February 1, 2024
McCall Smith, author of the acclaimed The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, ventures into rom-com territory here, using a dating service in Edinburgh as the staging area for romantic complications. The Perfect Passion Company is a matchmaking agency catering to people tired of using apps for dating. Ness, the owner, needs a break from the demands of engineering romance. She leaves her totally inexperienced young cousin, Katie, to run the agency while Ness seeks solitude in the Canadian wilds. Katie has to deal with a bevy of bewildering client problems and requests, while Ness is unwillingly thrown into matchmaking in Canada. Their misadventures form the narrative thread running through the three interlaced parts of this story: "Cook for Me," "A Laborer in the Vineyard of Love," and "The Girl from Melbourne." As always with McCall Smith, expect the kind of dialogue you wish you could have more often, keen observations, comic plot twists, and a main character to cheer for.
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