These authors are new to me so I wasn't sure what to expect. I really liked how the book started off where they took a single mom who was kicking butts to make something for her and her son, and that's where it stopped for me. I felt like Angel was built up as this independent women and was make something for herself and the she caved to a real jerk. I was not a fan of "the Duke" at all, they tried to make him the hero of the story and I was done at that. The story I guess you could say gives you an eye into what its like for some of the rich in famous with drug use, sex, unfaithfulness, parting and guns. In the end I felt it was abrupt and kind of leaves you to finish what happened with the main story line. Over all this book was not a book I could say I would recommend it was not a book for me that's for sure. There is a lot of cursing and graphic details in this book so it may not be for all readers.

I saw the adorable cover of this book and downloaded it from Netgalley based entirely on that and a cute description. I... should have waited for more reviews before taking a chance on this one. I'm hoping the final version of this book has better separation between the point of view switches- in the e-galley version that I read, points of view will very randomly switch mid-scene with no indication, but that jarring change was far from the only problem int his story. I was never sure what the attraction was between the characters- they are kind of consistently terrible to each other (ESPECIALLY Duke to Angel), often in ways that, to me, would have been unforgivable. Duke's friends and their wives/girlfriends are also pretty terrible- both to each other and to Duke and Angel. I know there has to be conflict in a romance novel- but I guess I need to find something likeable about the characters as well.

Unfortunately this one just wasn't for me.
The writing, the inconsistences... I just couldn't finish it at this time. Maybe after a while, I'll come back and try to read it again but I just couldn't at this time.

*Ignore the star rating, I couldn't submit unless I rated it.
At this time, it's a "no rating" review from me.

The Story:

Angel Gomez lives in the Bronx. An unwed mother by age 16. Her son Jose means the world to her and she has worked and studied tirelessly to get to where she is now. Passing her finals at nursing school. She has no time for men or playing around.

Duke Lewis, a star pitcher who parties hard and is basically a drunk with issues. In order to keep his place on the team, he needs to clean up his act. What could be better than a nurse? A pretend girlfriend until the headlines die down.

My Take:

Angel has a rather uppity attitude towards other women. I could not understand why she would agree to do something that seems so out of character for her. All of the men were disgusting stereotypes of male athletes and their money hungry wives. 

For me, this was much like the Real Housewives. Bad and embarrassing. 

NetGalley/ St. Martin's Griffin  June 11, 2019

I love contemporary romance so when I saw the cover and read the description I was excited to give this one a read. Unfortunately, I did not like this. The writing is very choppy and characterization is very poor. It's very high on the drama and that seems like it the focus more than the characters. I didn't like anyone and wasn't engrossed in the story. My dislike is unfortunate since there is such a low number of people of color as leads in a contemporary romance novel. I wish this was better than it is.

Sorry not my type of book. I could not get interested in any of the characters and the story did not live up to my expectations. Sorry.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

This was such a quick little rom-com that is smart, witty and endearing. Caleb and Angel both have a ton of baggage, yet they somehow manage to make it work. As a single mother, Angel is doing everything she can to juggle nursing school, two jobs and her son’s asthma, while Caleb “The Duke” is recovering from a potentially career-ending injury sustained during a traumatic event.

It’s definitely a super quick read ( I finished it in about 4 hours) and loved how it mainly revolves around POC characters. Overall, it was a great read.

The Perfect Date ⚾️

“Just a minute, the Duke is about to pitch...”

This book was definitely not what I was expected but I liked it non the less!
When I first saw the cover and synopsis I thought it was gonna be a rom-com, but it definitely turned out to be much more suspenseful and drama filled.
This book was fast paced, kept my attention, and I finished it in one sitting!
Definitely recommend for someone that isn’t into super steamy romances and likes a bit of a hard-to-get love story.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Thanks to @stmartinspress for an early copy!

Can you make this work? Caleb "Duke" Lewis has it all a good career at the Yankees as their star pitcher and all the money that he needs but he is lying to everyone around him. Can he really recover from his ankle injury or will this be the end of his career? Angel is trying so hard to hold everything together she just needs to get through these last exams then she will be a nurse but her son Jose has just taken a bad turn his asthma is getting worse and she just hopes that she can make some more money at her night job to be able to get all the medicine that he needs. Duke can't get the nurse out of his mind he knows that he is taking a big risk by going to the clinic but he has no choice he just hopes that the doctor will keep his mouth closed. So he is surprised when he sees the nurse at the local club but things go downhill quickly as he had been drinking and he thought that he was clever. Angel is fired and now she knows that she can't afford to get the rest of Jose's medicine and she just hopes that she can talk to her boss and that he will forgive her from throwing the drink into clients face. She knows that things are only going to get worse so when she sees that man again and she finds out who he is she is confused why he even wants to spend time with her. She knows that she had agreed to be his girlfriend but she doesn't belong in his world everyone is fake and they are all out for themselves. Can Duke win her back or will it be the end even before they got to know each other? Do they really have a chance at making this work? Will Duke be able to walk away from his old life for Angel & Jose or will he be too afraid to? Has Duke got the guts to be honest about his problems and to do the right thing? A good read. I was lucky enough to receive a copy via Netgalley & the publishing house in exchange for my honest review.

This had a cute premise, but it fell very short. I didn’t like any of the characters. There was nothing appealing about Duke.

Not for me. This book was heavy on the drama and had unlikeable characters. I had high hopes but this one fell flat.

the plot of this book sounded fascinating so i was really looking forward to reading it so it's tragic how disappointed i was...
i wish i liked the (main) characters better but i just couldn't deal with their "holier than thou" attitudes.

despite all that, angel was such a good mom that just wanted to make a good life for her son even if it meant not being able to see him as often as she'd like. i'm glad they got the happy ending they all deserved.

one of the only things that made this bearable was the fact that i could relate to duke's constant fears and insecurities while it made me sad how constant he was putting himself down.

2.5 stars only because i really like the cover.

I so wanted to like this book. When I saw the cover on NetGalley, I was intrigued to learn more and the title also sounded like a contemporary romance I'd enjoy. This book had so much potential to be something enjoyable but fell short in so many ways.

The book was choppy and would change narrator voices throughout a chapter without any clear sign things were changing. (I'd like to think this is because I was reading an eARC of the text and not the final physical text). This was only a minor flaw in comparison to some of the more significant ethical issues (ex: womanizing, sexual coercion, law breaking).

I also found it hard to really like any of the characters, they often seemed presumptuous and naming the main characters Angel and Duke just made them more unlikable. While I understand why the writing/conversation seemed unpolished, it seemed like it was written more for a movie script than a novel.

Overall the story was just okay, I think it could have been better researched (I know it is fiction but it seemed there were some gross inaccuracies) - it could have been a much better story but failed to live up to my expectations and also ended abruptly.

This was my first read by Evelyn Lozada, Holly Lorincz & it was good. I wasn’t too sure about it at first but as I got further into it, it caught me. The characters were strong, funny & damaged. I loved the strength they put in Angel, her life wasn’t easy & she never gave up. Duke was a determined character with a sad recent history that prompted pity from him sometimes & wanting to smack him other times. Their chemistry was great & the back & forth between them was interesting.

Some romance with a little baseball!

Nursing student Angel Gomez is almost finally done with her nursing school except for her practicum and passing her boards when she has to bring her son in with an asthma attack to the clinic where she is finishing her nursing training. Baseball pitcher Caleb “the Duke” Lewis needs help for his ankle quietly so the team management wouldn’t find out that it hadn’t healed enough after being out a year rehabbing it after being shot. Duke saw Angel at her second job working at a bar when he pissed her off. The second time Duke visited the clinic; he told reporters that he was visiting Angel, his new girlfriend at work. Angel wants nothing to do with Duke but he and his manager convinced her to play along so he would stay out of trouble.

The Perfect Date is a book that takes a turn towards the end that I wasn’t expecting about Duke but the authors made it more realistic to his character but there is lots of drama between all the characters.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

THANK YOU to St Martin's Press for the privilege of granting me this book for review. I do not (and never) take this for granted. Believe me.

To be quite honest I had no idea who Evelyn Lozada was. None. I am not one to watch VH1, let alone reality TV shows, so I had no premise on the author whatsoever. (which in hindsight is a good thing, right?, no bias here).

The story itself was good, but not stellar. I loved Angel's character the most. She's what I would call a 'LUCHONA', which in Spanish we refer to as a hard working woman, trying to fight any and all obstacles. She's had to deal with some heavy challenges throughout her life, and her being the sole breadwinner for her son puts her into perspective and makes her want to be a better version of herself, hence the nursing degree and her job at the bar. I do want to point out, -and possibly the reason why I don't feel 100 % comfortable giving this a stellar review - is that it would be easy for the reader to stuck her in the stereotype category of the latina who gets pregnant at an early age. I know this doesn't happen to all and not only in the Latino community, but I am a latina myself and I know how comfortable it is to fall into prejudice over something like that.

Caleb 'the Duke' on the other hand, also had multiple issues. his bad boy persona was expected, but I felt it dragged a bit too long throughout the story. It was obviously the perfect cover for him, Angel, but I felt this could have had a bit more depth in regards to exploring each character's feelings in a more profound way. I felt that the combined of all topics, -mostly dating, baseball, - had this overwhelming feeling and did not expand to the full potential they had without feeling 'too busy', if that makes sense.

I did like the read. I think it's a perfect summer one, but I would've loved to see more development and angst. Contemporary ones do have room for on a not so profound level, it's just a matter of balancing it a bit more.

Thank you again for the opportunity of reading this in advance.

The Perfect Date cover gave me major The Proposal vibes which is why I thought this would be such good book to read! Angel is a single mother who got pregnant as a teenager. Not only a few years after Jose was born, Angels mother passed away leaving Angel to pick up the pieces and get her life together. Angel is a nursing student trying to graduate so she can make a better life for her son, while also bartending at an upper class establishment. Jose is a huge baseball fan and has an asthma attack while watching a game which has Angel rushing her son to the clinic where she works. While her son is waiting to be seen Angel goes back to talk to her boss Dr. Collins to see if he can get Jose in faster. Whens he comes back, Jose is talking to a stranger. Little does she know it's the Yankee pitcher "The Duke". Later than night Angel runs into him while she is bartending and Duke is drunk and hits on her rudely causing her to throw a drink in his face and get fired. The duke has to go back to the clinic the next day to secretly get his ankle checked, because if the Yankee's manager catches wind he hasn't recovered his career is going to be over! He runs into Angel again recognizing her and tries to apologize but the press have figured out that The Duke is at the clinic. He then asks Angel to be his "girlfriend" to throw off the press.
I had high hopes going into this book because the romance that is being released right now is amazing! However this book just fell really short for me. I had a hard time falling in love with the characters. Angel is fiesta latina women who has been caring for her son she had when she was fifteen. I loved the strong woman power she had! But her romance with Duke was lacking fire for me. I didn't get the butterflies while reading this. I think the story line was good but it fell short in the character development for me. This book is a quick read and if you are looking for something easy this might be for you! I was just looking for a little more depth between the characters.

I really tried with this book. I didn't like how it was written at all. I was really hoping this book was going to get better but it didn't.

Angel Gomez is a twenty-three year old single mother who is studying to be a nurse and works part-time in a swanky club. She is a fiercely independent woman and that follows through during the storyline. She meets Duke Lewis, a pitch for the Yankees and ends up agreeing to be his pretend girlfriend when he needs to pretend to have settled down from his playboy antics. There was lots of drama during this story, maybe a little too much. The author has an agreeable writing style. The secondary characters were interesting and Angel's son, Jose is very cute.

Unfortunately The Perfect Date was not a book I particularly enjoyed. It was a fast paced read, which was the reason why I did not DNF The Perfect Date.

I found both Angel's son Jose and her friend Gabriela to be the best part of The Perfect Date. Jose was a cute kid and Gabriela had Angel's back.

I had many struggles with the rest of the book, I don't take joy in writing negative reviews, but I do wish to share my opinions on the story.

I didn't feel like the author did research on baseball teams/players and how all that works. I'm not saying that players don't seek out side medical services under the table (cause I'm sure they do) but that the owner doesn't just fire you the week before spring training. There is a whole lot more that goes in to that and as a sports person I found that portion to be frustrating.

I thought I was getting a cute and fun romance, but I found myself in a daytime soap opera. There were just too many things going on in the book, and I didn't find a single character to be redeeming. I have a hard time rooting for a hero who says things like "Don't you strip?" and the heroine left her baby at the hospital in a coma to wear a wire and catch the bad doctor. I don't need my characters to be perfect, but I want to like them and I just didn't feel that here with Angel and Duke.

I struggled a bit with the writing at times as well, however I know this is an arc and I am hopeful that those things were caught prior to publication.

Thank you very much for the opportunity to review The Perfect Date. While The Perfect Date wasn't a good fit for me, I hope others found enjoyment.