This was a really fun and quirky read that I flew through. I loved the premise of Anna's children picking out her dates - they chose a wide variety of men that would not have all been Anna's pick if she was to choose herself. However venturing out on dates she wouldn't have chosen herself allowed her to make new friends and mend broken relationships. I really loved the relationship between Will and Anna, they were navigating life and dating together, allowing their relationship as colleagues and friends to also bloom.

there is the genre of romance and then like a million different types in branches that come off that. and this falls into one of my fave. it has all the bits you want. its quirky, its fun. yes the romance can be too much for the cynical. but i implore you to let that part of yourself go so that you can just really really enjoy these romance for what they are. which is joyous, wonderful books. and when done well they shine. Sophie has a way of doing just that. and its never too tropey so you feel like its "ick". you never feel like its too unbelievable or that the old cynical voice might creep back in.
because stranger things have happened and stranger scenarios exist. and Sophie in the writing of her books make them real enough but also such wonderful worlds of escapism.
you fall in love with these kind of books.
Anna is almost 40. shes a journalist living in Bath. shes divorced and her ex is doing what ex's like him do. and Anna feels fine with her life. shes got her life sorted. shes got her kids and her cat. and her job. or she thought she had her job. until the boss wants something more from her and wants her to up her game if she is going to keep the job.
so Anna does what she needs to do and comes up with a new article based on dating. but dating via her kids. and it will be her kids who will chose the dates.
it all sounds great. or should be. if it wasnt for someone who is going against her for the job...Will. and he has pledged his own article. his column will be against hers with online dates that HE will go on. okaaaay this is war.
and so onwards Anna goes on these dates(haha,some of them!) but also onwards is her need and more often than not failing fight, to not be attracted to Will. especially as somehow they keep managing to spend time together. and the way he challenges her seems to be really making her think. and think differently about Will.
love these kind of books. love this book. and i look forward to more from this author.

I loved Is She Really Going Out With Him. I have enjoyed all of Sophie's books so far and this is another great one. Easy to read, great characters, brilliant.

I really enjoyed this novel. Will and Anna’s journey from enemies ish to lovers while also learning about dating, and more about themselves, was a great read. Perfect to enjoy on a sun lounger this year!

A lighthearted and engaging read with a relatable main character navigating love, family, and self-growth ❤️✨ While some moments felt predictable, the character development—especially with Will—was well done. I loved how the story unfolded gradually, revealing layers to relationships and personal growth. The friendships Anna built along the way added warmth, and the ending tied everything together beautifully 😊🌸 A fun, heartfelt read! ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book! 📖💖

Anna is a recently divorced, thirty-something journalist who finds herself (somewhat reluctantly) thrust into the dating scene for a column she's writing. Sharing the column is her colleague Will, not an enemy, but they rub each other up the wrong way.
I found Anna's dating adventures funny, realistic and sometimes heartfelt and loved the dynamic between her and Will.
Having read all of Sophie Cousens' books I had high hopes for this one and of course it hit the mark again.
I loved the raw honesty of Anna's circumstance, as well as the humour along the way.
Brilliant.

I’ve read several of Sophie Cousens’ previous novels and thoroughly enjoyed them so I was really excited to get an advance copy of this latest one in exchange for a truthful review. Thank you to net galley and the publisher.
This didn’t disappoint. It’s a rom com and some of the dialogue and situations were hilarious whilst at the same time being realistic.
I loved both Will and Anna the main characters and found the others well written. The idea of letting your children select dates rather than joining an online dating site was a good idea and actually seemed to work at least as well, if not slightly better.
I devoured this book. I couldn’t wait to read what happened next ; always a good sign.

One line says everything for me about that book, and that is 'Who's Patrick E?' Out of the mouths of babes comes a line that expresses so much about the struggles this woman is going through as she moves on from the end of her marriage.

Anna is in her late thirties and if her reaction to reading a fairytale at her son Ethan's school is anything to go by, doesn't believe in happy ever after any more. Her husband Dan has moved out of the marital home and just when she's getting a handle on things, her divorce is finalised and it's clear that Dan has moved on with a younger woman, Sylvie (I don't know why but everything Sylvie did grated on me...I know we weren't meant to dislike her that much, but I just couldn't warm to her). Anyway, Anna is a journalist and it appears that not only is the publication she works for struggling financially but they've brought in a new money man who has his own ideas for the magazine...glam it up, make it younger. Sadly, Anna's column doesn't fit with that ideal and Crispin (the money man) makes it clear that her role is one of those at risk...of course, her work nemesis, the pedantic lady's man Will is everything that Crispin wants for the magazine...

When Anna finally proposes that she go out on dates picked by her 12-year-old daughter Jessie (who is having problems of her own) and 6-year-old Ethan (who wants her to date a friend's grandfather!!) you know it's going to get interesting.

What follows is a series of interesting dates, including one unpleasant one with a predatorial celebrity, meeting new friends, discovering her husband's new girlfriend is pregnant, and finding out that you don't necessarily find love where you expect to.

I really enjoyed this book, it was a rather old-style romantic comedy using an incredibly popular trope - but if I gave that away then I'd spoil a lot!

What a fabulous book! If you are looking for a read that will have you laughing out loud, crossing your fingers for the right outcome and meeting eclectic characters then I would suggest this is a great contender.

Anna is a journalist working at a local newspaper which is fighting to stay in business. Divorced with 2 children and a somewhat fraught relationship with her ex and his new perfect girlfriend. At work she tolerates her colleague Will and when fate brings them together to write a column about dating life becomes a lot more complicated.

The plot truthful and humorous and I enjoyed seeing Anna get set up on various dates, as suggested by her offspring. She lurches from one comical date to another, along the way meeting the fabulous Loretta and ending each chapter with essential Google searches that sum up her day.

I loved the ending and the whole premise of the book, which I would highly recommend.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a great read. Funny, and touching at times. Anna is trying to keep everything going after her divorce and isn’t really living, she’s just existing. But that all changes when she had to up her game to keep her job at the paper with a colleague who annoys her muscling in on her column Anna has to think fast and unwittingly pitches an idea to let her two kids pick 7 dates for her to write about to compete against Will who will only use dating apps. Cue hilarity.

I loved some of her kids suggestions, literally just people they randomly see. Anna has some crazy experiences. However a weekend retreat throws her and Will together and, well sparks fly. Anna’s life becomes colourful again. Seeing her transformation was lovely, as was discovering more about Will. There was so much more to him than a brown nose colleague like Anna thought. These two are great together and watching them develop deep feelings for each other whilst both denying it was anything serious was fun to watch.

I was really rooting for them, they had a lot of obstacles to over come and it was nice to see Anna being both practical in looking after her kids and career but also letting love back into her life.

This would make a great summer beach read.

Another outstanding work by Sophie Cousens!

I thoroughly enjoyed it and believe it to be my book of the month. I extend my gratitude to NetGalley the publisher for providing me with an advance copy. I will certainly be recommending it.

I really enjoyed this and read it in one sitting! I enjoyed the narrators and didn't want to stop listening.

This is the perfect rom com book. I knew it would be as Sophie just writes the most wonderful and relatable stories. This is about Anna who is trying to navigate life in Bath with two kids and newly divorced. She’s a journalist trying to be more ‘relatable’ and starts a column about getting out and dating again with a twist.
Solid 5 stars and will be recommending it to all my friends. Love, love, love!!

Sophie always writes such feel good books and this enemies to lovers office rom-com was an absolute delight!

I had so much fun reading this. It was so refreshing to read a reverse age gap romance and I think Anna is such a relatable FMC especially to woman like me on the (other) side of 30! Also Will? Swoooonnnnn! 😍

The only thing that let it down *very slightly* for me was the ending. I think it's definitely a HFN ending, which is fine, because we never know how life will work out but I would have liked to have seen them settled maybe further into the future?

This was a really fun read with an interesting story. I would love to read the column that Anna writes. The ex husband is nicely annoying so the characterisation is spot on.

Absolutely brilliant! I thoroughly enjoyed it. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advance copy, I will definitely be recommending it.

My first Sophie Cousens book and I really liked it!
After her divorce, Anna's children have to pick real life dates (not online) for her to go on for her column in a magazine.

It was fun and the characters were all great! The dialogue was good, the plot fun and moving.

I also liked the Google searches at the start of each chapter, that was funny and cute.
It was far too fade to black for my tastes so not a five star for me, but I still really enjoyed reading this.
💛💛💛💛

Well, with the current state of the world generally, and rich men in government talking negative about diversity specifically, I was happily surprised by the different flavors of the human kind being part of the story without this being emphasized.

However, I did not appreciate how much of this book was about appearances. Sure, it is nice to have a description of a character, the way someone dresses or what someone looks like. But I'd rather not have all those labels about being hot, attractive, etc. Even the scene with the princess in the fairy tale this book started with (and mentions the confusing patriarchy) is about the beautiful maiden in the very first sentence of this book.

And the quote that set the theme for this book telling the reader that they need to be the heroine of their life, not the victim got me miffed. Just because Anna is grieving her divorce, that doesn't make her a victim, does it?

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the book.

Romance🔥🥰🌟:
The romance was sweet 🧁 and genuine, with a lot of frenemy 🔪🥰 vibes. Will and Anna payed constant paying attention to each other without even knowing it. They’ve basically memorized 🧐 every emotion on each other's faces and know exactly what every tiny gesture means. It’s such a subtle but powerful💪🏽 way of showing their connection💞.

Plot🧩🙈😵:
This book had me giggling 🤭 at random moments, and those Google searches🔍? Relatable. Seriously, they were gold. 🤣 I love when a story brings out those little chuckles, and this one definitely did. The plot was fun and engaging, with plenty of laughs🗣️ along the way. It wasn’t overly complicated, but it didn’t need to be. Sometimes a feel-good story is exactly what you want. 😊

Characters💥😼👥:
Anna’s age gap thing is... interesting. 🤔 I kept wondering, why is her max age 50?? And then there’s this 8-year age gap between her and Will, with her being older. I wish we’d gotten to see more of them with Jess and Ethan. I feel like those moments could’ve added more depth 🌊 to the story. The humor is spot-on throughout. 😂 Even though I couldn’t personally relate to a lot of the situations, I still totally understood them. And I think each characters was written well. I could clearly picture them all, and that Ryan Stirling part? SUPER creepy👻. It gave me chills!

Overall, this was such a fun read! 😄 If you’re looking for something light-hearted and sweet with plenty of laughs, definitely give this one a go!

Thanks Netgalley and the author for the ARC 🤭🤩💫

I adore Sophie Cousens' writing style, and the premise for this book sounded fun so I was really looking forward to reading it, and on the whole I did enjoy it.

I love how well developed every single character is, the side characters such as Loretta, Roger and Michael really made this book for me. I enjoyed following Anna's journey of dating men chosen for her by her children, whilst also juggling her career, friendships and family.

My only issue is that I would have liked the dating parts to have got more time in the book - the blurb makes out that this is the main plot, where really it is more about Anna's relationship with Will, and whilst I did enjoy that, I didn't buy it completely and still don't see how it could possibly work long-term, so I didn't end the book feeling all fuzzy and romantic!