Pam Binder

In book three in the Matchmaker Café series, Emma and Bjorn have been best friends since childhood, and they finally moved into a romantic relationship a year and half ago. Then tragedy strikes Bjorn’s family. He leaves without a word. Now, a year later, he returns and expects to pick up where he left off with Emma. Only she refuses to give him another chance.
I really enjoyed this story. Of the three audiobooks I’ve listened to in this series, this one was my favorite. Emma and Bjorn show more were great characters. They were both stubborn and vulnerable but longing to be loved.
I liked the series premise, but I found it strange that the matchmaker sisters—Rosalind, Brigit, and Fiona—weren’t the main characters. Instead, they’re secondary characters with tales of forbidden love and attraction that snagged my attention better than the H/h’s plot. I wanted more with Rosalind and William, and I would’ve loved to have seen what happened with Fiona and Liam when they were stuck in 1745.
Emma and Bjorn’s trip to the eve of the French Revolution in 1789 was awesome. I could clearly visualize the setting, the buildings, the gorgeous dresses, the tension, everything. Those chapters were my favorite of the story.
Though this time travel series is different from the norm, I’m glad I gave it a chance.
4.5 Stars show less

In book one in the Matchmaker Café series, Irene Redmond takes a tour of Sterling Castle in Scotland on Christmas Eve. She’s determined to answer questions about her mother’s past and to make sense of her mom’s diary, which details things about the castle that her mother shouldn’t have known.
Logan MacKinnon joins the tour with his elderly parents. The spark between him and Irene is instant, but how can they find forever when they’ll go their separate ways after the tour?
What a show more great book! Irene is a smart, capable woman, and Logan is a normal, everyday guy who’s solid and dependable.
There were a lot of secondary characters (tour group members, the matchmaker sisters running the tour, employees for the company), and sometimes all the names blurred together. I listened to an audiobook version, so maybe I would’ve been able to follow the story better if I had read an ebook copy.
The narrator, Glen Pavlovich, did a good job. His voice was clear and crisp, but sometimes his voices for the characters sounded alike.
There are some unanswered questions, such as: Whom does Fiona love in the 13th century, and why doesn’t she stay there? How will Irene and Logan make their relationship work back in the present day?
This time travel story is pretty different from the norm. For one, Irene and Logan think everything and everyone working in the castle are clever re-enactments, not realizing they’re living in the past until ¾ of the way in. That was surprising and refreshing. Anyway, I have the next two books in the series in audio, and I’ll be listening to them soon.
4 Stars show less

In book two in the Matchmaker Café series, C.C. can hardly believe what her sexy boss, Michael, just requested—be his wife in order to clean-up his playboy reputation. In return, he’ll pay her the money she needs, and they’ll later get a divorce.
I liked C.C. and Michael. They both had strong motivations for doing what they were doing, but Michael’s determination to stay loyal to his high-maintenance super model fiancée and not make his marriage to C.C. real lasted a bit too long in show more my opinion.
I listened to the audiobook. The narrator has a great voice, but he often used similar voices for multiple characters. I sometimes had difficulty figuring out which character was speaking.
The secondary characters, particularly the matchmaking sisters—Rosalind, Brigit, and Fiona—were great, but I kept getting William and Liam mixed up. At first, I thought they were the same person since the name Liam is a shortened form of William, but in fact they’re two separate characters.
Also, I don’t understand why the H/h thought getting married then announcing their upcoming divorce/annulment later in the same day would help his career.
Anyway, I liked the story overall, and I’m looking forward to book three.
3 Stars show less