The Backlot Gay Book Forum discussion

Mismatched (Matchmakers 1)
By Declan Rhodes
Published by the author, 2019
Four stars

Daniel and Blake run a “high-end” gay matching service (whatever that means!) in Wisconsin. Daniel is a nearly-forty gay man (aging well, we are told, which always makes me snort) and Blake, his hot-shot code writer, is straight. They all but disappear after the opening of the story, but I suspect, since this is the first of a series, they will reappear.

Blake’s brilliant algorithm has matched up a high-powered young lawyer, Hank Donovan, with a laid-back motorcycle dealer and mechanic, Lucas Dean. A minor glitch in the software leaves Blake wondering what will happen, but rather than tell his gung-ho boss about the error, he simply corrects it and hopes for the best.

This is classic m/m romance, but I have to say that Declan Rhodes (whose website says nothing about him of any significance) writes very nicely, and grammatically. Both Hank and Lucas carry on with the dating process outlined by Match Made, and because they believe it’s supposed to be a good match, make the effort to look past the initial awkwardness and obvious differences between the two men.

Then, as it is wont to do, life steps in and upsets the apple cart. Hank finds himself engaged with Lucas in an entirely unexpected – and unwanted – way. Thing is, it is this unanticipated interaction that changes everything, and forces the careerist Hank to think long and hard about the family-centric Lucas.

I was intrigued that, in a series that is supposed to be about matchmaking in the modern world, the emphasis in the first installment is on error and miscalculation. Of course, that has piqued my curiosity, so I suppose I’ll have to add book two to my backlog.