A feel good, age-gap, small town holiday romance that was good on audio but not a super standout read for me. Entertaining and with emotional depth (grief over a lost loved one), but on the whole this won't be a standout read for me. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

A cute holiday read with great characters. Frankie feels she needs to find everyone she cares about their soulmate. When it comes down it one couple it kind of backfires on her.

Fun fun book! Great holiday read to put you in the mood and also quick to read cozied up in a blanket with hot coffee on a rainy or cold day!

A Merry Matchmaker provides an entertaining and festive read for cozy winter nights by a crackling fire.

Have you ever been set up on a date?

In a nod to Emma (Jane Austen), A Merry Matchmaker is the story of middle-aged Frankie and her persistent matchmaking schemes. Christmas takes center stage as we witness Frankie’s latest and greatest matchmaking endeavors. How will her favorite handsome hardware store owner, Mitch Howard, avoid her recent scheme and how might he gain her attention? Is the incurable matchmaker about to find her own match?

All the fun of a rom-com with a few mature characters! It’s fun when older characters find unexpected romance in mid-life.

Fans of a festive Christmas setting will find lots to love here from a Mrs. Clause contest to gingerbread houses to a Santa Walk to all the decorations. A few recipes are included!

Sheila Roberts brings wit and entertainment in this nicely paced story. Frankie is meddlesome but loveable, and even though her matchmaking doesn’t always go according to plan, we love her for trying.

If you are a Sheila Roberts fan, you won’t want to miss this new release. Known for warm-hearted women’s fiction with sweet (closed door) romance and no profanity, A Merry Matchmaker might be the festive, light read you are looking for this winter…a delightful escape from the stress of the holiday season.

Thanks #NetGalley @HarlequinBooks #MiraEditors for a complimentary e ARC of #AMerryMatch

Frankie is a hoot! She is always meddling when she shouldn’t. She constantly says she is “HELPING”. And as you can guess, this comes back to bite her in the behind!! She meddles one too many times and disaster may strike!

I adored Frankie and her persistence! She takes no for an answer…but when someone ends up with her best friend, Mitch. She realizes she has gone too far. Mitch is hers…or is he??

Now, as with most Christmas reads, it is predictable. But the characters are charming and delightful!

Need a cute, joyful, Christmas read…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today!

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

Cute, but needs better formatting.

Frankie has a bad habit of being a know-it all. She loves meddling into other peoples business without their permission. But when her matchmaking ends up in shambles, she finally sees what she's been avoiding all along. Her love for her best friend, Mitch.

After losing her husband so suddenly, she never wanted to fall in love again. But Mitch has been waiting years for her to finally realize that she's in love with him. When she finally does, everything else starts falling into place.

She stops meddling into her daughter's life and stays out of her mother's life as well. But her last attempt at playing matchmaker for her sister and her employee turn out to be successful.

Will she ever learn to let things be?

'I received a complimentary copy of this book via NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This book just wasn't for me. It was too cluttered and it just didn't flow for me. I struggled to keep track of all the different characters.

I absolutely adored this book. It was sweet, fun, romantic and Christmasy. Everything I love in a holiday romance. I’ve only read a short story by Sheila Roberts, so this was my first full size book of hers. I can’t wait to read more from her. This book was very well written with interesting characters and conflict to keep my interested in plowing through to the end in one sitting!
The heroine, Frankie, loves to meddle in everyone’s lives genuinely trying to help others find love even if it causes trouble. The characters were the best part of this cute, Hallmark-like story. Perfect for the holiday season. Huge thanks to Harlequin and Netgalley for allowing me to read and review this story.

The most darling, sweet Christmas book! First of all, the cover wins cutest of all! Second the sweetest story that will leave you feeling its magic all season long!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this arc!

Cute, cute cute and full of all the holiday charm you could ask for! Frankie is such a lovable character, even when her well-meaning efforts turn everything upside down. I loved how each character’s journey intertwined, and the holiday setting added the perfect festive touch. The story definitely gave me all the cozy Christmas feels.. Add this to your holiday reads!

Thank you to Netgalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed The Merry Matchmaker and its story stayed with me for awhile after I read it. Frankie Lane is a widow with a mission, make sure all her friends' and family's lives have a happy ending. She schemes and plots to get them where they need to be by Christmas. The person Frankie has left out of these maneuvers is herself. Widowed for nine years, she feels like she already had the love of her life and wants everyone around her to have that also. If love is not what is lacking, maybe it's her daughter's career or her best friend's remodel project that needs Frankie's help. She can't see that she is the one who needs to be convinced that she can have a second chance at love. Her attempts to fix others peoples lives may crash and burn, but her heart is in the right place. One of her best friends, hardware store owner Mitch, is also a target of Frankie's Cupid arrow, but he is an unwilling subject, because his heart already belongs to her. Like in Jane Austen's Emma, Frankie's misguided attempts result in some amusing situations. As I said, I enjoyed this novel very much, and thank NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing/MIRA for an advance ebook to review.

The Merry Matchmaker was a cute story which I'd give 3.3 stars. The main character, Frankie, loves to play matchmaker, and I'll be honest, it actually got annoying to me at some points. The story however, was captivating and funny at times, too. It's an overall heartwarming tale and something good to add to your holiday want-to-read list!


Thanks to NetGallery for an advanced reading copy!

The Merry Matchmaker is Sheila Roberts’ contemporary Christmas romance that is a re-telling of Jane Austen’s Emma. This is a sweet romance which features an older heroine and doesn’t contain profanity or sex scenes.
50-year-old widow Frankie Lane can’t help herself: she has to help everyone around her find love, even though no one wants her help. Frankie has owned a Christmas-themed gift shop, Holiday Happiness, for nine years. She employs her daughter, Natalie, who makes delicious chocolates and should open her own business. She also has a divorced sister, Stef, and her widowed mother, Adele, who live in her town.
Frankie is friends with Mitch Howard, the owner of the local hardware store. Mitch is divorced and has been Frankie’s rock since her husband was killed by a drunk driver. Frankie is determined to find a woman for Mitch because he is so wonderful and deserves love and happiness.
For years Frankie has been in charge of the town’s Santa Walk. Things change when Mitch hires a 40-year-old man to help him manage the store, and this man develops feelings for Frankie. Frankie doesn’t return his affection and eventually realizes that she’s the best match for Mitch.
The Merry Matchmaker is a delightful Christmas romance that contains multiple subplots. The characters are likeable and seem like they fit right into a Hallmark movie. While this story is a re-telling of Emma, I liked that the author used an older couple and set it during the Christmas season. The Merry Matchmaker could easily be adapted into a Hallmark movie and is perfect for fans of Debbie Macomber.
I received an advance review copy (ARC) from the NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This cover really drew me in! I love a retelling as much as anyone else. There were a lot of elements that I really enjoyed but Frankie did have an... kind of annoying aspect to her. That was hard for me at times.

3 stars.

"The Merry Matchmaker" by Sheila Roberts is an ok holiday novel. It'll do. It's not my favorite wholesome Christmas romp, and I won't recommend it to others, but I have no doubt many readers will flock to a story like this for its small-town holiday charm. The main character, Frankie, bugged me a lot. I thought it would stop bothering me, but I couldn't get past it. I couldn't help but think, "good god, woman, get your nose out of other people's business," repeatedly, throughout the entire story!!! She thinks she's helping her friends and family (and in the case of Elinor, apparently, a person Frankie doesn't know she really despises??), but all she does is meddle in their affairs, warranted or not. There are also a lot of characters to keep track of, and I kept getting their stories blurred together because they were so similar. I think many readers will be interested in this Jane Austen reimagining, but know it is, at best, a loose, *loose* adaptation of "Emma." Still, this book will go down easy and was a quick read to get you in the holiday spirit.

Thank you to NetGalley, Sheila Roberts, Harlequin Trade Publishing, and MIRA for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this review.

Frankie Lane knows what’s best for just about everyone but herself. Her divorced sister, Stef, who is too young to give up on love; her shy employee, Elinor; and her daughter, Natalie, who works in Frankie’s shop, Holiday Happiness, and really needs to start her own business selling the delectable chocolates she makes at home; even her best friend, Viola, who is trying to renovate her old Victorian. Frankie knows she could help all of them, if they’d just let her—and if all of her help didn’t end in utter disaster.

Then there’s Mitch Howard, the owner of the local hardware store. They’ve been friends ever since Frankie opened her store, nine years earlier. He got her through the nightmare when she lost her husband in a freak accident, and he’s her favorite shoulder to cry on. He’s been divorced for years, and it’s such a waste of man! Mitch is the fittest, finest man Frankie knows. He’s easygoing, wise and kindhearted. Mitch needs someone. And she’s determined to help him find that someone—whether he likes it or not.

I loved Austen-inspired modern stories. Pair that up with a holiday theme and a hardware store? Yes, please! I absolutely loved the relatable characters in this, and the story was just good ole holiday fun! Highly recommend this if you're looking for a fresh holiday read!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced digital reader's copy (ARC) in exchange for an honest review!

There were four reasons that I picked this book up:

🤩 The cover. It is so cute and festive! And I knew Sheila Roberts would deliver a clean, entertaining read.

📚 An Emma-inspired read. It was! Main character Frankie Lane is determined to match up her sister, her friend Mitch, her coworker Ellinor, and more with their own happily ever after. Who is going to give Frankie a second chance at love?

🌲 The holiday setting in a Washington town called Carol has everything going for it: Frankie's store called Holiday Happiness, a Santa Walk, a Mrs. Claus contest, gingerbread house auction, and more. . .

😋 There are recipes, y'all! For Pasties, Peppermint Pie, and Frankies Easy Candy Treats are sure to get your tummy rumbling.

If you are looking for a sweet holiday read that has a side of sass, give this one a try! A big thank you to Harlequin and NetGalley for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.

Who doesn’t love a good Christmas book in October. But in all seriousness this was a cute, funny, book with a meddling and nosy main female character who really just wants to help those they love.

An Emma-inspired Christmas story where middle-aged Frankie tries to match up everyone else around her, leading from confusion to eventual happiness for all. This contains all of the ingredients for a cozy Christmas novel, but Frankie started annoying me after a while and I found it hard to sympathize with her much of the time. This will be fun for many readers, however!

Thank you Shelia, the publisher, and NetGalley for a copy of this book for my honest review.

This is my second book by Shelia and I even had the opportunity to meet her in person earlier this year. I loved the first book so I jumped on the opportunity to read her newest Christmas novel.

I loved this one and loved the different characters in the book. I also loved how it was her version of a retelling of Emma by Jane Austin. I love That book so it was so much fun to review it in a new way.