REVIEW: Playing With Matches by Hannah Orenstein @touchstonebooks @hannahorens
Playing With Matches
by Hannah Orenstein
Thanks to Touchstone and Edelweiss for this super cute story!
Publisher: Touchstone
Publish Date: June 26, 2018
Kindle Edition
320 Pages
Standalone
Genres: Contemporary, Chic-Lit, Romance
In the tradition of Good in Bed and The Assistants comes a funny and smart comedy about a young matchmaker balancing her messy personal life and the demands of her eccentric clients.
Sasha Goldberg has a lot going for her: a recent journalism degree from NYU, an apartment with her best friend Caroline, and a relationship that would be amazing if her finance-bro boyfriend Jonathan would ever look up from his BlackBerry. But when her dream career falls through, she uses her family’s darkest secret to land a job as a matchmaker for New York City’s elite at the dating service Bliss.
Despite her inexperience, Sasha throws herself into her new career, trolling for catches on Tinder, coaching her clients through rejection, and dishing out dating advice to people twice her age. She sets up a TV exec who wanted kids five years ago, a forty-year-old baseball-loving virgin, and a consultant with a rigorous five-page checklist for her ideal match.
Sasha hopes to find her clients The One, like she did. But when Jonathan betrays her, she spirals out of control—and right into the arms of a writer with a charming Southern drawl, who she had previously set up with one of her clients. He’s strictly off-limits, but with her relationship on the rocks, all bets are off.
Fresh, sweet, and laugh-out-loud funny, Playing with Matches is the addictive story about dating in today’s swipe-heavy society, and a young woman trying to find her own place in the world.
Sasha Goldberg has a lot going for her: a recent journalism degree from NYU, an apartment with her best friend Caroline, and a relationship that would be amazing if her finance-bro boyfriend Jonathan would ever look up from his BlackBerry. But when her dream career falls through, she uses her family’s darkest secret to land a job as a matchmaker for New York City’s elite at the dating service Bliss.
Despite her inexperience, Sasha throws herself into her new career, trolling for catches on Tinder, coaching her clients through rejection, and dishing out dating advice to people twice her age. She sets up a TV exec who wanted kids five years ago, a forty-year-old baseball-loving virgin, and a consultant with a rigorous five-page checklist for her ideal match.
Sasha hopes to find her clients The One, like she did. But when Jonathan betrays her, she spirals out of control—and right into the arms of a writer with a charming Southern drawl, who she had previously set up with one of her clients. He’s strictly off-limits, but with her relationship on the rocks, all bets are off.
Fresh, sweet, and laugh-out-loud funny, Playing with Matches is the addictive story about dating in today’s swipe-heavy society, and a young woman trying to find her own place in the world.
My Review:
Little did I realize that I had actually seen this author on a panel when I attended an event for Match Made in Manhattan and the Strand Bookstore. I remember her discussing this book and thought I needed to get my hands on a copy and lo, and behold, here I have one!
Dating in New York is HARD y'all. HARD! I've lived in a variety of cities and have found New York to be the hardest. Whether it's because there's just such an abundance of people to choose from, or the hustle and bustle of long hours and long nights that sometimes leaves little room, or desire, to make an effort. Online dating is something I do NOT like and who has money for this kind of matchmaking service?!
Overall this is a super cute story. Sasha is relatable and yet at some points I'm screaming "THIS DOES NOT HAPPEN IN REAL LIFE!" Then I think that just because I haven't had some overly romantic gesture thrown at me ala movie/book life doesn't mean it can't ACTUALLY happen to someone. The matchmaking parts were very entertaining and I have no doubt a job like that would probably turn me off of dating altogether. It was exhausting just reading about the wants and needs of people (most completely unrealistic). However, it is SO true that you may have a checklist of what you consider the perfect person, but it's highly likely you won't end up with someone who checks off all, or even some, of them.
I did enjoy the ending as it wasn't something I was expecting from a romance book. I'm not quite certain I absolutely love this book, but it certainly kept me entertained for a quick read. If you like chic-lit contemporary books and are looking for a quick beach read, I'd say this is a good one to pick up!
★★★☆
Overall this is a super cute story. Sasha is relatable and yet at some points I'm screaming "THIS DOES NOT HAPPEN IN REAL LIFE!" Then I think that just because I haven't had some overly romantic gesture thrown at me ala movie/book life doesn't mean it can't ACTUALLY happen to someone. The matchmaking parts were very entertaining and I have no doubt a job like that would probably turn me off of dating altogether. It was exhausting just reading about the wants and needs of people (most completely unrealistic). However, it is SO true that you may have a checklist of what you consider the perfect person, but it's highly likely you won't end up with someone who checks off all, or even some, of them.
I did enjoy the ending as it wasn't something I was expecting from a romance book. I'm not quite certain I absolutely love this book, but it certainly kept me entertained for a quick read. If you like chic-lit contemporary books and are looking for a quick beach read, I'd say this is a good one to pick up!
★★★☆
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