Matchmaking for Beginners

by Maddie Dawson

Overview

A Washington Post and Amazon Charts bestseller.

“A delightful, light-as-air romance that successfully straddles the line between sweet and smart without ever being silly…The novel is simply captivating from beginning to end.” —Associated Press

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.

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781503901209
Publisher:	Amazon Publishing
Publication date:	11/27/2018
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	382
Sales rank:	445,223
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Maddie Dawson grew up in the South, born into a family of outrageous storytellers. Her various careers as a substitute English teacher, department-store clerk, medical-records typist, waitress, cat sitter, wedding-invitation-company receptionist, nanny, day care worker, electrocardiogram technician, and Taco Bell taco maker were made bearable by thinking up stories as she worked. Today she lives in Guilford, Connecticut, with her husband. She’s the bestselling author of five previous novels: The Survivor’s Guide to Family Happiness, The Opposite of Maybe, The Stuff That Never Happened, Kissing Games of the World, and A Piece of Normal.

Editorial Reviews

A charming read…For fans of Liane Moriarty’s What Alice Forgot or Aimee Bender’s The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake.” —Library Journal

“A delightful, light-as-air romance that successfully straddles the line between sweet and smart without ever being silly…The novel is simply captivating from beginning to end.” —Associated Press

“Matchmaking for Beginners is lovely from the inside out.” —HelloGiggles

“Infused with the kind of magic so frequently lost as we become adults, this one-of-a-kind novel pushes the boundaries of coincidence and connection by asking us to believe in fate and, possibly, magic once again. The characters jump off the page with their quirky habits and capture hearts with their meaningful development and interactions, leading to moments that will bring readers to tears one minute and having them laughing out loud the next.” —RT Book Reviews (Top Rated)

“I can’t remember the last time I loved the characters of a novel as much I loved those in Matchmaking for Beginners. Maddie Dawson has spun a story as magical as her delightful protagonist, Blix, who can’t help but cause chaos as she brings the right people together in the most unconventional ways. Every page of this novel was a joy to read.” —Camille Pagán, bestselling author of Life and Other Near-Death Experiences and Woman Last Seen in Her Thirties

“Matchmaking for Beginners walked straight into my heart, trailing a shower of golden sparkles. Dawson has created a magical world inhabited by characters so engaging and real it seems plausible they might drop by for a cup of coffee. By turns funny, wise, and poignant, this is a story about falling in love—with the painful, messy, joyful business of living.” —Kerry Anne King, bestselling author of Closer Home and I Wish You Happy

“This is a story of love: both unrequited and reciprocated romantic love, and the sweet love of a friendship that forms between two women at opposite ends of their lives. It’s a gem of a book, written with warmth, humor, and suspense, a testament to the truth that love is everything.” —Nancy Star, bestselling author of Sisters One, Two, Three

“Matchmaking for Beginners is a flat-out delight! Maddie Dawson is a master at creating compulsively readable stories, full of heart and wit, and the kind of characters we wish were real. (Everyone should be blessed with a great-aunt Blix!) I loved every moment of this quirky, charming, feel-good novel!” —Jen Lancaster, New York Times bestselling author of Bitter Is the New Black and The Tao of Martha

From the Publisher

Narrators Amy McFadden and Joyce Bean team up to deliver a story of magical matchmaking told in delicious Southern drawls. Blix knows with certainty that she has met her spiritual daughter when she meets Marnie, a younger woman sharing her talent for pairing up people and who is engaged to Blix’s great-nephew. Marnie’s expectations of an ordinary life are shattered when her marriage is short lived and she inherits Blix’s house and unfinished romantic projects. The narrators’ performances are perfect for voicing the hyperbole and descriptive imagery associated with the South—complete with passive-aggressive “bless her hearts” sure to generate laughs. McFadden and Bean spin a story so expertly told that listeners be reminded of the iconic Southern novel FRIED GREEN TOMATOES AT THE WHISTLE STOP CAFE. A.L.C. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine

AUGUST 2018 - AudioFile