ARC Review: The Matchmaker's Cottage by Kat Sloane

The Matchmaker's Cottage
Author: Kat Sloane
Publication: Berkley (August 11, 2026)

Description: A cozy fall romance wrapped in small-town charm reunites the owner of a bed-and-breakfast with her childhood sweetheart for a celebrity matchmaking scheme which has them both seeing stars

Julia Schaeffer might run the most romantic little bed-and-breakfast in Upstate New York, but as far as that infuriating Ethan Duchamp is concerned, this older, wiser Julia has a strict “no vacancy” policy. Sure, she’s teetering on the edge of a financial cliff, and his half-baked plan to pair up his celebrity clients at her inn will undoubtedly be good for business…but how much forced proximity with the man who abandoned her is she supposed to take?

Ethan needs this to work. The dreamy, autumnal—and blissfully secluded—cottage from his childhood summers is the ideal setting for playing matchmaker to Hollywood’s next power couple. It’s the only way to save his PR career from the tabloid toilet. He knew that the inn and Julia’s warm, comforting homemade touch would inspire real feelings—he just didn’t expect them to be his. Again.

But as old wounds reopen, and their connection rekindles, Julia and Ethan are forced to confront the truths they’ve both tried to bury. In a town where nothing stays hidden for long, they’ll have to decide if they can rebuild what was lost—or if their second chance will be derailed by scars that have yet to heal.

My Thoughts: Best friends from childhood through college reunite in this romance set in a bed-and-breakfast in Upper New York State. 

Julia Schaeffer has purchased the summer camp where she and Ethan Duchamp spent most of their childhood summers. She's turned it into a B&B but is drowning under the bills that have piled up. She's always suffered from anxiety attacks, but they are definitely getting worse with the current stress.

Ethan works for a PR firm and, after a PR disaster, needs a win. He chooses Julia's inn as the place to publicize a PR romance between two young stars - Katy and Noah - who have their own reasons for PR to distract from problems in their lives. 

Katy and Noah became friends while working on a movie together and are scheduled to star again in the sequel. They are good buddies, but there is no romance between them. The romance that grows at the B&B is that between Julia - called Gem by Ethan since they were kids - and Ethan. Each has mental health issues of various kinds and a great fear of ever beginning something again with the other. 

Add in a new romance between Katy and Julia's cook/housekeeper and the arrival of a former client of Ethan's who has fabricated a romance between the two of them and you have a tense and twisty sort of romance. 

Fans of romances with real-life touches will enjoy this story. I found the relationships among the various characters to be interesting and complex enough to make the romance between Julia and Ethan sort of secondary to the story. 

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.