The Referral Program is a book about 3 girlfriends setting each other up to date people they each recommend for each other.

I absolutely loved the description of this book and was very excited to read it. It was a fun group of girlfriends with great guys to be set up with, this could have been an amazing book with great stories, but overall it felt rushed and confusing between all of the women. There didn't seem to be a lot of differences in the voice of each of the female characters so they kind of blended together as I was reading it and I felt a bit lost at times.

The love stories for all three characters felt a bit rushed and not truly developed. I also feel like if the author would have put the names of the female characters as the title of each chapter it would have helped stay on top of what was going on a bit better. The only reason I was able to separate each character was because of the male counterparts and how different they were, but the female characters lacked personality to differentiate them.

The spicy scenes were a bit cringy- the author used the words flower and kitty and it was a bit hard to get past that.

I gave this book a 2.5 stars and rounded it up to 3. I enjoyed certain parts of it and the premise was good, but it really needed to be developed further and the characters need to unique in their own ways.

Thank NetGalley and Atria for my e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Ugh! The Referral Program had so much potential and I wanted to love it, but this felt like it was trying to hard to be juvenile - not what I expected from a story like this. I was so bothered by the language the author tried to use and it just felt like a total miss and inauthentic.

DNF-ed at 25%. I thought this book fell a little bit flat overall Unfortunately it felt like reading the same POV over and over again with slightly different context and men between the different women.

I adored the ladies! They were successful, independent gals (for the most part, we wont mention names). Ultimately, I struggled getting into their motivations. I cant relate with the idea that a man/family is needed for some feeling of completeness when they already have so much success and it was hard for me to move past that disconnect from the characters.

The writing was great, the plot was steady and paced well. The idea was super fun, even if it didnt end up really hooking me like i had hoped. I will definitely be adding this author to my watch list and reading future novels.

It pains me to write this review, but I struggled through the first 100 pages and finally have to DNF. The dialogue in particular made me cringe. It did not sound like real people having authentic conversations. Did anyone read it out loud?

I also have no interest in reading about awkward first dates, let alone a whole book full of them!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher but this one just isn’t for me.

Loved the premise of this one, but it was a miss for me. DNF'd around 40%. The words used for the sex scenes cause so many eye rolls from me, you don't need to reinvent the wheel and try and be clever. "Kitty" and "Flower" are not terms a woman in her 30s is likely to use to describe her genial. Was a no for me.

There were so many characters that I ended up not feeling very connected to any of them. It is a fun idea though that I really wanted to enjoy.

“Just because he's not for me...”

I have finally finished a book after ages, thank goodness!

The Referral Program was a sweet little book that had a very promising premise. It was a fairly quick read and there were some things I really enjoyed and some things, a bit less. The idea of friends introducing each other to their potential soulmates was so simple, but I loved the excitement about its potential in the book.

The friendship between Dylan, Ivy and Brooke was lovely and mature. The writing carried this book to the end for me… the material felt a bit repetitive and I could see it being off putting, but Ray has a way of wanting you to finish the story. I also thought they were way too many characters and it got hard to keep track of them.

All in all, a cute and quick read, but the story fell a little flat for me. I loved the author’s writing style and wouldn’t hesitate to pick up more of her books in the future.

this book was one of the best books i read this year so far. the friendship…the romance…the comedy was chef’s kiss. it was a comfort read

I ADORED the premise of this book. It seemed like such a fun way for this trio of women to get back to a more personal dating experience after failing with the apps over and over again. Unfortunately, I think this story could have used a little more work. Our three FMCs felt interchangeable at times and their POVs would feel repetitive. I also wanted more angst and more actual dating before they found their matches. They each had SIX men to pick from! There could have been so many funny terrible dating stories for the girls to chat about.

I also have to say, I wish romance authors would stop having their characters cross boundaries in regards to sex. As someone who has experienced that over and over again, it isn't okay even in fiction. One of the FMCs comes on to her man multiple times after he explicitly tells her he wants to stay celibate. She doesn't respect that decision for even a minute and she throws his boundaries out the window. If nothing else, that tanked this book for me. Publishers need to catch things like this before they go out, in my opinion,

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC.

This was an entertaining book. It was fun and kept me reading, though it seemed to have quite a bit of describing someone's thoughts rather than describing the interactions the characters were having. I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to others.

📖: The Referral Program by: Shamara Ray | 📅 Pub Day: OUT TODAY!!!

Happy Pub Day!!! So, this one didn’t work for me at all. I’m not sure if it was a me thing or the actual book but after almost deciding to DNF at 25% I continued reading on giving it another chance and I still came out with the same outcome. I was particularly super sad about this because the vibe from the synopsis was giving me nostalgic Black 90s rom com vibes (but set in the present day) that my mom would watch and I would sneak into the room and watch (when I had no business doing that😂). When it came down to it i think the plot became a little convoluted and messy in all the wrong ways.

I’d definitely give this author another chance in the future, as this was nothing personal, just not for me at this time!

2.75⭐️

Special thanks to Strebor Books and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book prior to the publication date and review it.

THE REFERRAL PROGRAM
Shamara Ray


In THE REFERRAL PROGRAM, we follow three friends: Dylan, Ivy, and Brooke. Over brunch one Sunday the women start to discuss their desire to find a serious relationship. Dylan proposes that each of the women refer men in their lives they feel the other women would like. Ivy and Brooke thought this was a fantastic idea and THE REFERRAL PROGRAM was born.

I immediately loved this concept. It sold me right away. I could easily see this as a movie or a romantic comedy TV series. The writing in THE REFERRAL PROGRAM did not disappoint and the dynamics between characters felt realistic, fresh, and fun.

Dylan, Ivy, and Brooke are very interesting to get to know. As a reader you learn their quirks, likes, dislikes, desires, and the needs they have that have been met while others go unfulfilled. It’s interesting to find out with their referrals how well they know each other as friends.

The men in the book were an especially fun part. We follow along as each of the women goes on prospective dates with the men in the “program”. It doesn’t always go as planned and the journey to finding Mr. Right is almost as fun as the destination.

I’m so happy to have discovered a new and exciting romance author. THE REFERRAL PROGRAM is out today!

Thanks to Netgalley, Atria Books, and Strebor Books for the advanced copy!

THE REFERRAL PROGRAM…⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

2.5 Stars

This was not the book for me. And I stress for me. I liked the idea of it but the execution was frustrating. Out of the 3 friends I couldn't stand 2. Imagine Molly from Insecure and Toni from Girlfriends in the same friend group... It was too much.

Dylan was overly confident, dismissive, and stayed in her head. Brooke was dramatic and immature.

I think the men they ended up with should have ran for the hills.

Ivy was the only saving grace for me and I didn't appreciate how she was treated.

I feel like a lot of good points were made in regard to needing to be loved, needing companionship, letting your guards down, communicating, and connecting on a mental and spiritual level before sex. But at the same time a lot was messy.

I kept waiting for something to happen and nothing ever did.

I would first like to thank the publisher Atria for sending me this ARC in exchange for my honest review. I was very excited to read this book. I found the subject matter interesting and thought it would make a great plot. I found the book to be extremely difficult to get through and not at all enjoyable. The writing didn't flow and I felt like I spent most of my time inside the characters head (from a third person viewpoint) instead of inside the characters world. It never sucked me into the story. The writing never attempted to paint a thorough picture of the characters world. There were times when there would be long ongoing conversations between characters where nothing was really happening and repetitive statements were made. Lastly, the goal was find men who were marriage material, nothing about it felt romantic or made me feel excited about the womens possibility at finding true love. I wanted to like this book, I truly did, but it was it just wasn't for me at all.

2.25/5 stars! The premise of this story sounded intriguing, so I wanted to give it a chance. The writing felt a bit sloppy to me and lacked depth. It toted itself to be some heavy story about growth and finding both yourself and love. The reality was that it was a few concepts that were extremely loosely held together. Not my favorite.

I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review

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

This book follows a group of friends who are all in married and are starting to think that’s how things will be forever. They decide to make up a program for which a friend will refer you a person to go on a date with. Now one would think that since you’re friends are the ones referring the guys it would equate to matches made in heaven but that was not the case. The friends find themselves going on several dates.

While I did read this book fast I did have some issues with the povs of the characters seeming all similar. I thought there would be a difference in the women’s voice as written but to me it seemed they all were the same person. That was my only real negative about the story.

Thank you Atria Books, Strebor Books, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

I got an advanced copy of this book from the publisher through Net Galley.

This story was about three friends who were fed up with being single. Dylan, Brooke, and Ivy decided to set each other up with guys they knew in hopes that they would each find the one.

There were so many things that I liked about this book. I enjoyed getting to follow each friend on their journey. I loved the short chapters. I was glad they didn’t each magically meet Mr. Right on the first try. Their romantic relationships were tested as well as their friendship. In the end, they each got to their happy ending.

This was a good book. I’ve never read this author before but would definitely be willing to read more from her.

Thank you, atria for the ARC for an exchange of a review.

Personally, this book fell flat for me. There are three POV’s in the novel and it was hard to tell a distinction between the three. I also did not enjoy any of the romance within the three POV’s that are given unfortunately I had to DNF the novel. It just was not for me and I found the characters to be not be interesting at all.

Three single friends in their thirties are tired of failed relationships so they decide to try a new approach to dating. They each choose 3 men in their lives that are great guys, just not for them, to set up with each of their friends. The goal is each woman will have 6 potential matches from these referrals and will hopefully find their perfect man in the process.

I thought this was a fun premise and in some ways this story gave me almost Sex in the City vibes. I loved the friendship and the love between the women and it was fun seeing them go on their various dates, even the unsuccessful ones. This was a quick and fun read!

Thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for the advance copy.