[I received an electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Forever in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]
Summary
Samiah’s mind was on her date later that night with Craig when her sister first mentioned the Twitter post. Someone was live tweeting her first date with a guy. As the tweet thread continued, Samiah started to feel sick. The woman was obviously out with Craig. He was using the reservation she had gotten for them for this other date. He had told her something came up and made plans with her for later that night.
By the time Samiah got to the restaurant to confront Craig, there was a third woman there. Craig had “catfished” all three of them. Samiah lit into Craig, and other diners caught it on video. It went viral. At least she gained a friendship with the two other women. That was the only positive from the whole mess. Now the ladies have sworn off men for awhile and are going to spend time on themselves and things that matter to them.
Then Samiah meets Daniel, the new hire at work. He’s smart, compassionate, and gorgeous. Even though she said she was going to take 6 months off from dating to focus on herself and a project she’s been wanting to dig into, Daniel is too tempting to keep pushing away. But Daniel is keeping a secret. And after her experience with Craig, that is something that will devastate Samiah if it ever comes out.
Review
This was delightful! It’s a fun romance between two great characters. I was fascinated by Daniel’s real job. And Samiah is an ideal protagonist – smart, a great friend, and a leader who knows her field and her value. Together, they were explosive.
But what made this different from some of the other tech-based romances I’ve read lately (The Right Swipe, Can’t Escape Love) is the mystery that Daniel is working on throughout the book. It’s an ever-present background issue. There’s nothing for the reader to figure out, though, no culprit to find. It’s not the focus of the story, but it’s still a fascinating layer to the whole. I loved it.
It’s clear early on that Samiah’s new friends are leading women waiting to tell their own stories, sort of like the Central Park Pact series, which I loved. And the epilogue in this book does double duty for wrapping up Samiah and Daniel’s story as well as teeing up the next book in the series. And you can sign me up for that right now! This was so good, I won’t hesitate to snatch up the sequel the minute it debuts. Contemporary romance fans as well as geek/tech romance fans should not miss this one! (Language, sex)