Release Blitz + Review: "The Unmatchmakers" by Jackie Lau

I'm delighted to take part in the release blitz celebrating "The Unmatchmakers" by Jackie Lau, a Kobo Original novella.

 

Elementary school teacher Leora Leung's mother, Henrietta, recently purchased a lake house with her two best friends, Dee and Tanya, a few hours outside their home in Toronto, and she's looking forward to spending a week of her summer vacation there - even if it means spending the week with her mother, who makes no secret of the fact that Leora is far from her ideal daughter. Tanya and Dee's adult children, most of whom Leora hasn't seen in years, will be there too, including architect Neil Choy. As soon as Leora sees Neil again, she realizes that her feelings for him are very different (and much more mature) than they used to be, but she fears that acting on them would create conflict between their mothers. Neil appears to reciprocate her feelings, but can they find a way to overcome the machinations of their mothers, who seem determined to keep them apart?

I really enjoyed this cute, funny, and original opposites attract romance. Leora and Neil's mothers' behavior was pretty over-the-top at times, but it came from a place of love, so it wasn't too difficult for me to forgive them in the end. Neil and Leora themselves were quite likeable, and even though their relationship moved quickly, it never really felt like insta-love to me. Even though they had both changed a lot, their childhood acquaintance established a good foundation for their adult relationship, and they also bonded over their mothers' efforts to keep them apart.

I'd recommend "The Unmatchmakers" for all romantic comedy fans. It was the first book I've read by Jackie Lau, but it won't be the last.

 

*Review copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are my own.  

 

 

About "The Unmatchmakers"

Childhood friends reuniting on a family vacation should be the perfect love story—but these moms will do anything to stop their HEA.

The Unmatchmakers by Jackie Lau is now live!

From the author of DONUT FALL IN LOVE comes a perfect summer love story set in the forested paradise of Canadian cottage country that asks the question: can love beat the odds when the odds are two mothers dead-set against it?

If my mom was like other Asian mothers, she'd be desperate to set me up with Neil Choy, the attractive, unmarried, successful architect who just so happens to be the son of her best friend.

Unfortunately for me, that's the last thing my mother would do.

My unlucky-in-love single mother has always been fiercely independent (and maybe a little dramatic). Since I was a small child, I've been told not to believe in fairy tales and that I don't need a man. Princess stuff was banned. She never wanted me to waste my time looking for love—but despite her best efforts, I still turned out to be a hopeless romantic.

So of course, she's failed to mention that my former childhood companion has grown up into a total hottie in glasses. When I see him for the first time in a decade during a family cottage vacation, I'm in for quite a shock. (In fact, I nearly fall in the lake, but let's keep that a secret.)

And he sure can grill a mean steak and mix a mean cocktail, plus he's pretty impressive in a kayak. Yes, he's a little stern and grumpy, but that just makes him more fun to tease—and makes it more satisfying when he quirks his lips in my direction.

But Neil's mom seems to be just as set against the match as mine is. With our mothers trying to sabotage us and doing everything they can to keep us apart— will never forgive them for the s'mores incident—and Neil's true feelings a mystery, do I even have a chance?

Perfect for fans of Helen Hoang's THE BRIDE TEST and THE DONUT TRAP by Julie Tieu, THE UNMATCHMAKERS is a forced-proximity, friends-to-lovers romantic comedy that explores finding the balance of meeting expectations and being true to yourself, and how even the best of intentions can sometimes backfire.