Matchmaking for Beginners by Maddie Dawson

Matchmaking for Beginners by Maddie Dawson
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Full length (408 pages)
Heat Level: Sensual
Rating: 5 stars
Reviewed by Xeranthemum

Marnie MacGraw wants an ordinary life—a husband, kids, and a minivan in the suburbs. Now that she’s marrying the man of her dreams, she’s sure this is the life she’ll get. Then Marnie meets Blix Holliday, her fiancé’s irascible matchmaking great-aunt who’s dying, and everything changes—just as Blix told her it would.

When her marriage ends after two miserable weeks, Marnie is understandably shocked. She’s even more astonished to find that she’s inherited Blix’s Brooklyn brownstone along with all of Blix’s unfinished “projects”: the heartbroken, oddball friends and neighbors running from happiness. Marnie doesn’t believe she’s anything special, but Blix somehow knew she was the perfect person to follow in her matchmaker footsteps.

Any mental strain cialis price in your life may also have a positive impact on sexual performance. It increases the blood flow to the online cialis australia reproductive organs. Bluze capsule offers the viagra shop uk best ayurvedic treatment to increase male vitality. What are the advantages of this product? The greatest benefit associated with this gel is that is an all-natural product that too it is meant for only men above 18 years of age. cheapest cialis without prescription And Blix was also right about some things Marnie must learn the hard way: love is hard to recognize, and the ones who push love away often are the ones who need it most.

Have you ever read a story where the secondary character sets the stage for everything that comes after, and their presence is so powerful and important that they color the whole book – and it’s an AWESOME thing to see? Like, profound, and emotional and special and wonderful? If not, then get ready for a unique treat because Matchmaking for Beginners is a book like no other and sure to inspire a bevy of fans and followers. I’m one.

On one hand, I want to be sad at certain parts of the story but then I think, “what would Blix say?”, and I can’t be gloomy. Blix is the secondary character that touches a reader’s heart as she strives to bring love, sparkles and happiness to others. Her strength is in how much she loves the people she meets and her acceptance of things that would destroy and depress folks in similar circumstances. She rises above that and her legacy is embodied in Marnie, a most unlikely heroine.

In the beginning the novel is told from two points of view, Blix and Marnie’s, and it’s a first person delivery for both. Eventually Marnie takes center stage because it’s her love story with all its hilarious ups and downs, mistakes and triumphs that Matchmaking for Beginners is all about. The mistakes she makes are common and completely believable. Her thought processes makes perfect sense and I could see myself coming to the same conclusions. And, we’d both be wrong. It’s an interesting learning curve.

I won’t reveal the people who touched my heart the most because I don’t want to dilute the impact. The author introduced me to so many folks while Marnie continued on her journey to her ‘big life’, and every single one helped her grow as a person, giving her insights, joy, hope and for readers, entertainment. There are a couple of characters that introduce personal drama and pitfalls that Marnie has to dodge, overcome and face the truths they reveal. All of it is an amazing reading experience.

The love of Marnie’s life isn’t a typical hero trope. I think that’s what made me love this novel so hard – it’s a special true love. It’s beautiful, magical and worthy of this author’s writing talents. I lost count as to how many times, I sniffled on the way to getting teary then bam, I’m laughing or melting into a romantic puddle.

I loved Matchmaking for Beginners. It’s not my usual type of book but I was wowed, impressed and bowled over by how Ms. Dawson’s characters’ came to life before my very eyes. They had depth, heart, quirky issues and were easy to fall in love with. I expected that this novel of over 400 pages would take me a couple of days to slog through. Instead, I read it in one day, one sitting and time flew. That’s the mark of an awesome book and a very talented writer. Kudos to Ms. Dawson for giving me an amazing reading experience.