Jess and Hannah have been best friends for over 20 years, Jess owns a dating app which matches people with their life match, however it’s close to getting closed down due to lack of funds. Her best friend comes to her rescue by offering to be paired up and married to gain a huge following. What can go wrong? This book was a light hearted read, which kept me wanting more.

Firstly, thanks to NetGalley for providing myself with an ARC.

So, the star of this book annoyed me. The whole book is based on the idea of the main character meeting her husband for the first time on their wedding day, so why tell us at the beginning she makes it to the alter and then half the book is the build up for that? It seemed like a waste of time and a lot of back and forth from Hannah just for her to end up at the alter like we knew she would when the book first started.

Secondly, Jess is HORRIBLE. She’s mean, she snaps at her husband all the time but is LOVELY to her best friend the next second. She acts like she would rather be single like Hannah even though she’s been with the same person for 20 years.

Hannah is annoying, naive and flakey. She doesn’t even know what she wants and changes her mind all the time, she should definitely not be getting married to a stranger when she changes her mind so easily. She believes perfect marriages exist and people should fall in love at first sight and never argue, she’s just frustrating.

Both male characters I actually really liked, but a bit bland.

Nothing felt like it really happened in this book, it was mostly just character dialogue and events that were brushed over, and never really gone into much detail about. Bank meetings, business meetings. What were said?

I like that we got the two characters points of view but it would have been interesting to include Toby’s, especially in the lead up to the wedding etc.

All in all, I finished the book and didn’t HATE it.

Also that ending, them talking over the past 12 months just seemed super inorganic

I find this quite a slow burner. The idea is very apt in this day and age of dating, but the story was just so and I felt I couldn’t get along with the characters in this story. They were either too selfish or too consumed in throwing a pity party. Not for me I’m afraid!

I hate hate hate giving negative reviews, but I really didn’t enjoy this.
Firstly, I found Hannah very unlikeable. She’s rude, judgemental and generally quite self centred. Hannah continuously debates with herself whether Jess is being selfish for putting her business before their friendship/Hannah’s wellbeing... but it was all Hannah’s idea? Jess started off quite likeable but, overall, I just found her and the rest of the characters quite dull. No one stood out.
As the book progresses, the wedding is mostly paid for my businesses wanting Save the Date to use their products... but initially when Jess was so worried that Save the Date was going under and they were in thousands of pounds of debt, I was just confused as to how paying for a wedding, which generally is around the £10,000 mark, was the first option.
Interesting premise but I just didn’t enjoy this at all.

Hmmm though I enjoyed the concept of this book I found one of the main characters - Jess - particularly insufferable ergo offputting throughout.

Not much actually happens. There is the build-up to the main event and then the fall out from it, however, it felt so much longer, likely due to the chucks and chunks of conversations between characters. There was no room for subtext as each character sat drinking a cup of tea or coffee and spewed out everything that was on their mind. Also, a lot of the characters sounded the same so it was hard to decipher who was talking at points.

It veers quite a lot from what the title allows you to believe what the novel is about.

I would like to thank Simon & Schuster and Netgalley for allowing me to read this eBook in exchange for an honest review. Unfortunately I really struggled to get into this book. I found the dialogue very boring. I was expecting a rom com and a modern take on the tv show ‘Married at First Sight’ but the story was just extremely passive. Reading about Jess struggling with her marriage was depressing and I felt disconnected from the main character Hannah. It was a very disappointing read.

Married at First Swipe by Claire Frost a five-star read you would definitely swipe right on. Would you marry at first swipe? I really do not think I could, and that’s part of the reason why I loved this story, Hannah has definitely got bigger stones than I do. She will wow you with her history, her travels, and her relationship with her G-Ma, watching her as she comes through the story really warmed me. But Hannah was not the only person who made this story, as there was Jess, Tom, or Tank as he is affectionately referred to, and then the new husband to be, he plays a big part as well. I do not want to give spoilers as its so good, and the characters will make you care about them, want to know their story, want to know what makes them sad. There were a couple of bits that it went on a little, but honestly, I adored it all, think it was most likely just me drifting rather than the story waffling. I had not read this author previously, but I will be checking them out and keeping an eye on what comes next.

Ah another classic romcom with a very modern twist from Claire Frost. This is one of the first times I have seen a modern marriage in today's society portrayed as well as this in a novel and I was here supporting Jess and Tom all the way. I also love the way this writer has taken the popularity of reality dating shows and mixed it into this novel, what happens once the cameras stop though? We get to find out to some extent here.

Jess is a great character and I defy anyone not to instantly get along with her. She has seen a gap in the market and an opportunity and made a successful dating business out of it. She is a mum and a wife at the same time and, like most of us, she feels like she is a failing at all of her roles. Social media and FOMO certainly doesn't help with this feeling but drinking gin with her bestie certainly does. I love how real Jess is, I could totally imagine her being my best friend.

Hannah is a whole different kettle of fish and unfortunately I think the selfish side of her is a product of society and a product of being sold a life style online and through the traditions of a British family that are imposed on us from a very early age. She is definitely harder to like than Jess but I really did warm to her and want her to succeed throughout the novel. It is so hard when you've been living alone and picking up to go and travel whenever you want to then jump into a marriage just because that is what society says is the next step in your life. It's what happens afterwards that matters.

This writer is just brilliant at really understanding social media and how brands operate online and that really shows through her books and the plot lines that she goes down. I really love how something that is a big part of my life gets incorporated into a novel like this. I was so here for reading about how this whole married at first swipe idea took off on all the socials and the fall out from that. Another thing I really loved about this book was it's Manchester setting. It's not another London romcom and that in itself was truly refreshing!

I loved this book and I know you will too. If you want a romcom that is escapist but also reflects real life then you have found it with Married at First Swipe!

Best friends Jess and Hannah work together on dating app 'Save the Date' aimed at users who are looking for their future wife/husband. When we first meet them the company is struggling financially, Jess has invested most of her and her husband's finances into the business which is putting an additional strain on their relationship. While Jess has been with husband Tom since her teenage years, Hannah hasn't been so lucky in love; with the company desperate to attract new subscribers/publicity and Hannah's eagerness to avoid any more bad dates and idea is born.  Jess will play matchmaker for Hannah, but the pair will meet for the first time at the alter poised to say their wedding vows.

Maybe I went in with too high hopes but it did fall a little flat for me.  You've likely heard of the TV show Married at First Sight, I've only seen the UK version but I believe there are also US and Australian series as well but that's the main reason I requested this because the show fascinates me.  I wanted more from Hannah's marriage, their initial getting to know each other and working through how their lives could mesh together so I was a bit disappointed that the wedding wasn't until over half way through and then within a few pages the couple were back from their honeymoon and instead of attempting to move in together seemed to just start seeing each other a couple of times a week.

Having said that it wasn't a bad book, its got some really funny moments and I enjoyed how realistic Jess' struggle to balance being business owner and mother to twins. Maybe just don't go in expecting the TV show!

I had read some bad reviews on this book saying there wasn’t much of a storyline so I wasn’t too sure about reading it. However I did enjoy it but would of liked a bit more from Hannah and her marriage.

The idea of this book was great for me - I love Married at First Sight and thought this book would create the same drama, high octane moments and emotional overkill that I love so much BUT it did not.

They swipe, they marry and then it's a dull boring weird unconnected story of nothing afterwards. Do not read this!

Funny, uplifting and surprisingly realistic. I really enjoyed this story; especially as it was told from multiple perspectives and we got to know what everyone was thinking because of how the story was told. I would definitely recommend, my only negative comment would be that I would have liked to read more of this story, especially the details that were mentioned to be happening after the epilogue.

Thank you NetGalley for my advance copy of this book. I found the idea of marrying someone you’ve never met very interesting and was intrigued by the concept. I quite enjoyed the book but feel it could possibly have had more drama as feel that we never really got to know some of the characters. I would have liked to have read the story from Toby’s perspective as well as Hannah’s.

Genre: Romantic Comedy

Release Date: Expected 4th February 2021



Hannah is perpetually unlucky in love. Which is ironic, considering she's the manager for her BFF Jess' dating company, 'Save The Date.'

Hannah and Jess have done everything together since they were awkward kids, but now Jess has grown up with a husband and children and left Hannah racing to catch up. She's explored the world, had adventures, fallen in and out of love, but now she's ready for something real, something like Jess and her husband have. But she just doesn't know what to do.

But surely they're the experts, after all? The two friends embark on a hilariously ludicrous mission to find Hannah the perfect husband and maybe give Save The Date the push it needs to finally be sucessful - Jess is going to use the App to set Hannah up on the blind date of the century - a blind wedding.

It's perfect - at least, that's what they both think. But the grass isn't always greener on the other side, a lesson Hannah and Jess need to learn quickly.

This story had a spellbindingly hilarious and witty concept - and totally full of laughs. However, I'm afraid for me this fell slightly flat - there was too much awkward dialouge crammed into such small spaces and the parts of the story I was dying to read were totally omitted from the book altogether which left me unable to really connect with Hannah and her journey down the Altar.

But the highlight of this story for me was the friendship between the two girls and how they had to grow up together to see that the other isn't so polished and perfect as they'd like to believe, and regardless of their issues they always come together.

RATING: ⭐⭐⭐

Thank you to Netgalley & Claire Frost for this ARC in return for an honest review.

Online dating as you've never seen it before, where the first meeting isn't in a wine bar or a cafe, but at the altar. It's so easy to think that the grass is always greener, and that your ultimate goals will be the end of the line rather than the beginning of a new and different journey. I loved the way that Married at First Swipe reminds us that this really isn't the case, while finding a new, original and really clever spin on the boy meets girl story. Thoroughly enjoyed.

I am sad to say I couldn't finish this book. It had some of the worst writing I've ever read and the way the characters spoke was really strange. It is almost what I expect audio descriptionnwould be like "Hannah looked up and then said to her friend Sarah" etc. So strange!

When we all think about dating apps in this day and age we do not necessarily see the positives that come from it. Instead, for a significant amount of us, we tend to think of it as a tool to be unfaithful to the partners that we already have, or to use for purposes which might not last for a night. There are only some of us on the other hand who want something substantial and have found the dating app as the last resort to finding their one and only.

In this particular story we find two women who have been the best of friends since their childhoods and thus, know each other inside out in terms of how they are all like. However, even though this seems like an idyllic prospect when reading up on a romance book, instead, it feels stilted. It seems like both characters have a problem with communication, with both each other as well as other relationships that they have with other people. The only form of communication to show how they really feel is through technology. Maybe this was an analogy of how we have all become reliant on our phones and the internet, but as a reader I don't find this enjoyable.

As the story progresses it does not necessarily feel as though a romance book, but rather what is wrong with romance itself. When everything dies down and you truly experience what it means to be with your life partner. The sad part about it is that it feels like how this kind of love is portrayed is a bad one. Isn't those types of relationships the best to have? Because you see someone who they truly are. The good parts as well as the bad. I felt like both the protagonists missed something that was staring at them right in the face.

I wish that there was much to say about how good this book was, but really I'm not sure that I truly get it. The writing is not bad, in fact, it is better compared to some author's writings I have read from in the past. I just think that maybe this plot missed something that could have easily been put in at the draft stage. No matter, they have achieved an amazing feat of writing a book, which in any case must be applauded.

DISCLAIMER : Thank you, Netgalley, Simon and Schuster UK for providing me with an ARC of this book. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Married At First Swipe by Claire Frost is contemporary fiction. I saw the title and thought to myself, hmm.., that sounds very similar to the show Married At First Sight. While the concept is the same, and the plot is designed around the idea, I would recommend not going into the book expecting a romance or a love story between two people. This is more of a women's fiction kind of a story than a straight-up romance.

The Story follows Jess and Hannah through their tumultuous lives. Jess is the owner of the dating app Save The Date, which focuses on people wanting to settle down quickly. When the app and the business takes a hit, Hannah Jess's best friend and employee at Save The Date decides to offer herself as an experiment to bring the company back to success. Hannah's idea is for Jess to find a guy for her to marry. The only problem is, Hannah will get to see her groom only on the day of the wedding. As Jess continues to work hard, trying to bring her business around - her relationship starts to crack. Can the two women find their happily ever after? Can the free-spirited settle down with a man she has never met??

Overall, I would say the story was good. I did like it, but sadly, I didn't love it as much as I thought I would. If you are looking for a story that focuses on women's journey through life, then this book will work for you. But if you are looking for an epic romance, this is not the one for you. I gave the book 3 stars, and I recommend checking it out to see if it fits your tastes.

I only become introduced to the T.V series Married at First Sight this year and I have been amazed that these people have chosen this route to finding their life partner and I have become addicted to the series so when author Claire Frost’s second novel was announced with the title Married at First Swipe I was excited to see how she was going to take this bizarre way of uniting characters into her storyline.
Hannah has always looked at both her G-ma and Grandad’s relationship and her best friends Jess and Tom as the ultimate romance goal but with all her constant itchy feet taking her on numerous travels around the world, she is yet to find love.
Deciding it is time to put down roots at home now Hannah begins working with her best friend Jess on her dating app but the business is struggling and putting unbelievable pressure on Jess and her relationship. Hannah is keen to help her best friend and prompts Jess to find her a husband who she will marry on her first date!
This is a pacy light read to kick off the new year. Hannah and Jess are the best of friends and this comes across well with both of the characters being there for each other in times of need. The author shines the light on the real struggles that couples face within their relationships and the importance of communication and compromise to make a marriage work.
I was absorbed into the build up of the selection process of picking the right man for Hannah and I enjoyed reading the couple of letters that they exchanged on the blog in their first communication between each other it gave us a small insight into Toby’s character but I do wish that we could have actually seen the “interviews” that Jess held with her family looming in the back ground.
I also feel that after the build up to the big day the excitement blooming and the moment of finally meeting in touching distance that the wedding and first introduction of each other was skimmed over and I would have loved to have known more about the thoughts and feelings at that moment when they first set eyes on each other and been a part of the actual wedding and to be with them on the honeymoon as they begin to get to know each other.
I think I found myself more invested in Jess’s story, an entrepreneur, wife and mother of twins trying to light the candle at both ends. I loved her husband Tom and although at times I wanted to shake him and get him to pull his weight he was forgiven when he offloaded his feelings later in the novel.
I loved the way the chapters alternated between both Jess and Hannah it allowed us to get to know each of the women on a better level and where Hannah saw everything rose tinted Jess revealed that things are never as rosy as they seem. I also appreciate that the author chose to make the start of Hannah and Toby’s marriage more realistic rather than glitter and rainbows showing the awkwardness of being thrown close to someone you know absolutely nothing about and figuring out the logistics of how this new relationship will work.
This was a modern, light, easy read that many will enjoy.

Hannah's best friend has a great married life and family but her business of a dating app that potentially allows people to right swipe on who they would want to marry and consequently blind date a fiancé. Like a good buddy, Hannah decides to marry the 'right guy' according to her best friend's app and help save this business through such publicity.

Sure, the concept is intriguing but the expectations set up were unfortunately not met. Predictability took over the exciting premise it could've faired well on, and the main characters were always overshadowed by the merely more relatability of one side character - Hannah's best friend, Jess, who was the most authentic. Furthermore, the arranged marriage trope wasn't backed with enough grit to make one feel the need for it; the underdeveloped romance only made it more disappointing.

Though, the one-dimensional personalities of the characters do allow one to read through this story quickly and the lack of enough substance to keep one hooked makes it a good beach read but only when there's no other book you can fit in your beach bag.

I would like to add that a large part of this reaction to the story is slightly influenced by my personal annoyance at the casual undertaking of a marriage where one doesn't know the other person enough or at all. While the blurb does exactly promise that, I did expect some sort of realistic observations, if not conclusions, around blindly marrying someone. Especially when scenes that could've perpetuated the idea of romantically belonging to each other or being intimately inclined towards each other were not painted with clarity. I would've appreciated this story way more if Hannah's childhood with divorced parents had faintly affected her decision to do what she surprisingly did with way more enthusiasm.

Basically, this might be a great read for some but it clearly wasn't for me. And it could've been the next most fun romantic-comedy premise with a reality TV show undertone but the romance, comedy, and reality was lacking.

➞ full review shall be posted on goodreads + blog in february 'twenty-one ←