Kristin Rockaway's How to Hack a Heartbreak is a fun, timely story. A rom-com with a dash of #metoo. Delightful secondary characters.

Once again I find myself smiling wide through another fun rom-com!
This genre is quickly becoming one of my favorites! They rarely disappoint, I’m always entertained, and they leave me feeling satiated at the end. What more could you ask from a book?!

Like many of today’s women, Mel Strickland is fed up with the quagmire of online dating.
Her dates are no shows...she is ghosted, or worse. She continually receives unsolicited pics of certain anatomical regions. Gee, thanks gentlemen – how romantic.🙄

Enough is enough. Time to develop her own online app to weed out those creeps that are not truly looking for love! She’s about to go head to head against the big boys at the start up company Hatch.

A thoroughly adorable and heartwarming book about searching for love in a digital world. It reminds us that maybe love isn’t just a swipe away, but perhaps standing right in front of you. Or, maybe even in the next cubicle over.

A story with some sage insight. Perhaps it’s time to open our eyes and reconnect with the world! We may be missing “the one” as our noses are face-down in our phones and our fingers are busy swiping left....or even right!

Another endearing rom-com buddy read with Susanne!🌸

Thank you to NetGalley Harlequin Graydon House and Kristin Rockaway for an ARC to read and review

Pretty good. The heroine has great, supportive girl friends. In general all the guys are douches, excluding the hero (who is still a little clueless). It’s a cute, easy read.

I received an ARC of this book, from the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for a fair and honest review.

How to Hack a Heartbreak is a breath of fresh air! Kristin Rockaway's take on the tech world from a woman POV is fun, intelligent and addictive.

Being a single woman with a computer science degree stuck at a job she's overqualified to do, Melanie Strickland is a smart and fun millenial who is navigating the dating scene in a world dominated by apps. Thankfully she has friends who are here to listen and support her whenever she needs it.

I finished this book in one sitting! It is a quick but well-paced read that really resonated with me : whether it was the unwarrented D pics or surprise grinding in a packed subway, the toxic work environment, the self doubts inflicted by douchebags and so much more.

How to Hack a Heartbreak is definitely a must read !

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the digital ARC in exchange for my unbiased review. Although I'm not sure How to Hack a Heartbreak is my favorite romance, it has a lot to like. There are some critical girl pals in this who are fairly nuanced, a heroine who has a real job and eventually finds her way to wanting more than just a job, and a careful and bracingly honest depiction of what it's like to be a woman in a male-dominated industry. That said, this was the first book in a while where I spent half the book gnashing my teeth at a supposedly brilliant coder who was also somehow too-stupid-to-live. She made somewhat ridiculous choices, which were never fully explained away by her youth nor her otherwise shrewd decision-making. At any rate, by the end I was rooting for her, and happy to see her happily-ever-after both personally and professionally.

Worth a read, and now I know to try Rockaway again in future!

Melanie is a software developer working at a tech startup on the computer help desk among a ton of tech bros and unappreciative coworkers. In her free time, she's having a hard time in the dating world, like most women -- running into jerks and dick pics left and right. So she starts a website to help women watch out for jerks on the internet, and it completely takes over her life -- and reframes her judgement when she begins to date her good-looking coworker.

This book was a lot of fun to read! I loved the feminist perspective throughout but man, I just did not love Melanie, the lead character. I did really enjoy the book's take on the tech world, if a lot of the smaller plot points were a little unrealistic (I spent years on dating apps and didn't receive as many dick pics as the characters in this book claimed to receive on a regular basis). That said, this was a refreshing take on a romance novel and a fun, lighthearted read.

4 Stars!

Raise Your Hand if You’ve Ever Had a Bad Online Date!! (Yep, Hand Raised right here!). Melanie Strickland has too and boy is her story Fraking Awesome!

Sick and tired of working in a male driven industry with guys who treat her like doo doo and then going on online date after online date, either getting stood up or getting sent wholly inappropriate pics, Melanie (“Mel”) Strickland fights back. She creates an app called “Jerk Alert” which rates the guys she found online and has had some interaction with, warning other girls about them. It, of course goes viral.

Jerk Alert gives Mel and other women everywhere, a voice. In this day and age, we all know how important that is!

If you’ve ever had an experience with online dating, you know how humiliating it can be. Thus, the idea Jerk Alert sort of makes you stand up and take notice.

Now, where’s the romance here you ask? Well, there just might be some! You have to read this. novel to find out for yourself. “How to Hack a Heartbreak” by Kristin Rockaway is a book to be devoured and it’s one that will make you break into a smile.

I grabbed this book on NetGalley after seeing my friend Kendall’s review (which is awesome): "https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..." and I am so glad that I did. Thanks Kendall!

This was a buddy read with Kaceey! Lately we have been reading a lot of women’s fiction are so happy that we discovered a new (to us) genre.

Thank you to NetGalley, Harlequin - Graydon House Books and Kristin Rockaway for a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Published on NetGalley and Goodreads on 4.24.19.
Will be published on Amazon on 7.30.19.

26-year old, Melanie (Mel), has been working the same IT job for the last 4-years. Although she is a software developer, she hasn’t climbed up the career ladder since graduating college. Working in a male-dominated environment, Mel feels she’s never taken seriously.

Mel’s career isn’t the only part of her life that’s lacking. After dozens of lackluster dates, dick-pics and New York jerks, Mel’s fed up with online dating. If only there were a way for women to be warned of who to avoid on dating apps before wasting their time on them. And that’s when Mel has the brilliant idea to make an app to solve her problem. JerkAlert is a site where women can post reviews of men that should be avoided altogether. Mel doesn’t think her app will be used by anyone, but overnight, it’s become a sensation. Women everywhere are raving over this genius app.

Meanwhile, Mel is testing the waters with her coworker, Alex. After strictly online dating for who knows how long, Mel isn’t familiar with navigating a relationship with a friend, let alone a coworker. Alex is funny, sweet, extremely sexy and manages to say all the right things at the right time. But when Mel sees a negative review for Alex on her website, JerkAlert, she starts to question everything she thought she knew about Alex and everything she thought they had together.

JerkAlert could be Mel’s ticket to breaking free from her lackluster career as an IT specialist. Instead of fading into the background, maybe now she’ll be taken seriously. But the same app that could help her career could also be holding her back from finding what she’s be searching for all along—true love.

How to Hack a Heartbreak by Kristin Rockaway is a rom-com that’ll appeal to the generation of online dating and anyone who’s had a disastrous blind date. I loved this story and felt it was extremely relevant to today’s dating scene. I myself met my husband on a dating app and had a bunch of bad dates prior. So I could 100% relate to the various characters who had terrible experiences with dating apps. I enjoyed the romance between Mel and Alex—I only wish that we had gotten more. Mel is a strong female lead and I enjoyed watching her “stick it to the man.” Highly recommend this fun romance—4.25/5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Graydon House and Kristin Rockaway for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Mel Strickland is part of the helpdesk in an environment full of bro-coders—or Hatchlings—as her company calls them. Start-up app developers who get worshipped for their innovative ideas. Mel spends her days cleaning up after them by removing viruses, swapping out keyboards and resetting these brilliant coders’ passwords. Essentially, she’s the bottom of the IT totem pole, and even though she knows she has the potential for more, she’s perfectly okay with where she’s at. She has a steady paycheck and health insurance. That is until one dick pic too many has her fed up and deciding it’s her time to shine by creating an app of her own to out all the jerks she’s encountered…
This book had <i>so much potential</i> for me to love it. SO MUCH. I’m an IT professional. I like computers. I like nerd speak. I was so excited to read it.
But…
I did not love it.
The writing itself was fine. I just couldn’t connect with Mel’s character at all. She would have me for a minute, and then ruin it because her cup was <i>always</i> half empty. She was all about the negative, all about distrust and that just killed my joy for her story. Not to mention the romance here (of which there was very little) was a constant roller coaster of can I trust him or not and god, it was just a little bit exhausting to get through. Okay, a lot exhausting. I will admit to skimming most of the second half of the book to see if it would get any better for me, but even up until the end, the negativity continued and it just bummed me out so much that I really didn’t enjoy this at all.

*Thank you to Netgalley, Kristin Rockaway and Graydon House for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.*

emoji rating scale: 😩🙁😐😀😍
How to Hack a Heartbreak rating: 😍

THIS. BOOK. IS. SO. DAMN. REFRESHING.

I have never read anything by Kirstin Rockaway before, but I have wholeheartedly fallen in love. Guys, this book is must-read!

Melanie — a freaking breath of fresh air — is a girl who’s lived the last few years on autopilot. By day she’s a help desk techie at a startup incubator — Hatch — where entitled coding assholes (also known as ‘Hatchlings’) shoot one verbal abuse after another at her.

By night, she’s OVER the bad dates, the unwarranted dick pics, the “ghosters”, and every other loser match that she’s encountered on the dating app, Fluttr.

After one too many dick pics — and some #girlpower chatting with her best friends — Mel turns into the batman of the dating world, creating an app of her own that allows female users to log every abuser / harasser they’ve come across on Fluttr. #JerkAlert is born.

What Mel didn’t expect was to have a HELLA DREAMY, almost-kind of-maybe boyfriend — Alex Hernandez — who happens to be a “Hatchling” and also has NO IDEA she’s the brains behind the operation of JerkAlert.

What was so ABSOLUTELY REFRESHING was the fact that this story centered around Mel, her friendships, her struggles, her decisions, and didn’t fully revolve around dreamboat Alex Hernandez. As much as I love a great romcom, I really appreciated following Mel’s journey and watching her become a better and stronger person because of the choices she made.

Throw in some awesome secondary characters and sprinkle in a little bit of their love lives, and you’ve got yourself a really well-rounded read. I could not put this book down; I really enjoyed it so much! It’s quickly become a top read for 2019.

Mel Strickland works tirelessly as a computer technician in a New York office that helps get tech startups off the ground. Mel is fed up with her dating past. She has been using the Fluttr dating app and has had a variety of dates who have been either liars, losers or just jerks in general. Of course that was before she meets the handsome Alex Hernandez at her office. Alex is every woman's dream! He is handsome, attentive and sweet. Has Mel finally kissed enough toads? I really did love this story that kept me in stitches and wide awake late into the night. Mel reminds me of so many women who are single today and looking for their own Prince Charming! Mel is a wonderful programmer and she is quick thinking and rises to tackle any problem that she finds. I love her example of being a such a strong woman who finds a way against all adversaries! I rate this book a solid five stars!
Publication date is July 30, 2019.

This book is a solid take on the world of app development and the relationship fits nicely in without feeling forced. There's nothing ground-breaking about the story, but it's entertaining and generally believable for a contemporary romance novel, which is nice to see.

I loved this compulsively readable book! Mel (short for Melanie) works in a startup incubator, putting up with abuse and harassment as help desk support. Her boss doesn't back her up and the CEO talks a good game about respect in the workplace, but it's all just lip service. When Mel gets stood up by her Fluttr (think Tinder) date, and gets an unsolicited... ahem... picture from another Fluttr prospect, she has had it. She creates JerkAlert, a site that lets women come together and post about the jerks they meet, date, and put up with. With the help of her friends, Mel's site goes viral, but at what cost?

I got such a kick out of Mel's story. She's a relatable character: a woman in an overwhelmingly male workspace, who's expected to put up with the "bro BS" or find a new place to work. She fights back using her brains, her tech savvy, and a wicked sense of humor. In the meantime, she's working on a relationship with one of the tech incubators who - let's be honest - seems too good to be true, but serves to illustrate what happens when we let paranoia run rampant and start looking for things to go wrong.

It's a light, fun romance that has something to say about women in tech. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

I spend a lot of time reading historical and small-town contemporary romances. So, this book was a bit of a change of direction for me. The main character is Mel and she lives and works in New York. She is underpaid to do the work she is doing at a startup and her dating life has not been on point. After one too many bad dates from online apps, she made a site called JerkAlert. That is what drinking and being a good programmer will produce;) Mel is trying to navigate the male-dominated world of IT and it makes for a good setting to a modern romance story. It’s funny, it’s believable and you will find yourself rooting for the HEA. Strong friendships and girl time add a lot to this story. Once I started this book, I could not put it down. It was a fun, witty, quick read. A perfect escape if you are having a bad day (or a good day).

Book Review: How to Hack a Heartbreak by Kristin Rockaway

This book was such a treat to read. This book will be featured in my summer reading guide.

I love that this book was set in the Financial District because that’s where I work so it was fun to see the places that were mentioned.

This is the story of Mel who has been burned by online dating, specifically one dating app so she creates a review website for women to vent on their dates, the connections, and dick pics. The site grows exponentially but Mel keeps it as a secret to Alex her love interest.

What I love about this story is that it tackles real life issues in a way that felt realistic. Mel confronted the bro culture as her startup hatchling. She had a strong group of friends who were supportive. Even her relationship with Alex it was realistic as they fought.

I really loved this book. I can’t wait to re-read it again.

This book was cute. Like most rom coms, it had its fair share of problems and lacked some realism. But this was a fun, light read perfect for vacation.

This book actually had a really nice message: the value of in person human connection. The way the author made her point was a bit preachy, but it's still a nice message and the book delivered it well nonetheless.

The book could have gone a little further into unpacking the myth of a "Yelp for dating would be great," by pointing out that relationships are things that happen between two individual people during one point in time. Reviews won't translate to other people because they're subjective and don't account for growth.

Full review available at the link.

It’s been four years since Mel Strickland graduated college and started working the IT help desk at Hatch, a startup incubator. But Mel is tired of assisting these spoiled frat boys who give a great pitch but can’t manage a paper jam - this girl coder has just about given up. She can barely make the rent, repeatedly meets Mr. Wrong and ultimately yearns to leave what was supposed to be a stepping stone into the real world of coding. Crushed when her Fluttr date is a no show, Mel codes the ultimate revenge; an app called JerkAlert (as a joke!) and is shocked when it goes viral. With the help of her incredibly resourceful girlfriends Mel finds her way to both success and her true match in this absolutely hilarious, very contemporary peek at our outrageous startup phenomena, girl power coding and bizarre culture of online dating. Highly recommend this fast paced, laugh-out-loud beach read! #stockupforsummer Thanks NetGalley!

Frankly, this book was just not for me. I read about a quarter of it before growing very disinterested; I originally picked it up because the heroine codes, and that's fairly rare to see in literature. While I did like the premise, it was irritating to read a narrative where the main character hates all men but, for whatever reason, has an exception. In her eyes, her love interest can do no wrong, and almost for no apparent reason. You can see how reading something like "All men are disgusting, except Alex because he agrees that this other guy is disgusting." The bar is on the ground.

Maybe this all changes later, but it was so irritating to read for a decent portion of the book.

Read this in one sitting after a slow start. At first I thought phew I'm never going to be able to fully engage with Mel and her friends but all of the characters grew on me quickly. Would love to read more books by this author about the other folks in this story. Let's get a book just for Mel's amazing roommate! Not to mention Dani and the rest of the characters.

This isn't really rom-com, more just comedic fiction with a bit of relationship matter thrown in, and that works out just fine. I can just see the subway video going viral in real life ugh. Maybe some things here just hit a bit too close to home heh.

If you are looking for a good quick read this is a great choice.

Nice to have a lead character that stands up for herself and doesn't let everyone walk all over her. Sure the outcome here was a bit predictable but the author offers up quite a few surprises that work out well.

2.5 stars.

This book is not a romance. There is a romance, but it is in no way the focus of this book. Mel is the focus of this book. Which isn't a problem, it's just not what I was expecting. I loved the setting of this book and the feminist tract Mel is running on, but it all felt a little one note. Every man was bad, no man could be trusted, and we women have to spread the word! JerkAlert is a cool idea, but in no way should it be only men. Women can be jerks too and it completely ignores any other sexuality or gender fluidity. Bad move, Mel.

I wanted to love this book. I liked it ok and read it in a day, so that counts for something. But it's gonna be a left swipe for me for now. Let's hope we get more books about women in tech because that aspect was lovely.