I’m not sure what I just read but it didn’t live up to the blurb or the sweetness of that cover, the two things that drew me in to requesting this ARC. I am going to keep this short as I don’t have a lot to say that isn’t critical. The story and characters were a hot mess. I couldn’t stand the male MC, I wanted to like Angel but she grated over time. The story felt like a parody-but-serious take on the real housewives of somewhere with more drama than you can imagine. In addition, there were also some factual inaccuracies that grated.

What’s not to like? This book has it all: a young, ambitious single mother who will work herself to the bone to take care of her child, an athlete who is used to the easy life but has to face some tough times and make some hard choices, some shady characters, including a doctor, and an adorable child with life-threatening asthma. Throw in some fun when Angel and The Duke pretend to be in a relationship and you have the perfect book – The Perfect Date!

The Perfect Date moves along quickly, is easy to read, with people you want to know more about. It’s a feel good book and refreshing in the diversity of its characters and locations. Thanks to St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review. Great read that I recommend.

I did not get far into this book. Gratuitous, graphic sex scene at 7% made me not want to continue. Just not my cup of tea, though initially I was interested by the premise.

I DNF at 25%. I was really hoping this would be a fun contemporary romance, with a bit of a marriage of convenience trope, but it just....wasn’t. The plot line itself would have been good, but the writing just didn’t support it well. There were a lot of stereotypes and misogyny that really turned me off, and that made me sad because I was excited to read about a strong Puerto Rican female lead. The point of view jumped back and forth between the male and females leads, which isn’t uncommon in a romance novel, but in this book, it was sometime every few paragraphs, which made it very difficult to follow. Overall I had high hopes for this book, but it just wasn’t for me. I voluntarily review an ARC through Netgalley.

I wanted to like this book but alas I couldn't. One of the biggest failures for me was the inability for the reader to easily tell when events are happening with the different characters simultaneously within the timeline. For instance, within a chapter you'll see conversations in two different spaces but are unable to easily see that's what happening. I also didn't find either character to entirely likeable and there wasn't much to development to their characters as the book went on. This book just wasn't for me.

DNF@ 70%

I love a good dramatic story any day, add in a cute romance and it's a perfect recipe for entertainment but this book wasn't just dramatic.... It's tropey, cliched and even tasteless at times.

Poor girl, struggling to balance between nursing school and taking care of her son meets rich and messed up boy, drama, angst and then some more drama ensues after which, the girl finds her happily ever after and the boy finds the perfect girl who is not all like any other girls he knows.

Well...nope! I am done!

Like, I understood the situation of our characters but for some reason, I couldn't bring myself to empathize with them. I think this could still have been an engaging read if not for the immature characters, sub-par writing, lack of chemistry between MCs and countless little encounter and dialogue between characters that felt so problematic and gross. As I said, I am done, I just didn't want to read further.

I was really looking forward to this book because I love seeing Latinx protagonists, especially Latina women. Unfortunutely, the writing, characters, and plot all leave a lot to be desired. The writing is clunky, with short sentences and abrupt transitions. I often did not know whose perspective I was reading from. The male characters are all sleazy misogynists. It seemed like each scene with a man was a competition for who can be the most shocking/disgusting. This made the whole book seem like a form of tragedy porn, but instead of tragedy it was sexual harassment and misogyny. It was not written in a believable manner, but with the intent to shock and create drama.

Even Caleb “The Duke” Lewis has so many insulting and misogynistic moments and DOESN’T LEARN. He’s supposed to be the hero, but it’s impossible to root for him because he’s a jerk. There was no chemistry between him and Angel, and I never understood what she saw in him.

As for the plot, if you enjoy soap operas you might like this. There was so much crazy drama, which I don’t have a problem with, except none of it advanced the character’s arc. There was also no humor, and no feeling; everything felt superficial and like it was written to be as dramatic as possible.

The only good part of this book was Angel’s son Jose and Angel’s friend Gabriela, but they do not save this book. If you enjoy reality tv shows & you don’t mind blatant misogyny, you might like this.

**An e-book was provided by the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.**

I liked the premise of this book - that a single mom working two jobs is insulted by a famous professional athlete. She throws a drink at him and gets fired. Meanwhile, she has to deal with a sleazy doctor at the clinic where she’s doing her practicum to become a nurse. The doctor is threatening to give her a bad recommendation if she doesn’t sleep with him. The athlete is going to the clinic to get treatment for an injury that hasn’t healed. When the press finds him at the clinic, he asks our heroine to pretend to be his girlfriend to disguise his real reason for being at the clinic.

I just didn’t like the hero, Caleb, all that much. He seemed too self-involved and clueless about the people around him and what he was doing in his life. Our heroine, Angel, was spunky and determined to make a better life for her and her asthmatic son.

The makings of good romance were there, but I just wasn’t feeling it for Caleb or their relationship.

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book that I received from Netgalley; however, the opinions are my own and I did not receive any compensation for my review.

The Perfect Date was cute. BUT, it was not something I would re read at any means. I liked the idea and the premises this book had going but the finished overall product was super lacking the goods.

Angel and her son deserved so much more.

Duke was grade A douche.

Unfortunately, this book wasn't for me. While I enjoy the idea surrounding the book, it was too over dramatic for my tastes. I also felt like the characters were super mean- which just doesn't jive with how I am as a person. In any event, I appreciate the opportunity of reading an early copy of the novel.

I enjoyed this book. It's definitely not your typical romance with hearts & flowers, but that's part of its charm. The story feels more real because the characters have real flaws & issues. It's nice to see a romance with a lot of diversity. The plot was good at keeping you guessing where it was going next with a lot of twists along the way. Well worth the read.

I really tried with this one. And I really hate giving bad feedback. But this is not what I though I would get.

It has a single mom working multiple jobs and an athlete who thinks he's all that. I should have been great. And maybe it could have, if it wasn't for all the shaming going on. The way both main characters put other women down, the old stereotypes, the way the heroine "isn't like every other girl I know" because she doesn't throw herself at his feet. I just... No. This is being published in 2019 - it's not okay to have this much hate and stereotyping and misogynistic crap in a story. Sorry. And the characters did nothing for me. Not even the kid... It could have been great, but I gave up around half the book and I won't be going back.

I received a complimentary review copy of this book but all opinions are my own.

/ Denise

Not A Home Run for Me
The premise is great, single mom working and going to school meets a big league pitcher by accident and he sweeps her off her feet. But the follow through just wasn’t there.
First, neither main character felt fully developed and bounced between wanting to be a good person and lashing out for no real reason. Second, there were so many sub plots that it was a little hard to keep up. And third, and in my opinion the worst, it was clear there was almost zero research about profession baseball - I mean you don’t slide into home when you’ve hit a home run!
I did like the interactions between Angel and Jose and those with Gabriela too, as I thought it was a great representation of family. But at this point I’m not sure if I’ll be giving this author another try or not.

I received a complimentary review copy of this book but all opinions are my own.

The perfect date review I don't like it I don't like how there's a lot of stereotypes on in this book African and Puerto Rican women I don't like how he approached her at the bar and how they are just trying to force her to pretend to be his girlfriend I think he's a real jerk and definitely his father and manager are real jerks and she could do much better I don't know why they will come with such an old romance concept with it being 2019 I just I wanted to like this book cuz of the cover but the story line is very outdated in my opinion I don't like the glamorization of using drugs such as Coke and steroids either

DNF at 53% and I honestly should’ve quit sooner, but I was hoping the hero would get his act together and make me believe he was capable of redemption. The cover and premise were so cute, but there are no characters worth rooting for. It’s just rife with misogyny, drug and alcohol abuse, stereotypes of abusive black men and fiery Latina women, and I seriously don’t care about the plot or finding out how it ends. I very rarely quit a book without finishing it, but too bad!

Marketing this book as a romance is seriously misleading, if not damaging to the genre. Duke and his friends are awful to women, and Angel (the heroine) keeps giving him another chance that he doesn't deserve, such as when he drunkenly grabs her arm at a party--hard enough to leave bruises--and he doesn't think he's done anything wrong, so she decides to go home with him anyway. I could've put up with some of that nonsense if the writing were worth it, but it's a mix of (mostly sexist) slang, poorly translated Spanish, and lackadaisical editing.

This book is not a romance. It may look like a romance, it may market itself like a romance. But it’s not. It’s more like if you took the show Hit the Floor, made it baseball rather than basketball, fed it steroids and turned it into a book.

The blurb for this book is misleading, because literally nothing it says actually happens. We start the book introduced to Angel, a hardworking mother of one small boy, who is close to completing her exams to be a nurse. And I thought, great, here’s a heroine I’m going to love. Then we’re introduced to Duke, a misogynistic arsehole who plays baseball. Which is when I thought, yeah I’m gonna have a problem with this.

Ultimately, what got me down about this book was the sheer amount of misogyny in it. Duke and his friends are forever making inappropriate remarks about the women around them, like:

“C’mon, you were hitting on her. She should be used to it. She’s fucking dressed like a tramp. Obviously she wants the attention.”

“She’s no thot. That nurse is sexy as hell.”

So like. She’s asking for it but also she isn’t like those girls who just sleep around with everyone, she’s actually sexy? Is that what we’re saying here?

And this was early on. This was immediately after the “meet-cute” where Duke asks Angel if she would strip for him so he can see her tits. She, understandably, chucks a drink in his face. And then this. So when I say I was fuming the whole time I read this book, I mean it.

If that had been part of Duke’s character development (and done well) maybe, maybe, I could have come to like him. It wasn’t, so I didn’t.

But not only is this just kind of excused and brushed under the rug, he later shows up at her work and follows her. When she’s clearly said go away. And then she ends up kissing him? Peak romance here. That’s totally gonna work.

And then, it turns out, Angel has some lovely internalised misogyny going on! It wasn’t really on the page, but I got distinct vibes of her looking down on every other woman she met. I mean, sure, a lot of them were also written as awful women themselves (maybe the author needs to kind of confront that herself too), but god the girl hating got so tiring.

So, individually, they’re pretty dislikeable characters. Together, they’re hardly any better. There’s some mess where Duke’s ex is having sex with his friend (who is married) at his friend’s party. Angel walks in, Duke’s ex then goes on to accuse her of being the one sleeping with the friend. Everyone, including Duke, believes the ex. Later on, the ex leaks a sex tape of her and Duke he didn’t know had been filmed, and Angel then makes that all about herself (with some admittedly understandable concerns, sure, but not the time!). They just don’t have any sort of chemistry or trust.

Oh and then it turns out the ex was straight up blackmailing Duke’s dad because she had a video which apparently showed him shooting his best friend (only it wasn’t him, she knew this, and was blackmailing the actual culprit too!). So you can see why I’m calling this less a romance and more a soap opera.

Finally, there is a sexual assault scene between the creepy doctor that Angel is doing her exam with, and Angel. He basically makes her feel up his dick but then we get this, frankly horrifyingly damaging, statement that:

[she’d] broke free before the man could do any real damage.

As if anything like that isn’t damaging anyway.

Turns out the least of my problems was how little I liked the writing.

The Perfect Date, available June 18, 2019
The Perfect Date is well written look at how no matter who we are, or how famous we may be, everyone goes through hard times and it's how we handle those hard times that define us. When Angel, an overworked single mom meets Duke, the head pitcher for the Yankees at the clinic where she works, her life gets turned upside down when she gets caught up in a fake relationship to keep the press off his back. Now, she has to deal with paparazzi and snarky socialites on top of studying for her nursing exams. Duke seems like an ideal guy until his deceptions about his injury and his past become more drama than a fake relationship is worth. Both Angel and Duke will have to come to terms with their own insecurities and decide what matters most to them.
This was a well written and fast paced story. Angel is a great character-she's tough, smart, and independent. Duke's character grows so much over the course of the story and I really enjoyed watching him develop emotionally.
Great book-highly recommend!

Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this title. All opinions are my own.

[To be published on May 26th]

I feel like at this point, romance books are just setting out to make me feel angry. The premise and title of this book set this story up as a fluffy, lighthearted romance. Instead, the reader gets pummelled by a drama fest of epic proportions. Fifty Shades of Grey has nothing on the shade these two supposed love birds throw at each other during the course of this ‘love story’, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

The Perfect Date follows Angel Gomez, a young single mother who is about to finish her nursing degree in the hopes of offering her son Jose a better life than she had. Enter Caleb “The Duke” Lewis, a professional and prominent baseball player for the Yankees, who is dealing with a difficult injury after getting shot in the ankle. Off to a rocky start after a chance meeting, sparks fly between the two.

Well, the premise promised sparks, but if there were any, they sure weren’t romantic but rather what happens when you clank together two stubborn, inanimate stones to make a disastrous fire in the dry forest – which then burns everything down and leaves no survivors.

The amount of sexism portrayed in this book was staggering – and it’s not just from the male character Duke! Though he certainly has his moments to shine. Truly, it seems Duke can’t go a single chapter without pointing out the “bitches” he has known in his past, how deprived and animalistic and altogether unholy every single woman on the planet is – except for Angel (and what else are we supposed to expect with that name).. “She’s not like other women”, Duke points out, and yes, this is a cliché that apparently is still used in romance novels.

Not that Duke treats Angel much better in the beginning. In a truly cringy first meet at a hospital where he leers at her in her nurse outfit (with Angel pointing out in her previous chapter how much she hates being seen as a sex object by her smarmy boss when she’s wearing her unflattering scrubs but of course it’s totally fine when Duke does it), he talks to her kid (stranger danger, anyone?) and then gets affronted when she takes him away for his examination, claiming she should better wait for the kid’s mother. Basically, he mansplains to the mother of an ailing child how little she matters as a nurse. Not his brightest moment and, despite the case of mistaken identity, truly horrifying. What kind of man would try to talk a nurse out of taking a child who is hardly able to breathe back into the doctor’s office? Rude, inconsiderate and arrogant, Duke is every cliché permeating the early 2000s all rolled into one.

To further illustrate this point, Duke and Angel meet a second time in the bar she’s working at. Duke there asks her if she’s a stripper and whether he can see her…well, you know where I’m going with this. Angel reacts very appropriately by shouting at him (while being attracted to him) and throwing a drink at him and succinctly getting fired, fearing how she will provide for her son, making Duke feel guilty for approximately five seconds. If you need any more indication of what this supposedly great romance is going to be like and you decide to read this, know at least that I warned you off.

Angel is not that much better, truth to be told. For all her talk of being a young single mother and working hard to support herself and her son Jose, she sure has a hard time being nice to any other human being in this story or trying to empathise with their struggles. Instead, she is unbearably rude and perceives herself to be superior to everyone around her. What is supposed to make us like Angel – her independent streak and her perseverance – here only makes her a mean character I wish I never encountered. Bossy attitude is one thing, a complete lack of sympathy quite another.

Sprinkle in a dose of arrogant baseball players that slap waitresses’ asses and discuss their huge dicks while drinking at the bar, and a boss that bends his employees over the desk and encourages Angel to join in instead of – you know – actually working, this was just an extremely difficult book to get through. Not to mention that all of this above happens in the first ten percent of the book. The second-hand embarrassment was high with this one.

Speaking of the characters, this story was told in alternating perspectives, from Duke and Angel. The POV would change without any indication, which kept throwing me off. If you insist on choppily switching the POV with no marker like the person’s name on the top of the chapter, the voices should at least be distinct enough so the reader doesn’t spend valuable minutes trying to figure out who is doing the talking. If there was supposed to be chemistry or tension building up to the alternating perspectives, it got lost on me.

This book also suffered heavily from the “show, don’t tell” conundrum. Info about the characters’ pasts is just dumped onto the reader with little to no emotional impact. Duke’s friend and fellow baseball player was killed in a bar shoot out in which he himself got shot in the ankle. Tragic, no? Unfortunately, whenever Duke thinks back to this, the same five sentences are uttered. How his friend was shot, how he himself was injured and how it was a traumatic experience. Yet we are never shown how this has impacted his playing, or his day-to-day life beyond a few grunts to his friends or lacklustre attempts at talking about it with Angel. The same goes for Angel – the reader is constantly told what she is struggling with, but there is no attempt at showing her emotions or helping the reader connect to her life. Even when she is talking about her son, feelings are never shown, instead, the ‘adoration’ between them is pointed out. Okay, then.

Without spoiling anything, the plot meandered a lot in this story, leading to a very abrupt, unsatisfying ending. So much drama was sprinkled throughout, I was wondering whether I was watching a telenovela – there might not be evil twins (surely, Duke telling Angel that her life is boring and condescending to her in every conversation is evil enough) but there are spiteful exes (because of course there needs to be a woman in Duke’s past who is making his life a living hell), disgusting bosses (that storyline alone made me want to chuck the book away) and parents that do everything to derail you from your goals (who needs supportive parents when you can kill them off or have them crumple your career, right?).

All in all, there was just too much drama and sexism in this for me to enjoy it even a little bit. I feel like the author tried to make this a diverse Cinderella retelling but the outcome instead featured misogynistic and harmful representations of women and men. This review may be harsh and it might just be me, but I believe that in the year 2019, we deserve romantic stories that do not perpetuate the notion that men being mean and condescending means they are swoonworthy. Romance has come a long way from telling women that they need to change a man or simply accept being treated badly in the name of love and this story defies that development tenfold.

I finished this book feeling like I got played. Like many other reviewers, I went into this excited for a fun, diverse romance novel and was left disappointed with a mediocre drama with a few romantic moments.

Angel is a badass single mom, working like crazy to provide. She's almost finished nursing school, and as long as she can suffer through a few more weeks with her scummy, disgusting bosses, she'll be free to get a nice cushy nursing job.

Caleb "Duke" Lewis a the super-famous and super-douchey pitcher for the New York Yankees. After being shot last year, his season is in jeopardy.

When their worlds collide, it is more than underwhelming.

I absolutely couldn't stand Duke. He was pretentious and rude and boring. I felt like Angel was the only character that was even remotely fleshed out, but you still see zero character development.

I felt like I spent the entire novel waiting for the romance to happen and it just never quite got there.

I wish I could get back the time I spent on this. I'd recommend taking a hard pass on this one.

Not sure what went wrong here, but this book is just not good. It is not at all what the synopsis claims it to be. This is the first time I wish I had read the reviews for reading the book. I'm just so disappointed. I will not be leaving a review for this one.