I think a lot of us know I’ve been thinking a lot lately. And to be honest, I needed a break from myself, so I picked up my trusty old friend, the romance genre. I kept seeing ads on Facebook for Three Blind Dates (targeted ads are real and surprisingly well targeted), so I finally caved and read it.
Noely Clark loves her life. She’s independent, successful, beautiful, but still alone. So she decides to sign up for a restaurant/matchmaking service. The problem is she now has to share her dating journey on her morning talk show. Will the added pressure cause her to miss out on the love of her life and fail in front of all of her viewers?
The story is cute and a unique idea. Noely’s voice is fun and there’s enough storyline to keep you interested. A few things I didn’t love…
- Noely loves Tom Hanks and You’ve Got Mail specifically. The first two thirds of the book is an interesting take on this story, but the final third one of the suitors steals Tom Hanks’ moves from the movie to “You’ve Got Mail” her into falling in love with him. This part felt a little like the movie came first and didn’t require a ton of creativity to come up with, so I would’ve loved to see a different way to get our lovers together.
- 90% of the book is in Noely’s voice with it switching over to her successful suitor’s just toward the end for a couple chapters. I’ll be the first to admit that this is entirely my preference, but I feel like it should switch throughout, or stay with one person. I was confused at first by the switch because there had been very little indication by that place in the book that it would ever switch voices.
Now, some things I did love…
- The three blind dates kept you guessing who she’d end up with. Although, when we get to the mystery man, I was dead set on who that was, and was right. I don’t think I’m Nancy Drew, I think most would probably have the guess I did. Still, this didn’t detract from the story for me.
- Each of the guys were very different. I really enjoyed that care was taken to ensure each of the blind dates had complete back stories and personalities. They were fun. I typically don’t get attached to romance series, but I’m attached enough to the other two guys that I will check back when their stories are released to read their happily ever afters.
- Noely’s brother and his wife are really funny. There was a part where Noely is dating The Jock and they get excited and ramble. I had to hold in a few laughs (I may or may not have been reading at my desk during work hours) so that I didn’t disturb those around me. Great comedic side characters = bonus points from me.
So, romance reading friends, I’d give this one a read. It’s cute and funny… a literary romcom. ♥
Reading Minds 