The Matchmakers

by Carolyn Brown, Bailey Carr (Narrator)

Three mischievous matchmakers. Two lonely hearts. And one last chance at a happily ever after. Don’t miss this heartwarming short story from New York Times best-selling author Carolyn Brown.

Meet Minnie, Dotty, and Stella—all retired and year-round residents on a cruise ship, they have dubbed themselves the unofficial matchmakers aboard. Minnie can ferret out a lonely woman by the second day of the cruise. Dotty can spot an openhearted man all the way across the Lido Deck. And Stella is great at putting a plan together. Together they’ve been every bit as successful as one of those online dating sites, and they can watch the romance unfold right before their eyes.

The trio face their biggest challenge yet when an unusual pair makes it onto the 10-day cruise to Alaska. Ava and Vince are on the verge of a divorce and have no idea that they’ve each booked the same cruise to think things over. Now, with a little help from the Matchmakers, they're about to discover that every great voyage has its storms—and love means weathering them together.

Genres: Romance, Audiobook, Fiction, Novella, Chick Lit, Short Stories, Contemporary

2 pages, Audible Audio

First published April 7, 2022

About the author

Hi! I'm twenty five years old and movie star gorgeous. The camera added thirty plus years and a few wrinkles. Can't trust those cameras or mirrors either. Along with bathroom scales they are notorious liars! Honestly, I am the mother of three fantastic grown children who've made me laugh and given me more story ideas than I could ever write. My husband, Charles, is my strongest supporter and my best friend. He's even willing to eat fast food and help with the laundry while I finish one more chapter! Life is good and I am blessed!

Reading has been a passion since I was five years old and figured out those were words on book pages. As soon as my chubby little fingers found they could put words on a Big Chief tablet with a fat pencil, I was on my way. Writing joined reading in my list of passions. I will read anything from the back of the Cheerio's box to Faulkner and love every bit of it. In addition to reading I enjoy cooking, my family and the ocean. I love the Florida beaches. Listening to the ocean waves puts my writing brain into high gear.

I love writing romance because it's about emotions and relationships. Human nature hasn't changed a bit since Eve coveted the fruit in the Garden of Eden. Settings change. Plots change. Names change. Times change. But love is love and men and women have been falling in and out of it forever. Romance is about emotions: love, hate, anger, laughter... all of it. If I can make you laugh until your sides ache or grab a tissue then I've touched your emotions and accomplished what every writer sets out to do.

I got serious about writing when my third child was born and had her days and nights mixed up. I had to stay up all night anyway and it was very quiet so I invested in a spiral back notebook and sharpened a few pencils. The story that emerged has never sold but it's brought in enough rejection slips to put the Redwood Forest on the endangered list. In 1997 Kensington bought two books for their Precious Gems line. Two years and six books later the line died with only four of those books seeing publication. But by then Avalon had bought a book and another, and another. Ten years later the list has grown to thirty nine. Last year Sourcebooks bought the Lucky Series which is in the bookstores now. They've also bought The Honky Tonk Series which will debut with I LOVE THIS BAR in June and will be followed by HELL, YEAH, MY GIVE A DAMN'S BUSTED, and HONKY TONK CHRISTMAS.

Folks ask me where I get my ideas. Three kids, fifteen grandchildren, two great grandchildren. Note: I was a very young grandmother! Life is a zoo around here when they all come home. In one Sunday afternoon there's enough ideas to keep me writing for years and years. Seriously, ideas pop up at the craziest times. When one sinks its roots into my mind, I have no choice but to write the story. And while I'm writing the characters peek over my shoulder and make sure I'm telling it right and not exaggerating too much. Pesky little devils, they are!

I have a wonderful agent, Erin Niumata, who continues to work magic and sell my work. I'm very lucky to have her and my editors who continue to believe in me.

Happy reading!

Reviews

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent short story. 😉 I think that it would be fun to cruise in retirement! 👍

[Katy O. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I mean, it was cute but nothing special. I don’t quite understand these super short stories on Audible 🤷🏼‍♀️

[Kate McMurry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fans of the old show, The Love Boat, might enjoy this story

Six months ago, three 75-year-old, single, female buddies sold their homes and embarked on a lifestyle of permanent residency on one cruise ship after another, which they have chosen to do rather than checking themselves into a nursing home. Their favorite entertainment while cruising is to act as voluntary matchmakers for any likely couples they encounter.

This novella is more women's fiction than outright romance, with more focus on the three old ladies than on the couple they attempt to get together. Having been on a number of cruises myself in the past, I did not personally find this story's portrayal of life on a big cruise ship to be particularly accurate. But for those who have never been on a cruise and have only watched old Love Boat reruns on cable or on YouTube, the fictional cruise ship in this story may seem like a satisfactory setting.

I received access to this audiobook free through my Audible membership. The female narrator does a competent job.

[Phylis Carpenter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome book. Once I starred listening I couldn't stop. I listened to the book on Audible. The narrator was good.

I laughed at some of the ladies comments. The characters were good and so was the story line.

Ava left her husband because he was dedicated to his job and his mother.

Loved the book, you should check it out

[Sherri Lupton Hollister · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Matchmakers by Carolyn Brown, narrated by Bailey Carr
Senior Citizen Cupids on a Cruise ship. This was a fun read/listen. Carolyn Brown and Bailey Carr teamed up to give us a trio of feisty seniors with a penchant for repairing broken hearts. When an estranged married couple ends up on one of their cruises the trio can’t help but interfere and with a little help from their friend, Henry, they help the young people see a solution but it’s up to them to take it.
If you love The Golden Girls or The Love Boat, imagine the two combined for a fun and romantic voyage. While Carolyn Brown touches on some tough subjects she manages to do so with hope and little laughter. This was my first by this author but surely it won’t be my last.

[Dosha (Bluestocking7) Beard · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was very cute. It makes me think about life on a cruise ship as a way of life.

[Carla · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars: I really enjoy Carolyn Brown's stories, especially those with older busybodies, often acting as matchmakers. Minnie, Dotty, and Stella are all retired and year-round residents on a cruise ship, they have dubbed themselves the unofficial matchmakers aboard. It sounds like a great life, and one that intrigues me, well, maybe not the matchmaker part. Each lady has her strengths, spotting a lonely woman, finding a man who has an open heart and putting together a plan. This time, the two they have selected are actually a separated couple, who did not realize the other was on the cruise they had planned. Can these two rethink their lives and decide it is worth weathering the storm to stay together? I enjoyed the plot of this one, and the characters. There is some humour, but also some serious introspection about what they want in their marriage and a decision to make. Of course it has a happy ending, and I enjoyed seeing them get there. Somewhat predictable, but cute. The narration by Bailey Carr was nicely done with voices given to the characters that allowed me to determine who was narrating.

[Brittany Elmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved each of the characters in this book. They need a whole series!

[J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first I was confused, but I stuck with it. I enjoyed the meddling the ladies and Henry did. Sookie and Henry's banter was funny. She didn't want no parts. Ava and Vince really needed the guidance given to them by the old folks and Vince's grandpa. Would've liked more on the end maybe an epilogue, but I enjoyed it.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute short story. It was supposed to be a story involving 3 matchmakers who live on a cruise ship. I guess I was assuming it would be a love boat style story with people meeting for the first time but they actually were already married. Kind of went against expectations that were setup but that's ok. It was cute and quirky

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick and amusing listen, about 3 friends who spend their retirement years going on one cruise after another instead of spending their days in a retirement community. The 3 women have it done to a science from going to one ship after the other. They have travelled the world and for excitement they find two lonely people and match them for a lifetime of love. In this instant it was a young married couple, Ava and Vance, who were on the road to divorce, and did not know that each other had booked a trip on a cruise. They had no idea that Minne, Sookie and Dotty, along with another passenger, a gentlemen called Henry who knew what the ladies are up to and helped to bring these two young people back together with their matchmaking skills.

I hope Carolyn Brown will give us more Matchmaker stories.

[Anastasiya M · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a short audiobook with the second chance trope. It’s not a first-choice type of romance book for me as it’s not one of my favourite tropes. I might just not have come across many books with this type of trope that I have enjoyed to the fullest.

It revolves around three old ladies who spend their days on a cruise boat instead of a retirement home and decide to match up with a couple that is heading for a divorce with the help of another passenger. The lack of length gave the story no space to realistically develop, deal with emotions and have conflict properly spill over between the characters. I was left a little confused about how easily the ‘matchmakers’ were able to get the couple back together so effortlessly, and it was easy to assume that if it was such a piece of cake to do, the couple could’ve actually managed to get back together on their own, given they were going to be on the same boat anyway without any interventions.

Read more here: https://sincerelyyoursannie.wordpress...

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun story about three women who live on cruise ships together and dub themselves The Matchmakers. Their friendships are one that you often find in Carolyn Brown's stories: supportive and humor filled. I loved listening to the details of the various places they went to on their cruise so I could travel there in my mind.

[Hilal Tunçkol · Rating 4 out of 5]

I never would have guessed that I would enjoy this book as much as I did.

The story didn't start as impressive, to be honest. There were old, retired ladies on a cruise ship looking for someone to matchmake. They do find a young woman Ava, who was supposed to be on this cruise ship with her husband Vince, but they had an argument because Vince was always doing what his mother told him to do and on top of that, he was a workaholic, making Ava feel as if she wasn't a real piece of Vince's life, just a spectator.

SPOILERS AHEAD

So, Ava got on the ship alone, but little did she know, Vince was on the ship, too.

The ladies organized dates for the young married couple so that they can talk their issues and hopeful reconcile. Then, an elderly gentlemen suggested that Vince could ask to be sent to a different branch of the family company. That way he could learn to handle the company, starting slow, and Vince and Ava would be far away from the influence of Vince's mother.

Where the young couple were planning on going was nowhere luxurious, but it was the best solution to all their problems, really.

Color me impressed because it isn't every day that I get this warm feeling I got from a short story I listen to.

[Angel Chiou · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story starts out with an interesting premise, with the characterization of the three elderly women whose interests are fixing up couples during their cruise ship tours. Yet after the characterization, the story moved onto an estranged couple—the husband and wife booked the same tour accidentally—and rendered the characterization pointless.
The couple faced the age-old in-law problems, with the husband being a mama’s boy who called his British mom “mother” (this is a must to depict a mama’s boy apparently). Although the problems are pretty typical, the way they were depicted are just unrelatable and plain tiring to listen to. The wife is whiny and stressed many times that money and her husband’s work were not everything. And the husband solved the problem by becoming a spoiled grandfather’s boy.
Overall, the three elderly women were characterized for no reason (they didn’t really have an impact on the plot later on), and the couple has no character growth whatsoever. The story then ended by stating that “love can conquer all.” Well, isn’t that ironic considering that the reason why the couple fell apart was the exact proof that love cannot conquer all.

[Krys · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short read. It was cute I guess. I was missing the umph, the splash of color, of personality that comes from the author and makes a work uniquely their own. Though I will say this is my first time reading something from this author so maybe their personal touch is more subtle than I’ve as expecting. But the MCs didn’t move me with their love story, they were less interesting than the old biddies (who were secondary characters) and even they needed a bit more story time to be completely enchanting.

I really don’t think there are enough romance books that attempt to address what happens after the HEA of the mainstream romance story. I love reading books along this vein. And the idea that there may be people who just spend an inordinate amount of time cruisin’ (literally) around the world is kind of amazing and probably true for at least a couple people, so props for being different. The book was just a little flat for me though it was a quick, thus relatively painless, read.

[Danyelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a cute and a ok book. Three old ladies help people hooked up with other people. It felt nice to be on a cruise in a book. If you love Golden Girls then you will like this book. There was laughter and banter in it. This book was my first of this author. I thought it was ok.

It is about 3 friends who spend their retirement years going on one cruise after another instead of going to a retirement community. The 3 women have it down to a science from going to one ship after the other. They have traveled the world. While they are on the cruises, they play matchmaker. But little do they know, they have someone helping them out of playing matchmaker. Another passenger, his name is Henry. He knows the ladies and what they are up to and helped to bring two people back together with their matchmaking skills.

The narrator did a good job and tried with a southern accents. The audiobook was free through the Audible membership.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

All my reviews can be found at: http://jessicasreadingroom.com
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This review will appear on my site on November 13, 2022.
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3.5 stars
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This is a cute one, where you know from the beginning how it will end, but that is chick-lit for you: It can be a nice refresher from all the thrillers I read. It was short and I was able to listen to it during my commute to/from work in one day.

The narrator went a bit out there with the southern accents. Not all southern women have distinct southern accents, I am one of those as I am from Georgia. Once I got used to the way the narrator was portraying them, I was able to enjoy this audiobook.

The ladies remind you of the Golden Girls so you know you are in for a ride! They are such a fun group, I would love to see more of their adventures on cruise ships!

[January · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Matchmakers by Carolyn Brown 2 hour and 1 minute narrated by Bailey Carr

Genre: Clean & Wholesome, Contemporary, Short Stories, Novella, Audible Originals

Featuring: Cruising, Matchmaking, Septuagenarians, Texas to Mexico, Second Chance Trope, Crazy Rich Americans

Rating as a movie: PG

My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

My thoughts: 17% - One chapter in and I absolutely love it. I will be looking this author up!

I looked up Carolyn Brown and most of the books were cowboy romances, so I'm going to put a pin 📌 in that. This story was fun but the the last quarter fell flat for me, almost a homerun but not quite. The plot was cute but there was a huge plothole involving the tickets and staterooms.

Recommend to others?: Yes. This story is adorable, short, and free with Audible Plus.

[Nicole · Rating 1 out of 5]

I needed something sweet and happy, so I gave this a go despite not being a genre or author that usually appeals to me. Bleck. I almost didn't finish, even at only 1.5 hours listening time. It was shallow, boring, and full of rich-people problems & rich-people solutions.

The retirees (the eponymous matchmakers) are extraneous other than offering a few words of wisdom. And the couple is waaa, waaa, he works too much making millions of dollars at the family oil company (yes, really) and his British mommy is mean to the sweet, country Texas gal he married (yes, really). So, let's solve it by grandpa giving him a company to run on the other side of the world where they can be happy away from the mean mother in law.

[Uluwehi Hopkins · Rating 2 out of 5]

The cruise ship regulars are colorful characters, giving this story a lot of potential, but in the end it did not reach that goal. Because it was meant to be a short tale, too much of the complexity that could have made it a great story was gutted out, leaving the overall conflict and its resolution too simplistic. That was disappointing since all the elements were there; even the details for something more robust were laid out, ready to be woven into the storyline. Instead, those threads were left dangling listlessly, unfinished. Although the short listen was a sufficient diversion, I won’t be seeking out another by this author.

[Renee · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Matchmakers by Carolyn Brown is a wonderful read! This story had me laughing, smiling and just fully enjoying the story and the characters. I also appreciate the clean romances that Mrs. Brown writes. I was impressed with the thoughtful way Mrs. Brown's refreshing take on romance and marriage came thru the story and made the story so much more wonderful because of it.

I highly recommend reading Caroly Brown's romance books - they will have you laughing, smiling and enjoying reading a wonderful clean romance novel!


This post is not a product review or sponsored post.

[Rhonda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I debated between a 3 and a 4 score. I laughed a few times at the "conversations" of the 4 "golden oldies" matchmakers. I could see this becoming a series that I would like more as I got to know the main characters in different situations. Carolyn Brown is a prolific writer and I will definitely be trying some of her other books. I like second chance romances and matchmakers so this was an enjoyable, cute story for me.

[Kayla Brady Dill · Rating 1 out of 5]

Storyline was ok. Narration was terrible. The only character I could tolerate was Ava simply because of the narration. Vince sounded like a 60 year old man and not a young man newly married. Dottie, Suki and Minnie’s southern accents were absolutely over exaggerated and as a Southerner myself, I couldn’t handle it.  They made a reference to the Golden Girls and I loved that since it’s my favorite show. But the exaggerated accents-BIG NOPE

[Kayla Dill · Rating 1 out of 5]

Storyline was ok. Narration was terrible. The only character I could tolerate was Ava simply because of the narration. Vince sounded like a 60 year old man and not a young man newly married. Dottie, Suki and Minnie’s southern accents were absolutely over exaggerated and as a Southerner myself, I couldn’t handle it.  They made a reference to the Golden Girls and I loved that since it’s my favorite show. But the exaggerated accents-BIG NOPE

[Reader_for_LifeTLG · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely delightful - What do you get when you combine four spry retirees sailing around the world and a married couple on the rocks? One of the sweetest love stories ever. Minnie, Dottie, Sookie, and Henry take Ava and Vince under their wings to get the lovelorn couple back together after his mother made Ava an outsider in their marriage. A wonderful short story with a great cast of characters and no naughty business. I listened to the Audible version. The narrator did a great job.

[Shae · Rating 4 out of 5]

True Rating: 3.5 stars

This one was really cute! I loved the elderly matchmakers helping this couple work through their problems. The problems they have are realistic for a marraige, and having the sound advice of the snowbirds on their cruise really helped them out. It was adorable. Nothing new or groudbreaking, but still a really fun, short narration.

[Julia · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story had lots of promise and would have been amazing if expanded upon. Because of how short the story was and how fast things moved and jumped along, there was no character development or much time to get to understand and connect with the characters. If the author were to rewrite the story and expand on it, I would definitely give it a read.

[itsallaboutbooksandmacarons · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was nice and also funny short listening. About friendships and second chances amd how for man is so difficult to left the parents. That made me feel reall like I feel. And was so nice to read about old feelings coming back

[Sylvie Rochon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun read from Carolyn Brown. Her stories are always cute, emotional and fun. Three best friends in their 70's play matchmaker on a cruise between a separated couple who show up on the cruise unaware the other will be there. The audiobook is a full cast!