{"id":27224,"date":"2026-07-01T08:58:31","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T12:58:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=27224"},"modified":"2026-08-03T17:16:18","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T21:16:18","slug":"the-unmatchmakers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/27224","title":{"rendered":"The Unmatchmakers"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Unmatchmakers<\/em><\/a> (2022) Jackie Lau<\/a><\/p>\n

\"TheLeora may find her mother frustrating, but she’s looking forward to a week at the vacation house her mother bought with her two best friends–even if she hasn’t seen the kids she nearly grew up with in years.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a bit weird, us all hanging out as adults. Different than it was when we were little, and yet also a touch familiar, in a way<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Henrietta Leung is complicated. A single mother, her expectations for Leora are different from those of other immigrant parents.<\/p>\n

My mother, on the other hand, let me go out with friends and didn\u2019t demand perfect grades; she just told me that good grades might give me more opportunities, but there were other pathways to success outside of university.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It was emphasized that a knight in shining armor, a prince, or an ogre was never coming to save me. Love was a lie, and I could only count on myself.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Which is the basis for the story. Leora and Neil have chemistry and get along, but Henry Leung and Tanya Choy are adamantly opposed to romance and love and do everything possible to keep the two apart.<\/p>\n

…with Tanya and Dee, she found the support she needed. Three mothers raising their kids alone. Three women who\u2019d sworn off men.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I liked a lot about this story, from Neil likely being Ace and ASD:<\/p>\n

I do really like you, Leora, and that doesn\u2019t happen often for me.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

a lot of things were overwhelming for me. Once, I went to a school dance and left after five minutes. Too many people\u2014but more than anything, it was the loud music that was torture.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

To Henry and Tanya actively trying to keep the two apart.<\/p>\n

But where the story fell short for me (as many of Jackie Lau’s stories do) was the focus on the sexual chemistry. Again, this is a me thing, and I am not here to yuck anyone’s yum, but there were so many interesting elements to the story that I got annoyed every time I’d have to skim Leora’s fantasizing about Neil, or the boinking bits when they actually get together.<\/p>\n

This was frustrating because I liked so much else about the story, and even the third act “breakup” (not actually a break-up)–which I typically despise as a trope, and which irked me initially, upon reflection worked, since I realized that I have often failed to call\/email\/text in a timely manner, because I keep putting it off until I can “figure out what to say”. <\/p>\n

And let me say that was a very uncomfortable recognition.<\/p>\n

So as usual with a Jackie Lau story, I loved everything except all the boinking, which was a big part of the story, but for me distracted from the “interesting bits.” I’ll keep reading Jackie Lau stories, because I really do enjoy her writing and story telling, but I’ll likely only pick them up on sale, because of all the boinking bits distracting me from the parts I love.<\/p>\n

Characters<\/strong>: Leora Leung, Jaime, Neil Choy, Henrietta Leung, Dee, Zoey, Auntie Tanya Choy, Dee, Robbie Choy, Erin, Sandy<\/p>\n

Publisher: Kobo Originals<\/p>\n

Rating: 7\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Unmatchmakers (2022) Jackie Lau Leora may find her mother frustrating, but she’s looking forward to a week at the vacation house her mother bought with her two best friends–even if she hasn’t seen the kids she nearly grew up with in years. It\u2019s a bit weird, us all hanging out as adults. Different than […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[193,189,897,292,204,608,196,148,26,56,936],"tags":[508,50,688],"class_list":["post-27224","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-7-10","category-ace","category-contemporary","category-ebook","category-good","category-neurodiversity","category-novella","category-queer","category-romance","category-sexual-content","category-single-point-of-view","tag-asd","tag-boinking","tag-jackie-lau"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-756","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":13414,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/13414","url_meta":{"origin":27224,"position":0},"title":"Ice Cream Lover","author":"Michelle","date":"September 12, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Ice Cream Lover (2019) Jackie Lau (Baldwin Village) Drew Lum has sworn off dating. His fiancee left him standing at the alter, and then wrote a book about \"your inner ice cream sandwich\" that accuses Drew (under a pseudonym) of stifling her, being a terrible boyfriend, and someone who would\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "eBook"","block_context":{"text":"eBook","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/ebook"},"img":{"alt_text":"Ice Cream Lover","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Ice-Cream-Lover.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":22220,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/22220","url_meta":{"origin":27224,"position":1},"title":"Donut Fall in Love","author":"Michelle","date":"September 19, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Donut Fall in Love (2021) Jackie Lau Ryan Kwok is worried that his latest movie is a flop. This movie could be a major setback. Movies about guys like him weren\u2019t allowed to flop. People would point at this single movie as proof that no more like it should be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Donut Fall in Love","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Donut-Fall-in-Love.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Donut-Fall-in-Love.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Donut-Fall-in-Love.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":26416,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/26416","url_meta":{"origin":27224,"position":2},"title":"Not Your Valentine","author":"Michelle","date":"March 26, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Not Your Valentine (2023) Jackie Lau Helen is done with romance. And not unreasonably so. Charlie Kung broke up with me at a restaurant last Valentine\u2019s Day, a break-up that practically everyone in the world witnessed. But everyone keeps asking her if she's moved on, and it's annoying, so the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Not Your Valentine","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Not-Your-Valentine.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":17671,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/17671","url_meta":{"origin":27224,"position":3},"title":"One Bed for Christmas","author":"Michelle","date":"August 20, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"One Bed for Christmas (2018) Jackie Lau (Baldwin Village) Wes Chang has been in love with Caitlin Ng since she almost knocked him unconscious with a door their freshman year in college. But Caitlin is a successful CEO and Wes... Wes is now living a life that makes him happy,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "eBook"","block_context":{"text":"eBook","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/ebook"},"img":{"alt_text":"One Bed for Christmas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/One-Bed-for-Christmas.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":17668,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/17668","url_meta":{"origin":27224,"position":4},"title":"The Ultimate Pi Day Party","author":"Michelle","date":"August 20, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"The Ultimate Pi Day Party (2019) Jackie Lau (Baldwin Village) Josh Yu is a successful CEO and on the list of the \u201c35 Most Eligible Bachelors Under 35 in Toronto. But he doesn't have love. Of a partner or his father. Despite the fact that everything he has done is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "eBook"","block_context":{"text":"eBook","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/ebook"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Ultimate Pi Day Party","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/The-Ultimate-Pi-Day-Party.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":24094,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/24094","url_meta":{"origin":27224,"position":5},"title":"Bidding for the Bachelor","author":"Michelle","date":"November 23, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Bidding for the Bachelor (2021) Jackie Lau (Fong Brothers #2) Cedric Fong was a success with his first book, but hasn't been able to get further than chapter 5 on anything he's started since. Brian Poon is a party boy whose father cut him the previous year after learning he\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Bidding-for-the-Bachelor.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27224","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27224"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27224\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}