Maddie Dawson - A Happy Catastrophe (Matchmaking For Beginners #2)

 

Maddie Dawson - A Happy Catastrophe (Matchmaking For Beginners #2)

 3 ⭐

Genre: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Domestic Fiction

Pages: 380

Format:  Kindle Book 

Favourite Quote: 'In fact, now that I think about it, everybody I know and love has been broken a time or two. They've all had to climb out of darkness, to push back against the overwhelming, seek out the unknown comfort in crisis' (Page 302).

Book Blurb: 

Marnie MacGraw and Patrick Delaney have been in love for a few years now, enough to realize that they are imperfectly perfect together. Still, there are some things that maybe need a little attention. Marnie’s ebullient; he’s brooding. She thrives on change; he prefers stability. She sees marriage and parenthood in their future, but he can’t see beyond the shadow of an earlier tragedy. Suddenly, two very different pieces of a beautiful puzzle find it harder and harder to fit. How can Marnie trust in the magic of the universe when it seems to be doing its best to knock her off her feet?

My Review: 

I spotted this sequel to the 'Matchmaking for Beginners' on Kindle Unlimited and of course I couldn't help myself...

Was it better than the first book? Honestly, it wasn't. I gave it a solid 3 stars because again, the ending was so rushed and Marnies characters' progression was getting worse. 

The book again started quite nice and was rather exciting, especially how both Patrick and Marnie enjoyed their life in a big city. So the start of the book looked really promising...but again, the book quickly turned into Marnie being a whiny and now even nagging character. Not surprised there! At least this time she had a reason to be that way, but I just couldn't stand her lack of communication and support for Patrick, especially when he was going through some deep problems from the past. She completely ignored Patrick's depression dismissing it as a sign that he doesn't love her when in reality he really needed some help, whilst he was fighting his inner demons. 

Also, the whole long-lost-kid-turning-up-on-a-doorstep plot really felt like I was re-reading Jojo Moyes 'After You'. 

Overall, I do think the ending again was rushed. It just seemed that Patrick's struggles disappeared in one day (one chapter), easily and quickly, making the build-up that went on through the book a bit pointless. I still loved Patrick's character and the fact that I learned his backstory in detail in this book. Another positive thing was that plot of this book was really good and it wasn't all over the place as the first book was. Also, it was quite an easy and quick read, which was really nice.

Again, I recommend this book for someone who wants an easy romance read and don't mind getting frustrated at characters throughout the book. 

Maddie Dawson - Matchmaking For Beginners

Maddie Dawson - Matchmaking For Beginners 

 3.5 ⭐

Genre: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Domestic Fiction

Pages: 378

Format:  Kindle Book 

Favourite Quote: 'You need to forget what society has told you about life and expectations, and don't let anybody make you pretend' (Page 37).

Book Blurb: 

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. 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.

My Review: 

This was my first Maddie Dawson book, although I heard about her other books, such as 'The Survivor's Guide to Family Happiness' and 'A Piece of Normal'. 

Not going to lie, the beginning of the book was really gripping and made me want to continue reading...For the first 5 or 6 chapters, I just couldn't put it down. I guess I was especially drawn into chapters from Blix's POV, as they were just brilliant! Her character was so well written and full of energy! Also, reading her chapters I wanted to know why Marnie was so special to Blix from the very first moment they met...

However, about halfway through the book the mood completely changed and I started to find the character and plot progression quite dull. I even started to question whether I am going to finish reading this book..but I persevered.  

I think I started to get annoyed with the plot because halfway through it was all over the place. Events that could've been skipped or weren't that important had quite long chapters and then situations that needed more explanation and chapter time happened very quickly. The end of the book felt particularly rushed. 

In terms of the characters, Noah was the one that I just could not stand as he somehow got away with being such a selfish and egocentric person throughout the whole book and no other character pointed it out to Marnie. 

At times I also found Marnie to be really whiny and annoying, as she was ready to give up every time a slight inconvenience occurred in her life. 

Although, I really wished there was more backstory to characters that I fell in love with, like Blix and Patrick. These characters were so well written that they were the ones who hold me down to keep reading this book, as I really wanted to find out about their 'happy endings'. 

To my surprise, I accidentally found out that there is a sequel to this book...and guess what...Yes, the Bookish me have to read it. I mean I don't have too high hopes but I do hope it's better and will answer some questions about characters that this book didn't. 

Overall: It is one of those books where I have quite mixed feelings about, as there were characters that I loved and chapters that I adored and vice versa. I do, however, recommend it for someone who likes a light romance and easy read with some YA/ teen inspired drama vibes.