Book Review: The Matchmaker by Catherine Walsh

Rating: ★★☆
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 346 pages
Author: Catherine Walsh
Publisher: Bookouture
Release Date: April 18th, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Katie Collins has barely ever left her tiny Irish village of Ennisbawn. Why would she? With its tightknit community, friendly local pub, surrounded by rolling hills and perfectly mysterious forests, it’s a place of peaceful beauty.

Or it was peaceful. Until Callum Dempsey turned up. A hot-shot (and, Katie has to admit, hot is annoyingly apt for him…) developer with zero eye for beauty or charm, in spite of his chiselled jaw. He’s not only building some hideous hotel just outside the village, but now he’s also planning to knock down Ennisbawn’s only remaining pub, to make way for a good view from the golf course.

It’s the final blow to the village and the last straw for Katie, who refuses to see her home disappear. Not to mention that the pub is the last connection to her parents, who had met at Ennisbawn’s once-famous matchmaking festival, both throwing coins into the wishing well that sits in the pub garden.

In an instant, Katie knows what to do. She’s going to uncover the now disused wishing well, she’s going to revive the matchmaking festival, and she’s going to single-handedly bring the town back to life again.

She might even help her two best friends find love as well. Since, heck, what’s another project when you’re taking on the world’s hottest, evilest man?

But what Ireland’s newest matchmaker doesn’t know is that even when someone’s really not your type on paper, love might be a little bit more than just a formula…

WAS THIS A ROMANCE?

I don’t feel like I had too high of expectations when I picked this up. I was just looking for a cute romance to entertain myself for an evening. And I feel like that romance was missing.

Most of this book was dedicated to Katie trying to stop a resort being built her in her small town. And while I was behind her trying to do so, it took over any other plot points and I got bored. I wasn’t interested in the multiple side scenes and kept waiting for things to actually happen.

Maybe in the second half there were a few good moments, but when you’re already feeling meh I wasn’t connecting to much at all.

Overall audience notes: