Playing with Matches

Written by Hannah Orenstein

Narrated by Jennifer O'Donnell

In the tradition of Good in Bed and The Assistants comes a funny and smart comedy about a young matchmaker balancing her messy personal life and the demands of her eccentric clients. Sasha Goldberg has a lot going for her: a recent journalism degree from NYU, an apartment with her best friend Caroline, and a relationship that would be amazing if her finance-bro boyfriend Jonathan would ever look up from his BlackBerry. But when her dream career falls through, she uses her family's darkest secret to land a job as a matchmaker for New York City's elite at the dating service Bliss. Despite her inexperience, Sasha throws herself into her new career, trolling for catches on Tinder, coaching her clients through rejection, and dishing out dating advice to people twice her age. She sets up a TV exec who wanted kids five years ago, a forty-year-old baseball-loving virgin, and a consultant with a rigorous five-page checklist for her ideal match. Sasha hopes to find her clients The One, like she did. But when Jonathan betrays her, she spirals out of control-and right into the arms of a writer with a charming Southern drawl, who she had previously set up with one of her clients. He's strictly off-limits, but with her relationship on the rocks, all bets are off. Fresh, sweet, and laugh-out-loud funny, Playing with Matches is the addictive story about dating in today's swipe-heavy society, and a young woman trying to find her own place in the world.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Jun 26, 2018
• ISBN: 9781501989643

Hannah Orenstein

Hannah Orenstein is the author of Playing with Matches, Love at First Like, and Head Over Heels, and is the deputy editor of dating at Elite Daily. Previously, she was a writer and editor at Seventeen.com. She lives in Brooklyn.

Reviews for Playing with Matches

[Bethany Powell · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

If you like happy, tied up endings do not read this book.

[angeljmartin · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

When I finished Head Over Heels, I immediately bought Orenstein's other books. I was most excited for this one considering the cover is so cute, with it being pink and just overall an aesthetically pleasing cover. The concept was also something I hadn't heard of, so I was intrigued.I really liked the first bit of the book. I couldn't stop reading it, and I was completely invested in it. I love Orenstein's writing, and this book didn't change that. However, I eventually lost interest in the book.Sasha was relatable, and I really liked her. However, she was the only character I really liked. The rest of them were either obnoxious or just sort of uninteresting. Even so, Sasha was annoying at times, too. Her crush on Adam was a little weird at times, especially at first.This book felt more like something I'd have enjoyed when I was a couple years younger. It seemed more like a coming-of-age, young adult romance, so if you like that type of book, I think you'd like this one. It was good, just not my favorite.