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zooloo1983's review
3.0
Whenever I see Zara Stoneley I know I have to read the book without reading the blurb and just say yes. This is what I have done here, Rosie recently dumped is made to feel she has to date again to move on with her life. After a disastrous date, she meets Noah. Noah is going to coach her on how to date and how to get her confidence back. We all know where this will go, but as I say I love the journey we go on with the characters that’s where the real fun happens.
The twist with this is the baggage for these two. Rosie has a lot of issues and they all stem from her dad. He is a jerk and he has way too much power over her and how she feels. This affected how she treats Noah, to an extent I got it, but like I said too much power and it made it hard for me to connect sometimes. She was a bit needy at times, a lot of does he like me, why doesn’t he like me. Don’t get me wrong, we can all be like that, I think she just annoyed me because it reminded me of me!
Noah, his baggage caused a lump in my throat, not willing to take that risk on love and his reasons why, well they made me want to just give him a huge cuddle but we couldn’t intrude on Rosie. He is you most typical tall handsome stranger that I would love to meet
The twist with this is the baggage for these two. Rosie has a lot of issues and they all stem from her dad. He is a jerk and he has way too much power over her and how she feels. This affected how she treats Noah, to an extent I got it, but like I said too much power and it made it hard for me to connect sometimes. She was a bit needy at times, a lot of does he like me, why doesn’t he like me. Don’t get me wrong, we can all be like that, I think she just annoyed me because it reminded me of me!
Noah, his baggage caused a lump in my throat, not willing to take that risk on love and his reasons why, well they made me want to just give him a huge cuddle but we couldn’t intrude on Rosie. He is you most typical tall handsome stranger that I would love to meet
bookishlynomes's review
3.0
3.5 stars
This story was super cute and is perfect for those who love reading or watching rom-coms! It had the classic storyline of heroine being stood up on her first date with a man she met online. Instead, heroine meets hero, a serial first dater and major flirt, who decides to impart his dating wisdom onto the heroine. As you can guess, this develops into a fun, flirty story!
I really enjoyed Stoneley's writing style. I haven't read anything else by her before but it was a great introduction. She sets the scene well, gives enough back story to help you understand the characters and provides lots of lighthearted, fun dialogue between the characters.
I'll admit it did take me a while at the beginning to warm up to the main characters but once that initial introduction began and the dialogue got going, it was great to see their interactions. Rosie's character started a little lost and confused but ended up really showing her strength and determination by the end; and Noah's rocky start had him appearing a little one dimensional with his over-the-top flirting but his personality really grew to show more of his sensitive side. I really enjoyed seeing both of these characters getting to know one another and taking a chance on each other.
Disclaimer: Thank you to One More Chapter/Harper Collins UK and Netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.
This story was super cute and is perfect for those who love reading or watching rom-coms! It had the classic storyline of heroine being stood up on her first date with a man she met online. Instead, heroine meets hero, a serial first dater and major flirt, who decides to impart his dating wisdom onto the heroine. As you can guess, this develops into a fun, flirty story!
I really enjoyed Stoneley's writing style. I haven't read anything else by her before but it was a great introduction. She sets the scene well, gives enough back story to help you understand the characters and provides lots of lighthearted, fun dialogue between the characters.
I'll admit it did take me a while at the beginning to warm up to the main characters but once that initial introduction began and the dialogue got going, it was great to see their interactions. Rosie's character started a little lost and confused but ended up really showing her strength and determination by the end; and Noah's rocky start had him appearing a little one dimensional with his over-the-top flirting but his personality really grew to show more of his sensitive side. I really enjoyed seeing both of these characters getting to know one another and taking a chance on each other.
Disclaimer: Thank you to One More Chapter/Harper Collins UK and Netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.
lydia_mazzei's review against another edition
2.0
Where did this book go wrong for me?
Premise: Similar has been done, but had potential.
Characters: Some witty banter and backstory that had depth, good chemistry.
Dialogue and Punctuation: A. MESS. How did this pass editing?
At first, I thought I was just keyed into the overuse of punctuation marks in the exposition because the main character was having a dramatic moment and it merited a few shouting moments. But then they persisted, even when a conversation was not emotionally charged. It started to feel like the characters were in a constant state of hysteria or shrieking. On one page about 27% in (thank Kindle tracking), I counted ELEVEN exclamation marks on one page. And then they just kept on coming.
Every time there seemed a desire to emphasize what a character was saying, an exclamation mark was thrown in, even though there was minimal to no descriptive narration that accompanied the dialogue (you know the show, don't tell writing technique where tone and body language are described). When the characters started to employ "hahaha" as dialogue, I officially gave up.
Premise: Similar has been done, but had potential.
Characters: Some witty banter and backstory that had depth, good chemistry.
Dialogue and Punctuation: A. MESS. How did this pass editing?
At first, I thought I was just keyed into the overuse of punctuation marks in the exposition because the main character was having a dramatic moment and it merited a few shouting moments. But then they persisted, even when a conversation was not emotionally charged. It started to feel like the characters were in a constant state of hysteria or shrieking. On one page about 27% in (thank Kindle tracking), I counted ELEVEN exclamation marks on one page. And then they just kept on coming.
Every time there seemed a desire to emphasize what a character was saying, an exclamation mark was thrown in, even though there was minimal to no descriptive narration that accompanied the dialogue (you know the show, don't tell writing technique where tone and body language are described). When the characters started to employ "hahaha" as dialogue, I officially gave up.
nzlisam's review against another edition
4.0
Cute, funny, uplifting, and sweet. I love the idea of a chance meeting in a disastrous dating situation., as well as ending up with someone you didn’t predict. The characters were realistic and engaging. A fun read.
miumeri's review
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
payal_reads_alot's review
3.0
Cute, predictable, but funny! I liked both Rosie and Noah, though Noah came off a bit of a leacher in the beginning. I am glad that the author didn't fixate on Rosie's appearance (just her style) or weight too much as it was told in first person. It would've been worse for the book if they had.
lisaluvsliterature's review
4.0
I’ve read one other book by this author, The Wedding Date, and I enjoyed it, so when this book came up I was excited to read it as well. Like the that book, this one was a sweet romance. Noah was really sweet, and funny, but I totally got where at times Rosie was confused by him. Because he told her he was a serial dater, and did nothing to change her mind about it. Said he wasn’t good enough for her, and that she deserved a man that was able to love. While in a way his issues were similar to players in other romances, the reason behind his fear of commitment was a lot different, or at least done differently and made me sad and want him to realize he deserved a girl like Rosie and love for himself. Rosie was funny, and in some ways I loved a lot of the things she felt and did, and her dating app experiences were so similar to my own in some ways that I connected with her on that. I wasn’t a huge fan of how she kept comparing Noah to her dad, as if he was a bad guy like her dad obviously was. It wasn’t fair, because even though Noah said he wasn’t going to ever be a one woman kind of guy, he was never doing anything to hurt anyone like her dad was.
I have to say while I was unsure about her mother for a lot of the book, once her mom called and asked her to find out how to contact a certain person from her father’s life, I got the inkling that her mom wasn’t as much of a pushover as she seemed, and I loved how that all worked out in the end.
Once again the sex scenes were pretty close to fade to black, which always leaves me a little unsatisfied. But that’s my own preference. And there were also a lot of British types of slang that slowed me down as an American, but not enough that I still didn’t enjoy the book. I could definitely see reading more by this author in the future.
Review first appeared on Lisa Loves Literature.
I have to say while I was unsure about her mother for a lot of the book, once her mom called and asked her to find out how to contact a certain person from her father’s life, I got the inkling that her mom wasn’t as much of a pushover as she seemed, and I loved how that all worked out in the end.
Once again the sex scenes were pretty close to fade to black, which always leaves me a little unsatisfied. But that’s my own preference. And there were also a lot of British types of slang that slowed me down as an American, but not enough that I still didn’t enjoy the book. I could definitely see reading more by this author in the future.
Review first appeared on Lisa Loves Literature.
lianareadsblog's review
3.0
3.5 stars
This was such a fun read overall. From the first chapter I had a smile on my face and it carried out through almost all the book.
I enjoyed the characters and how the author has brought to life nowadays expectations in dating life and how everyone is behaving regarding the topic.
What I didn’t liked was the constant comparison of the male character with her parental figure, that was fun at the beginning but it felt a bit too much by the end.
All in all , many people will enjoy it for a fun read.
This was such a fun read overall. From the first chapter I had a smile on my face and it carried out through almost all the book.
I enjoyed the characters and how the author has brought to life nowadays expectations in dating life and how everyone is behaving regarding the topic.
What I didn’t liked was the constant comparison of the male character with her parental figure, that was fun at the beginning but it felt a bit too much by the end.
All in all , many people will enjoy it for a fun read.
nukie19's review
2.0
I thought the set-up to this book sounded super cute - girl meets wrong boy at the bar and he agrees to "coach" her back into the dating game. Easy to see where it was going and the end won't come as a big surprise. But, the middle was just a disaster - Rosie has some serious (and justified) gripes about her dad and just never stops bringing him up, especially by comparing him to Noah, the man she is so clearly falling for. It honestly got really old and boring and I probably would have DNFed if I wasn't terrible at stopping. The beginning and end are fun, but the middle leaves a lot to be desired.
Thank you to the publisher for providing an ARC through Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you to the publisher for providing an ARC through Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.