Rival Matchmaker, a character in the Ms. Match book, is a senior matchmaker at Two's Co. Matchmaking Services and your character's love interest. His/Her suggested name is "Jack/Jaqueline Monroe" but the player can choose a name for him/her. He/She is first seen in Chapter 1.
Appearance
Rival Matchmaker's gender and looks are determined by the player. The male wears a dark gray windowpane-patterned suit with white button-up dress shirt, red floral tie with silver tie clip, and red handkerchief. The female wears a red bodycon dress with side cut-outs, a short black leather jacket, and a gold necklace with black pendant.
Personality
Rival Matchmaker has "lived" his/her job for a decade, and as such, is confident and cocky in his/her talent and experience. Rival also believes he/she is ridiculously handsome/beautiful, funny, smart, persistent, and a smooth talker. Rival generally hides his/her true feelings and doubts behind jokes and distractions.
In the beginning, Rival has a colored view towards love and commitment due to his/her parents' divorce when he/she was younger. Rival remembers how painful it was for his/her mom to go through and wants to be certain before falling in love that that person is worth it.
Background
During Rival's childhood, his/her mother, Diana, worked while his/her father kept sinking the family further into debt. The debt almost cost them their flower shop, but they were able to pull through. He left quickly after that.
Before his/her parents divorced, they were often fighting and Rival came up with Operation: CUPID to try to get them back in love. Rival would do the dishes overnight, sign romantic notes, make bouquets, and leave chocolate for Diana, making Diana believe that his/her father actually did those things for her. While Rival knows today that s/he didn't have anything to do with their break-up, as a kid, s/he believed it was his/her fault they broke up, especially when they divorced and his/her father never showed up for him/her. You can point out that this explains Rival's grand gestures and the drive to push him/herself.
Chapters
Ms. Match
Ms. Match
- Chapter 1: How Could I Resist?
- Chapter 2: The Magic Spark
- Chapter 3: Head In The Game
- Chapter 4: Tides of Longing
- Chapter 5: That's Bananas
- Chapter 6: The Things That Really Matter
- Chapter 7: All According To Plan
- Chapter 8: So You Need to Sabotage a Date?
- Chapter 9: The Roberts Gambit
- Chapter 10: Striking Out
- Chapter 11: All is Fair
- Chapter 12: The Fallout
- Chapter 13: Taste of Victory
- Chapter 14: Down But Not Out
- Chapter 15: The Best Thing About Us
Relationships
Your Character
Rival Matchmaker meets you on Valentine's Day at your father's bar, the Stockyard. As a matchmaker, he/she works the holiday rather than goes on dates of his/her own. You help Rival Matchmaker with his/her clients, and later after a walk in the park, you two become intimate. He/She invites you to his/her company's own Valentine's Day party (which takes place the day after Valentine's Day) and introduces you to his/her boss. Although Rival doesn't appear to be upset that Veronica offered you a job, he/she is upset about having to compete for a position that he/she thought he/she was being given. It is hard for you to get straight answers out of him/her and although you two are sexually attracted to each other, Rival infuriates you. He/She tells you that it is forbidden for co-workers to date at Two's Co. and that you two cannot date in the future.
- "Love should be beautiful. The magic spark that endures and endures. I want to make sure, before I commit to someone, that they're worth it."
- —Rival to you
When you are named CEO of Two's Co. and Veronica retires, Rival quits the company. He/she says that you two work the best when you are competing against each other, and decides to form his/her own company. This does not change your personal relationship though, as you two remain a couple and use the competition between your companies as incentive on who gets the right to name a shared pet. Rival wants to name your golden retriever "Guybrush Threepwood" but you object, stating you'll win the competition for most matches made soon.
Veronica Roberts
Veronica Roberts is his/her boss. Rival Matchmaker thought he/she was the heir apparent to take over the company when Veronica steps down, but is surprised when Veronica decides to make it a competition between the matchmakers. Rival feels that Veronica doesn't take him/her seriously because she has made the promotion to CEO a competition rather than rewarding him/her for his/her work.
In Chapter 11, her soon-to-be ex-husband, Richard, is his "surprise" match for Veronica. Rival thought that maybe if they had magic together in the past, they could rekindle their love. Rival tells you that he/she did not know Richard had cheated on Veronica several times, and when he/she had called Richard, it was Richard who pleaded with Rival to try to help him win his wife back.
Character Customization
Other Looks
Male
Female
Miscellaneous
Trivia
- A male version is shown on the cover of Ms. Match.
- He/She is the second gender-customizable character whose default name depends on the gender chosen, the first is Mayor Dixon.
- If the default name is kept, the male version will share the same name as Jack from Home for the Holidays and Jack from The Cursed Heart, Book 2.
- If the default surname is kept, he/she will share the same surname as Bishop Monroe from the Desire & Decorum series, the default surname of MC from Foreign Affairs as well as his/her/their mother, and Colt Monroe from Untameable.
- In Chapter 15, he/she quits working for Two's Co. and opens his/her own matchmaking company Cupid's Touch.
- His/her usual dish at his/her favorite restaurant is chicken piccata.