Calling On the Matchmaker. Jody Hedlund. 2023. [December] 352 pages. [Source: Library] [historical romance, historical fiction]
First sentence: "Nip along with you now, Finola." Madigan bounded onto Broadway, dodging an omnibus that was slogging through the thick mud. "The matchmaker is waiting."
If Calling On the Matchmaker was published by a SECULAR publishing company or publishing house, then I would not be rating it one star. As it is published by a Christian publishing company and one who is not particularly known for being "edgy" or "pushing boundaries," I think the one star is fair enough to warn Christian readers that compromises have been made.
The premise of this one is relatively straightforward: Finola Shanahan, our heroine, does NOT want to get married. For better or worse, she thinks becoming a nun is the answer. (In my opinion (as a non-Catholic at that) I think wanting to avoid getting married out of fear of having children only to lose them to death is a HORRIBLE reason to pledge yourself--your life, your service--to the church. She does not seem motivated by a love for Jesus Christ OR having genuinely felt the call to a life of service to Jesus Christ.) Her family disagrees. They don't want their daughter to give up on love just yet. A matchmaker is being employed to help Finola find a husband. Finola's goal--as it has been the past dozen times--is to sabotage the experience. To become the exact opposite of whatever her would-be-husband is looking for. This plan backfires when sources become compromised.
Riley Rafferty, our hero, has a one track mind. Well, that's not fair. He isn't only thinking of sex, sex, sex, sex. He's also thinking of who he can save and who can see him saving. Riley saves people--that's what he does. And he aspires to be a politician. Finola is one of the people he saves--though not the only one.
Riley doesn't want to get married--not exactly--but he does want Finola in his bed. By the second chapter, he's already seen her mostly naked. He is willing to court her through a matchmaker. Maybe the marriage will happen, maybe it won't. But in the meantime, he can hold her in his arms and have a little fun.
Finola isn't interested in marriage--obviously--but a little physical fun with the oh-so-dreamy Riley is a great way to kill time. But can these two explore physical pleasures in their "courting" outings without having to pay the price? Will these two reluctant suitors end up married after all?
This one is set in 1849 in St. Louis.
To pretend that this one hasn't crossed all sorts of lines and boundaries in so-called Christian romance, would be wrong. Yet so many reviews don't mention the CONTENT. A few do. I am thankful that there are some reviewers out there who want to warn readers when Christian romance novels are anything but Christian.
I do think there are certain expectations that readers have of Christian publishing companies and Christian authors. One of the most basic being that what is being published (and promoted as Christian) actually lives up to a standard. There was no standard here. NO standard.
The outings and meetings these two had were COMPLETELY and totally inappropriate. These are the kinds of scenes I'd expect in secular smut. The matchmaker (whose name I've forgotten, he's taking over from his grandfather, I think???) and the two main characters are HORRIBLE characters if you are looking for Christian role models.
Other than the content being lust-forward, is there Christian content to balance out their hormones???? NO. Not really. Not every Christian novel is going to have their characters living out a spiritually rich faith. Some take a more subtle approach. There are no moral or spiritual lessons in this one. No gospel to be found. No Savior being glorified. No scripture verses being shared, prayed, meditated on.
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