A Happy Catastrophe: A Novel

In this sequel to Matchmaking for Beginners, readers pick up with Marnie and Patrick, who are still living in Blix’s brownstone in Brooklyn. Marnie is still matchmaking, and she drops the bombshell on Patrick that she “needs” to have a baby with him as soon as possible. He believes he’s grown and changed as much as he ever can and he’s certain fatherhood is not for him. However, Marnie and the universe have drastically different plans.

Maddie Dawson is an extremely gifted writer. She’s a genius at nailing quirks and details to really make a story come to life. Despite the excellent writing, this story lacked the charm and wonder that made the first book so appealing and unforgettable. This story is steeped in darkness. While Marnie is concentrating on love sparkles, babies, and frippery in her Frippery, Patrick journeys into a depressive mental vortex. Marnie sort of notices, but chooses to ignore it, preferring to let Patrick come back to reality on his own. She’s painted as the victim of his bad mood. Because of the way they handled this seriously dark time in their relationship, the ending fell flat. Beautiful writing, but the storyline left me unsatisfied.