B- Reviews / Book ReviewsChinese-Canadian MCs / Contemporary / dysfunctional family / Magical Realism / matchmakers / older characters / POC / POC author / Toronto / toxic relationship / Womens-FictionNo Comments
Newly minted professional matchmaker Sophie Go has returned to Toronto, her hometown, after spending three years in Shanghai. Her job is made quite difficult, however, when she is revealed as a fraud—she never actually graduated from matchmaking school. In a competitive market like Toronto, no one wants to take a ... more >
B- Reviews / Book ReviewsAsian hero / Asian heroine / biracial hero / Canada / Holiday / Holidays with the Wongs / matchmakers / novella / POC / POC author / Toronto6 Comments
A Thanksgiving rom-com with lots of food and interfering family! Advertising executive Nick Wong enjoys living in Toronto. He loves late nights partying and taking women back to his penthouse. And so it is with great reluctance that he returns to his boring hometown of Mosquito Bay for Thanksgiving. This ... more >
B Reviews / Book ReviewsA Sparks & Bainbridge Mystery / Agent/Spies/Undercover / amateur sleuths / class differences / colonialism / dysfunctional family / female friendship / London / matchmakers / mystery / POC / Post WWII5 Comments
In Allison Monclair’s A Rogue’s Company, business becomes personal for the Right Sort Marriage Bureau when a new client, a brutal murder, two kidnappings, and the recently returned from Africa Lord Bainbridge threatens everything that one of the principals holds dear. In London, 1946, the Right Sort Marriage Bureau is ... more >
B+ Reviews / Book Reviews / Recommended Readsarranged-marriage / business / Business woman / England / London / matchmakers / non-fiction / World War II5 Comments
A riveting glimpse of life and love during and after World War II—a heart-warming, touching, and thoroughly absorbing true story of a world gone by. In the spring of 1939, with the Second World War looming, two determined twenty-four-year-olds, Heather Jenner and Mary Oliver, decided to open a marriage bureau. ... more >
Book Reviews / C Reviews / C+ ReviewsA Sparks & Bainbridge Mystery / Agent/Spies/Undercover / amateur sleuths / class differences / English historical mystery / female friendship / Historical / joint review / London / matchmakers / mystery / Post WWII / Royalty / widow5 Comments
In London 1946, The Right Sort Marriage Bureau is just beginning to take off and the proprietors, Miss Iris Sparks and Mrs. Gwendolyn Bainbridge, are in need of a bigger office and a secretary to handle the growing demand. Unfortunately, they don’t yet have the necessary means. So when a ... more >
B Reviews / B+ Reviews / Book Reviews / Recommended Reads1940s / A Sparks & Bainbridge Mystery / amateur sleuths / banter / England / female friendship / historical mystery / London / matchmakers / Post WWII / spy / widow4 Comments
Dear Allison Montclair, I heard good things about you debut historical mystery, The Right Sort of Man, from Barb in Maryland and Liz McCausland. The book concerns two women, Iris Sparks and Gwendolyn Bainbridge, who open a marriage bureau (matchmaking agency) together in 1946 England. Even though I don’t usually ... more >