Catherine McKenzie was born and raised in Montreal, Canada. A graduate of McGill University and McGill Law School, Catherine practices law in Montreal. 
Anne Blythe has a great life: a good job, good friends, and a potential book deal for her first novel. When it comes to finding someone to share it with, however, she just can’t seem to get it right.
After yet another relationship ends, Anne comes across a business card for what she thinks is a dating service, and she pockets it just in case. When her best friend, Sarah, announces she’s engaged, Anne can’t help feeling envious. On an impulse, she decides to give the service a try because maybe she could use a little assistance in finding the right man. But Anne soon discovers the company isn’t a dating service; it’s an exclusive, and pricey, arranged marriage service. She initially rejects the idea, but the more she thinks about it-and the company’s success rate-the more it appeals to her. After all, arranged marriages are the norm for millions of women around the world, so why wouldn’t it work for her?
A few months later, Anne is travelling to a Mexican resort, where in one short weekend she will meet and marry Jack. And against all odds, it seems to be working out-until Anne learns that Jack, and the company that arranged their marriage, are not what they seem at all.
BUY THE BOOK IN THE USA
Amazon USAmazon Kindle editionBarnes & NobleBarnes & Noble Nook
iBookstore
Powells
BUY THE BOOK IN CANADA
Amazon CA
Amazon CA Kindle
IndigoIndigo E-Book (Kobo)
Praise for Arranged
Who says chicklit has to end with a wedding? Canadian author Catherine McKenzie’s new book, Arranged, marries off her heroine, the relationship-challenged magazine editor, Anne Blythe, by the midpoint, after a mysterious marriage broker hooks her up. The perfect strangers become estranged, but getting to happily-ever-after has rarely been so entertaining. – Chatelaine, January 2011
Catherine McKenzie brings a smart twist to marriage and relationships in her second novel, the story of unlucky-in-love Anne Blythe. ARRANGED is crafted with pathos and subtle humour, and through it McKenzie’s heroine learns—the hard way—that the happiest endings are often the ones least expected.” – Shawn Klomparens, author of Jessica Z. and Two Years, No Rain
Catherine McKenzie’s ARRANGED is a satisfying and entertaining romance that puts a very contemporary twist on old-fashioned ideas about marriage. I inhaled it in an afternoon, rooting for its heroine to fine the love she longs for. – Leah Stewart, author of Body of a Girl and Husband & Wife
A novel that explores what happens when what you think you want collides with what you really need. Catherine McKenzie’s Arranged is a rare book: smart, funny, honest and absorbing. – Therese Walsh, author of The Last Will of Moira Leahy
Just when you think you’ve got ARRANGED figured out, time and again, Catherine McKenzie delivers the flawless, unexpected twist that keeps you glued to the book. – Cathy Marie Buchanan, The Day the Falls Stood Still
Reading Group Guide For Arranged
I am open to attending/calling in to book clubs. Please send all inquiries to catherineelizabethmckenzie@gmail.com and put “BOOK CLUB” in the subject-line. For now, here are a few questions to get you started!
- Do you know anyone who has had an arranged marriage? Do you think you would ever consider it if faced with a choice (and a Blythe & Company) like Anne’s? What images of arranged marriages are common in our society? Arranged marriage is often associated with lack of choice – how does freedom of choice, like Anne has, change your feelings on arranged marriage?
- One of Blythe & Company’s rules is that people who are married thanks to the company must lie and tell others that they met on vacation in Mexico and married on a whim. After Ms. Cooper tells her this, Anne reflects, “Apparently, it’s more acceptable in our love-obsessed society to spontaneously marry a complete stranger while on vacation than to have deliberately married one.” Do you agree?
- How would you react if a friend told you that s/he had entered into an arranged marriage? If s/he told you that s/he had married someone s/he barely knew on vacation? What, in your opinion, makes one situation more acceptable or palatable than the other?
- Blythe & Company operates on the assumption that good marriages are founded on friendship rather than love. In the end, Anne comes to realize that this does not satisfy her and that she was looking for love all along. What are your feelings on the roles of friendship and love in a marriage? Is it possible to have a strong marriage without friendship? Without love? What kind of marriage do you think that Jack and Anne have, and what do you think the future holds for this marriage?
- Before Anne meets Jack, she gets a slip of paper containing some basic information about him – name, age, profession, height, hair and eye color, family information, brief relationship history, feelings on children, and education. If you were in charge of matching people together at Blythe & Company, what information would you want them to have about each other? If you were being matched with someone, what information would you want to have about your match? What kind of information do you think is necessary to a decision like Anne is being asked to make?
- According to Dr. Szwick, Anne’s problem is that she thinks love should be easy, like in a fairytale, and doesn’t think she should have to work to fall in love. What do you think of his analysis? What do you think about the idea of having to work for love as opposed to the idea that love should come naturally, or as Anne’s ex-boyfriend thinks, that it is as simple as meeting the right person and settling down?
- Throughout the book, Anne criticizes herself for being too superficial and choosing partners based on their appearance. Do you think Anne is superficial? What role do you think appearance should play in choosing a partner?
- Sarah and Anne clearly have a very strong relationship as best friends, and over the course of the book they make it clear that they expect each other to be honest about each other’s partners and decision-making. However, when Sarah is honest with Anne when it comes to Anne’s shotgun (or so she thinks) marriage to Jack and its relationship to Sarah’s own impending marriage, Anne becomes furious with Sarah. What do you think about their disagreement? Who, if anyone, is in the wrong in this situation? Is it a best friend’s role to tell painful truths, or does one simply have to make mistakes to learn?
- Why do you think Jack kept writing his book even after marrying and beginning to fall in love with Anne?
- Do you think Anne made the right decision by forgiving Jack in the end? Why or why not?
- Anne is named after Anne Shirley of Anne of Green Gables, and indeed Lucy Maud Montgomery’s fictional universe seems to surround her in her life. Although you are likely not named for a fictional character, do you feel a particular affinity for any fictional character in your life? Which one and why?
