Banter-filled and playful, this was super cute. After seriously enjoying Holiday Romance over the winter, I was excited to check out Walsh’s next book. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but I figured it’d be similar in vibes to the rom com that stole everyone’s hearts during the holiday season. And while the two do share some similarities in terms of the banter and lighthearted feel, this one spins in an entirely different direction. This couple falls for each other hard and fast – 100% instalove – which is SO different from the slow-burning friends to lovers vibes of Holiday Romance. They also don’t share as much time on the page together, and there’s more of a community feel to the story. So it took a little bit for me to acclimate to the tone, but I ended up really enjoying the story. Callum is such a sweetheart, and it is clear that he is gone for his girl (almost) from the moment they meet. Their chemistry was apparent right away, and this ended up feeling so wholesome and light. Not quite what I was expecting, but a fun read for sure.
The story follows Katie, a woman who has not been getting any sleep recently. A big corporation has come to her small town, and the construction crew has been seriously messing with her sleep schedule. Overtired and irritable, Katie stomps onto the construction site and demands to speak with someone. She ends up voicing her complaints to Callum, one of the crew members. He thinks she’s ridiculous(ly adorable), and it’s clear that Callum is amused by Katie’s chaotic personality. After several more run-ins, Katie realizes that Callum might not be as terrible as the company he works for, but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s his job to tear apart the community she’s loved for her whole life.
You’ll notice that I didn’t mention the matchmaking element, and that’s because I honestly couldn’t care less about it, lol. Sorry. Katie and Callum stole the show here, and I was living for the moments when they were on the page together. There’s a whole subplot revolving around the matchmaking festival, and I ended up skimming a lot of that. I can see why some readers were disappointed that the sole focus is not on the romance, but there are still plenty of great moments between Katie and Callum. I loved their banter, and every interaction made me smile. Sure, Callum is smitten almost from the start, but that was a big part of the appeal for me. It was exceedingly low angst and lighthearted, with plenty of humor and some swoony situations. So maybe not as memorable or as all-around great as Holiday Romance, but certainly worthy of a 4-star rating from me.
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3mWsMWp
Blurb:
Katie Collins has barely ever left her tiny Irish village of Ennisbawn. Why would she? With its tightknit community, friendly local pub, surrounded by glistening lakes and perfectly mysterious forests, it’s a place of peaceful beauty.
Or it was peaceful. Until Callum Dempsey turned up. Part of a hot-shot (and, Katie has to admit, hot is annoyingly apt for him…) development team with zero eye for beauty or charm, he’s not only building a hideous hotel just outside the village, he’s also just announced a plan to knock down Ennisbawn’s only remaining pub. To make way for a view from the golf course.
It’s the final blow to the village and the last straw for Katie, who refuses to let her home-from-home disappear. The pub is her life – her job, but also her last connection to her parents, who had met at Ennisbawn’s once-famous matchmaking festival that was held in the grounds.
But, after being laughed off the building site in her best flannel pyjamas for demanding the builders leave, Katie decides enough is enough and hatches a plan. She’s going to revive the matchmaking festival, save the pub, and 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…
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3mWsMWp
More from the author!
The two books are standalones, but I really enjoyed Holiday Romance.
She’s meant to be catching flights, not catching feelings…
Molly and Andrew are just trying to get home to Ireland for the holidays, when a freak snowstorm grounds their flight.
Nothing romantic has ever happened between them: they’re friends and that’s all. But once a year, for the last ten years, Molly has spent seven hours and fifteen minutes sitting next to Andrew on the last flight before Christmas from Chicago to Dublin, drinking terrible airplane wine and catching up on each other’s lives. In spite of all the ways the two friends are different, it’s the holiday tradition neither of them has ever wanted to give up.
Molly isn’t that bothered by Christmas, but—in yet another way they’re total opposites—Andrew is a full-on fanatic for the festive season and she knows how much getting back to Ireland means to him. So, instead of doing the sane thing and just celebrating the holidays together in America, she does the stupid thing. The irrational thing. She vows to get him home. And in time for his mam’s famous Christmas dinner.
The clock is ticking. But Molly always has a plan. And—as long as the highly-specific combination of taxis, planes, boats, and trains all run on time—it can’t possibly go wrong.
What she doesn’t know is that, as the snow falls over the city and over the heads of two friends who are sure they’re not meant to be together, the universe might just have a plan of its own…
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3hgnKl1
About the Author:
Catherine Walsh was born and raised in Ireland.
She lived in London for a few years before returning to Dublin where she now lives between the mountains and the sea. When not writing she is trying and failing to not kill her houseplants.
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