Power of the Matchmaker

Synopsis:
A prequel novella to the POWER OF THE MATCHMAKER Series
Mystical . . . Beautiful . . . Romantic . . .
12 novels by 12 bestselling authors
Released once a month in 2016
Read the matchmaker’s story to find out where it all starts . . .

Mae Li has been in love with Chen Zhu for years, and he with her. But when the matchmaker arrives at the Zhu family home, she recommends another village girl for Chen.

Heartbroken, Mae Li watches as Chen does his duty by marrying another. Mae flees her village with the clothes on her back and her only possession—a pearl embedded comb, given to her as a goodbye gift from Chen Zhu.

Upon Mae’s arrival in Shanghai, she quickly learns that she’ll starve within days unless she sells her prized comb or joins a courtesan house. She goes to the Huangpu River and promises the River God that she’ll always be selfless if he will save her from becoming a prostitute . . . Her wish is granted when Ms. Tan, the matchmaker of Shanghai, finds Mae. But Mae must completely change her future and her name if she is to become the next matchmaker.

    

My Review:
3 stars — I received an arc of this book in exchange for my honest review!

I’m finally about to start the book in this series that I’ve been looking forward to forever, so I figured I should read the prequel novella that’s been sitting on my kindle for a few months…whoops.  Also, as an aside, I don’t actually know who the author of this novella is, since they list all the authors for the series.  Somehow I doubt 12 authors managed to collaborate on one story.  😛

Most of this novella left me feeling kind of meh.  Not bad at all, just nothing too terribly remarkable.  But maybe it’s my disinterest in historical settings coming through?  Maybe I really am that partial to romance?  Partly it was that the story was basically given away in the synopsis…there were no surprises, just extended details if that makes sense.  It did stir my emotions — I felt for her losing the love of her life b/c of a mismatch…  And her struggles in Shanghai definitely hit you in the heart…  I guess it just wasn’t lasting.  I will be curious to see what her role is in the upcoming books…  I’m mostly in it for one book, but there are one or two others that sound intriguing to me, so it was nice to be introduced to her character and her background.