This was a light read about adventures in dating. I struggled to connect with the main character. and that is pretty much my line in the sand. If it takes me over half the book to like your female lead, I'm kind of checked out and only finishing the book out of obligation. If you're looking for light without a lot of depth or angst, this is a great book for you. It would be a great beach/summer read.

This is a light hearted read about going on dates through the zodiac until she meets the one. A fun read. Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me review this book.

Thanks to Bookouture for letting me read Thank You, Next by Sophie Ranald. Seeing as I only ever read commercial women's fiction on the Kindle app, I get recommended her a lot so I thought I would try her on NetGalley to see what I think of her books!

Thank You, Next is about Zoë, a chef in south London who decides to give online dating a go. There's really not a lot of substance to this book, which might sound pretty obvious for a rom-com, but what I mean is that it was a very quick read, with pretty much no drama, and no real *stakes* or hook for the protagonist to undergo. Sophie Ranald is a good writer of women's fiction, and I enjoyed her descriptions and world-building, even if it did all feel a bit too cosy. I guess my main complaint about this book was that the 'rom' in the rom-com wasn't very obvious - it felt a bit like an afterthought, and I much prefer books where the burgeoning relationship is central to the plot. But I enjoyed flicking through this book - it's a quick, light, entertaining read that was perfect for a winter night. 3 🌟

Very funny book. Zoe is tired of trying to find Mr. Right. Her friend convinced her to try a dating app and she agrees but only if she can sort people by their sign. What follows is an adventure in dating that is very interesting.

One of my favorite things about Zoe is her cat. She lives above the bar she works at and sometimes her cat comes down to mingle. Zoe loves her cat and can’t have anyone in her life that doesn’t love him also. I loved how the cat played an important part in the story. I loved reading about Zoe’s dates how hilariously bad some of them were. It was a perfect book to take my mind off the world.

Zoe is sick of being single (you and me both sister) so she makes a pact with her sou chef to date a different guy based on their astrological sign. She does her research and goes on Tinder to start her quest. Well, it's a lot harder than it looks, because app dating is extremely difficult and definitely requires a thick skin. She goes on plenty of terrible dates which of course turn into great stories to tell her bestie all about. This was a sweet story, comedic at points, and deals with some slight emotional and physical abuse so just be forewarned. Nothing terrible, but worth note! Zoe becomes friends with Adam when he becomes the bar's Dungeons and Dragons master and of course, she's seeing someone else so it's a truly unsuspecting friendship. It gets pretty technical with their D&D meetings and I found myself skipping over those parts, but Zoe begins to gain confidence in herself and confronts the fact that she's a people pleaser to the extent of it hurting her personal life. This was a cute, cheesy, very sweet romance with some fun date stories thrown in there!

I love the story idea, the execution of the plot, not so much. I felt like the story kept going in circles about Zoe's failed dating experiences, one crappy date after another, the story was not moving forward as far as 60% into the book. Even the longest "relationship" blatantly had little to do with a love interest and more to do with a convenient living arrangement.
Zoe put a heavy stock on reading the stars and used a stargazer app to make decisions about her dating life.
She was a smart woman, and I was expecting more independence and confidence but what I got was weak, insecure, lonely, desperate, needy and naive, especially in her personal life. A great deal of unexplored potential with Zoe's character.
A scene in chapter one was repeated in chapter twenty-six, the date with Brett, my guess is this was not intentional.
Overall, the treasure for a great story was hidden in this book, I just didn't quite find it. 2 stars.

A cute and funny romance without being completely predictable. A light-hearted read for the most part but there were a few gripping moments that added a little depth to the story. Highly recommend to lovers of rom-coms!

An amusing story of a young chef looking for love using dating and astrology apps. An enjoyable humorous read more suited to a young readership. As a woman in my 50s I am certainly glad that's not how dating was when I was young. 😂. Vegan and climate ethics are expressed theoughout.bWell written with great characters. 3.5 stars.

Thanks to the publishers for sharing this. I love Sophie Ranald's sty.e. Her books give me such a warm fuzzy feeling. My full review appears on Weekend Notes.

Oh my Lord, this book makes me thank the Gods that I'm old and never had to deal with dating apps.

This book made me laugh out loud, at least mostly in the beginning. Zoe has taken her friend and co-worker's advice and got on a dating app. Aaand, modern times get unwanted modern responses. That's right. The unavoidable, unwarranted, and unwanted - dick pick. By the handful. Er, that didn't sound right. Let's just say she gets a lot of them. Here is a quote that made me legit laugh out loud. I cackled, y'all.

“At the rate this was going, it wouldn’t be long before the number of penises that had landed in my inbox would exceed the number that had landed in me”

Don't lie, you giggled too. Thank You, Next is a saucy little romcom that is not for the faint of heart. I, luckily, did not find it relatable at all, but it was entertaining as hell.

I received an advanced copy of this book, all opinions are my own.

As someone who thankfully never had to use the dating apps, this was a joy to read! I so enjoyed Zoe’s adventures in Tinder and dating in London. Loved having the zodiac story line and Zoe’s friendships! Also the dick pics were hilarious, I don’t envy people dating today!!!

Overall I enjoyed this book. Zoe was relatable and there were some laugh out loud parts. The dates were amusing and inventive. Loved the dungeons and dragons elements for the nerd in me. If you enjoy chick lit this is one for you. I am excited to read Ranald's other books as this one was new to me!
Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley allowing me to read this one!

Bring single and on dating sites I could so relate to this cute wonderful feel good book.
Had me laughing out loud.
So relatable in this dating app world.
And gives you hope that there still are good guys out there.


Thanks to the Author, the publisher and NetGalley fir an early release of this book.

Sophie Ranald has done it again! I love the 'Britishness' of her books and the sweet romances at their core. With 'Thank You Next', she builds on the world introduced in 'Just Saying', this time focusing on Zoe as our protagonist. From absolutely detesting her in the last book, Zoe has turned a corner in my estimation and is thoroughly redeemed as she is on a quest to find love.

Still working as the chef in The Ginger Cat pub, now owned by the community as a local hub, Zoe has moved on from Joe and is on a hunt for a decent date. Her friend Robbie suggests using the stars as her guide - or star signs more specifically. This leads to Zoe going on a hilarious string of Tinder dates, guided by the men's date of birth and apparent compatibility. Violin serenades, ex-cons, children, her dates have it all, leaving both Zoe and the reader wondering whether she is destined to always be so unlucky in love.

Where 'Just Saying' fell down was the sway towards the more angsty and depressing topics. With 'Thank You Next', Ranald finds her groove with recapturing the humour of awkward dates alongside the sweet path to finding love. True to form, she still deals with some more weighty topics, particularly in Dani's storyline, but these are dealt with sensitively and not to the detriment of the central story.

Overall, the book has a big heart and many moments to put a smile on the reader's face. Featuring the exact right balance of romance and more serious issues, Ranald has written her best book since the fabulous 'Sorry Not Sorry' (with amazing crossovers all around!). A must-read for fans of cute romance stories! I cannot wait to explore this world more with Ranald - she has officially stated there are two more novels in this series to come and I cannot wait to see who will be her focus next!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher who provided an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I would like to thank NetGalley, author Sophie Ranaid, and publisher Bookouture for giving me a free ebook arc in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Zoe is a woman looking to share her life with someone rather than become a crazy cat lady. While she is only 27 years old, she has taken the advice of a good friend to begin dating men according to their star sign. Will Zoe be able to find her one written among the stars?
This book was a 3.5 star read for me. Zoe was an interesting character to read about especially given her constant worry about living alone with a house full of cats. Being older than Zoe and still single, I was scratching my head by her belief in her single hood at her age would lead to her not finding love ever. Her dates had me laughing out loud as well as cringing at times. I appreciated how Zoe was not jaded by a few bad dates nor the male member pics she was sent, but she kept the hope alive that she would eventually find the one. The secondary characters were not overly developed, but added good support to Zoe. I would have like if the author would have allowed the reader to join Zoe on some of these dates rather than tell about them. The ending was very cute and I liked who she ended up with. Overall, This was a quick and fun read about the adventures of finding love using apps. This was my first book by this author and I am looking forward to reading more books by her.

I received an ARC from Bookouture and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Description

Seriously, why do guys on dating apps think I want a picture of what’s in their pants? I could open an art gallery with the collection I’ve got.

Zoe really doesn’t want to die alone and surrounded by cats. But it’s not looking good: she’s had sex precisely twice in the last year, and her feline friend isn’t the kind of male company she wants in bed…

Her top dating disasters include:

1) The guy who kissed her hand, took out a violin and serenaded her in public.

2) The guy who force-fed her oysters (she can confirm that they’re not an aphrodisiac).

3) The guy who was so hungover he turned up with his t-shirt on inside out, sweating sambuca.

4) The guy who brought his actual kid on a dinner date.

And don’t even get her started on the dick pics, or how on earth you’re supposed to know whether a total stranger is an axe murderer or not.

Zoe’s ready to give up on the search for love, until her friend has an idea. Robbie lives by his horoscope, and he’s sure she’s got this dating stuff all wrong. He dares her to work her way through the zodiac until she finds The One.

Usually Zoe would laugh at such a suggestion, but desperate times call for desperate measures. Could love be written in the stars? Or is she destined to end up alone, eating take-out in bed and watching Friends reruns?

My Thoughts

Sophie Ranald isn’t new to me (I’ve reviewed It’s Not You, It’s Him) and the character Zoe isn’t either (she features in Just Saying).

Ranald’s latest book, Thank You, Next takes this character that her readers will be familiar with and plonks her at centre stage.

Zoe has been out of the dating game for a while – since her relationship with Joe (and any chance of rekindling feelings) fizzled out – but a dare from her work friend, Robbie, brings her right back to the world of dodgy dates, dick pics and debating whether she should just stay single with her cat, Frazzle (less hassle, I reckon). Except, there’s a twist, she’s relying on astrology to get to her perfect man.

Though the idea had me rolling my eyes, trusting the zodiac to find love actually led to some toe-curlingly awkward, funny and heartfelt moments. I laughed a lot of the book, felt sadness at some parts and definitely recognised the good (and not so good) parts of dating apps and dating in general.

Zoe was fun, hardworking and determined: to work hard, train hard at the gym and to find someone. I liked that she actually had dimensions and a personality to her, I couldn’t stand the thought of reading about a damsel in distress that needed a man to get by. Zoe was like a lot of us – myself included – ok with her cat and her own company (as well as that of her co-workers, and her best friend Dani) though it would be nice to settle down.

I liked how she was head-strong, fun and she wouldn’t settle for anything less – I think more writers need to follow Ranald’s lead, for sure!

The one thing I wasn’t so keen on was some of the romance. I was happy with the final – if somewhat predictable- love interest but the “relationship” that took up some of the book just didn’t do anything for me. He didn’t add much at all to the story – apart from reminding Zoe (and the reader) that she can do much better – and I felt my interest wane a little bit at that point (though it did pick back up after that!).

All in all, Thank You, Next is a story of star-signs, finding self worth and searching for The One – the perfect remedy to the stressful times we’re loving in.

Thank You, Next will be published on 30 November 2020. tching endless re-runs of Friends?

<b>“At the rate this was going, it wouldn’t be long before the number of penises that had landed in my inbox would exceed the number that had landed in me”</b>

Raise your hand those who haven’t received an unwanted penis pic while on Tinder (I won’t say Grindr, cause that’s a given 😄) -crickets sound-

When twenty something year old chef Zoe realizes she could end up being a crazy old lady and decides to go back into the internet dating game she’s expecting romance. Instead she gets a dick pic collection worth of an anatomy textbook. As if the dating pool wasn’t weird and scary enough, she’s decided to follow up her astrology app advice and work her way through the zodiac to find her perfect match. Will she find it or are the stars wrong?

After reading this book let me tell you I couldn’t be happier I don’t have to date no more. Dealing with all those weirds to try and find a “normal” one. Exhausting! Just thinking how much reading time I would have to sacrifice to Tinder I shudder!

“Thank you, next” was a light hearted read with some fun moments that made me chuckle, but I was expecting more of a laugh out loud kind of story. Those weird dates certainly were conducive to some hilarious moments that never got there. I find the structure of the book got a bit repetitive and I would have love to learn more about some of the secondary characters.

Zoe was a likable character for the most part, although I would have given her a slap on the head some times to wake her up. I think Dani’s plot was treated a bit lightly if we consider the seriousness of what she went through.

Although predictable (let’s be honest, what rom-com isn’t predictable) I liked the ending. I would have love a little more of that relationship and a little less Dungeons and Dragons talk! 😅

Thank you Susan for doing a buddy read of this one with me!

Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars!

I had no intention of finishing Thank You, Next in the space of one day, but it was just so fun that I didn't want to put it down! A few pages after the novel opened, I realised that this is set in the same universe as a previous Ranald novel, Just Saying, which I also enjoyed, but you don't need to have read that in order to read this one. It did, however, add a little something extra for me, catching up on the characters and the setting I'd liked so much.

We follow our protagonist, Zoe, through a series of dating misadventures and mishaps, all told in a narrative style that feels like we're listening to a story from our best friend. What I like about Ranald's books is that yes, they are fun, fluffy, feel-good reads, and yes, you can usually spot the love interest from a mile off (it didn't hurt that the love interest in this one was basically Adam Driver), but she includes strong feminist touches that never feel out of place. In Just Saying, it was #MeToo and the bravery of speaking out about sexual assault. In Thank You, Next, there's discussion of abusive relationships and consent that reminded me of We Can't Consent To This.

Overall, I think it's safe to say that I'll be reading anything else Ranald puts out, as well as going through her previous novels, too! (It's also safe to say that, if I ever find myself single, I will be staying far, far away from Tinder and missing out on absolutely nothing as a result.)

Wow this book was excellent! It was full of banter and wit and I loved every second of it. I think part of the reason why this book is so entertaining is because not only is the author a great comical writer, but she also makes situations that her characters encounter so relatable; and that makes all the difference.

When I first read her Just Sayin' novel, it was the first time I read anything by her and instantly fell in love. The book made me laugh and made me feel good and that's what I enjoyed most. I was not surprised to find similar feelings with this one.

There wasn't much plot to this one, and that's okay. Despite there being minimal plot, the story reads as if you were being told a story by one of your best friends. There is also a lot of self-discovery and growth that our main character, Zoe, goes through during the course of this novel.

Does that name sound familiar? Good, because Zoe was a side character in Just Sayin' and it was great to see her have her own story. Of course, you don't need to read Just Sayin' first, but it's nice to have because the settings and characters that are mentioned are familiar to the reader as they appeared in the other novel. Zoe's character was kind of shitty in Just Sayin' but absolutely redeemed herself in this one!

The summary of this story is that Zoe is eager to get back into the dating scene and enjoy her 20's while she still can. She ends up signing up for Tinder, reluctantly at first, and comes up with an idea with her best friend Robbie that she is going to date 12 guys, each representing a different zodiac sign, using her daily horoscope as a guide on compatibility. (I bet you can guess how that goes). She ends up falling into several awkward situations and develops relationships where she wasn't even looking.

I really did have a great time reading this book and I am very eager to read Sophie Ranald's backlist titles. Any new titles from her will be an automatic request on my part because these books are serious GEMS and should be treated as so. They are light-hearted and fun. They are the perfect recipe to get you out of whatever reading slump you have fallen in to. I can promise you that!

This was a cute rom-com about dating nowadays.

Zoe gets over her ex and decides to start dating again. With the advice of her friend Robbie, she decides to start dating through the astrological signs until she finds "The One". The dates are obviously disastrous.

This was a fast and easy read. However, I dont feel like it hit the comedy for me. There was a lot of heavier stuff and it was all kind of cringey. I did love Frazz and The Ginger Cat and Adam.

All in all, I enjoyed it, but there were so many times I wanted to shake Zoe or her friend Dani.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this e-ARC.

Zoe`s Tinder experience is hilarious and very true to life.
Zoe is a head chef living above the pub with her cat, she doesn`t want to die alone with her cat so her friend Robbie who she works with suggests using Tinder.
She is an avid horoscope reader so downloads an app to find the perfect love.
Then the fun begins with lots of disastrous dates and lots of dick pictures.
Does she choose a Tinder date or someone closer to home to spend her future with.
A very humorous romance a nice Christmas read
Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.