Matchmake Up Your Mind

Don't Ruin Katie's Wedding #3

by Ellie Cahill

The plan: Joy is going to be the best bridesmaid ever for her college BFF Katie’s wedding. And to add to the fun, Katie is playing matchmaker! She’s sure Joy and handsome groomsman Tom are perfect for each other. Joy is so ready for a happily ever after of her own!

The reality: Tom doesn’t seem the slightest bit interested in Joy. The wedding seems determined to be a disaster. And then there’s the fact that Joy keeps finding herself falling into bed with her friend Charlie. Oops.

The match? Not made in heaven. The bride? On the brink. Joy’s friendship with Charlie? Full of benefits that might be a little too beneficial to ignore…


Matchmake Up Your Mind is a stand-alone romantic comedy that is part of the Don’t Ruin Katie’s Wedding Series. They can be read in any order!

Genres: Romance, Contemporary

219 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 22, 2022

About the author

Want to be the first to know the latest releases and giveaways from Ellie? Sign up for Ellie's newsletter to get a free epilogue to CALL ME, MAYBE! HERE

Ellie Cahill is the author of the Cordially Invited series, including I Temporarily Do, as well as stand-alone romantic comedies like When Joss Met Matt, Call Me Maybe, and Just a Girl. Ellie is also the not-at-all secret pen name of Young Adult author Liz Czukas (Ask Again Later, and Top Ten Clues You're Clueless). Liz's books are often compared to John Hughes movies, while Ellie usually gets compared to Nora Ephron. Either way, if you like a good 80s rom-com, you've found the right place. When they're not writing fun, funny romances full of shenanigans and awkward kisses, Liz and Ellie are at home with their family and a golden retriever with different ideas about the definition of "dog bed."

You'll find Ellie on Facebook and Twitter (@ellie_cahill) but you'll more easily find Liz in those same places as well as Instagram and Tumblr. You'll find either one of them parked in front of the TV every Sunday night getting their fill of Zombies, Westeros, The Doctor, or any other place where cute English guys fight evil.

Speed round: sweet tea, Hufflepuff, dark chocolate, cheese is the perfect food, Go Badgers, and Han shot first.


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Reviews

[Monica Mac · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now, I am not normally a fan of "friends with benefits" type scenarios in books, but in this story, it worked quite well.

Joy is bridesmaid for her friend Katie. Katie, because she is getting married, thinks everyone else needs to be paired up as well. So, she has picked out her friend Tom as a good match for Joy. Unfortunately, Tom isn't actually all that keen and then there is Charlie, Joy's good friend who just seems to be becoming something a bit more than just a friend, on several occasions actually.

Lots of misunderstandings later, things work out just as they are meant to, for Joy. But what about Katie, is there a happily ever after for her? And her sister Grace?

I really liked the main characters in this book, I thought they were lovely, and the secondary characters too. I read the book in a day and it was just the right level of romance; an easy read which I really needed right now.

4.5 stars from me.

[Stasi Apple (The Reads of an Apple) · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good finish to the series. Another hit! I loved Charlie and Joy. The only thing, are we supposed to like Katie? I really don't. Joy tried her best to explain why she was a great roommate and friend, but everytime she was there I got annoyed. I started clapping when Charlie called out her behaviour to Joy. This was more than "bridezilla." I do wish we could get more books in this series for some of the other friends/wedding party members. Or even spread out in the O'Malley family. Maybe even a chance for Jesse (seriously I don't like Katie).

[Nanasbookreviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5fqn...
Blog: https://nanasbookreviews.wordpress.co...

I received a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Matchmake up your mind by Ellie Cahill is a romantic comedy. It's the third book from the "Don't Ruin Katie's Wedding" series.

This is one very entertaining story. It's friends to lovers romance. The plot is simple, funny, and very romantic. I liked the mix of the wedding craziness and the hide and seek of the couple. The romantic relationship was fast-paced, it began as friends with benefits and quickly turned into being deeply in love. The characters were amazing. They had such good chemistry from the very
beginning. Their relationship was so natural and playful. Charlie appeared as a sexy tech guy that was boyfriend material without knowing it. He was super nice to her and very attending. Joy was a sweet girl that wanted to be loved. She was a bit clumsy and awkward at times. My favorite parts were the accident and the spicy scenes.


I am not usually into geeky romance but I loved this one. I will highly recommend it to everyone and I will rate it with 5 bright stars.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Matchmake Up Your Mind is the third book in the Don't Ruin Katie's Wedding. Each of the book features a different protagonist from Katie's life. Each book is a standalone. Elle Cahill does intertwine the books but not in a way that you won't understand what's going on. In this book, Joy is tired of trying to find a boyfriend but with her long days from working and/or traveling, she has little time for a relationship. What starts as a friends with benefits scenario becomes a question for Joy and Charlie to continue in this way. The book is charming and a very quick read. I enjoyed much of the banter and humor in the various conversations. I also like that the book is set in Wisconsin, so many of the references I knew firsthand. That's always fun. I can't wait to read other books by Elle Cahill.

I was given an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Kristy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes when your looking for love all you get is alot of bad programming as a coder Joy knows allot about bad coding its long and exhausting and her love life or lack of it is suffering but her bestfriend since college has a plane if she's game. Charlie cute British and available and hasn't got the best track record of commitment not because he's a jerk he works to much and the only real girl in his life is Joy 2 years ago they had one drunken moment now they mite get there chance to fall in love along the way if the Bride Katie there friend doesn't interfere because she's got her own idea about who Joy should be with.

This was cute with low level angst one clueless bridzilla and two computer geeks who finally find there happy ending away from there evil empire employer.

I was allowed to read and advance copy of this book and this is my honest review.

[Brittany S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read Completed 9/8/23 | 3 stars
This was my least favorite of the series and the one that felt the least put-together. It was much shorter than the other two and felt like it struggled to find its pacing. The ending was incredibly abrupt and I felt like the book wasn't finished but that's how it was decided to end.

Mostly, I didn't like this one much because I didn't like the concept of it. Katie, the bride, keeps trying to hook up MC Joy with a groomsman in the wedding party, Tom. Along the way, Joy ends up falling for her close friend Charlie (who, if she didn't tell you enough times, she had a drunken make with in college) and they become friends with benefits which we know is going to turn into more. We also find out Tom isn't interested in Joy and he's actually interested in someone else in the books. If Katie is really one of Joy's best friends, she should be happy for her from the start, but she's so dramatic that no one wants to unsettle her in the least and Joy can't even tell her that she's really happy with Charlie, who is also Katie/Katie's fiancé's friend. You'd think she'd be happy about that than a random match-making scheme.

I also didn't really feel a lot of chemistry between Joy and Charlie. Charlie's accent was weird? I don't know, it played like no part in the books for him to be British (who moved to the states when he was young so he also had an American accent??) and it was distracting, especially with a bad accent from the audiobook narrator. I also just kind of didn't like Joy. She put herself down too much, mostly about being tall when she's "only" 5'10" (I'm 5'8" and I've got tall family members, and that's two inches taller than me. I'm a taller girl but it's not wild...) so it was kind of annoying. Especially when Charlie was over 6 feet tall. Who cares? It was totally not a thing?? It's not like anyone she was trying to date was shorter than her, so it was literally not a big deal.

Once again, with all of the books in this series, the conflict and resolution wasn't enough for me. There just wasn't enough time spent on the ending, and it felt like it. I also hated that the book ended with Katie realizing that "she's the drama" and everyone is just like "oh hahah it's so Katie!" No, if she's causing that much drama, maybe Katie needs her own story where she sorts that out. It's one thing trying not to make waves and having things go poorly for someone's wedding -- as someone who found out about lots of wedding drama AFTER her wedding, I appreciate that I didn't know about any of it while it was going on, but Katie was just like, spiraling and making everything even more of a big deal. The centerpieces and the ex, okay sure, but matchmaking not working out? Nah.

Oh well, this one just didn't hit for me. I've read a bunch of Ellie Cahill books and these just didn't feel as polished as the others.

[TrishAM · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book by Ellie Cahill that I have read and although it is the third book in a series I didn't feel as though I had missed out, it is completely standalone and enjoyable.
No one but lovely Charlie would give five foot ten Joy a piggyback without giving it a second thought, in fact Charlie is probably the only person who joy would feel comfortable accepting a piggyback from, Katie mustn't find out what had happened between them, Katie mustn't be upset, Katie was getting married.
This is a wonderful friends to lovers story,it follows the journey of Joy and Charlie from friends to friends with benefits and to finally falling in love, Joy is a tall but beautiful geek who sucks at sport, she has a close group of friends who all met at the University of Michigan. Charlie was one of this group and he and Joy had done the same computer programming course and now worked for the same high tech company as coders, coders whose jobs were so intense and travel heavy that neither had any time for other pursuits including romances.
Katie was Joy's best friend, Katie is sweet and as highly strung as a recently tuned guitar, Katie wants everyone to find love preferably with a match that she had orchestrated, she and Jesse were getting married, Joy and Charlie were to be at the wedding. Katie was a bit of a control freak and was determined to set Joy up with gorgeous Tom, a friend of Jesse and a fellow rugby player,
she was sure that they were a match made in heaven.........., the spark was absent but Joy couldn't refuse, she had to go along with it, she must keep Katie happy.
This story is easy to read, funny, full of doubts but hope for the future, I loved it.
I received a free copy of this book and my review is voluntary.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.4 stars.

So. New. Adult.

The drama is centered around "we can't RUIN Katie's wedding"... but how would dating someone ruin your friend's wedding? Katie wants to set Joy up with Tom... but Joy wants to be with Charlie and Tom wants to be with Grace. And no one wants to tell Katie! So weird.

I sort of enjoyed the friends with benefits, though you could see that they would fall in love cause how could you not fall in love with your best friend when you're also having insanely hot sex with them?

This ends with a HFN and it's SO unsatisfying. We don't hear when or how he fell in love with her... he's just in love with her.

It was sort of fun to read... but the drama towards the end is absurd.

A couple other things:
1. The heroine is "tall" (she's 5'10" but this is made a VERY BIG DEAL). She bad talks herself a LOT, including during sexy times when the hero is telling her she's gorgeous. It's so annoying since the author makes a point that "this book is for the tall girlies" and yet the tall girlie in this book totally does not like the way she looks most of the time and puts herself down.

2. They start this friends with benefits when they talk about the hero being good with one night stands. He neither confirms nor denies so not sure if he is a manwhore.

3. All of the sudden, they are in love... and we never hear how it happened and whether the hero has loved her for a long time or just during their "and benefits" days.

4. The hero tells the heroine to just be straight up and honest about what she wants but takes a while to tell her how he feels.

5. The book ends pretty quickly with no explanations or epilogues.

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75

See the relationship amazing. Cute. Love intrest? Fun, flirty, british accent.
Main character. Bland. Some parts of this books gives not like other girls vibe. Also it's dedicated to tall girls however the whole book the main character points out whag big flaw her height is, and calls other girls cute by saying hiw they're much shorter. Which is a bit unecessary to point out her own tallness as a flaw ehen it's meant to be for tall girlies.
There were few tiktok sounds refrences. One chapters name is "Oh no if it isn't the consequenses of my iwn actions" and one scene a girl says quote on quote "Am i... Am i the drama" author should spend 5 min less time on tiktok.
Otherwise ir was a good brain numbing story which i thought was fun and cute. The book is shirt (170 pages) and fast paced which i truly enjoyed

[carrie thackston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun friends to lovers romance! I enjoyed this for the most part. There are a lot of characters and I didn't get lost. Joy and Charlie are friends but become more. Katie, their mutual friend wants to set Joy up with someone and everyone is too afraid to rock the boat with Katie's cause she's a bride to be. She really seems to be a brat that finally realizes she's a brat. I'm glad Joy and Charlie and another couple, owned up to their feelings and quit letting Katie dictate everything. A cute story about growing and and realizing what you want and going for it. I was given the opportunity to read a copy of this book.

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Joy and Charlie have been friends for quite some time. Working for the same company in different departments and living in the same apartment complex. They enjoy the company of the other and share the same friend group, including the upcoming nuptials of their friends. Both in the wedding brings their chance encounters to the forefront of their friendship. Should Joy give Charlie a chance? Should their friendship become more?

This fun lighthearted friends to lover romance was a quick read. Reading with a smile my face and with love in my heart I fell in love with Joy and Charlie.

[Emmy McCabe · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a cute story about good friends becoming lovers. Joy and Charlie have been friends for many years, college and then in the work place. Spending so much time together they found themselves becoming more. Along with this story line, we meet Katie, who was Joy's roommate in college and them stayed friends. She is marrying Jesse and Joy and Charlie are in the wedding. Katie is trying to fix up Joy with Tom, another member of the wedding party. This is a fun book to read with all kinds of crazy things happening.

[Rhonda Brant · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute, light hearted, funny, and a quick read, everything you’d expect from this author. Loved the friends to lovers side of the story, Charlie was probably my favorite character. Enjoyed the situations they get themselves into trying to hide their relationship, and although making Katie out to be a bridezilla of some sort with the pairing up (which didn’t work for me), I really enjoyed this story. Ending was perfect for these two.

I voluntarily reviewed an ARC copy of this book.

[Nadia Stephens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Matchmake up Your Mind is a friends to lover’s romance by Ellie Cahill. The 3rd book in the Don’t Ruin Kate’s Wedding series that can be read as a stand-alone. A dramatic romantic comedy between Joy and Charlie. Kate is a bridezilla that thinks she knows what is best for Joy. You will have to read the book to find out what happens and how Joy and Charlie stand up for themselves.

I received a ARC copy of Matchmake Up Your Mind by Ellie Cahill and decided to leave my honest opinion.

[Sarahlynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m a fan. Ellie/Liz’s books are funny and fun. Her cast of characters tends to be white, straight, middle-class, and Midwestern. But as I’m white, straight, middle-class, and Midwestern, the homogeneity disappears a little for me. The characters are also a LOT more fun/wild/carefree/comfortable-without-long term-plans than I am, but it’s fun reading about new adults comfortable with a level of risk/uncertainty I never was.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an entertaining, well-written book. It was fun, steamy and held my interest. I wanted to find out what would happen and how it would all turn out. It can be read as a standalone story, though it is part of a series. I enjoyed this book and I look forward to reading more books by this author.

[CATHERINE BURHANS · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a delightful and fun storyline. Katie is the Bride that no one wants to upset. Katie thinks that her BFF, Joy, who is also her Bridesmaid, would be just perfect for Tom, the Groomsman. Tom’s not feeling it, and Joy, even less. Joy is rekindling her relationship with Charlie. A witty and charming story!

[Melanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ellie Cahill again writes an enjoyable read containing characters with which you wish you were friends. Ruining a friend's wedding is not ideal, neither is self-sabotage for the good of others. Keep up the good work, Ellie!

[Vickie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Matchmaking gone awry. A funny, no holds barred, matchmaking conundrum. Who should be with whom...why not let everyone decide for themselves instead of forcing it. LOL funny with some steamy scenes included.

[Debbie Eyre · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fun romantic comedy! There’s a wedding and a bride who wants to play matchmaker with hilarious results and a bridesmaid who has a friends to something more going on! Cute storyline, fun characters making this a fab quick read!

[jordan εїз · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars 🌟 CUTEST FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS EVER HOLY SHIT 😁💓🔥❤️‍🩹 joycharlie complete me like no other and i loved both of them so so much 😭 this also amplified my hate for katie but THIS COUPLE WAS FREAKING ADORABLE and i’m very glad i read this ✅

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

A sweet story about love evolving from friendship amidst non-existing free time, a crazy college friend getting married and all that surrounds mild bridezilla events throughout. A great HEA finally!

[Jackie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is absolutely a fun book to read. Possible romance from friends to lovers. It will definitely brighten your day.

[Celeste · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gotta love that asterisk

More shenanigans before and during Katie’s wedding. Another sweet, sexy, funny and a bit crazy romance in this fun series. Highly recommended.

[M.J.Swan · Rating 3 out of 5]

*3.5*
I stay just loving how real and fun this authors stories. This wasn’t my fav but I still had a good time.

[Stef · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute how all three of the books tie in together, especially with the specific details mentioned in the books!

[John Cooksey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweet and sexy. A delightful addition (conclusion?) to the ‘Don’t Ruin Katie’s Wedding’ series. Deftly rendered, compellingly real characters you’ll fall in love with. Be sure to read all three: Falling to Centerpieces’, ‘The Ex Girlfriend Experience’, and ‘Matchmake Up Your Mind’. Each is a quick and enjoyable stand alone read, but together they’re much more fun and memorable.