Playing with Matches

April 15, 2018
A young woman gets a job with an exclusive matchmaking service in Orenstein's debut.Sasha Goldberg is a recent college graduate in New York City with a gorgeous finance-bro boyfriend and a roommate who's her best friend. The one thing she needs? A job. When she applies to work at Bliss, an elite matchmaking service that finds love for its superexclusive, rich, and successful clientele, it seems like fate. She knows what happens when a relationship is a bad match--her mother was a Russian mail-order bride, and her parents divorced when Sasha was a child. Sasha's certain she can help people find a better match than the one her parents had, and soon she's knee-deep in the world of the New York dating scene. She learns that finding dates for picky businesspeople is harder than she thought it would be--but then she discovers the unthinkable. Her boyfriend, whom she'd always assumed was just working late, has actually been on Tinder behind her back. She breaks up with him and, in her despair, breaks the one rule Bliss has--she asks out a client. She'd set Adam up with another Bliss client, but since the two of them didn't hit it off, what's the harm in going out with him herself? Soon, Sasha is juggling her secret new relationship and her clients' dating lives. But as her ex tries to win her back and her relationship with Adam gets more serious, things start to get complicated. Will Sasha stick with her old flame, or will she strike out on her own? Orenstein's writing style is simple, but the plot is engaging enough that readers will find themselves flying through the pages to find out what decisions Sasha will make. Refreshingly, the ending hits a note of realism and refuses to tie things up with a bow.A fun, fast read about dating in the city.

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June 1, 2018

Sasha Goldberg is fresh out of New York University with a degree in journalism, looking for a job to put her hard-earned schooling to use. While scouring Craiglist for jobs, she stumbles upon an ad for Bliss, a matchmaking service, and applies. At 22 and inexperienced, although she is dating an investment banker, Sasha lands the position. Thus begins her adventure on dating websites, apps, and in-person vetting, as Sasha seeks to find The One for her clients. Debut author Orenstein pens a laugh-out-loud work that singles, marrieds, suburbanites, and urbanites all will clamor for. Readers will love following her as she pounds the pavement with blistered heels searching for men who fit her clients' outlandish checklists. From clients with unrealistic expectations to those with no expectations, from date-sitting to shopping, no stone is left unturned as Sasha gains her footing in the matchmaking scene. VERDICT With an ending twist that will hit readers like a splash of vodka and tonic in the face of their blind date, this novel is one to pack in your beach bag.--Erin Holt, Williamson Cty. P.L., Franklin, TN

Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2018
Sasha Goldberg never thought she'd be a matchmaker, but in the weird, wild world of twenty-first-century dating, anyone with people skills and a Tinder profile could be on her way to a new career. After an internship fails to become a full-time job, Sasha applies to be a matchmaker at Bliss, Manhattan's most exclusive dating service. A strange family secret helps her land the job, and she's surprised to find how much she enjoys the online and offline coaching. Even though Sasha's happily coupled with her boyfriend, Jonathan, she remembers the ups and downs of dating all too well. When Sasha's own love life takes a turn for the worse, she realizes just how much she's learned at Bliss and how far she's willing to go to find the perfect match. Sasha, a likable heroine with a quick wit and a self-destructive streak, will appeal to fans of Marian Keyes, Helen Fielding, and Sloane Crosley. In her debut novel, real-life matchmaker Orenstein mines her personal experience for a realistic yet romantic portrait of modern dating.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)