A thought provoking story of love, choice, and tradition. I enjoyed Saima’s world as she navigated the complexities of matchmaking, family expectations, and her own desires.
Many thanks to Random House and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Nura Khan runs a popular matchmaking agency that caters to a lot of exclusive clients. The company, originally run by her aunt, has been a thriving family business for generations, and Nura has successfully expanded it even more. Fame and success, however, also come at a price. Nura has had more than her share of haters. Usually people she has declined to help, but recently, it seems things have become much worse. Someone is determined to ruin her business and reputation, and it seems they'll stop at nothing to bring her down.

This book was totally not what I was expecting! I was completely riveted. I loved how well each character was detailed enough that you really got to know them and their relationship with the MC and especially that her love angle wasn't crux of the story, but was a perfect little addition. The mystery of who was behind all the trouble really kept me on the edge of my seat and the ending was unexpected and perfect.
I definitely look forward to reading more by this author.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House - Ballentine for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I received an ARC in exchange for my honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and Random House - Ballantine!

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Writing: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Plot: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Characters: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice: 🌶️
Tropes, etc: Matchmaker, Mystery, Best Friends to Lovers, Framed, Secret Past
POV: Single, 1st Person
3rd Act Breakup?: No


Brief Summary: Nura is a successful matchmaker with many happy couples under her belt. But when her clients’ weddings start falling apart, it becomes clear that someone is targeting Nura. Along with her best friend (who she’s in love with), Nura works to find out who is behind the sabotage before someone gets hurt.

Vibe Check: Mysterious, Frustrating

FMC Is: Strong, conscientious, lovesick
MMC Is: Sweet, ride or die, oblivious
Chemistry: 🧪🧪🧪🧪

While Reading I: Gasped, was frustrated and left wanting

What Kept Me Hooked: Finding out who was behind it all.

Unpredictability: 🔮🔮🔮

Room For Improvement: The blurb puts pretty heavy emphasis on Nura being secretly in love with Azar but the actual culmination of their feelings for each other was so rushed and seemed like an afterthought.

Final Thoughts: I would’ve liked this so much more if the romance was treated with the care Nura and Azar deserved.

Nura just wants to use her gift in matching people with their soul mate. A gift passed down to her through the generations. But one person seems hellbent on ruining her life and her business.

Nura literally LIVES for matching people up so much so, she doesn't have time to even think about her own lovelife, happiness, and social life - something her friends try to convince her to do.

But Nura works hard, juggling to keep her magic a secret while running her family's matchmaking business in a bustling South Asian neighborhood. Finding a lot of success over the past year, she's shocked when suddenly she finds herself entangled in a mysterious scheme that threatens everything she loves.

With unexpected betrayals, hidden truths, and the pressure of staying true to her calling, Nura must figure out who she can trust before her entire legacy is torn apart.

Thank you NetGalley, Aisha Saeed, and Random House Publishing-Ballantine for the opportunity to read this in exchange for a candid review.

This was very impressive for a debut novel. I thought the mystery was very well-written and I loved the family drama. The romance maybe could’ve been a bit more of a focus (this is just my opinion because I love a lot of romance with my mysteries) but it was sweet. Who doesn’t love a friends to lovers / second chance trope? We have a little miscommunication which readers might find frustrating but, since the romance isn’t the main focus of the plot, it didn’t bother me.

I think this author shows a ton of promise and I would absolutely read future books by her.

Loved the Desi rep!

Thank you for the opportunity to read this novel. Unfortunately, I was not drawn into the story like I thought I would be.

Nura is a Matchmaker. (Her family women have always been Matchmakers, and Nura has continued the tradition, but updating it with an App, in the Atlanta area. When issues pop up regarding some recent matches - and a couple disappears the night before their wedding, people start blaming Nura. Although she's always done her best to full screen applicants for her services, bad publicity starts to affect the business.

What is truly behind these strange events? When the police start questioning Nura, things take a darker turn. It's quite obvious that someone is targeting Nura's business, but who is behind it, and how can they be stopped?

I enjoyed the fact that this book held more than just mystery, and the story of the "matchmaker" who doesn't have her own true love. Special thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader Copy of this title. Pick up The Matchmaker, available now!

This was a decent read! It was good enough to finish but not sure I would recommend. Story was a little boring for my liking

I struggled to get into this read. There was a lot going on, and it felt like the author didn’t really know what she wanted to book to be either.
The idea is so fun, but I felt overwhelmed and couldn’t get into a good reading rhythm with it.
Not for me but rounded up to 3 ⭐️ for its unique storyline.
Thank you netgalley!

I like the premise of this book, so I was intrigued to read it. Although the MC got on a my nerves a bit, I can see she was coming from a good place. But when people have big hearts, that’s when they get taken advantage of the most! I like the diversity of characters in this book! I’d recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Nura has taken over her family matchmaking business from her aunt, and it continues to grow. The service has an app and they provide personal matchmaking for a greater fee, but they can only take on so many clients, so a lot of people are denied this VIP service. As the company grows, they’ve gotten more and more online trolls coming after them, or so they think! When two weddings featuring Nura’s VIP couples get sabotaged, she starts to wonder if she is somehow connected. Along with the current business stress and mystery, Nura is dealing with complicated relationships with her cousin and her aunt, and being in love with her best friend who’s getting serious with someone else.

This one had me sucked in right away. I had guessed one big thing pretty early on, but there was a lot I didn’t see coming! This one was fast paced and kept my attention throughout. I love when my two favorite genres collide – mystery and romance! There was no shortage of culture, family drama, meddling friends, romance, and thrills – highly recommend this for fans of cozy mysteries.

Thank you Random House Publishing – Ballantine for this ARC!

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Bantam and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this eARC in exchange for my honest feedback!

The premise of this book was very different than the typical romance I've seen lately and I was excited to be granted this eARC. I was immediately pulled into this by Saeed's writing style and it didn't let up throughout. I was reading this at every chance I got. Overall I thought this was a well plotted, fast moving romance/mystery. I loved the way we got to see Nura's emotions play out in real time and the world she lived in. Her role as a matchmaker was very intriguing to me and I loved the descriptions of the wedding ceremony traditions. My only dislike was that at times I felt like some events were quickly resolved in a not super realistic way. Will pick up another book from Aisha Saeed!

This one started a bit slow for me, but then I got all caught up in the mystery! It's pretty high stakes, but manages to bring together matchmaking, wedding, class warfare, murder, and a fated mates love story all together. A fun ride!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bantam for providing me with an eARC of The Matchmaker in exchange for my honest review!

This book initially drew me in thanks to its presentation as a cross between a rom-com and a thriller, and the results end up entertaining me. It's a solidly fun time to follow Nura on this ride as she helms her matchmaking firm and contends with a mysterious enemy force that seems to determined to sabotage her company. Sure, there's a bit of an issue with this book trying to balance the romantic and suspenseful sides of its narrative, so it doesn't come across tonally smooth at all times. But it still charms me a lot of the time, with the wedding sequences adding in splashes of fun. And once we hit the climax, I'm pleased to see how it wraps things up in a way that I hadn't predicted.

Overall, I'm officially rating The Matchmaker 3.75 out of 5 stars, which I'm rounding up to 4 stars. I'll keep an eye out for more of Aisha Saeed's writing.

3.5 rounded up. I enjoyed how this book blended romance, family drama, and mystery. I went in blind—reading nearly a quarter of it before realizing just how intricately layered the mystery elements were. As someone who reads over 50 books a year, I can usually predict the plot, but this story was full of twists that genuinely surprised me. One of the highlights for me was the rich portrayal of South Asian culture, which added depth and authenticity to the narrative. Thank you to NetGalley for the e-ARC.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of The Matchmaker.

This book offers a little of everything. You get some romance, intercultural connections, family, intrigue, and betrayal. Components of the story were predictable, but the whole story kept moving at a good pace and kept things interesting.

I would recommend this book to readers of mysteries, romance, or even South Asian cultures.

This look into Nura, a Pakistani matchmaker's life, is light, good fun with a few darker moments and themes thrown in. A friends to lovers romance with a mystery subplot as well, it portrays two generations of a woman owned business with its accompanying ups and downs. We try to figure out who is undermining Nura's matchmaking business, and the eventual reveal surprised me. I thought I had it figured out, but was wrong.

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for providing this ARC for my voluntary and honest review!

This was such a fun blend of rom-com and cozy mystery, with a dash of thriller. I loved the author’s style and immersive descriptions; it was a truly unique storyline. The end was a bit too rushed for me and some wrap-up pieces came out of left field. Overall not too many criticisms from me though!

3.5 stars.
Nura Khan lives in Atlanta, Georgia, and works as a matchmaker for wealthy clients. She is the third woman in her family to do this work, and Nura has expanded the business her aunt Khala brought her in on into a well regarded endeavour with a solid track record of successfully pairing people up leading to their subsequent marriages.

Things begin to go wrong when right before a marriage ceremony the bride calls off the wedding because of unsavoury details revealed about her fiancé. Nura is shocked and disbelieving, and has her team work late into the night to determine that the information left for the bride was false. It's immaterial, however, for the affected families, who excoriate Nura.

Then, another wedding is called off, and the online chatter about Nura and her company becomes increasingly negative and persistent. Despite her and her team's every effort to counter the slander and false claims, they begin to lose more clients.

Nura is also under pressure personally. Her beloved aunt who took her in when Nura's mother died years earlier is losing her memory, and Nura is desperate for something to halt or reverse the situation. Her older cousin is also back in town with her young daughter, after a failed marriage, and her barely concealed frustration with how Nura puts the business before everything else, despite stating the opposite.

Nura has also fallen for her best friend Azar, whom she has known since they were kids. He's been pretending to act as her boyfriend for every wedding she attends for business, and both are feeling the strain of Nura's total focus on her business. Nura's second in command Darcy, though also getting married soon, is leading the effort to determine who is behind the attacks on the matchmaking business, with danger mounting for Nura.

This was compelling, and though I figured out the culprit early on, I still enjoyed this book. There were enough red herrings and twists to keep me engaged, and the romance is satisfying.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for this ARC in exchange for my review.

Recommended for: readers who love Rom-Com and Cozy Mysteries

Summary: Nura is a third generation Matchmaker. She runs her family’s matchmaking business and dating app. Everything is running well, until someone starts to sabotage the weddings of some clients and threaten Nura’s life. She believes she can handle this with her in-house investigators until it starts to affect her family. Can they stop the threats? And can they recover from the negative effects on the company’s publicity?

Review: This book looks like a cozy mystery mixed with a Rom-Com, but ends up being a very complicated mystery with the makings of a thriller. I was sucked in for the majority of the story and enjoyed the ride!