all the sweet goodness alongside. & ofc with all the side characters you’ll automatically fall in love with - a guaranteed good time!

This one was FUN from the first page, i loved the concept of the matchmaking festival, i loved Katie and how big her heart was, also hilarious. utterly hilarious girl. her ramblings KILLED me! Also Nush, every time Nush opened her mouth i was laughing out loud.

I loooooved the small town feel and the saving of the beloved pub aspect, i loved that everyone had something going on and i LOVED how everyones stories wrapped up even the “villain” of the book 😜

Special shout-out to Maeve <3

Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Cat's latest romantic comedy is a delightful read that will make you laugh, kick your feet, and stare at the ceiling. The small town of Ennisbawn and the warm friendships between Katie, Nush, Gemma, and Adam provide a comforting backdrop for the story. When developers threaten to destroy Katie's last connection to her parents, she decides to revive the town's matchmaking festival. Despite her aversion to confrontation, Katie proves to be a skilled organizer, rallying the town behind her cause.

The tension between Katie and Callum builds steadily throughout the book, leading to some deliciously swoon-worthy moments. Callum may have started as an enemy, but he's clearly looking for a way to win Katie over. Their slow-burn romance is filled with flirty banter and heart-melting moments, and I found myself becoming a little obsessed with their story.

Overall, Cat has crafted a charming and heartwarming story that will leave you with a smile on your face. I'm eager to re-read it and annotate it properly when I get my hands on a paperback copy.

Catherine Wash, you have stolen my heart! The Matchmaker was just what I needed.

This story was laugh out loud funny and full of heart. The small, close-knit community Walsh created was so special. I loved the entire community but Katie’s grandmother nearly stole the show. Is it possible to be best friends with a fictional character? Because if so, I choose her.

Katie and Callum were perfectly matched. Their situation could have easily led to an enemies-to-lovers situation, but Callum was mature enough to be both understanding and a problem-solver, and I loved it. He was kind, supportive, and just wonderful.

Katie was an absolute firecracker. I loved how spirited she was and how hard she fought for her community (and maybe her sleep cycle too!) She had me laughing out loud throughout the entire book.

This feel-good story needs to be on your TBR! The Matchmaker comes out April 18, 2023. You’ll definitely want to preorder it so you can read it right away. Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read it early in exchange for an honest review. (This review will also be posted on my Goodreads and Instagram accounts: @bookishlee_kaci)

4.5 out of 5⭐️

And now please excuse me while I go read her backlist! :)

The ABSOLUTE cutest. The Matchmaker is definitely one of the most adorable new books I’ve recently read. Catherine Walsh wrote the perfect romantic comedy, with main characters (Katie and Callum) that you’ll fall in love with and side characters that you’ll want more of. The interactions between everyone, but especially Katie and Callum, are delightfully realistic and makes you feel like you’re sitting in the pub with them. This book made me happy, from start to finish, and I would recommend to anyone looking for something funny, lighthearted, and just a little bit spicy. I’m about to read everything Catherine Walsh has ever written and proceeds to write!

Special thanks to Net Galley and Bookouture for providing me with an advanced review copy in exchange for my honest opinion and review!

Okay, this is possibly Catherine Walsh’s best yet—and she had a few gems before; I previously adored One Night Only and Holiday Romance. I think I may have a thing for simplicity and these characters here are drama-free and hilarious. The banter is great and everything works fluidly. I especially like how certain aspects of the story were not used as plot devices but rather like events that sort of fell upon the MC and, well, deal with that now. It's a perfect read. Thanks to NG, Bookouture, and the author for the ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts on this novel.

brb, booking a flight to Ireland to kiss Cat on the forehead and find a matchmaking festival.

I love the way Cat writes and she may have truly outdone herself with this one. This is one of those stare at ceiling, giggle and kick your feet kind of romcoms. I didn't want it to end! All of Cat's books include the coziest towns and some of my favorite friendship dynamics and I cannot explain how giddy the growing tension between Callum and Katie made me.

Katie's friendships with Nush, Gemma and Adam are such a core source of comfort for her and she's spent the last decade of her life growing in that comfortability. When developers come to Ennisbawn and intend to destroy the last tangible connection she has with her parents, she decides to reinvigorate the town matchmaking festival. For a girl who hates confrontation, Katie does it so well. From her meet-cute, to throwing the gauntlet down with Jack, to rallying the town into getting behind the festival, the amount of love Katie has for her town and her family makes my heart hurt.

All the swoony, delicious, toe-curling tension builds between Katie and Callum. He should be firmly in the "enemy" category, but the man really is just looking for a way in to Katie's life. I'm actually a little obsessed with the two of them. The belt loops, the slow burn, every flirty word that leaves that man's mouth.. swooning. I'm so excited for this one to be on KU and to get my hands on a paperback so I can annotate it properly with all my little notes.

add to your tbr if you're looking for:
- THE SWOONING
- THE TENSION
- THE BUTTERFLIES

Cat Walsh is a master of dialogue and writing feel-good romantic comedies. I thought this would be the first book of hers that didn’t make me cry, but then the last 30% I sobbed multiple times and it was amazing.

I like the design and bright cover of this book which drew me instantly to it. I had not read any books by Catherine Walsh before but had heard good reviews so was looking forward to reading it and it did not disappoint.
I loved the characters in the story and my favourite was Kates grandmother. The comedy in the book had me laughing out loud and I liked the fact that the setting was in Ireland, I almost felt like I was there.
Overall a nice easy feel good read with just the right amount of romance and humour and I can’t wait to read more of Catherine’s novels.
Thanks to NetGallet, Bookouture and Catherine Walsh for an advanced copy in exchange for and honest and unbiased review.

It’s settled. Catherine Walsh is now of my top favorite authors. Every book of hers I read makes me go insane because her writing is like a drug to me. I need to keep reading or else I feel like crying.

In my previous reviews of her books I have always mentioned that her dialogues are what I love the most, and it was exactly the same in this book. Catherine’s chatacters are so lovable because the dialogue is a gold mine she perfectly exploits. Katie was so fun and passionate, doing everything to save the pub and her small town. And I am completely in love with Callum. He’s the most serious guy ever (I think he smiles once?), and so in love with Katie. He literally worships her and the ground she steps on. I have so many highlights of the romance… I am so obsessed with them. The secondary characters, once again, were delightful. It’s amazing how different everyone’s personalities are, but how equally witty they can be.

You won’t know what truly good humor is until you’ve read Catherine’s romcoms. Laughs, romance, and a bit of tears are always guaranteed.

PS. If you want a more perfect reading experience, listen to Lover by Taylor Swift while you’re reading. That song is Katie and Callum’s anthem for me!

Rating: 5/5
Steam level: Open door, 2-3 scenes, low level of detail

ARC provided by Bookouture and NetGalley. Opinions are my own!

The matchmaker is a very nice, pleasant and totally enjoyable irish romance book.

Katie lives with her granma in Ennisbaw and doesn't want to change a thing in her life, but Glenmill construction buys a large portion of land to build a big hotel and everything's going to change.
Katie, who's not a fighter, will find herself in need to make her own voice herd to save what she loves the most.

I loved how the authors introduces us to the characters, to this small irish village and I liked very much Katie(the female mc), how she gets passionate for small things and through struggle gets the community together.
I also liked the folkloristic nuance about the whishing well and fairy rings etc... As one of the character said I don't believe in magic, I just don't not believe it either.
It was a nice structured story with a charming writing style just perfect for it, not overly dramatic nor boring, you get some nice banters and some more emotional highlight.

Thank you for giving me the chance to read this book.

This was a lively read set in a quiet Irish village which has been disrupted enough by a new hotel and golf course being developed there however when the remaining pub becomes under threat from the developers local Katie tries to resurrect the matchmaking festival that used to be an annual feature of the village to try to save it. There’s some lovely characters in this, a simple but fresh storyline which works really well and some gentle humour which makes for a very enjoyable and easygoing read.

Okay ahh 😭 this book was so happy and wholesome and healing and complete

Like, I had read Holiday Romance by this author previously, and I KNEW that her writing was perfect, but seriously, this perfect? 😭 Istg, you can blindly start reading this book and you'll come out of the experience cheery and grinning

💫 Saving a small town - cue an FMC who's super passionate about it, and an MMC who looks at her like she's the sun in his life
💫 Meet cute where she's sleep angry (like F.R.I.E.N.D.S. Rachel when the birds were making a racket early in the morning) and he's just trying to do his job, but he changes everything so that she can sleep longer
💫 Secondary single parent / friends-forever-to-lovers romance happening in the background
💫 A community who come together to save and awaken their town
💫 Very wholesome conversations that avoid miscommunication
💫 No third act breakup
💫 Hea for literally everyone (yes, even the misunderstood villain)

--- ty to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for an advanced copy!

Catherine Walsh is one of my favorite authors and has been on my auto-buy list for some time, and I was SO excited to be approved for this ARC. While I did enjoy this one overall, I think this one was trying to do a little too much and kind of lost sight of the love story it was trying to tell.

Katie and Callum start out so cute together, and I was excited to follow their enemies-to-lovers journey as Katie fought to save the town she loves so much. But seemingly VERY quickly, they’re on the same side and making out here, there, and everywhere, and then at least half of the book is just preparation for the festival. In the end, we didn’t really get to see or be included in many of the festival activities either- it kind of takes a backseat when it’s actually going on and the only visual I even had of the actual party was just a bunch of half-drunk people milling about. We didn’t even get to see a successful out-of-town matchup or anything which was kind of sad since Granny worked so hard on them!

Insta-love just isn’t my thing and I think I was caught off-guard as the synopsis sells this idea of her “taking on the world’s hottest, evilest man” and that isn’t really happening for very long at all.
I think with a change in the synopsis where their insta-love isn’t quite as surprising might have helped me not feel as underwhelmed. They are pretty cute together and Walsh writes the world’s best banter, and the times they were sparring against each other were the highlight of their time together.

The biggest highlight of the book overall is easily the side characters, specifically the side romance that I could have happily read an entire novel about, and, of course, Katie’s sassy Granny who had me laughing out loud.

Overall, while this does bring the classic Catherine Walsh humor, banter, and heart, I think the synopsis and actual story are a little too far apart from each other to earn 5 stars from me.

“Anywhere you want me to go. If you want me to, I’ll follow.”

Katie lives in a tiny Irish village, she works at the local pub, and she cares for her sassy grandmother after her parents sadly passed away. But the quiet village has been invaded by the devil… or property developers to you and I. In order to save her beloved community, Katie sets out on a mission to revive the once beloved matchmaker festival. But then she meets the site manager and all of a sudden, the builders don’t seem so evil.

I really liked this! It was so fun, and I found myself laughing out loud. Don’t be fooled, this isn’t just a romance, we also come across a single parent, grief and anxiety, and ultimately a tale of friendship and the power of community.

I was let down by the main characters, they felt very bland, and as much as I loved Callum… he was a little boring. But he has tattoos so I forgive him. However, I adored the side characters! Granny was hilarious, and felt like a refreshing take on the vulnerable elderly person who is normally in the background whilst the main character is chasing after a man. Catherine captured the Irish country side perfectly, I felt so cosy whilst reading!

I recommend this to fans of Emily Henry and Talia Hibbert.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC

#bookstagram #netgalley #catherinewalsh #thematchmaker #arc #reading #booktok #books

Summary: This book follows Katie Collins. She was born and raised in a charming Irish village and is proud to never want to leave. Her community is filled with a people she considers family. She lost her parents tragically and the people in her town helped shape who she is.

Everything is put at risk when a hotel developer has their eyes set on the village for their new sprawling resort. They have become an absolute nuisance for Katie and the rest of the villagers. Fed up with unanswered emails and calls, she storms over to the resort and meets Callum, who is working on site. She finds him annoyingly attractive but quickly learns that what they’re planning to do is even bigger and more damaging than she expected.

She devises a plan to lean into the historical charm of her village to build interest so the court of public opinion can help her stop the development plans. Katie decides she will bring back the old matchmaking festival the town was famous for. Little does she know, she’s about to learn a whole lot she didn’t expect about the art of matchmaking and love.

Thoughts: This book was absolutely delightful. There are so many quirky, hilarious moments and I just found all of the characters so charming. I loved the dry humor in the book and felt the writing style was so unique. Katie’s Granny Maeve is one of my favorite (fictional) people, ever. And the two main characters are up there with my favorite book couple ever.

There was a mission at hand and I didn’t want to put the book down until I saw how it all played out. It was set in a small village and I absolutely loved how involved the entire community was to helping our heroine on her quest. I also loved how it didn’t all go smoothly and setbacks were met with realistic responses and plans to overcome.

I was positively swooning over the romance in this book. The connection between the main characters felt so genuine. And I loved the side stories that were happening as well.

Overall, this is just such a well rounded romantic comedy. I had a cheesy grin on my face and felt like I had been whisked away to a beautiful village in Ireland. An absolute treat.

3.5 ⭐️, 🌶️

Small town romance
Found family

Small town with a good story line, enjoyable characters, found family with a sprinkle of laughter! I did think the beginning of the storyline was a little slow didn’t really seem to pick up until about 25% in and after that a cute & easy read! I loved the premise of the small town and especially the FMC, Katie who loves her town and would do anything to keep it afloat including hosting a matchmaking festival to save her home town! However I just wasn’t interested in Katie and Callums relationship it seemed to happen so fast and they just didn’t seem to have a strong connection. I liked both characters, however I just didn’t see a lot of chemistry between them. I was more invested in Gemma and Adams relationship & saving Kellys! I really enjoyed how the storyline played out & the characters!

Thank you NetGalley & bookouture for the eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I am a huge fan of Catherine Walsh, I have read almost all of her books, but this one fell a little flat for me. I liked the premise of a small town girl saving her community from a big corporation but I was more invested in saving the bar Kelly's than I was in the relationship development of Katie and Callum.

Parts of it just felt forced and ingenuine but by the end I did enjoy the book and I would still recommend it to anyone looking for a small town romance.

A cute, cozy rom-com set in Ireland. When a powerful developer comes to the village of Ennisbawn and plans to close down beloved businesses and displace locals, Katie Collins decides to put up a fight. As she marches to the development site, she meets and confronts Callum Dempsey, the unreasonably gorgeous project/site manager. As Katie and Callum face off, they discover they might be on the same side after all...

The Matchmaker is a light, enjoyable read that has a cinematic/Irish Hallmark feel. I think the story would have benefitted from more tension between Katie and Callum - they were not really antagonists as the premise sets us up to believe and seemed to instantly be smitten with one another.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy.

I always like Catherine’s books and undoubtedly, I loved this one too!

Swoony, charming and sizzling with chemistry; this book has got it all.

I love a good small town romance mixed with positive and friendly childhood friendships and this book was just that. And don’t we love it when there’s a city-boy intruder in said small town, ready to bulldoze over your life? And in this books’ case, LITERALLY!

Callum is such a vibe. A guy who knows what he wants, a guy who’s clear about his dreams and future. We stan Mr.Green Flag!

And Katie. Don’t get me started. I love all of Catherine’s characters because they’re always so bubbly and sunshine and downright FUNNY. There were literally moments were i laughed out loud.

Callum and Katie have incredible chemistry. This book has good plot and storyline. Perfect execution. It was literally amazing!!! And the best part for me was the additional romance I got through Gemma and Adam. I loved them and Noah so much <3

I recommend this book 100% and I genuinely hope it does well. It deserves so much love. I’m taking off a star because I simply felt it was a bit too detailed for me but that’s a me thing.

GO READ THIS BOOK NOW!