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I have a disorder that could be plaguing other romance readers – instant-gratification-itis. I’ve become so conditioned to expect instant-lust, instant-love, and almost-instant-sex in my romance novels that I forgot how enjoyable delayed gratification can be. I get a little fidgety and uncomfortable when I have to wait for feelings to develop and action to take place, but I’ve found a cure.
Read Penny Reid’s Dating-ish.
This perfectly plotted, beautifully complex, utterly charming, slow-burn romance will remind you why a meticulously built love story can be more satisfying than any instantaneous affair. (Don’t get me wrong; there’s always a place for quickies.) While Dating-ish is the sixth book in the Knitting in the City series, they are all stand-alones and do not need to be read in order, but if you have read the previous books, you’ll enjoy revisiting a familiar cast of characters. Whatever the case, just don’t wait a moment longer, because instant-gratification-itis doesn’t get better on its own.
Journalist Marie Harris is at her wit’s end and fed up with online dating, but she decides to give it one more chance when “FindUrPartner.com” says they’ve found her the perfect match. Judging from his online profile and their brief email exchange, he does actually seem like he’s kind of perfect, so Marie and Mr. Perfect – Derek – agree to a coffee meetup, but it quickly evolves into an epic disaster. Derek is either catfishing her or has dramatically changed his looks, because he’s nothing like his picture or his profile. He’s cute, but she assumes he’s a liar and a weirdo and flees the scene annoyed and exasperated.
Things don’t get better for Marie when she runs into supposed-Derek and discovers he is her good friends’ next-door neighbor and has become chummy with them. At least she can now tell him off and find out exactly what happened, and it turns out that this-Derek really isn’t supposedly-perfect-Derek. He is computer scientist, Professor Matt Simmons, who was filling in for his coworker, real-Derek, in order to obtain data for their joint research study on artificial intelligence. He hadn’t set out to catfish her, but Marie doesn’t think what he did is much better than if he had intended it.
Matt is an adorable genius without the gift of the gab for these situations, and he makes a verbal mess of trying to explain himself. His study is attempting to prove that artificial intelligence could one day replace the need for human companionship and that technology could meet all of our emotional needs. (Think of the film Her.) Marie still thinks he’s kind of nuts and finds him annoying, but she also – begrudgingly – finds him attractive. His hypothesis gives her an idea for an article, and she wants his data. She strong-arms him into agreeing to share some of his findings, and they form an unlikely association.
In her article, Marie explores whether basic romantic needs can be met with robots and paid services like life coaches, professional cuddlers and orgasmic meditation. (Yes, OM is a real thing, and I have a friend who is totally into it.) She sets out to do her own research, and she and Matt become more and more entangled along the way. They inadvertently become their own case study, and discover that they might disprove their own assertions.
Dating-ish is unpredictable, fun, thoughtful and incredibly romantic. The attraction and sexual tension between Marie and Matt builds from the smallest spark into a palpable fire, and their relationship follows a parallel trajectory, where feelings of respect and affection evolve steadily and thoughtfully. This enemies-to-lovers tale is layered and insightful, exploring complex issues such as feeling needed, being relevant and forsaking pride to risk being vulnerable – and this makes it an emotional and moving love story. I was smiling and happy-crying while highlighting passage after passage.
There is simply nothing typical about this gem of a book, and calling it original doesn’t do it justice. Ms. Reid has proven, again, that she is truly one of a kind. Dating-ish will incite laughter, tears and deep thoughts and could be just the romance you didn’t even realize you needed.
Buy it at Amazon/iBooks/Barnes and Noble/Kobo
Grade: A
Book Type: Contemporary Romance
Sensuality: Warm
Review Date: 13/05/17
Publication Date: 05/2017
Recent Comments …
Yep
This sounds delightful! I’m grabbing it, thanks
excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.
I don’t think anyone expects you to post UK prices – it’s just a shame that such a great sale…
I’m sorry about that. We don’t have any way to post British prices as an American based site.
I have several of her books on my TBR and after reading this am moving them up the pile.
Every year I experience a wave of sadness when I realize I am too old to attend summer camp. I used to be a CFO, but I can never escape accounting because someone always needs a number cruncher. I am a Texan happily living in California.
Related Reviews
I just got around to reading this book. I’m going to say it’s a B for me.
I struggled to make it to the half-way point. Took me about three days. Too much extraneous info, and–to disagree strongly with Mary–I think I’d have been better off if I’d read the first 5 books in the series. (I did not know Dating-ish was a series book. I *did* read Neanderthal Seeks Human back when it came out, but I don’t remember much of it.) This is more like a continuation story, and I felt like I was supposed to know the side characters who appeared throughout the book. Instead, all those characters were just so much distracting noise for me. And Marie’s/Matt’s developing friendship/relationship, and its ups and downs, mystified me in unpleasant, irritating ways.
However….at 50 percent on my Kindle, the story started becoming interesting. The last 40 percent of the book was charming and delightful. Reid’s writing is appealingly snappy and witty, and the H/h suddenly become way more likable to me than they were in the first half of the book.
I would rate the first half of the book a C and the second half pretty much an A. So all in all, I can comfortably say this is a B read.
I do think the Knitting in the City books are each much better if they are read in order as part of a series since the inter-relationships are a big part of the overall enjoyment of each book. I also really enjoyed the first half of Dating-ish for its loving development of a great friendship between the two main characters. Yes, they have a thing for each other, but both are also willing to set aside romantic feelings out of a commitment to be a good friend to the other. Their friendship was so sweet and each scene really shows how much they are willing to do for the other. I loved the second half and found it satisfyingly romantic and steamy, but without the tensions and struggles and foundation of the first half, I don’t think it would have worked as well. Dating-ish was my favorite book of 2017 but I have loved most of the books in the series.
I love this author and am eagerly looking forward to this book. I’ve found most of her novels refreshing and emotionally satisfying.
Refreshing is the perfect description for Penny Reid. She is so different. I love it.
As someone who hates insta-love because I want to read about the journey of falling in love (insta-love or insta-lust usually makes me lose interest pretty quickly) this book sounds interesting. The only other Penny Reid I’ve read was rambling and kind of unsatisfying, but fans seem to feel that it wasn’t her best effort, so this one may be worth a look.
And yes, great review! I often find romance reviews (here and elsewhere) are more in the nature of recaps than reviews, to the extent that I don’t feel there’s much left to discover if I buy the book. Not so here, so thank you.
Thank you! I hope you enjoy Dating-ish if you decide to pick it up.
Counting down the days to this book! Great review!
I think you will like it, Blackjack!