I’m sorry to have to rate this a 3! It wasn’t bad, it just didn’t have me swooning. In fact, at parts when I should’ve been really tuned into their love story, I found myself feeling awkward and needing to take breaks from reading. Agh. Not what you want from a romance.

I found Callum overly possessive and maybe I just don’t think that’s sexy the way I did when I was younger and less confident and more naive? Or maybe it was written in a way that made it seem more controlling than hot, idk. He’s also ready to drop everything and move to a tiny podunk town for her like within weeks of knowing her which is just…not believable? Katie is also not very engaging as a character maybe? She cares about her town, and her grandma, and she loves bartending. She has no interest in ever leaving her village (even to travel??? Not to move there, but just…visit??) or doing anything more than what she’s doing (she wants to be a bartender forever) which is fine, and absolutely no hate towards bartenders, but it made her…not super relatable to me. Their dialogue was kind of icky/eyerolly at times.

Also, and I know this will likely be corrected, but there were more typos/word swaps (e.g. “her” instead of “here”) than I’ve ever noticed before in an arc. It was to the point of being distracting to me. I’m not docking a star for this because I know the book will go through more rounds of edits, but it felt lazy and didn’t ~improve~ my feelings on the book.

I really liked the overall premise and the side characters and the setting! The MC’s and their love story just didn’t do it for me. I really liked Holiday Romance so I was hoping to like this as much/more! :(

3.5/5 stars, rounded down. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-arc in exchange for my honest review

A new romcom favorite!

This book entirely delivered on everything I want from romcoms; it is light-hearted, escapist fiction at its most fun. From the first chapter, I absolutely loved Katie and Callum’s dynamic. They are whip-smart and fun, and their banter is just adorable and laugh-out-loud funny. The plot line with the town’s Matchmaking festival was a fresh twist on the ‘save the small town’ trope, and the ending was just *chef’s kiss*.

Highly recommend for lovers of Emily Henry and Christina Lauren!

Abundantly grateful to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc!

-A

After falling in love with Holiday Romance back in December and reading a synopsis that sounded right up my alley, I was super excited to pick up Walsh’s newest book!

Unfortunately, this one missed the mark for me! Although I found the small-town vibes and the quirky characters quite endearing the story moved too slowly for me to stay invested! I wish there had been a little less “will they, won’t they” between Katie and Callum and more substance to the building of the Matchmaker festival storyline!

I really do enjoy Walsh’s style of writing though and will continue to read more of her backlist!

Publication date: 18/4/2023

This storyline was a bit slow to read and i almost dnf'ed it. I'm sorry! 😞 But i love Katie's sassy grandmother!

I received this eArc from netgalley bookouture in exchange for my honest review.

I picked this one up on the basis of the cover - it screamed rom com to me, and after reading the blurb, I had a pretty good feeling that I was going to enjoy it. It's a heartwarming, well written story about a quirky young woman who takes on greedy developers set on destroying her small Irish village as she knows and loves it.

I liked that the story had a serious side and that it wasn't all focused on the love interest. The meet cute is super cute, and I enjoyed the touch of enemies to lovers vibe, albeit those vibes mostly coming from the protagonist, Katie. Katie, her friends and her family are all likeable charcters, and the banter is great between them and not overdone. I especially enjoyed the relationship between her and her sassy Granny.

There is a gorgeous sex scene and there are also some really nice romantic moments and quotes too. And there's a scene in the barn when the girls talking about match making which is hilarious.

This was a quick read, nice, short-length chapters, and clean, solid writing, and I thoruoughly enjoyed it. The only thing that would have elevated this to a five star was a bit more time given for the tension between the will they won't they to develop, and maybe a few more laugh out loud moments. I bought one of the author's other novels based on this read, and I'll definitely pick up future publications by her!

Thanks to NetGalley for providing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

An Irish love story-just in time for ☘️ St. Patty’s Day!

Katie Collins isn’t going to let the fact that she is still wearing pajamas which feature yellow ducks in rain jackets stop her!!

She needs to confront the managing director of Glenmill-the company that is destroying her sleepy Irish town of Ennisbawn, one building at a time, and it just CAN’T wait.

You would think that the visitors of the soon-to-be Ennisbawn Hotel and Golf Club, would want to at least have one authentic Village Pub to visit, during their stay.

But the developers seem determined to eliminate Kelly’s Pub, despite the fact that it’s the kind of building that you see on postcards or tourist adverts, with whitewashed stone walls, and bright red windowpanes. Inside has dozens of cozy nooks for two and larger booths for groups to gather in. There is no television or karaoke-just conversation and a sense of community, served up with salty soups and cheese toasties, by Katie and her boss, Adam.

The most charming feature of all is the WISHING WELL, out back, overlooking the lake.

Legend has it that people would drop a coin down the well and wish for true love, dating back to the late seventeen hundreds. And, one of the town’s oldest traditions was a matchmaking festival, held by this well, year after year.

Katie’s parents met that way, their initials carved into the stone-and it’s the only thing she has left of them after losing them to a tragic car accident when she was just nine years old.

She isn’t about to let Kelly’s Pub or the well get destroyed without a fight.

Can she and her determined friends use the festival to save the Pub?

After “Holiday Romance” made my favorites list last year, I was hoping that this book would possess that same magic!! But, unfortunately despite the charming locale and premise, it didn’t quite measure up.

Katie and her friends were likable, and there was definitely chemistry between Katie and Callum (the leading man) BUT- their romance was too “Insta Love” for my tastes-too much like a “Hallmark movie” this time, for me.

I fell “IN LOVE” with Kelly’s Pub and Ennisbawn, Ireland.
I only ”LIKED” the romance element of the story.
3.5 ⭐️

AVAILABLE April 18, 2023.

A buddy read with DeAnn. Was she more enamored by this one? Be sure to check out her review!

Thank You to Bookouture for the gifted copy provided through NetGalley. It was my pleasure to offer a candid review!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It took me on a roller coaster of emotions and kept me wanting to read more.

Don’t go into this book expecting it to be a typical romance. Yes there is a romance, but it’s not very central to the story. This book takes on some bigger themes and brings bigger emotions than I was expecting. The romance lacks some of the tension I would have hoped for, but the overall story makes up for that.

I don’t think Katie’s character was fleshed out quite enough. I never felt like I truly knew what she wanted or how she felt. I couldn’t tell in a lot of ways if she even knew what she wanted or if she was an inherent people pleaser.

By far the best part of this book was the small town charm and the fun side characters. I’m always a sucker for an underdog story, and this was a great one. Overall a very good story about a small town going up against a big company trying to take their land and businesses with a side story romance.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this story of village life, where nothing much really happens until the developers move in. Then everything is threatened. The characters are great and I wouldn't mind a catch up with them. A well written believable book, which made me smile.

I LOVED THIS BOOK!
It was amazing from start to finish. From the very first chapter i was completely hooked. I love Katie and the entire cast of characters, at the end i felt like i was a part of the community. And Callum??? Absolutely perfect. A true gentleman and Katie’s one and only march. I loved the writing style and the comedic bits. Truly an amazing book.

Thanks for Netgalley and Bookouture for this ARC.

Katie lives in (and loves) her small home town village of Ennisbawn. When a development team threatens to destroy a beloved local landmark, Katie springs into action. She decides to revive the matchmaking festival to save the pub, but she doesn’t expect Callum – the project manager for the development team – and the connection they find together. Will this matchmaker find herself a match?

I really expected to love this, after reading Holiday Romance by the same author. Unfortunately, this just fell flat for me. The storyline dragged, not much happened, and I found myself... bored (I’m sorry!). I enjoyed the enemies-to-lovers aspect of this, and some of the side characters were fun.

This was a very predictable book but it was a very quick read and I still enjoyed myself. I always love reading about a small town like Ennisbawn so I really loved that aspect. Overall. I don’t think it was the most creative and I wasn’t overly invested in the main romance but I was able to get through it without struggle.

Catherine Walsh's Holiday Romance was one of my favorite reads of 2022 so I was very excited to get my hands on her next release. The Matchmaker was an entertaining read but I didn't find the chemistry between Katie and Callum as captivating as I was hoping it would be.

The Matchmaker is a small-town romance with a bit of enemies to lovers in the mix. Katie and Callum have an adorable meet cute when Katie marches into a construction site that Callum is managing demanding that they keep it down so she can get some sleep. To save her small town from the big bad developers, Katie decides to revitalize the town's matchmaking festival.

There were a lot of threads in this book and not all of them got tied up by the end of the book. I wanted a little more development of the relationship between Callum and Katie - it wasn't ever clear that they really got to know each other. I enjoyed the side characters and the camaraderie of a small-town cast of characters.

Content warnings: Katie's parents died in a car accident and she has anxiety riding in cars/driving including an on page panic attack in a vehicle.

I voluntarily reviewed an early copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

This charming story is full of small Irish village life with Katie, the feisty FMC taking on the developers building a country house hotel in her tiny village as she forms a bond with Callum, one of the developer’s team. Walsh’s books often have a cast of local characters, a slightly twisty plot and a slow burn. For lovers of Mhairi Mcfarlane, this is charming, a little bit steamy and a very satisfying read. I thoroughly recommend!

Thanks very much to NetGalley and publishers Bookouture for the ARC.

Catherine Walsh could write a grocery list and I would sign up for an advance copy.

There were certainly sweet moments between Katie and Callum but I do think this was more of a story about small town community than it was a romance.

This was a lovely, well-written story by any other standard, but it wasn't my favorite compared to other books Walsh has written.

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.