Review: "Diary of a Beverly Hills Matchmaker" by Marla Martenson

Marla Martenson is well- known for her dating self-help books Excuse Me, You Soul Mate is Waiting and Good Date, Bad Date but in Diary of a Beverly Hills Matchmaker she gives us a glimpse into the not-so-glamourous world of a professional matchmaker. Her memoir recalls some of the time that she spent working at a high-end matchmaking service that she affectionately calls "Double D", primarily because most of the men that she is matching up prefer women who have them.

Marla kept me in stitches throughout the book as she (anonymously) described some of the people that she was matchmaking for, and what they were looking for. One of my favourite parts of the book had to be the e-mails that she included, just to give us a taste of what she was dealing with on a daily basis. Here's one of the funniest ones:

"Hi Marla, Scott, here. I'm so glad I joined your dating agency; I can see this is going to be verrrrry interesting....Hey, the gal you lined me up with last evening was gorgeous, but I would really like my matches to be a 10, or ideally a 10+. And the gal needs to back up her beauty with an income of her own and her own living quarters. No roomate situations. I don't waste my time with someone who doesn't live up to my expectations- you know, long legs, firm butt, Double-D's, thin arms, blonde hair.

SCL" (from page 1)

Marla shares some stories and e-mails similar to the one above, which provided me with no end of entertainment. In fact, if she's ever looking to do a follow-up, I would love to see a whole book of these e-mails. The replies that she writes (but doesn't send) are hilarious as well.

She balances these e-mails with some sweet ones about her success stories. I loved reading about the couples who did end up living happily-ever-after, proving that, even in Hollywood, a happy ending is possible.

There's a Jen Lancaster-like feel to Diary of a Beverly Hills Matchmaker, as Marla includes portions of her day-to-day life in there as well. We meet her Latin husband, Adolfo, who feels that she isn't domestic enough (but is sweet nonetheless). We read about Marla's struggles to strike a balance between her full-time job, writing her self-help books, and her personal life with Adolfo. We read about her attempts to find the perfect home, and her internal struggles against Hollywood's perception of the aging woman. Especially fun was her description of her book tour, and how thrilling it was to show up at a bookstore and to be the guest of honour!

I thoroughly enjoyed this glimpse into the world of a real-life matchmaker. It was like spying on the lives of the rich and unscrupulous, but without the chance that the person that you're spying on will call the police and land you in jail. Fun and delicious, this is one memoir that I would recommend taking with you to the beach!

Rating: 4 stars out of 5
Recommended to: Fans of the light-hearted and fun memoir
Challenges: 2010 100+ Reading Challenge, New Author Challenge 2010

Thank-you to Marla Martenson for sending me this copy in exchange for my honest review.