Book Reviews

Book Blurb

None of the matches caught his eye as much as the matchmaker himself.

Growing up poorer than poor didn’t leave Navashen Bhattathiri many options for life outside of school. All of his concentration was on keeping his scholarships. Sixteen years later, he’s fulfilled his dream and become a doctor. Now he’s returning home to Lexington and is ready to prove himself to the world. In doing so, he reconnects with Brent Carpenter—high school classmate, real estate agent, all-around great guy… and closet matchmaker.

Brent makes it his mission to help Navashen develop a social life and meet available, interesting men. Unfortunately Navashen’s schedule is unpredictable, and few of those available, interesting men value his dedication like Brent does. Brent’s unfailing friendship and support convince Navashen he’s the one, but can he capture Brent’s heart when the matchmaker is focused on finding Navashen another man?

Book Review

‘A Matchless Man’ is one of the most understated slow-burn romances I have ever read. Based on what I found out about Navashen, the doctor of Indian descent who returns to his hometown after sixteen years of grueling studies and qualification, this is the only kind of romances that could have happened to him. Discovering the reason behind his thinking and behavior was fascinating, and while I can’t emotionally relate to his position, this book gave me great insight into his thinking, his feelings, and the way his mixed cultural heritage – Indian and American – shaped his beliefs. Everything he does is logical as seen from his point of view, and Ariel Tachna helped me understand why that is the case.

Navashen is a great doctor who specializes in premature babies’ health. There is a very personal reason for this – and I loved Navashen for this decision alone. Navashen has had to work very hard to get to where he is, since his family is poor and could have never paid for Navashen’s education. As a result, Navashen has had no social life to speak of and absolutely no time for a personal life. He is extremely focused on his job, helping others survive, and taking care of his parents and younger brother, now that he can afford to support them financially. Based on experience, Navashen doesn’t expect to fall in love. In that sense he is very Indian, and an arranged marriage probably would have surprised him less than the feelings he ends up developing for Brent.

Brent is intensely competitive, a successful real estate agent, and divorced. While he and Navashen were never extremely close in school, they were friends, and it is easy for them to fall back into that pattern. Brent is determined to ensure that Navashen has a social life and begins to date, and his own feelings never become a point for consideration – until Navashen realizes that his relationship with Brent is already very close and could become even deeper with only a little effort.

Even though there are so many good reasons for Navashen and Brent to date and become lovers, there are also a ton of factors that work against them. Some are cultural, some are Brent’s personal hang-ups, some are interfering parents and other problems. Navashen and Brent go through more than one attempt before they get it right, and the finer points of why and how they deal with the barriers kept me in suspense until the very end.

If you like character-based love stories that could have easily ended like a tragedy, if two men from different worlds getting together and dealing with the obstacles between them are your thing, and if you’re looking for a read that is very subtly romantic and wonderfully understated, then you will probably like this novel.

 

 

 

 

DISCLAIMER: Books reviewed on this site were usually provided at no cost by the publisher or author. This book has been provided by Dreamspinner Press for the purpose of a review.

Additional Information

Format	ebook, print and audio
Length	Novel, 224 pages/52604 words
Heat Level
Publication Date	01-October-2016
Price	$4.99 ebook, $9.99 paperback, $9.99 bundle, $19.95 audiobook
Buy Link	https://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/books/a-matchless-man-by-ariel-tachna-7492-b