The Matchmaker

Audio/Ebook Review
Narrated by Madison Mitts & Theodore Zephyr
Ebook 5 stars
Audiobook 4 stars

“You like it when I forget to be a gentleman, huh.”

If you love an age-gap romance with a silver fox billionaire who throws out “Baby girl” then this steamy book is for you. Whew. Splash some cold water on my face as normally, “ baby girl” doesn’t do it for me but yowza. Sterling can baby girl me whenever he wants. Elle Nicoll, a first-time author read for me, is quickly moving to the top of my new favorite authors. This book is Super-hot. Riveting. And I can’t wait to read her backlog.

Sterling Beaufort’s daughter thinks he needs to find a new wife after becoming a widow 2 years ago. Enter Hallie, a matchmaker from London who flies to New York to help Sterling find his perfect match. But she wasn’t expecting to catch feelings for her new client. Nor was he expecting to fall hard for a woman 20 years younger.

This perfectly paced romance has all the swoony good stuff I love. Sterling is the perfect Alpha Stern Brunch Daddy: Business gentleman cool in public and wicked in the bedroom. I loved experiencing them both falling for each other and the storybook way Sterling falls for Hallie.

Theodore Zephyr’s voice was perfect for Sterling. His various British and New York accents are spot on. He really gets the inflection perfectly for Sterling’s various emotions and totally brings it in the bedroom scenes. Hallie is English and I thought that Madison’s accent for her was sufficient but was not consistent for my preference. (I’m a bit of a stickler on British accents. Having lived there I’m more aware when the accent doesn’t hit the mark.). At times she was a bit too sing-songy, like for Sterling’s daughter, and overplayed during the sex scenes. It was a distraction and pulled me out of the scenes. I looked up more of her books and sampled her American English narrations and liked her voice so I will be listening to more of her.

Loved this story. Loved seeing Sterling finally get the love he deserves and embrace it full on.
(I’m giving the ebook a 5 star. Yet the audio is a 4. Theodore’s narration is 5 stars all the way, but Madison’s was a 3 so I’m averaging it out to a 4. However, my overall rating will be a 5 as I don’t think the narration should take away from the authors rating.)

This is my first book written by Elle Nicoll and I am wondering how that is, but she has my attention now and it definitely won’t be my least. “The Matchmaker” is a great start to the “Beaufort Billionaires” series, with the first book featuring Sterling Beaufort, who lost his wife and youngest son two years earlier in a devastating boat fire, one he does not accept was an accident and is still looking into what happened that dreadful day. His daughter, Sinclair, thinks it is time for him to move on and find another love, so she hired one of the best matchmakers in the world, Halliday “Halli” Burton, of Cosmic Connections, who is from the UK. Sinclair hires her for a month and sets her up with an apartment to stay in. Halli has a great success rate with her matches and doesn’t think it will take the full month for her to find Sterling his perfect match, his soulmate. Except he does not even know she is coming, and states he is not interesting or looking for love, but he is a softie for his daughter and agrees to go along with it. Halli felt an instant connection with Sterling, but he was twenty years older and her client. Sterling felt the same, and the more time they spent together, he knew she was the one, despite their age difference and both trying to fight the chemistry between them and their feelings. It was great to watch these to get to know each other and see their relationship morph into something more. This engaging and multi-layered story is well-written and plotted with the perfect balance of drama, angst, some twists and turns, heartfelt emotions and steamy romance. Besides the fabulous story is the equally fabulous characters, both the two leads and the side/secondary characters, and the character growth and development is fantastic. Elle Nicoll, thanks for this wonderful story and emotional rollercoaster ride. I am looking forward to checking out more of your books.

🎧📚🎧  Madison Mitts and Theodore Zephyr are versatile voice artists and they did a fabulous job bringing these characters to life, giving each a voice that was fitting, accents and all, and was believable in every role. Their portrayal of the characters was spot on, with Madison Mitts nailing it as Halle, grasping every aspect of her personality and demeanor perfectly, from her confidence in her business to her strengths and vulnerabilities. Theodore Zephyr was just as amazing in his role as Sterling, also showcasing his personality and demeanor perfectly too. Both were fabulous performing the roles of the side/secondary characters too. They set the right tone for the story, captured all the characters’ emotions and had you feeling them all. They are entertaining storytellers and a pleasure to listen to.