Blurb
As if it wasn’t bad enough to be deemed the “most single person” at her magazine’s office, budding reporter Penny has now been tapped to write a series of features called “The Dating Itinerary.” From speed dating to Tinder, old-fashioned matchmakers to up-and-coming “dark dating,” Penny now has to go on a lot of dates. Silver lining: meeting new people should be fun, right? But running into her old rival, George, at her first dating event is decidedly not. Not only does the arrogant know-it-all, who goes by Geo, have zero trouble attracting women, wherever Penny goes, somehow he just. Keeps. Showing. Up.
Geo knows he’s right on the cusp of writing success with the chance to have his own syndicated column. All he has to do is follow his agent’s ideas for showcasing different dating avenues, and he’ll pull in enough to help his sister’s non-profit women’s shelter get off the ground. Sure, his itinerary is starting to look strangely similar to his old rival Penny’s, but all’s fair in love and syndication, right?
The more they look for love in all the wrong places, though, the more they start to wonder if it was right in front of their noses all along. Still, the brutal dating scene just might end them, if these two don’t kill each other first.
Review
Journalist Penny Coyne has to partake in various dating adventures like speed dating, dating apps, and old-fashioned matchmaking to hopefully make a special connection and write about it for her magazine. The last thing she expects is a former colleague-turned-enemy to keep showing up at all her dating venues.
George “Geo” Monais is following the advice of his shady agent to try and land a big-time talk show and syndication deal. He’s intrigued with Penny, finally seeing her in a new light from when they used to work together. Now, they’re competitors all over again until they team up on this life-changing project.
As much as I wanted to like this story, I couldn’t connect with the main characters. I liked Penny all right, but Geo was pretty insensitive toward her at times. Beyond a few minor typos, I think my biggest issue was the lack of deep POV. There was more telling than showing, which slowed the pacing. And I had trouble seeing Penny’s sisters as more than token characters because of their highly unusual names (Dime, Nickel, and Quarter). As far as I remember, there wasn’t a reason given for those women to have names like that.
Overall, this is an interesting story about the modern age of dating, and some of the adventures Penny and Geo went on were a hoot. I definitely enjoyed seeing them bungle through one bad date after another with some crazy people, but I just couldn’t get into their romance. Oh, and by the way, this is a sweet/clean story with a little bit of kissing. No sex shown on page, so readers who want spicy should look elsewhere. I’m sure lots of readers will enjoy the story since everyone has different preferences. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t for me.
3 Stars
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