I devour any book by Sandy Barker with relish, and this one was no exception - in fact, I think this series is just getting better and better! It's always good to catch up with Poppy and Tristan, who we first met in book one of the Ever After Agency series, but the new characters are just as delightful. Greta is a great character, multi layered and relatable, while Ewan - well, what's not to love about a cute guy who knows his coffee (and cronuts!), and looks like James McAvoy?! The story as ever gives us a great will-they-won't-they, and even though you know they will eventually it's so much fun getting there. Heartily recommended for anyone who's looking for a laugh out loud romcom - a perfect summer read, whether you're on the beach or sweltering in a city.

A decent escapism novel - Greta has a successful career, great friends, loving family but no one to share it with. Her boss enlists the help of a specialist matchmaker who does her best to find the perfect "one" for her. Cue a few dating disasters intertwined with the bumping into the same guy at the local coffee shop several times makes it an enjoyable novel. Thanks to Net Galley for the advanced copy

3/5
It was good. It was sweet. It's an easy read with little major drama. But, it was just okay in my opinion.

This is the third in a series, but is easily read alone. (I've only read numbers two and three.) Poppy is a matchmaker at the Ever After Agency, but is hired to surreptitiously match a magazine editor to find love. This story is highly derivative, drawing largely from How To Lose a Guy in Ten Days, which lost a star for me since often the next big thing was directly drawn from the movie plot, however it's still a light and cute read that is perfect for rom-com fans.

"The One That I Want" returns us to the Ever After Agency, where Poppy, a dedicated matchmaker, takes on a new client. Greta, an editor at an emerging online magazine, excels in her career but struggles to weave relationships into her busy life. Anjali, her boss, steps in with a plan to enlist a matchmaking agency under the guise of an article series on dating. The journey is filled with humorous dates, bewildering situations, and numerous surprise moments. Greta appears to have it all: a thriving career, a loving family, and a circle of supportive friends. Yet, her self-doubt often overshadows her achievements. If only one could reassure her to trust her instincts. Tiggy, her best friend, shines as a beacon of candor, humor, and vivacity — a friend everyone deserves. Sandy's narrative is replete with the trials Poppy endures in her quest to find the perfect match for Greta, all while adhering to her assignment.
This book, being the third in the series, can be easily read as a stand-alone.

After a late night working with her boss,vAnjali, Greta shares that she is a bit lonely and worried that she will never find love. Luckily Anjali has an in with a professional matchmaker at the Ever After agency. Enter Poppy Dean. Of course, Greta cannot know that she is being matched so they need to come up with a cover story.

Greta is a rising star in the magazine world, and is just about to launch a new online magazine. She is the editor, and the buck stops with her. When her boss suggests that maybe a series of articles on dating would be a good idea, Greta is on board, even though she sees through the ruse relatively quickly, but she cannot let Anjali know she knows. Yes, its all a bit complicated. Of course, it would be no good to go on just one date and meet your dream man so first step is to go on some disaster dates first. Perfect fodder for a column in the magazine. Let the fun begin!

I love the way that Sandy Barker writes female friendships. Greta's best friend is Tiggy and the way they support each other is so good. There's even a surprise reveal of a friendship for Anjali.

Poppy and her colleagues at the Ever After Agency work tirelessly for their clients, and contribute some fun to the story, especially George with his love of fashion. I am also quite partial to the agency's French PI. I also love being able to see how Poppy's own relationship is going!

I have now read all three books in this series and I think this was the best of the three. Yes Greta is quite anxious at times, but she is in a stressful job, trying to navigate dating disasters and trying to find love. It's probably understandable. You'll notice that I haven't mentioned much about who Greta ends up with, and that is deliberate, not because he's not a lovely hero, and that it isn't relatively obvious where things are going, but I don't want to spoil too much.

If you follow Sandy Barker on socials you might be aware that she is currently travelling around the world, writing as she goes. I can't wait to see how some of the locations she is visiting find themselves in future books. There are a lot of different locations portrayed through her previous books! Whatever comes next, I am looking forward to it.

Thank you to the publisher, Netgalley and Rachel's Random Resources for the review copy. I am sharing this review with the New Release Challenge hosted at The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog

Rating 4.5/5

Greta has it all, good friends, great career-the only thing missing is someone to share it with. Her boss and friend decides to help her find some love in her life secretly enlists the help of the Ever After Agency to find Greta a partner for life. They use Greta’s position as features editor at a women’s magazine as a cover for Poppy coming to the magazine-she”ll help Greta write a column by setting her up on dates not knowing that they’re for real

However, each time Greta goes through with another disasterous date, it leaves her disheartened, especially when she goes out with Mr. Perfect on Paper and he turns out to be a dud. What she doesn’t realize is that her perfect man may be right there in front of her, if she will only realize it before it’s too late.
This was a great blend of humor, romance and original heartfelt moments. It was lighthearted and charming and easy to read in one sitting. An interesting look at dating in the modern world (and boy am I glad I’m not stuck doing that!)
Thanks to Boldwood Books and NetGalley for this eArc in exchange for my review.

Thank you so much netgalley,publishers and Sandy Barker for an advanced copy of The One that I Want, I absolutely loved reading this book. I loved the whole concept of the story, it was a lighthearted and funny read. Some fabulous and likeable characters and I really loved the friendship and bond between Greta and Tiggy. A must read in my opinion.

The whole story’s quite fast paced, and I found it a real page turner as I really wanted to see what path Greta chose – and whether she’d manage (with Poppy’s help) to remove the obstacles along the way. The romance, when it came, was all I wanted it to be – with an electric charge I could really feel (and he is rather gorgeous!). But I must mention the writing, because I’m such a fan of the author’s style and presentation – there’s plenty of emotion, but a lot of humour too, especially the witty one-liners that she does so very well and that always catch me by surprise (and often make me laugh out loud…). I’ll admit that the contemporary references to How to Lose a Guy… and Thirteen Going on Thirty did rather pass me by (hey, I’m getting on a bit…), but it didn’t matter a jot – this was a story I really loved, and very much enjoyed. Do pick it up as a standalone read – it’d work just fine – but I suspect you’ll find yourself wanting to pick up the rest of the series. I’m just looking forward to the next book – this was the best yet, and that one might be even better!

Another fantastic book in the Ever After Agency series, this one is such an entertaining read. It features characters from earlier books as well as new ones. Greta is a magazine editor launching an online version of a successful magazine. Career-driven, Greta's romantic life is nonexistent, and lately, she wonders if she has left it too late to find the one. Poppy, a matchmaker at the clandestine dating agency tasked with finding a match for Greta through an unconventional referral, finds this case fraught with complications, providing the reader with many laugh-out-loud moments. I like the vibrant characters, the gentle romance and the many twists that keep you turning the pages. It's a lovely romantic story.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

This was an enjoyable and entertaining read, my favourite one of their series actually!
I loved the concept of the story, using the magazine as a means for Poppy to sneak in to arrange the match making for Greta.
Greta is an amazing character, extremely likeable and not without some realistic dating issues. I particularly enjoyed her dud dating experiences!
Ewan was so so adorable! I instantly loved him, his gentle humour and sweet personality made him stand out as a character. It was such a pleasure to see Greta becoming friends with him.
Lots of amusing moments kept the story moving along, and I’m sure this book series would make an excellent tv series too!
A wonderful gentle story that was filled with charismatic characters, I’d love a friend like Tiggy or Poppy!
Such a sweet romantic comedy type story, quite reminiscent of a 90s chick flick, something I adored indulging in back in the day!

I love the whole concept of the Ever After Agency – a matchmaker service for top-end clients, found only by personal referral, maintaining a level of secrecy about its operations. If you’ve read the other books in this series (and it really isn’t compulsory) you’ll already have met star matchmaker Poppy – a former psychologist, an Australian living in London, now happily settled in a new relationship (and with a diva cat called Saffy… I think she’d be furious if she didn’t get a mention).

Her client this time is Greta – the particularly driven editor of a new on-line magazine, who’s rather neglected her personal life while focused on climbing the career ladder. It’s her boss Anjali who makes the introduction, but with some smoke and mirrors – an agony aunt column to be written by Poppy, a potential series on disastrous dates for the magazine – to keep Greta in the dark (and that doesn’t last very long). She really would like to find love – and that’d make best friend Tiggy very happy too – but needs to go through a few difficult meet-ups with unsuitable men before she can meet the Agency’s first choice, and he certainly looks like he might be “The One”. But it’s all further complicated by her growing friendship with the lovely Ewan after a chance encounter in the coffee shop – and the possibility that he might just be becoming more than just a casual friend.

There’s a great deal more to the story – told from the perspectives of both Greta and matchmaker Poppy – with a few family issues, a bit of corporate skullduggery, the involvement of (the quite wonderful) on-call investigator Marie, and quite a few unexpected complications on the path to true love and happiness. I just loved their individual voices, and the glimpses into their lives when they’re not on show – Greta’s friendship with Tiggy, with her rather different take on relationships, was something particularly special (I might just have mentioned before how beautifully the author always captures female friendships). And Greta really needs her support and common sense, particularly her words of wisdom after a few too many shared glasses of wine (she’s hilarious!) – for a woman in a pressurised and high profile job, she certainly has her insecurities. The rest of the supporting cast is really well-drawn too, with the most fascinating dynamics in their respective workplaces: and I really must mention gorgeous George, Poppy’s second, addicted to the celebrity world (and who can fail to love a man who wears fluffy bumblebee cufflinks?).

The whole story’s quite fast paced, and I found it a real page turner as I really wanted to see what path Greta chose – and whether she’d manage (with Poppy’s help) to remove the obstacles along the way. The romance, when it came, was all I wanted it to be – with an electric charge I could really feel (and he is rather gorgeous!). But I must mention the writing, because I’m such a fan of the author’s style and presentation – there’s plenty of emotion, but a lot of humour too, especially the witty one-liners that she does so very well and that always catch me by surprise (and often make me laugh out loud…). I’ll admit that the contemporary references to How to Lose a Guy… and Thirteen Going on Thirty did rather pass me by (hey, I’m getting on a bit…), but it didn’t matter a jot – this was a story I really loved, and very much enjoyed. Do pick it up as a standalone read – it’d work just fine – but I suspect you’ll find yourself wanting to pick up the rest of the series. I’m just looking forward to the next book – this was the best yet, and that one might be even better!

There were some elements of this that I really enjoyed but I kind of wish it wasn’t part of the series bc the best part of the book was the plot between Greta and Ewan. The whole Ever After Agency element not only hindered my enjoyment of the plot but also meant that the structuring of the chapters was appalling. Who changes POV in the middle of a chapter? Horrifying. The sudden and annoying POV changes between Greta and Poppy highlighted that the author did not have strong goals or arches for most chapters and it was incredibly frustrating every time it happened. 
I did get to the middle of the book and realised I was actually enjoying it, which is the reasoning for my 3 star rating. It was an average romance, which I enjoyed and I really did like Ewan, I just really disliked the aforementioned elements.

This is the third book in the Ever After Agency series, and it’s been my favorite so far! Poppy is back, hired by the head of a magazine to help the editor of her digital imprint through a series of good and bad dates for content and to secretly help her find love.

Although Greta loves her job and it’s been a rewarding career where she’s just hit her most successful goal, she fears her other goals of romance, traveling, and family are slipping away. While the dates get Greta on board with finding a match, when one turns out to be her dream on paper, it gets complicated when a man she’s struck up a friendship with at the coffee shop near her office feels like he could be the one.

As usual with Sandy Barker’s books, there’s humor, romance, great characters, and little nods to this fun romance series' past and future books. I found this book delightful, and I’m sure fans of light-hearted romance will feel the same.

Thanks to the Publisher and Netgalley for an early review copy.

I enjoyed reading this book, which had characters we’d met in previous books in the series, as well as new ones too.

The story is about Greta, who’s yet to find her match. So her boss meets with Poppy from the Ever After Agency and together they plan to ‘assist’ Greta find her partner, but at the same time, ensure she doesn’t realise what they are doing.

It was interesting to read about how difficult it is when it comes to dating in real life and how Greta goes through it.

I highly recommend this book.

Greta, a successful editor at a women's magazine, finds herself still single at 35. Her boss secretly enlists the help of the Ever After Agency, a matchmaking service, to find Greta her perfect match. Poppy, a former psychiatrist turned matchmaker, will write about dating for the online magazine, and Greta is to date potential suitors for these articles. Although Greta is initially negative and aware of her boss's scheme, she doesn't want to disappoint her.

The only positive aspect for Greta is her new friendship with Ewan, whom she meets daily at a coffee shop. As they grow closer, Greta starts to wonder if her perfect match might be right in front of her, rather than through a matchmaking service.

"The One That I Want" brings readers back to the Ever After Agency with Poppy focusing on another client. Despite Greta's success and supportive friends and family, she struggles with self-doubt. Her best friend Tiggy, who is straightforward and hilarious, adds humor and support.

The story features funny dates, confusion, and surprising moments. Though it's the third book in the series, it can be read as a standalone. Returning characters, including Poppy and her relationship, make it engaging, and readers may be inspired to read the previous books due to the enjoyable narrative.

I enjoyed the book after the halfway point when the two main characters became one. However it did take some time to get there.

I feel the dates weren’t needed at all but the Coffee shop part of the book was so wholesome and I enjoyed how the two main characters met. The way he liked her from the first moment was cute.

The way there was no spice was something that made me keep reading.

A great story . Greta is a successful editor at a women's magazine but at 35 she is still single . Her boss asks from Ever After Agency an matchmaking angency to find her her perfect man . Poppy the matchmaker which used to be a psychiatrist will write at the on line magazine about dating and she has to date some pontential man for her . She is very negative and from the start she knows what her boss has done but she doesn't want to make her feel bad . The only good thing for her is her new friend Ewan who meets at the coffee shop across her job every day . They met by accident and from them they become close friends , While she is looking forward to meet Poppy 's first choice for her is their chance that her man is infront of her ?
I received this book from netgalley , the author and the publicer as an ARC . Thank you . All thoughts and opinions are my own .

This romance novel was fun. I enjoyed the story that was easy to follow and it had a good cast of characters, who had a lot of chemistry. Overall, a brilliant novel that I would recommend to other readers.
💖 Thank you to netgalley, the publisher and author for my arc ebook copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve really enjoyed The Ever After Agency series so far - book 3 is another very cute addition!

What is different about this series and all the others out there is that Poppy, our main gal from book 1, is the second point of view in books 2&3. I like having her along for the continued development of the agency, and watching her side of the story from the matchmaker perspective. She’s also still very involved with the storylines and right in the action. Reading the first two books isn’t totally necessary, but very helpful for her background shenanigans!

This time, Poppy is back and “writing a story” for the magazine, but as herself and about dating - no undercover for this client. She is actually there to assist Anjly and get Greta matched up. Greta figures it out so Poppy picks out some truly terrible, nightmare matches, per Greta’s wishes, and Greta starts a column to be about the worst dating disasters… because she thinks the first dating pick Poppy gave her could be “The One” so she doesn’t want to jinx it - but what if “He” is actually someone else who she’s actually already met? Dating is just too complicated.

Very cute, easy reading, low drama - I definitely recommend this romcom if you are looking for something light and quick and quirky. A solid 4-star. I do suggest reading the earlier books in the series first, but you wouldn’t be completely lost without the background (for Poppy).

I received an advance copy from NetGalley and Boldwood Books, and this is my honest feedback.