The Dating Game is a fun and lighthearted book about journalist Abby and her assignment undercover behind the scenes of a reality dating show. With a good storyline and great characters, this is an easy and entertaining read.

I’d give this book 3.5 ⭐️. It was a fun and funny read. I loved the witty descriptions and details. I laughed out loud on more than one occasion. The bachelor storyline was definitely entertaining. Even though there were lots of characters I felt they were easy to keep up with. I wish the relationship had developed more between Jack and Abby. Although I liked their characters I wasn’t really convinced. I also felt the story seemed to drag on and then ended quickly. Not necessarily a bad thing it just made it harder to keep my interest. I found myself starting and stopping a lot. Overall I think this one is worth a read. You’ll definitely be entertained.

Thank you Harper Collins UK for the ARC

The Dating Game is the perfect pick-me-up for anyone who's having a bad day. It's funny, light, and packs a serious punch in its 290 pages. What I love most about this novel is that it doesn't take itself too seriously—unlike the real show it's based upon. Barker crafts a lovely protagonist in Abby, who is not only a heroine every reader will root for but also an incredibly genuine person.

Despite the humor included throughout the novel, I found that I didn't truly enjoy it until well into the third act, once I was well and truly into the swing of things. The writing in this novel can also be a little too much—OTT, as Abby herself would say—but it adds to the story's irreverence. My biggest issue with The Dating Game is its secondary cast of characters, especially Abby's love interest. I found him to be quite static and sometimes even infantile compared to Abby. I was constantly frustrated and mystified by her insistence on being with him. Abby's close friend—one of the Does—at the end of the novel also had a character arc that I wasn't completely convinced by.

Nevertheless, The Dating Game is a solid read, perfect for both fans of The Bachelor and those who are always looking for the good in reality TV show contestants behind all of the post-production editing.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. I will post this review to my Goodreads and my blog shortly.

The dating game by Sandy Barker was a delightful story of two very likable main characters. I download this book before I went to the beach and enjoyed every minute of it. As I’m not a viewer of the bachelor I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the TV show setting. I found the main character very funny especially in her role as critic. But it was the Australian background characters that really brought levity to the story. It was a bit longer than I thought necessary but that did not detract from my Enjoyment of this book. #Netgalley

This is a DNF for me. The main character is far too manic for my tastes and I am not connecting with the book.

SO FUN! As an avid Bachelor watcher, I freaking LOVED reading this book! I rooted for these characters in this slow burn romance and Barker made me fall in love more than once with the story. I cannot WAIT to read more from this author!

The only thing better than reality tv is books that are set in reality tv, honestly! This was so good, SO GOOD!

In the same vein as "One to Watch" by Kate Stayman-London (fans of that book would love this book!), The Dating Game is set, literally, in a dating game a la The Bachelor/Bachelorette. I really like that our main character, Abby/Abigail/Anastasia(!) was a contestant instead of the main bachelorette. It allowed for more female characters, and although it wouldn't necessarily pass the literary Bechdel Test, these characters were mostly likable and built solid friendships that felt true to the story and surpassed the 'fight for a guy' reality tv setting.

This was a really enjoyable read, and really hit the spot for that light summer romance read that I'm always looking for this time of year.

I thought this book was so much fun! Abby writes recaps of a popular dating show (think Bachelor/Bachelorette) and she is hilarious! Her reviews are beloved by many as they're full of snark, sass, and humor. So much so that that the producers of the show decide they want her to be an undercover contestant on the show which would help boost their ratings as well as gain exposure for her writing. The catch: Abby writes her recaps under an alias and doesn't want to give away her true identity. She also doesn't want to go on the show as her true self because she has no interest in doing anything but promoting her writing.

And then she meets the executive producer, Jack. At that point she wants to commit completely to finding true love, only not with the chosen bachelor for the show. She weaves a tangled web of lies as she tries to keep her identity a secret from the other female contestants, win the heart of the "stag" (even though she has no interest in him whatsoever), keep her anonymous column front and center, and somehow form and keep relationships.

It's an interesting story for many reasons - it's very original in it's concept. The characters are funny. The dialogue is great. And as a fan of "those" kind of shows, I could see the humor and possibly the reality in a little bit of the storyline. It's a great look into the behind the scenes truth of reality shows - even though it's exaggerated a bit.

My only complaint was the confusion in the dialogue and recaps (and this could very well be because I was,
1. reading on an e-reader and 2. not reading the final copy). There were times I wasn't sure if Abby was giving a firsthand account or if she was recalling something as her alter ego for the column. She switched back and forth often so it could be hard to decipher at times...

There was a disclaimer at the beginning of the book about the amount of characters to keep up with, but I honestly didn't have a problem with it. Once I got into the dynamics of the "show" it was easy to keep up with who was who and I felt like I was watching a reality show in real time. Overall, a fun (and funny!) read!

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I really wanted to like this book but unfortunately
- it was very slow, nothing really happened.
-there wasn’t enough drama. Scrap that. There wasn’t any drama.

To recap I was bored 80% of the time

Plus I don’t know if it was because I read it on ebook but when a chapter started with a recap it was confusing. I could not tell what was part of the recap and what was the narrator’s POV

I would like to thank Harper Collins UK and NetGalley for allowing me to read an ARC of this book.

This book had me laughing out loud and cheering Abby/Abigail on. It is a sweet romance that leaves you feeling happy and content. The characters are wonderful and quirky with some you will love to hate.

If you hate Reality TV than this is a must read for you. Those that like Reality TV may be a bit put out. A woman is sent undercover on to a tv show where one man will pick a potential bride. It’s the last place in the world she wants to be but what ensues is a mixture of humour, friendship and love with a dash of mean girl thrown in.

A perfect beach read or for whenever you want to read something fun.

"The Dating Game", by Sandy Barker, has a familiar premise: a woman joins the popular dating show undercover. While I feel like I've read books like this before, there were a few differences. First, Abby is a reporter who writes very popular articles about "The Stag" game show in Australia. Second, Abby begins to fall in love with one of the show producers, Jack (in stead of the lead of the show like other books have done). Finally, no one in the cast really wants to "win" because the bachelor is a jerk.

I really enjoyed the friendships between the women and the developing relationship between Abby and Jack, but overall, this book didn't feel original enough. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

I have never watched those reality dating shows but this book actually made me want to. I just enjoyed this story so much and the romance between Abby and Jack is lovely but also the friends Abby makes along the way are fun to see too. The book almost makes me want to watch The Bachelor …. ALMOST.

3.5 stars

I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, I absolutely loved Abby's character and really enjoyed the story. At the same time, I kind of stopped caring about the romance element of it by the end. I liked it at the start but I was never really rooting for Abby and her love interest and I really wish that we'd gotten an epilogue or something to end with because I found Abby's friendships and career more interesting than her love life.

Why the romance element didn't work for me?
Honestly, the love interest wasn't that interesting by the end. And we got some nice interactions but there was never anything that made me invested in him as a character and without me interested in him as a character, it was really difficult to care about him when it came to Abby and his relationship. (I won't name who the love interest is because I can't remember if he's mentioned in the blurb or not but it's pretty predictable.)

But the friendships and female characters! Those were fun to read about! About Becca...she was nice and all but Barker spent so much time focusing on her friendship with Abby that wasn't quite necessary. There were more interesting characters in my opinion.

Overall, while I did enjoy this, I think my problem is that with the expectation of Abby, most of the secondary characters were more interesting than characters Barker liked to focus on. I did enjoy this and I would recommend it as long as you're okay with not rooting for the romance because everything else is far more interesting in my opinion!

This book is a satire on a certain type of reality TV show - a modern phenomenon which I have never been tempted to watch. That being said, I can imagine that the whole manipulation of the "contestants" and the "storyline" is true to life as TV companies strive to maximise their viewing figures.

Many parts of the writing are very witty and amusing although some incidents and events are a bit cliched. An amusing holiday read.

Thanks to Net Galley and the publishers for the opportunity to review this book.

What a fun book! Abby is an undercover journalist who writes snarky recaps of the reality tv dating show The Stag (The Bachelor to US fans). She thinks the show is totally fake and literally has the best snarky recaps which she publishes under a pen name. Only problem is one of those recaps goes viral, and now production and her boss want her to go on the show undercover as a contestant. She is a firm believer that nobody can actually fall in love on one of these shows… or can they? What I loved most about this book, besides the belly laughs and incredible scenes, was experiencing Abby’s date in first person and then reading her hilarious recap of that episode, which shows the duality. This book reminded me of Miss Congeniality in a way with all those women and Abby, our heroine as the undercover doe. If you are looking for a laugh out loud romcom this is for you.

Thank you to Netgalley, publishers and to the author for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book follows Abby as she joins a reality dating show as a contestant and also a secret recap writer for the show.

One thing I like about this book is the concept, with currently binge reading Love Island each night, this book is the perfect pairing. We get to see romance, drama and friendships and its a cute read to check out.

I liked that we have a protagonist who has a great single mum and shows about the struggles of growing up on a lower income, she also sticks up for her friends which is important.

I wish the book focused more on the dating side of Abby in the show (not just in her recaps) as I think it would have been really interesting to see the concept and make more of a judgement on Daniel’s character, especially since the game is a big part of the book and it made the passing feel off.

But as much as I like the concept, I did struggle with liking the character and the main love story and I just felt like something was missing.

As a The Bachelor fan, this book was right up my ally! This will appeal to fans of One to Watch by Kate Staymon-London as well.

Abigail Jones aka Abby aka Anastasia writes recaps of reality TV, including Britain’s popular dating show The Stag, under her pseudonym Anastasia. Her latest post draws the attention of the producers. She is asked told by her boss to go undercover as a contestant to get an inside scoop. In a meet cute made for romantic comedies, she runs into sexy producer Jack. Going undercover as a contestant will push Abby to her limits as she balances between the three “personalities” she has.

As expected, the book is full of likeable and unlikeable characters with tons of drama. My favorite Abigail personality is Anastasia with her snarky comments and spot-on commentary of all the contestants. I usually ship the MC with the star of the dating show, but not this time!

The ending felt incomplete and left me underwhelmed. An epilogue with a post from Anastasia would have been the perfect ending and would have given me the closure I was looking for. It was still a good read and I would still recommend it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars ✨

If you love reality tv and are looking for your drama fix in-between love island episodes - this is your book. ‘The Dating Game’ is based around a version of ‘The Bachelor’ and a gossip column writer Abigail.

The first page of this book contains an author’s note warning you that there is an obscene amount of characters in this book and let me tell you - she is not joking. I believe if you are reading on the formatted kindle/e-reader editions there is a function that will allow you to click on a character and it will tell you about them, (I hope this works as this would be incredibly useful!) however this wasn’t finished in my ARC copy. If you are reading in a physical copy or without this function - take notes. Trust me.

The concept of this book was intriguing, and I really enjoyed the dynamics of the girls in the manor and all the varying personalities that emerged. Having Abby as both a contestant and writing her recaps allowed us to see the day’s events from her perspective, and then her watching herself on the screen too, which led to some interesting scenes. It was a clever way to tie in both the cast and crew, and allowed for a lot of funny behind-the-scenes moments that I enjoyed. (ps - Anyone else used to watch UnREAL? getting similar vibes!)

Unfortunately, I had a few gripes. Although I liked Jack as a match for Abby, I just was missing the SIZZLE! They were cute enough, and they worked great together. I just felt like I was waiting for the tension, and... it never came. It just felt a little juvenile 😬 Abby’s entire personality crisis was a little irritating. She was constantly referring to herself as ‘Doe Abby’, or this is ‘Anastasia not me’ and honestly I couldn’t tell much difference between Doe Abby and Abigail 🤷‍♀️ Anastasia however, was incredibly witty and hilarious. Her recaps were very entertaining, although sporadic; random throughout the book and sometimes just repeating what the author had already written. It was a little messy at times, and I think that persona could have been utilised better.

A good summer read filled with friendships, drama and fun, but a little lacking on the romance for my taste.

I was given a free copy of this novel by NetGalley in return for a fair and honest review.
In this endearing novel, Abigail Jones or ‘Undercover Abby’ joins the cast of the British/Australian Reality TV show The Stag. ie the Bachelor. In attempt to maintain and enhance her writing career Abby juggles three personas as she describes the interactions between the Stag and the Does, all rivals for his affection , in snarky episode summaries for her online magazine employer under the pseudonym Anastasia Blabbbergasted.
Throughout the filming, Doe Abby forms friendships with other does, untangles behind the scenes webs of intrigue, and tries to avoid the advances of Daniel ‘The Stag’ while Abigail finds a love of her own. I highly recommend this thoughtful, humorous novel to anyone who enjoys contemporary romance! I look forward to reading other novels by the talented Sandy Barker.

The idea behind this book is just great! Especially with me reading this while watching season 7 of love island, it feels like a fun insight to the behind the scenes of a show like that when the cameras aren't rolling. I really enjoyed reading about the does and dickhead Daniel and can definitely see myself falling for a guy like Jack or even Harry. Would definitely recommend this book! Just want to know what happens next!