Matchmaking for Psychopaths: A Novel by Tasha Coryell

Lexie is completely ready for her surprise birthday party. She had given clear hints to her best friend, her fiancé, and her mother-in-law-to-be. Sure, it wouldn't exactly be a surprise this way, but she would love it--she knew she would.

So why are her best friend and fiancé playing a joke that they're in love?

Oh.

Because it's not a joke.

It's Lexie's nightmare.

She had opened up to her best friend about her parents' dark crimes and her messed up childhood--surely she wouldn't tell Lexie's now ex-fiancé--because, Lexie had to win him back.

But first, a night of being reckless is what Lexie determines is best.

On this reckless night she meets the incredibly attractive and magnetic Aidan. The two have a wild night of fun--but no sex--Lexie makes sure of that despite how altered her state my be. The problem is, the next morning she does not remember how many of the skeletons in her closet she let the man see or what that man's name even is.

Luckily, he's not there when she wakes up and Lexie decides to dive right back into the only job she's ever been good at: matchmaking psychopaths. Now, Lexie is careful not to use that word with her clients or really anyone outside of her matchmaking office, but that is what her clients are (even if the DSM-5 does not recognize it as an official diagnosis).

Her new client is named Rebecca and she is perfect. She's stunning, watches all of the same reality dating shows Lexie does, and, as it turns out, also has a murdered father. That's right, Lexie doesn't talk about that much, but her father was murdered. She does feel like she can talk about it with Rebecca though--there's an immediate bond between them.

But then Aidan shows up at her office asking for a date with Lexie. Lexie is able to persuade him to let her matchmake for him instead. He agrees, but something behind his smile tells Lexie that he has another plan.

At first, Lexie is confident she can become friends with Rebecca and find a match for Aidan all the while maintaining the right balance of professional boundaries and maybe even earn a promotion.

But then the heart appears at her doorstep.

A real heart.

A heart that has been cut out of a human's chest.

From there, her past, her parents, her partnerships, and even her pals all begin to mix and collide in dangerous, but perhaps even thrilling ways. It will be up to Lexie if she can weather this storm that her parents set adrift decades ago.

Matchmaking for Psychopaths: A Novel by Tasha Coryell was an engrossing read. Yes, it is most certainly within the thriller drama, but it has well-established foreshadowing, deftly drops Lexie's lore at a gripping pace for readers, characters that are compelling and fit perfectly within genre-expectations, and a few final twists handily thrown beneath the reader's feet just when they felt too steady. This book does contain gore--difficult to have a heart delivered to a doorstep without it--but it does not feel excessive or overly voyeuristic.

If you want a dynamic well-written thriller, Matchmaking for Psychopaths is for you.

Matchmaking for Psychopaths: A Novel by Tasha Coryell, Berkley