The Matchmaker's Playbook by Rachel Van Dyken Pages: 306
Series: Wingmen Inc
Genres: New Adult
Narrator: Jeremy York
Also by this author: The Consequence of Loving Colton (Consequence, #1), The Consequence of Revenge, Capture, The Dark Ones, Untouchable Darkness, The Consequence of Seduction, Empire, The Bachelor Auction, Enrage, The Playboy Bachelor, Eulogy, The Consequence of Rejection, Envy, Risky Play, Ruthless Princess, Surrender, Scandalous Prince, Mafia Casanova, Destructive King, Mafia King, Office Hate, Falling for the Villain, My Summer in Seoul, Broken Crown , Office Date, The Anti-Fan and the Idol, The Godparent Trap, Dissolution, Exposing the Groom, The Unperfects, Office Mate
Goodreads
Wingman rule number one: don’t fall for a client.
After a career-ending accident, former NFL recruit Ian Hunter is back on campus—and he’s ready to get his new game on. As one of the masterminds behind Wingmen, Inc., a successful and secretive word-of-mouth dating service, he’s putting his extensive skills with women to work for the lovelorn. But when Blake Olson requests the services of Wingmen, Inc., Ian may have landed his most hopeless client yet.
From her frumpy athletic gear to her unfortunate choice of footwear, Blake is going to need a miracle if she wants to land her crush. At least with a professional matchmaker by her side she has a fighting chance. Ian knows that his advice and a makeover can turn Blake into another successful match. But as Blake begins the transformation from hot mess to smokin’ hot, Ian realizes he’s in danger of breaking his cardinal rule…
The Matchmaker’s Playbook
Rachel Van Dyken
I love RVD. She is one of my one click authors! But, on The Matchmaker’s Playbook, I hesitated. Why? I’m not really sure other than maybe I was a bit put off by the premise. Guy helps girl do all the things necessary to get another guy to notice her. Seems harmless enough but my fear is that the girl would end up being told to change this, do that, etc and I would hate that someone is telling her she isn’t good enough the way she is. Also, I was a little put off by the shallowness of it all. So, I waited.
I actually listened to this book first, then went back to check out some of the Kindle in Motion features in the book. So, I will start with my thoughts on the audio. The entire book is told from Ian’s POV and Jeremy York did a GREAT job. His girly voices weren’t so overly done that they were annoying, and he even managed to vary both the male and female voices to denote different people, no matter how small the character part was. It was one of the better audiobooks I have listened to and recommend it 100%
So, the story: Ian is a ‘wingman’ who helps girls get noticed by the guy they have been pining after. He works with Lex, his BFF, who creates a computer match program to ensure that the girl and her dream guy would be a good fit. Ian teaches the girls what to do, say, wear, etc. He also uses a bit of jealousy by making the guy think the girl is now seeing Ian. Ian constantly says he loves all women, and that every woman is beautiful, etc, etc. However, he only personally notices the hot, skinny ones with big boobs. Sigh… This was my fear. I will say that he never encourages the girls who hire him to be something they aren’t. Well, except for Blake. Blake (a girl) hires him because she has been in love with David since they were kids and he doesn’t see her as anything except one of the guys. Ian begins to coach her, and gives her a bit of a transformation, but keeps it in her comfort zone, which I was all for! Then he starts telling her to wear dresses and she obviously hates it and thats when I got frustrated. The book was so back and forth for me, much like Blake and Ian. He is helping her win someone else, but falling for her. He knows she has no experience (she has never had her first kiss), and he crosses the line between client and coach. Now, I was all for crossing that line. However, he was a pansy about it and kept pulling her in, confusing her, then pushing her away because she was a client. For the ENTIRE book. Seriously, its not until like the last 10 pages he gets his shit together.
Much like Ian’s feelings, my feelings for The Matchmaker’s Playbook went up and down. I loved it for several chapters, then I was so pissed I was ready to give up. Back and forth, and back and forth. Overall, though, I give The Matchmaker’s Playbook 4 stars. RVD writes good characters, there is humor, and the story is different. I’m a little cautious to start the next one though…Lex and Gabi? Yikes!
[bctt tweet=”Looking for a good book to spend your Audible credit on? The Matchmaker’s Playbook by @RachVD!” username=”thebookdisciple”]
- POV: 1st (Ian)
- Tears: no
- Trope: ugly duckling, fake relationship
- Triggers: none
- Series/Standalone: book 1 of a series
- Cliffhanger: no
- HEA: View Spoiler »
Anti-Stepbrother by Tijan, Treasured by Thursday by Catherine Bybee, Out of Bounds by RS Grey…then you will probably like The Matchmaker’s Playbook!
Leave a Reply