Another fabulous book by Zara Stoneley. This is the story of Rosie and Noah and all their antics. Rosie finds herself single again in her 20's and Noah decides that he is going to get her back out there again. What ever could happen from there?!

I loved this story and found the message of getting yourself out there and enjoying whatever life throws your way to be very exciting to read!

Totally recommend to anyone looking for a funny quick read! ( quick because you won't want to put it down!)

I enjoyed this book by Zara Stonely and have enjoyed her previous books too. She is becoming an author I will read without needing to read the blurb of the book.

This book didn’t disappoint, although there were several similarities to another book I’ve recently read. However, this can’t always be avoided in the romance genre.

I enjoyed the authors writing style and description of characters and would recommend to others.

Thank you NetGalley for my advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review 📚

Favorite Quotes:

I go out looking for men, but I just find wankers and bell-ends.

He has missed birthdays, holidays and even Christmas on one memorable occasion – memorable because I have never heard my mum scream so loud or threaten to cut off his goolies and hang them from the highest branches of the tree. Quite honestly, at eight years old this held a morbid fascination and I did wonder what colour string she’d use and if she’d drape tinsel round them.

He chuckles, and it’s a rich, chocolatey sound that makes me squeeze my hands together, hunch my shoulders and want to rush round in circles laughing like an excited cartoon princess.

This could be like agreeing to enter a shark cage just because you want to look at the pretty penguins that they’re about to eat.

I really could have grabbed Noah and kissed him. As in totally snogged his face off. Tonsils, tongues and tits as my mate at school used to say when we were young and hormonally challenged.

…come on get a move on we’ve only got two hours and three minutes to get you defuzzed and looking completely au-naturel. And we all know that takes bloody ages! Can’t you just go for tarty and high-maintenance? I can achieve that in half an hour flat.


My Review:

I always enjoy losing myself to Zara Stoneley’s giggle-snort and smirk-worthy levity, wry wit, and endearingly awkward and quirky characters who tend to be more than a bit chipped, frayed, or fully cracked. This cleverly penned, maddeningly paced, slowly evolving, and highly amusing tale appeared to be a hybrid of women’s fiction, romantic/comedy, family drama, and slow-burn romance. I adore Ms. Stoneley’s comedically descriptive, multi-faceted, and well-nuanced writing style; she entertains while requiring me to expend a bit of effort to get there, which flavors that HEA all the sweeter.

And I picked up a naughty little entry for my Brit Word List with bell-end – which appears to be vulgar British slang for the end of the penis as well as a contemptible or foolish person. Like Rosie’s friend Bea, I’ve swum in that dating pool as well ;)

I don’t usually do too much research on a book before I request to read it, save for a quick scan of the synopsis and a look at the comps, so this one was my bad. I saw “from the author of New York Times bestseller The Wedding Date” and got the author confused for Jasmine Guillory. Oops. Anyway, the concept here is rom-com-cute: convinced she’s terrible at first dates, a broken-hearted bookstore employee doubles down on her conviction when she’s stood up before meeting her opposite, a serial dater who takes her on as his de facto student. Surprise, surprise, as their dates/lessons proceed, they reluctantly fall in love with one another.
What bothered me most with this book is not that it’s populated by cliché characters, nor that the plot refuses to veer from the expected. Instead, it is the insistence of the central character, Rosie, on comparing Noah to her father. I ‘get’ the abandonment issues, and I have compassion for the residual problems caused by an absent father, however, the constant reminder of her ‘plight’ was simultaneously a reminder of the story’s weaknesses. Instead of trusting in the reader’s ability to buy into the story and Rosie’s reticence in letting go or embracing her feelings for Noah, the author seems to have felt the need to ‘motivate’ this, but I think it wound up hurting the story. Clearly I wasn’t the only one bothered by this particular issue, as it’s mentioned in nearly every other sub-4-star review I’ve read.

I enjoyed The First Date very much! The writing is just so funny, with slightly sarcastic dialogues, and the story flows smoothly and spontaneously.

It is a longish book with the lead pair taking ages to come to terms with their “spark,” but I did not mind because very few stories have spoken to me like this one did.

Rosie takes her time to get over her daddy issues, but I feel that is only natural. A few “not-dates” with a handsome man who gives you a pep talk or two will not shake you out of years of habit in a trice!

It is all too clear that Noah is smitten by Rosie at first sight (and this assumption is helped along by various side characters asking Rosie what she’s done to Noah), but something is holding him back from opening up to her.

Both main characters have major emotional baggage carried over from past hurt and disappointments, but with thirty-somethings, I would expect it.

Children of dysfunctional families are known to blame themselves for the mess their parents are in, and it takes a toll on their mental health. I felt that this aspect of the story was well-described because I could really feel Rosie’s turmoil.

You do want to scream at Rosie and her mother, asking them to dump the reprehensible father and husband, but relationships aren’t so cut and dried, are they? Especially when the man in question is charming and manipulative and can make you believe you’re the most important thing in the world.

The story is so much like the movie Crazy Stupid Love. It could well be a movie in its own right. The cheating parent, the chaos, the dysfunctional family, the philandering man, the woman with daddy issues–it is truly an emotional roller-coaster ride.

There is always an original zany charm in Zara Stoneley's novels. Rosie is determined to end her boyfriendless state and turns to an online dating app because she's a modern girl and knows that's where she'll meet the man of her dreams. Unfortunately, and not surprisingly, things do not go to plan, and she ends up embarrassingly alone at the bar. Noah never a man to miss an opportunity moves in for the charm offensive, and the two hit it off, as friends when he agrees to give out of practice Rosie, lessons on first dates.

What follows is often amusing, sometimes poignant and gently romantic. Rosie has issues about her father, which dominates her life, and stops her from being the person she could be. The characters are quirky but believable, and the plot has a few surprises.

I received a copy of this book from the author and One More Chapter in return for an honest review.

Whimsical and witty. Zara Stoneley has written an uplifting engaging story that made me smile and lifted my spirits. Rosie is a little clueless when it comes to dating after ending things with the guy she has dated since high school. Rosie decides to take to Tinder where she meets a guy named Gabe who she thinks she hits it off with, that is until he ghosts her. Lucky for Rosie the night Gabe doesn’t show up she meets a guy named Noah. Noah is a serial first dater and is now determined to teach Rosie how to date. What follows is a fun story filled with banter, friendship, growth, lingerie shops Great Danes, climbing walls, and chased kisses.

Such a fun fun story! I especially loved the relationship and back-and-forth between Rosie and Noah. I really liked both Rosie and Noah although they both frustrated me at times. Rosie was almost too in touch with her issues. Her dad was a complete jerk, but she gave the man way too much power. He impacted almost every part of her life. I mean we all have issues, but they can’t completely define who we are. Then there was Noah, he had his own set of issues but he just liked to pretend they didn’t exist. I really liked the main characters friends and family (other than Rosie’s father). Rosie’s mother was great, a little crazy and she would definitely drive me nuts if she was my mom, but a fun character. I also really liked the fact that Noah never tried to change Rosie he just tried to make her realize how amazing she really was. Another sweet story from this lovely author!

This book in emojis 🐶 🧗‍♀️ 🍷 🎼 👩‍❤️‍💋‍👨

*** Big thank you to One More Chapter for my gifted copy of this book. All opinions are my own. ***

The First Date!

This is the first book I’ve read by Zara Stoneley. I found there was some good banter between Rosie and Noah. Rosie and her boyfriend broke up, and after finding out he’d moved on and moved away, she decides to do move on herself. However, her first date in forever is a no show. Noah approaches her himself, and although he’s good looking, he’s a self proclaimed first date serial dater. When Rosie doesn’t fall at his feet with his usual flirty pick up lines, he is flummoxed. They decide to be friends and he will teach her the ways of first dates. As they learn and grow, they both discover the other is possibly the best first date for them.

I found myself very frustrated with Rosie’s inability to be herself. She was doing everything Noah felt she should just because he said so. She seemed to become Noah’s vision of a perfect date, not necessarily herself. Albeit, she has some real issues to work through, as did Noah, we didn’t really see him work through his. I felt very uncomfortable that he was setting her up for an abusive relationship going forward and she didn’t seem to have a backbone to get out of it. Maybe I was reading more into this than intended, but it really bothered me.

I received an ARC of this book courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and given freely.

I received a copy from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. I want to say that I liked the premise of the book. I thought it could be charming for Rosie to have a coach for dating. Unfortunately, the book was very slow, long and boring. Rosie got on my nerves. She was too focused on her dad issues. To the point that it was ruining her dating life. I loved her mum and her best friend Bea. They made me smile. Noah was charming and had a good sense of humor. I think the book would have been great without Rosie in it. Unfortunately she’s the main character.

This story was super cute and is perfect for those who love reading or watching rom-coms! It had the classic storyline of heroine being stood up on her first date with a man she met online. Instead, heroine meets hero, a serial first dater and major flirt, who decides to impart his dating wisdom onto the heroine. As you can guess, this develops into a fun, flirty story!

I really enjoyed Stoneley's writing style. I haven't read anything else by her before but it was a great introduction. She sets the scene well, gives enough back story to help you understand the characters and provides lots of lighthearted, fun dialogue between the characters.

I'll admit it did take me a while at the beginning to warm up to the main characters but once that initial introduction began and the dialogue got going, it was great to see their interactions. Rosie's character started a little lost and confused but ended up really showing her strength and determination by the end; and Noah's rocky start had him appearing a little one dimensional with his over-the-top flirting but his personality really grew to show more of his sensitive side. I really enjoyed seeing both of these characters getting to know one another and taking a chance on each other.

An easy breezy read which gave me the feeling of meet cute when the two main characters encountered each other. Humorous chick-lit was what I expected from this book, and author Zara Stoneley delivered it in most parts.

Rosie had just come from a break-up and was trying tinder for the first date. The guy stood her up. She met Noah and things escalated between them though he was not her type.

Having read this author's earlier works, I knew I would get a story which would produce few smiles and be totally stress free. And I was right. Rosie and Noah had the slowly developing chemistry. Their banter was quite funny.

Relationships with Mum and best friend were etched well, it gladdened my heart. There were a few niggles, Rosie had daddy issues and that came about in every chapter. Few more emotions would have given it the right balance.

Overall, it was a fun read on a lazy Saturday afternoon.

Unfortunately, this is not a book for me. While I was really interested in the concept of the book and looked forward to getting deep into a quirky romance book, I could barely follow what was going on. The plot is incredibly jumpy and I had to go back and reread several pages to understand really basic things like how Rosie is wrapped around a tree, if Noah is inside or outside the lingerie shop, or why Noah mistakes a woman for a waitress - the writing just jumped around like crazy and I could barely follow it. I also had a lot of trouble following who was speaking and I definitely messed up several conversations because I thought someone else was speaking. Moreover, following Rosie's mind is like an absolute maze; I barely got any context into who Rosie is or why she is the way she is, but then all the sudden she's blaming her dad for every little thing, but I barely know who her dad is or what he's done wrong. Specifically, Rosie continued to compare Noah to her dad but gave no real reason why she was doing it, I was essentially forced to assume that her dad is the world's worst parent, but, even then, I can't see how Noah is comparable to that. For me, the writing is unclear, the plot is jumpy, and the dialog came off fairly cliche. Overall, I think this book needs a lot more detail and cohesiveness around the writing for it to be a light, enjoyable read - I really did want to like this book, but it was so incredibly hard to read and I could barely finish it.

I enjoyed this heartwarming romantic comedy very much. I was drawn in from the first page and finished this book in one sitting. Zara Stonely is fast becoming one of my favourite writers. I'm already looking forward to her next book.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for allowing me to read a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and One More Chapter for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

"The First Date" by Zara Stoneley tells the story of Rosie. Rosie seems to settle for comfort in every aspect of life: in clothing, in jobs, in men. But her world gets flipped upside-down when her long term boyfriend dumps her and heads off to raise sheep/take up hippy culture. Rosie, completely beside herself, gets a date online. When the date never shows, she finds herself talking to Noah. They strike up a deal: he will teach Rosie what men want. 

This book was so cute! I definitely had RomCom feels the whole time. It's a quick and easy read that makes you smile with lots of witty banter. Just pick your two favorite actors and you're off!

Stoneley's writing style is easy to read and I was surprised with the depth that she gave her cast of characters. Despite the overall easy-read feeling, Stoneley creates characters with dimension. From parent issues, to confidence issues, this book fills out our lovebirds and makes them a little more realistic.

Overall, I gave this book a 4 star review. I think that was probably a little generous, because the writing isn't exceptional... BUT it kept my attention and played with my emotions a little bit, so I'll keep my rating as it stands.

I was in the mood for something light and quick after a long day and The First Date delivered on that. Sure it was predictable, but sometimes that’s just what you need in a comfort read. With a cute premise, The First Date had lots of potential and I enjoyed the budding friendship between Rosie and Noah with some funny moments and heartwarming moments along the way.

Rosie has trust issues which I thought was a great way to inject depth to this #romcom however it was mentioned far too often in quite a drawn out way and really impacted my reading experience. I wish that more time was spent exploring the developing relationship and discovering more about both main characters. That being said, I flew through the second half of the book and did enjoy the banter between Rosie and Noah and would read another Zara Stoneley book in future.

I’d like to thank One More Chapter and Netgalley for providing an ARC for review.

This is a fun read which is light and fast paced. I enjoyed the banter between Rosie and Noah which takes a gentle prod at so-called dating advice. Rosie has some issues to settle in her mind and can't help but measure the men she meets against her father's behaviour. Her relationship with her mother is another dimension, especially as you get to see what she actually feels about her 30 year marriage.

There are plenty of light-hearted scenes to keep your attention. Both Noah and Rosie have friends who add some colour and give you a little insight into their characters. Interestingly, I did find the first chapter a little difficult to get into but once it had started, I felt swept along. For entertainment and escapism, give it a try!

In short: A romcom with plenty to offer. Thanks to the publisher for a copy of the book.

This isn't the first novel I've read of Zara Stoneley and it was just as fun as the others I have read.

We follow Rosie, as she founds her foot not that she's single after the breakup with her childhood sweetheart, her boyfriend since she was a teen. As someone how has now idea how to date... (Single person here!) I found myself relating to Rosie, and truly hoping she would be able to get the hang of if.

Then we met Noah and, oh boy, were their interactions funny and exciting. The relationship that grew between them was lovely to see, because we got to understand their motivations, their past, their thoughts and actions, as well as see the development in their personalities.

We are taken into this journey along side with Rosie, as Noah teaches her the art of dating, and we end up laughing, sighing and falling in love with the characters. The storytelling was light and fun to read, and because of the scenes that happened, I couldn't stop myself and read page after page. Trying desperately to learn more.

While I read it, I was taken to another place and time, and my afternoon and late night, was so much warming and happy. From the setting to the characters' development, I enjoyed every second I spend reading this story.

Overall, it was a perfect book to read if you want to get distracted from the current state in our daily lives, plus it felt like a romantic comedy to me. It was visual and funny and lovely, and the kind of story that makes us sit down with a cup of tea and some chocolate, while enjoying each moment of the characters life, our heart warming up with all kinds of emotions and curiosity.

Unfortunately, I did not get on with this book. I DNF's at 24% I am disappointed as I love some of Zara's other books. The main character was not likeable and I could not get on with it.

I was really looking forward to reading this as the premise sounded good and I thought it would be a fun and light read in these troubling times. In short, the story followed Rosie and Noah- the latter ‘helping’ Rosie with a crash course in seduction and surviving first dates.

I did enjoy this for the most part and it was an easy read, but I felt that it was overly long and dragged in places. The writing seemed quite drawn out as well which meant that I often lost interest. I liked Noah, but I found Rosie quite frustrating at times particularly in how she dealt with her father.

I’m glad I read it, but I wouldn’t rush to reread.

Many thanks to One More Chapter/Harper Collins UK and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

So, thank you but... no thank you.

This plot had ALL THE POTENTIAL IN THE WORLD but I’m so sad it didn’t work out. I’m sorry but, why?

So, we have this kind of reversed Crazy Stupid Love, with Ryan Gosling as my guy. And this Ryan Gosling has a BRITISH ACCENT. Can you imagine that? Talk about dreamy. In this parallel universe, he’s a serial first dater, never settling down kind of guy, but here, instead of teaching an old guy how to date, is going to teach the girl how to date. This would’ve been so great, if the girl and the writing weren’t so annoying. First, Rosie: her daddy issues have absolutely no limit. She compares everything that moves to her shit of a father which at first I could understand, but as I kept reading and that being her only excuse for everything that’s opposite to her, it gets super annoying. Yes, her father is a POS, but dude if a person says hi just like your dad says hi doesn’t make him the same kind of person. CHILL.

Then the writing, the constant complaints, the unrealistic personalities: everyone is just simply too good to be true (with the exception of Rosie’s father, obviously)... Everyone knows exactly what to say, the right words at all times... it made it really hard for me to connect. This Ryan was too good and it felt like no one really speaks the way he does, i don’t know. And Rosie... i just couldn’t stand her. Also, there were a couple of loose ends or weak resolutions.

Like I said before, I was truly sorry I didn’t like it, because it sounded like it could be awesome.