I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. These opinions are my own.

This book was published on July 30 so if you're interested in it, you should definitely check it out!


When I first read the premise of this book, it spoke to my soul. Our main character, Mel, is a tech specialists where she fixes computers for "tech gods" who don't have near the amount of knowledge that she does. After one too many bad online dates, she creates a website where girls can log their experiences with jerks, along with their names, photos, and ages. As expected, the site blows up. While all of this is going on, Mel is also starting to fall for Alex, one of her coworkers.

Before I met my husband, like Mel, I went on bad date after bad date myself. I unfortunately was also the UNWILLING recipient of many a picture of a random male's genitalia. So I absolutely understood her frustrations and where she was coming from when she created her website. I also felt her frustration being a girl in a predominately male filled technology field. I can imagine what it's like to bow down to a bunch of men who are "more important than you" just because they are men, even when you're smarter than they are. The number of times I read "girls can't code for shit" was frustrating. (Side note, I am a female, and while I CAN do basic coding, it's not my jam). Every girl has that moment where she feels less than, because society tells us that as women, we ARE less than. This book was a charming story of one girl's comeuppance against her male counterparts. She got to be smart and got the guy in the end.

This was a seriously cute book. It was an easy and fun read, and I can totally see recommending it for the 20 Somethings crowd, especially those who love a HEA like I do.

Thankfully, I didn't have to deal with dating apps to find my spouse, but I could only imagine having to use them to find a potential relationship (and that mere thought makes me cringe). Melanie Strickland is a great protagonist who has an attitude of not wanting to take anyone's crap whether it's at work or on the subway trying to get home after another monotonous day at her job, working IT computer support for Hatch. Mel and her friends all have strong relationships with one another, helping each other survive in the world of online dating and swipe-right/left apps. Mel uses her coding abilities (yay for a woman who codes) to create a website called JerkAlert, allowing women to log entries of men who harass or send illicit pictures via the dating app Fluttr.

I definitely recommend this book to anyone who has survived in the world of dating apps or to those who will be forever grateful that they didn't have to deal with using dating apps at all.

How to Hack a Heartbreak by Kristin Rockaway

Mel Strickland is a coding genius but she is underemployed and underappreciated by the mostly male coworkers she provides IT assistance for at the tech incubator firm, Hatch. To break up the drudgery of her employment, she goes on mostly bad dates she has found on a popular dating app.

After one too many horrible evenings, she writes her own app, JerkAlert, to allow women to warn others of men behaving badly. The app goes viral overnight and Mel’s life becomes very chaotic and threatens to upset her budding romance with Alex, the only decent guy at Hatch. When disaster strikes, Mel will have to make choices that may affect her career and her future.

I wanted to like this book. The premise was timely and the concept seemed engaging but I struggled almost from the beginning. Nearly all the male characters were offensive. I suppose this was by design in order to make a point about male dominated tech culture – but it did not make for fun romantic reading. The descriptions of dating and misuse of dating apps was unpleasant and made me grateful that I am not in need of a date.

The story seemed pretty flat and the characters fairly superficial and underdeveloped. I had a hard time relating to anyone and was grateful when the fairly obvious plot came to a rather unconvincing end.
Perhaps I was just old for this one and not the intended audience. I think it would appeal to young readers who want a modern romance and can sympathize with Mel’s dating dilemmas. 2 stars.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I heard great things about this one and I really wanted to like it. While I've never used Dating sites or apps, I have heard many horror stories, so the concept of JerkAlert was appealing. This one sounded funny, empowering, and awesome. Unfortunately, this one missed the mark for me. 

I totally could have forced myself through this one, but I was...bored. I couldn't connect to the characters at all. While I empathize with them and wanted to dig in, something about the writing style forced me to feel disconnected. Her relationship with Alex is also not memorable. In fact, while Alex seems like a good guy, it seems like the only reasons she likes him is because he is attractive and he isn't a dick. The whole relationship felt weak. Which, the relationship not being the main focus would totally be fine, if this book wasn't set up to make me think the romance would be a big issue. I kept flipping back in forth between not being sure if it would take priority or if the app would or even if being told how much crap women have to put up with would be the focus of the book. 

Truly, I think the biggest issue here is that the writing felt more like someone's memories as they recounted what happened. The scenes felt surface level to me instead of diving deeper into feelings, situations, and characters. 

Yet, it isn't a bad book. I really could have forced myself through this one. I think people who prefer contemporaries or what some of my professors called "women's fiction" over romances, would like this one.

There were so many things to like about this book but it had a lot of issues for me.

Mel is a strong, smart woman. She codes and creates websites in a technology world filled mostly with men. She has so much potential but she works on a help desk in an office filled with misogynistic pigs. I wanted to scream at her to get out of there! I was a little put off by just how awful all these tech guys were. Why did every one of them have to constantly put her down and belittle her?

Also, the romance wasn't doing it for me. In a book all about dating apps and heartbreak, I wanted more! The chemistry between Mel and Alex wasn't very strong and I wanted more from her. A few chapters from his point of view would've been nice because Mel was very quick to jump to conclusions.

It wasn't all bad though! I loved the confidence Mel slowly gained and the way she stood up for herself (even if it could've happened sooner). I loved Mel's friends, their constant display of support, and their own dating catastrophes. As for dating, the men in the dating app were hilarious and definitely true to real life. I clearly had some struggles with this book, but it was quick, fun read overall.

4.5 Stars / 2 Steam Fans

This was a super cute and fun story. It was a little off putting or man hating in some parts but I found it to be very relatable in the career field that Melanie worked in. Melanie is wronged a few times when using a dating app so she decides during a drunken rage to setup a message board about the loser's using the dating app. When Melanie's friends test out the site as well things really take off. Alex and Melanie work at the same company and have a slight romantic connection but this story is mainly about girl power, finding your life goals, and allowing love into your life.

This specific video review will be included in the July 2019 wrap-up.

For other video book reviews check out my YouTube Channel: Steph's Romance Book Talk.

A modern view of app dating!

How to Hack a Heartbreaker is a fun look at the modern day life of app dating, with its perils and pitfalls. Melanie is the IT helpdesk agent at Hatch, a startup incubator. Between the misogynistic start up men, her boss, and the men on dating apps who only want to hookup, Melanie is ready to shuck it all! She blows up one evening and she develops an app for women to warn others of men they’ve had bad experiences. JerkAlert is an overnight hit!

When Mel meets and starts dating Alex, she learns others had bad experiences with him. Will misunderstandings, lack of communication and others opinions change her view of their relationship?

A fun and realistic take on modern dating!

I received an ARC copy of this book and am voluntarily reviewing it. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and given freely.

How to Hack a Heartbreak has everything right! Such a brilliant, funny take on how far the dating scene has come with the advances of technology. I'm not sure if it's made me want to put myself out there, or hide more, lol. Do NOT drink any liquids while reading this book, you've been warned.

A thoroughly enjoyable romantic romp! From the world of computer coding, Mel is a great heroine, trying to keep her bills paid while she keeps on with her day job but dreams of what she could be doing by night. Alex is a co-worker she doesn't quite know what to do with. Trust is a delicate thing and it takes time for them to build it for each other. These characters, the best friends, the situations they find themselves in are genuine. The story kept me interested until the last keystroke. The only part of the story I was disappointed in was Mel never stood up to all the men in her workplace that harassed and belittled her. Yes, she got out, but I would have liked a scene, at least with her boss and the company owner, that called them out on the behavior she was subjected to, not to mention the final insult she was handed.

Fluttr was the dating app of choice these days. Nothing really special about it but everyone using dating apps used Fluttr. Melanie was sitting at the barley House waiting for a first date with a guy- Brandon- from Fluttr and he was already late. She usually had first dates on Tuesday or Wednesday but he sent a text earlier to meet him on this friday evening. So far the Fluttr app hadn’t been very lucky. Most of melanie’s matches had lead to disappointing first dates. Than she thought her luck her patience had paid off and Brandon was here. But instead it was Alex who called her name. The new guy at the office, he was hot. Melanie was surprised that he even remembered her name. After a brief meeting, Melanie had wanted to see Alex again but there had never been a good excuse for her to swing by his cubicle. It turns out Alex had felt the same way. Even though Alex and Melanie worked for the same office they had wildly different jobs. Melanie had been working at HATCH for four years it had been the first place to offer her a job after graduation and Melanie had student loans and regular living expenses her in NYC. Than a woman came up to Alex and kissed him and Alex introduced her as Penny. This made Melanie angry, Alex flirting with her, asking her out to lunch while waiting for his girlfriend to get there. Melanie paid her tab and hurriedly left and met up with her friends. Lia had found a good guy-Jay- through Fluttr, maybe Melanie shouldn’t give up yet. The way Melanie was going she would be single and debt ridden the rest of her life. Melanie created an anonymous web site- JerkAlert the next day after being hungover and sent the same dick picture from Joe three times. Woman could rate their dating experiences with guys they met on Fluttr. It didn’t take long to get it up and running. She wrote the code on Saturday and Sunday she put together some quick graphics and uploaded it to her discount web host. JerkAlert was launched and Melanie felt better after writing a review about Joe and Brandon. Than she did a quick one on Alex. Melanie didn’t expect anything to happen with JerkAlert but it got big and rapidly. Alex sees Melanie at work and asks her out for that lunch date and explained Penny had been a rather successful first date. Melanie and Alex start seeing each other and slowly start to develop a relationship. But then Melanie sees a negative review of Alec on JerkAlert and starts questioning what she thought she knew about Alex and rethinking everything her and Alex had together
I liked this book a lot. It was an easy, quick, enjoyable read. I really liked Melanie and her friends and how they all supported each other. I like how the author portrayed some of the trials and tribulations with online dating apps and the people who use them. How frustrating and at times downgrating some of the people could be on these apps, the creeps coming out of the woodwork and seldom finding a good match. . I loved that melanie developed an app and this book showed how hard it was for a female to become successful in the male dominated computer field. I enjoyed the plot and pace. I did think Melanie complained a bit too much instead of doing something about the things she didn’t like in her life and try to change those things. I didn’t like how the Hatchings treated Melanie at all and than her boiss siding with the Hatchings and not Melanie. I really liked that Alex and Melanie’s relationship slowly developed. I loved the characters and the ins and outs of this book and I recommend it.
**I voluntarily read and reviewed this book

How to Hack a Heartbreak by Kristin Rockaway is an entertaining, hilarious, and charming rom-com that had me relentlessly flipping through the pages. It’s not only delightful and fun, but also wonderfully empowering. Such an amazing book and I honestly can’t rave about it enough. 

With Rockaway’s meaningful and addictive writing style, I found myself utterly captivated with this story. I love that I could feel what the characters feel and sympathize with them. Whether it’s from their awkward dates, misunderstandings, heartbreaks, work troubles, or personal shortcomings, I could relate and feel their emotions. I really love that about this book. The plot is fast-paced and engrossing with the perfect blend of drama, angst, wit, conflict, and the amazing ups and painful downs of finding love in a digitally driven world. I adore the characters and wanted to be best friends with them. The romance is not really the main focus, but I still enjoyed it. The last few chapters are definitely my favorite and had me tearing up a few times. There’s also a few scenes that had me cheering, smiling, and just overwhelmed with positivity. I really enjoyed this novel and the ending is fantastic – it’s hopeful, profound, and touching.

I love Melanie and her girlfriends. They’re quirky, determined, talented, witty, loving, and incredibly supportive. They’re such strong and independent women and I think they’re all just so inspiring and admirable. Their friendship is endearing and one of the things I adore about this book. I really enjoyed seeing them have fun, take chances, find love, and most importantly empower each other. 

I like the romance aspect of the story. It doesn’t sizzle off the page, but the chemistry between Mel and Alex feels realistic and relatable. I definitely rooted for them early on and even if there aren’t too many swoony moments between them, I think they’re just so cute and great together. 

Riveting and heartfelt, How to Hack a Heartbreak is fun and addictive and one of my favorite reads this summer. The writing is superb, the characters are lovable and fierce, and the plot is humorous, bold, and inspiring. Kristin Rockaway absolutely captured my heart with this amazing story about strong female friendship, empowerment, love, and the importance of in person connections and relationships. This truly has been a joy to read and I think you should definitely add this gem on your TBR. 

I received an advance reader copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own

4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was a super fun & easy read. I really enjoyed the storyline and its characters. It was very addictive, I finished it in two sittings. A great beach read!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing a free advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Linda's Book Obsession Reviews "How to Hack a Heartbreak" by Kristin Rockaway. Graydon Books, July 30, 2019

Kristin Rockaway, Author of "Hot to Hack a Heartbreak" has written a different, witty, entertaining and intriguing novel. The Genres for this Novel are Contemporary Fiction, Women's Fiction, Fiction, and Romance. There is a touch of satire as well. The timeline for this story is in the present. The author describes the characters as complex, complicated, quirky, intelligent, dysfunctional, and flawed.

Mel Strickland has been working at a computer startup company called "Hatch" basically helping to fix the computers for the last few years. Most of the workers are male, and there is a fraternity feel or brotherhood expression to this workplace. Most of the men are "hatching " up apps and ideas for programming. Mel, being one of the few women working there gets plenty of attitude from the men. What some of the men don't realize is that Mel is an intelligent woman and very capable in the workplace. 

Mel is fortunate to have some really loyal girlfriends that give her emotional support. It seems Mel has had to resort to using "Fluttr" a dating app, where you swipe with your finger who you might be compatible with. She is at a bar waiting for her latest" Fluttr" date when she sees one of the male workers. The "Fluttr "date never shows.

After being disgusted with dating apps, Mel uses her own coding skills to launch her own app "JerkAlert" for mostly women to vent and share their experiences. This becomes an overnight success and sets Mel off to an adventure she never expected. Mel is going to have to make some very important decisions and choices.

I love the way the author discusses the importance of friendship, loyalty, love, and hope. I would recommend this entertaining novel.

I liked a lot about this book. I liked the commentary on online dating, and the references to data collection. I liked that the main character was a computer programmer, and she had a great lady squad backing her up. I even “liked” the whole hatch dynamic, in the sense that I hated it and therefore it did exactly what it was supposed to do. But I finished this book feeling a little..., meh. It wasn’t a rom com in my opinion, but it also didn’t quite fit into a general fiction categorization. It just needed something more.

How to Hack a Heartbreak by Kristin Rockaway gets it. The author explores the real problems and trials about online dating through the eyes of Mel, a helpdesk tech at a startup incubator where she attends to entitled programmers day in and day out. Pushed a little too far Mel develops a website to search out reviews on a guy before you go on a date. Needless to say, something like that is much needed when you never know if your next match will turn into a unsolicited dick pick. Throughout the whole adventure Mel has the support of her girl gang and the interest of a (hot) co-worker.

This book was so entertaining. It was littered with out loud YES moments. The look into such a male driven industry through the eyes of a female was amazing. It felt very realistic to me. I liked Mel but all she seemed to do was complain about her circumstance and do little to make it better. Her relationship with Alex was a bit... unbelievable for me and took a bit for me to warm up to. The girl gang in this was AMAZING! Every woman deserves a girl gang like this one.

I recommend this for a fun and real look at a sliver of the tech industry. And to get a great girl gang with a little romance.

⭐⭐⭐💫

3.5 stars
I'm loving all of these books about modern technology and dating. When I read the synopsis I knew I wanted to read this one. There were parts of this book that I enjoyed, like women in a male-dominated field, female friends, the realness of the tech industry. The problem was that every time I started to like it, Melanie would kind of kill it for me. She was negative and judgmental to a point that I just couldn't get behind her at times. She makes an assumption about Alex that I think is realistic of may people, but I just wanted more from her. All of this meant the story, and Melanie, seemed realistic, but not in a way I really appreciated. It really came down to my personal preferences for characters and stories, but this one wasn't for me. That being said, I do think some people will really enjoy this book!

*Thanks Harlequin and Graydon House books for the eARC free of charge!

LOVE LOVE LOVE! Such a cute idea and Kristin Rockaway is a fantastic author! Cannot reccomend enough for anyone dating in the digital age.

I saw this book in the romance section of NetGalley during one of my “scroll through but don’t request anything” outings. That plan ruined, I immediately requested it. The name alone drew me in: How to hack a heartbreak. Computer science and romance? That is something that you don’t see every day. I was overjoyed when my request was approved.

From the very first chapter, I was drawn into this book. The author has an easy smooth writing style. One that isn’t choppy or creates unnecessary explanations with a bunch of wasted words. I loved the main character, Melanie, and all of her friends. They were humorous and I wanted to be their friends as well. Melanie (Mel) was nerdy but not in an annoying fashion. She had life issues that we could see anyone having in this day and age. One of her big problems was dick pics from the popular dating app called Fluttr. She reported them every time she came across them but they were never dealt with. So she created JerkAlert. A website that let people load their offensive dates into a database so people could check before they swiped. I was so proud of her for doing this. Taking a stand against dick pics! She flounders through a serious relationship that goes south quickly when she searches her own database and finds him listed.

The author wrote the romance in such a way that it was relatable. Like blowing things out of proportion without actually waiting for an explanation. She gives Mel all the highs and lows of life. From breakups to being stood up to getting fired from a job. She writes all this exceptionally well. The book is a quick and easy read. I read it in just a few days. The romance is clean. You know they have sex but they leave all the extras out of the storyline. I would say that it could even be a YA book really. I will definitely find more books by this author in the future.

How to Hack a Heartbreak was so great! I thought the storyline was relatable and very timely. I mean, who hasn't tried to find love online? There were many laugh out loud moments and I really had a hard time putting it down. Id suggest it to other rom-com lovers, for sure.

Special thanks to Netgalley and Harlequin - Grayden House Books for an e-Advanced Reader’s Copy of the book. Receiving How to Hack a Heartbreak did not affect my review or rating.

Female coder badassery might just be the best thing about this book! Dating Apps might just be the worst/best thing for a twenty-something year old like me. JerkAlert might just be the smartest not-yet invented idea yet. Mel Strickland is one word is my, shero!

The Good: Diverse female friend group! I loved that the main characters are four women who are true blue best friends. And I loved Mel’s roommate, Vanessa even more. There was little to none of the cattiness usually witnessed in stories that include a female friend group. Instead, there was honesty, humor and above all true support of one another. I also enjoyed the fact that they each had their separate professions that didn’t necessarily shape their identity but added to it. Lia, is an optimistic graphic designer, Dani is a holds no bar doctorate—PhD in sociology, student. And flirtatious Whit works in Public Relations. And finally, the love interest, Alex. Without any spoilers, he shockingly surprised me. I thought I knew exactly the type of character he was within the first few chapters. I’m not ashamed to admit that I was wrong.

The Bad: Overall, certain characters were predictable and one-dimensional. Which sort of took away from the enjoyment of the story. The overarching plot wasn’t bad but the sub-plots were a bit sub-par.

Overall: The character development, especially for the main character Melissa Strickland, was phenomenal and the best part of the story. I absolutely loved the ending and I think it did a great job of wrapping up the story. I also found the story to be relatable, as I think women have all had bad experiences with online dating.

I’d recommend it to fans of Contemporary Romance who don’t mind a bit of predictability.