ARC Review: The First Date – Zara Stoneley

Rating 3.5 Stars

What’s the book about?
Right place.
Right time.
Wrong guy…

After breaking up with her childhood sweetheart, clueless dater Rosie has found herself in a boyfriend-drought. So when she finally swipes right on a guy who seems interested, she can’t wait to meet up IRL.

Until she’s left standing alone. In a bar. Ghosted.

Enter Noah. Confident, funny … and a serial first dater. Offering to give Rosie a crash course in seduction, this could be just what she needs. Until her matchmaker turns out to be the best date she’s ever had – and Rosie wonders if she wants the fake dates to be the real ones after all…

My Review
This story was super cute and is perfect for those who love reading or watching rom-coms! It had the classic storyline of heroine being stood up on her first date with a man she met online. Instead, heroine meets hero, a serial first dater and major flirt, who decides to impart his dating wisdom onto the heroine. As you can guess, this develops into a fun, flirty story!

I really enjoyed Stoneley’s writing style. I haven’t read anything else by her before but it was a great introduction. She sets the scene well, gives enough back story to help you understand the characters and provides lots of lighthearted, fun dialogue between the characters.

I’ll admit it did take me a while at the beginning to warm up to the main characters but once that initial introduction began and the dialogue got going, it was great to see their interactions. Rosie’s character started a little lost and confused but ended up really showing her strength and determination by the end; and Noah’s rocky start had him appearing a little one dimensional with his over-the-top flirting but his personality really grew to show more of his sensitive side. I really enjoyed seeing both of these characters getting to know one another and taking a chance on each other.

Disclaimer: Thank you to Harper Collins UK/One More Chapter and Netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

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