I loved this book. A page turner of a romance where Rosie gets stood up on a first date. She meets Noah who helps her realise her own confidence and together they learn how to date. Rosie starts to believe in love and releases the tension from her past where she thinks all men are like her Dad. Noah realises he can take a chance on love too and not everybody he loves will be taken away from him. Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me review this book. I would recommend.

Poor Rosie, after being stood up on a date things begin to look up when she meets Noah.
Noah who is serial dater offers Rosie a crash course in Love and dating and after being in a long term relationship forever she decides she better get all the help she can muster.
As this is the first time she has been single since high school, she's anxious about having to meet and actually talk to guys again.
I found the book jumped around quite a bit and was hard to follow. I didn't particularly enjoy the characters and I found my mind wandering. Rosie has some self esteem issues and there is only so much that you want to hear that in a story. It was repetitive and I wanted there to be more romance.
This was an extremely slow burn and I am afraid to say it wasn't my cup of tea. I love Zara Stoneley's other novels but this wasn't as strong as the others, The Holiday Swap, The Wedding date etc.
Thank you for the ARC.

The First Date follows Rosie, a quirky young woman working in a bookshop who ends up meeting Noah by accident when she found herself on a failed first date.

The book is entertaining and has some funny moments. It's light-hearted and perfect for reading under the warm spring sun. The plot is intriguing and the characters carry out the novel nicely.

Rosie is sweet, bubbly and loves a good book. Just like any other protagonist, she has a lot to learn about herself and what she wants. There's a good dose of character growth that's always refreshing to follow. However, it seems like Rosie's main trait is her insecurity. I know that every person has certain insecurities - it's part of being human (and I love a flawed protagonist), but I couldn't find many of her other traits. Surely she would have more than one focal quality?

I enjoyed Noah's character the most. He was what you'd wish a female protagonist to be once in a while - confident, charming and assertive.

There was this one scene early on in the book where Rosie and Noah go shopping for clothes for her and Noah had to convince her in buying something she didn't like only because he thought it wasn't the real her. He has known her for less than a week. I find this worrisome when it comes to women's fiction because it sends a message to young women that men know what's best for them more than they know themselves.

It's a fun and sweet book, full of hilarious mishaps with a dash of romance. If you're looking for something light to read, this is the one for you! I'm sure you'd enjoy it!

Enjoyable if not a tad predictable! Thanks for the opportunity to read the book. Reasonable read but is repetitive - e. G. Dad issues.

Lots going on in this one - it's funny, tender and romantic.

Rosie and Robbie were childhood sweethearts; when they split up it was for the best but Rosie is struggling to move on. She doesn't seem to be able to get past the 'first date' obstacle and turns to online dating. Then the guy doesn't turn up and she's left wondering what's wrong with her. Cue Noah - cute, funny, good-looking and confident but he confesses to only ever having a series of first dates - so when he offers to teach Rosie what he knows, they embark on a series of lessons . . .

This is a super, light-hearted read with more than a few grains of truth sprinkled through the pages. There is so much more to this novel than just Rosie and Noah. There is a whole bunch of fabulous characters, not least of which is the dog! I loved this one, and raced through it, smiling and giggling and nodding my head. An uplifting, happy read, one I'm happy to recommend and give 4.5 glowing stars!

My thanks to the publisher for my copy via NetGalley, and to Rachel's Random Resources for my spot in this tour; this is - as always - my honest, original and unbiased review.

i was given this book from netgalley and publishers to provide an honest opinion and review.

this was a predictable cute romantic read about Rosie who just comes out of a long term relationship that is back into the dating world. it is a very scary world to be especially since she has never dated since high school. she doesn't know the best way to interact on dates, talk and even flirt. she strikes up a friendship with Noah that is going to help her through the dating scene and maybe something more?
even tho the book was predictable and cute ...there were some things i really didn't like. the constant talk about Rosie's dad being a cheater put me off.

When Rosie tentatively attempts to join the dating scene, it soon becomes clear she doesn't have a clue.

I received a free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Rosie has recently come out of a long-term relationship. As this is the first time she's been single since high school, she's terrified by the prospect of talking to guys she doesn't know, and having to <i>flirt</i>.
She envies her confident best friend, who can walk into the room and be the centre of every man's attention.
So she dips her toe in by joining a dating app and using her carefully constructed criteria, finds a guy she wants to date.
Unfortunately, he's a no-show to their first date, and Rosie is at a loss.

Luckily Noah takes great interest in the girl who is drinking alone, showing all the signs of someone stood up. He loves going on first dates, with the thrill, the buzz and the attraction. He just struggles with anything long-term.
All in aid of helping his new friend, Noah agrees to train her in dating. Purely platonic, of course.

This book was... manic.
I think that's the best word to describe it. Rosie and Noah were very manic. The narrative was very manic.
It all jumped around and was hard to follow, and when I did get my head around it, I wasn't invested in the characters.

Rosie completely other-thinks and over-analyses everything, making the story slow and repetitive. For a reasonably long book, not much happened, beyond Rosie having issues with his father, which was thrown in at every opportunity an non-opportunity.

This book was not for me.

This was an entertaining read. It took a few chapters for me to get into it. Once I got into it I couldn't put it down.

I loved the character of Noah. He was swoonworthy and a sweetheart. The characters had great chemistry. I did find the Dad storyline was unpleasent and a tad annoying as well.

*I received an ARC for this.

I couldn’t get into this book. It was hard to tell at the beginning if it was current time or flash backs. I just couldn’t get into the story. Sorry.

2.5 stars.

Unfortunately, this book just didn't do it for me. I thought the characters were pretty flat, and I couldn't relate much to the main character, Rosie.

The book has a nice plot, and from the summary, I was really interested in picking it up, the execution was just not for me. Rosie has major daddy issues and mentioned it on, it felt like, every single page. Besides her having those issues, and working at a bookshop, I feel like I know next to nothing about her... and the same goes for the other main character, Noah. The general idea of the characters was nice, but I feel like they were not as developed as they could have been.

The connection between the two characters also felt very instant. It wasn't insta-love, but more of insta-friends? Insta-will-they-won't-they-relationship? To me, it felt very forced and very sudden.

However, there were some nice things from the book:
- the dog scenes were adorable and funny and I loved them
- the kissing scenes were also adorable and well done

Bit of a daft premise and not the most taxing of story lines but it was entertaining for a couple of evenings.

Zara Stoneley is described as an author of sex, scandal, live, lust and laughter. I was really looking forward to this expecting a witty, racy romcom but sadly found it a bit flat and a struggle to finish. I guess it had the sex, love and lust but was certainly missing the scandal and laughter.

The two main problems were the repetitiveness and the fact that nothing really happens. Newly single Rosie meets flirty, casual water Noah after her first date in fifteen years stands her up. Both obviously like each other, despite really not wanting to, and so run with the idea of Noah giving Rosie dating lessons pretty much as a reason to see each other again and again.

From the first meeting until the end, where they predictably and eventually get together, it's just a series of 'nice dates (aka lessons) between the same people, with the same feelings and intentions just a different setting/date activity each time. And, with no real drama, comedy or sub-plots it unfortunately starts to drag.

Also Rosie's dad is a cheater, Rosie's newly single, Rosie doesn't want to fall for a charmer and Rosie's pretty direct - I got it. I got it within the first few chapters yet the author felt the need to reiterate these things over and over again which was super repetitive and annoying.

Unfortunately, Rosie herself was also quite annoying as a character, moaning constantly about her Dad issues and wanting Noah to make all the moves or apologise even when she was the one in the wrong.

So, as much as I hate to say it disappointingly I just didn't really enjoy this - it definitely didn't live up to the blurb.

Loved this book. Great characters, easy read, uplifting, funny, romantic and charming. A really nice story that is the perfect escapist read.

Zara Stoneley has done it again, I always know when I pick up one of her books that it will provide total escapism and this one absolutely nailed it.

Rosie is a superb character a total force of nature who is looking to find a date after splitting with her long term boyfriend. This is where the lovely Noah comes in with his lessons in dating and a brilliant friendship strikes up.

A book that I loved losing myself in and that has a bit of romance scattered throughout with lots of fun and laughter along the way.

Great premise but not so great execution. It reached the dizzy heights of ‘ok’ in my opinion and I really wanted much more.

Rosie has split from her long term boyfriend Robbie and has been stood up by Gabe who she found on Tinder. While consoling herself over Gabe’s no show, serial first dater Noah enters the scene and agrees to teach Rosie the ‘art of dating’.
See, great premise.

Where it falls down (I think) is that the main character, Rosie is, well, hard work. She lacks confidence and has real issues with her Dad both of which are understandable. Unfortunately, at this stage the book gets quite repetitive and starts to feel really long (which it isn’t). Whereas, the confidence issues are pretty much resolved at the end of the book, no time is spent resolving / confronting / challenging those more fundamental issues with her family.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

An enjoyable but predictable romance. There were some lovely moments of resolution in the book. Noah's persistence was a little grating as it felt like I had to love his charming ways rather than having the chance to grow to like him. A nice book but not sure I would go back to re-read.

A very sweet romantic comedy book with a storyline that is a more realistic with just a slightly more exaggerated love angle. The meet cute is there in what could happen to plenty of people and the couple are adorable, I enjoyed the back and forth banter between them.
A romance that is al labour the friendship, the love and getting to know each other.

This is another absolutely fantastic book by an extremely talented author. I absolutely love Zara's books, each one just gets better and better.
This one has been no different, I have absolutely loved this one. I'd even go as far as saying that this might be my new favourite.
Once again, Zara has produced a great plot and fantastic characters. I have devoured this book in just one sitting and it has been an absolute joy to read and review.
This is without a doubt a five star read, only I wish I could give this one more than five stars to show how magnificent this book is.
I can't wait to see what else Zara has in store for me.

I absolutely love Zara's writing, it's always so entertaining. The First Date was a rollercoaster ride of a read, it gave humour and heartache all wrapped up. I really enjoyed this book.

To be honest, I was not a fan for probably the first 1/3 of a book. It just was not clicking with me. However, I felt like once the story got going, it became a really fun rom-com.

I always adore when MC's work with books, in this case, Rosie works in a book store and is a self-proclaimed bookworm. She has a great best friend who works with her and supports her in trying to get over the end of her long-term relationship, and move into the dating scene. Obviously, this is where Noah comes in, offers to teach her how to date, and hilarity ensues. Between the dog walking and rock climbing scenes, this could easily be turned into a movie.

Noah uses flirtation and charm to cover up his own struggles. He plays things close to the vest, and you don't learn his back story until fairly late in the game, but I felt it really fleshed out his character. The grand gesture in the end was ADORABLE.

A couple of dislikes: I felt like Gabe being brought back later in the story was unnecessary. It brought up a lot of unnecessary drama. Also, Rosie's daddy issues were brought up a bit too much. Like, its fine that that's her issue- but it was kind of beaten over the readers head.

Overall, a quick, fun read. I ended up really enjoying Rosie & Noah together. A very sweet story.