Three besties, Dylan, Brooke, and Ivy, are sick of the shape of the dating game in our modern existence. Any guys they meet in the usual ways, at bars, online, etc, seem to keep coming up duds. So Dylan comes up with the Referral Program. Each lady comes up with a list of three men they know personally who might be good matches for each of the other two. And we're off...

These characters were so hard to follow. The women all seemed so similar. Sometimes they even had similar - if not identical - conversations with the men they were dating. Their inner monologues were in almost identical voices. Their wants and needs for their relationships were pretty similar... it felt like the author couldn't be bothered figuring out three distinct voices, so everyone was the same, abs probably pretty close to her own view of the world.

The guys each woman ended up with were absolutely the epitome of clichéd ideals. One of them cooked, another one was a wealthy trust fund baby that wanted to spoil his woman. And one was so super-over-attentive.

No one felt "real."

There was a sex scene for each lady.

One was ALMOST IMMEDIATELY after the dude said to his woman "I've been celibate for a couple years, and want to stay that way." Like, they had a makeout sesh, she groped him (crossing a line!) and then she went home... She couldn't stop thinking about him. Then he appeared on her doorstep, and jumped her. So much for that. I was actually looking forward to seeing how the author would handle that, and was super disappointed. Why say it if you're going to just murder the idea in cold blood before it even takes off. (Lazy writing!)

One scene has the guy finish FAST, and then he ghosts her for almost the rest of the book. I figured it was straight embarrassment on his part, but he explains his absence as anxiety over the relationship as a whole.

And all three of them use stupid words for female parts, but go straight clinical for the dudes. "Flower" and "kitty" vs "penis" for every mention of the bits. Why??

And the major conflict in the 3rd act? It's between the besties more than the women and their dudes. Because of a misunderstanding. And the offended woman refuses to have an actual discussion about the whole thing with the women she calls her sisters. It's... stupid. The situation is contrived and the fight - or lack thereof - is useless.

The writing as a whole made me think this was a debut by a new author... But she's written 5 other books already?? And she still writes like this? Why is she still getting things published? Why aren't her editors pointing out the fact that everyone is the same and no one is believable?

I received an Advanced Reader Copy via NetGalley in return for sharing my thoughts on this book. Thanks to the author and publisher for this opportunity!

Dylan, Ivy, and Brooke have been friends for a long time, through the ups and downs, when they’re taken or single. And now, they’re all single, and they’re all in their mid-thirties. Tired of the apps, they decide to start a referral program, recommending men to each other until each of them finds “the one.” Dating is never easy, but hopefully with the help of some friends, it can go a little smoother.

I received an advanced reading copy of The Referral Program in exchange for an honest review.

The Referral Program is a romance novel by Shamara Ray. I don’t read too much romance, but I’ve been getting more into it lately. In fact, I’ve read a couple this year, and I’m learning just how deep books like these can be, and how much I can love them.

As a thirty-year-old woman who recently did the online dating thing, and who’s often wished I had friends who could set me up with potential partners, I thought this would be the perfect book for me, which is why when I was invited to review a copy, I immediately agreed. But I don’t think this book was for me.

You guys know that I’m a sucker for good characters. I love getting to know characters, learning so much about them, and basically finding out what makes them tick. When I opened this book and was introduced to Dylan, Ivy, and Brooke, I was looking forward to getting to know them too, and especially learning about their relationship, their friendship, with each other. This book, however, mostly focuses on the romance aspect, and rarely gives us scenes of the women by themselves. And that was fine, since it pushed the plot forward, but I wanted more of them. And when we didn’t get them by themselves, I hoped we’d get more of their friendship, but also, that wasn’t as deep as I’d hoped. In fact, I was expecting to get so much more on the friendship, especially since the entire plot hinges on it, but the novel was a little light on it. Also, there was some head-hopping going on, which isn’t my favorite writing strategy.

I will say, however, that the book does show some absolutely excellent communication between the characters, and especially those who were romantically involved. They were great examples of how to be open and how to talk to each other, and I enjoyed seeing so many good conversations between them, and when things didn’t work out, it was due to lacks of chemistry rather than people being awful to each other. Also, almost every character in this book is Black, which was fantastic representation, and especially of successful men and women, both of whom are able to express their emotions to each other.

But while this wasn’t the book for me, I have no doubt other people will love it! Those who want to see much more romance in books, and have less interest in characters, might enjoy it more. And especially those who admire good healthy conversations between characters!

The Referral Program will be released on August 29 by Strebor Books. You can preorder your copy from them here.

Honestly in the beginning…actually for a majority of the book I was getting 90’s black sitcom vibes. Its Girlfriends meets Living Singles meet Waiting to exhale and I like that particular aspect of the book. The writing wasn’t my favorite, but the plot was really good. I enjoyed the dynamic of the friends and this idea of how they’ll date men. All in all it was a good read and not bad.

3.5⭐️ This read like an early 2000s chick-flick which I loved! Plenty of girl power and just enough scheming. I loved getting to see the 3 main characters thoughts and feelings as they moved through the dating world. Their fears and insecurities felt very real. I did get a little annoyed at some of their banter though because it felt like they were always ready to jump down each others throats if they disagreed. However it had a great ending and great messages throughout.

I wanted to love this book so much. The plot was fun and different and I felt like there was so much potential but this book just wasn't it for me. All the lead characters felt interchangeable? And like they were all the same person but in slightly different fonts? And the way the conversations in the book happened just didn't feel natural to me. The smut scenes actively made me cringe. I never want to hear a vagina referred to as a "kitty", especially by a grown ass woman ever again. Overall, this was kind of a disappointment for me.

The Referral Program follows a group of friends who are struggling in their dating lives, and agree to do something that is "normal" yet unconventional in their format...setting up each other on blind dates through their own personal referrals. They agree that this experiment will not tarnish their friendships, but of course comes with its own conflicts.

Overall, I enjoyed this read a lot. I loved the individual character development, however I wish I was able to learn more about each of the relationships. The plot was easy-to-read and had a very enjoyable experience, I just wish there was more depth at times. I would recommend this book to the majority and would be excited to read more from this author in the future.

Dylan, Ivy, and Brooke have all been unlucky in love so they hatch a plan where they set one another up on blind dates. The novels moves from POV to POV to tell what becomes a steamy story. Know that this is all about finding a mate, and there isn't personal growth for the women. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

Shamara did a great job of illustrating the dynamics of this friend group. I liked that each woman had their distinct personality trait and past issue they had going into the program. Reading the book I found myself thinking "That's so like Brooke" or "Oh my sweet Ivy", like I knew them in real life. The program idea was really cool, love that each woman had a set of good men in their life. I was worried about how the program would work storywise, would they go for the first person they were set up with? Shamara set it up very nicely. The conflicts throughout the story were all realistic.

Dylan, Ivy, and Brooke are best friends in their mid 30s who are all single; they agree to set each other up with their single male friends. Pretty simple, but they inexplicably swore each other to secrecy about this – so even though the men knew they were being set up with a friend, they weren’t allowed to know that it was a “thing”. The plot was okay, though there were a lot of contrivances like that, but I found the writing rather awkward. There was a lot of back and forth dialogue between the women and their dates that was just dialogue line after dialogue line, with no “Brooke exclaimed” or “David sighed”, and there were multiple times when I got lost in who was speaking each line. More broadly, although the women had different careers, they were all a little bit interchangeable personality-wise, and it was hard to keep them straight. There were also some really uncomfortable sex scenes due to the language being used (kitty, garden, dew-drop covered flower, lol). Overall, I thought the initial premise was cute, but the writing and plot contrivances made it really hard to care about the characters.

This was a good book with a solid friend group. It was a little slow in the middle but picked up once I got invested in each character's potetial loves

Dylan, Ivy, and Brooke are three successful yet single women in their mid-thirties. They decide that rather than wade through terrible men, each friend will refer men they know who would be perfect partners, just not for themselves. It sounds like a great idea, but will it cause problems between the three friends and the men they referred?

Dating is hard, and I don't envy these women the struggle at all. Dylan had a rough experience when an ex abruptly ended a relationship she thought was going to lead to an engagement. Fast forward five years and the friends introduce men they know who are well-adjusted and hard-working but don't tick the box "romantic partner" for them. It's inspired by their parents' generation introducing people to each other, and then letting romance develop. They do it here, and we get to see their dates. It doesn't always work out, and we see that it isn't anything necessarily wrong, just that there isn't always a romantic spark. It doesn't mean that the program doesn't work, just that people want different things, and chemistry can't be predicted.

The inevitable stumbling block in the romance novel comes, and it threatens not just romantic relationships, but the friendships as well. But true friends that they are, they don't allow it to stand. They continue to boost each other up, consider each other sisters, and provide the sounding board that they need. Everyone should have friends like these, and I love seeing that in books. The relationship struggles are realistic and range from awkward to delightful, just as they can be for the rest of us.

This book was pretty good! It was a little slow at times but i still thought the writing, plot, and characters were really fun.

The cover with 3 beautiful black women pulled me in first. I read the description and thought about an old Sex and the City episode where one of the girls went to a party looking for love (of course) where everyone brought an ex. And just like The Referral Program, the women were tired of what was "out there." Dylan, Ivy, and Brooke were looking for "The One" -which we all know doesn't exist. I don't believe that happiness equals being in a relationship. I've seen women were with men so "basic" it was hard to watch. I understand people want companionship, children, and to just have someone home when they walk in the door. The world has drilled into women that if you are of a certain age and still single, something is wrong with you. As a 43-year-old single black woman with no children, this book really triggered me, but I was engaged and cared about what happened to these women. For that and the cover, this gets 3*** from me.

Thanks to NetGalley and publisher for this ARC. I voluntarily give my honest review and all opinions expressed are my own.

3.5 Stars
Womens fiction with romance
Dylan, Brooke, and Ivy

After failing at meeting Mr. Right, three friends come together to match make.
We all have that one friend who would be great with "so and so." The women venture through a series of dates and men.

This was s decent read. I felt the conversations between the friends and dates were insightful and gave real thought to compatibility. The women and men were dating with intention.

For me, Brooke was frustrating throughout the whole book. She was too entitled. I felt like she just wanted to be angry. She was so unforgiving.

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

I want to thank NetGalley and Atria for this gifted ARC I’m exchange for an honest review.

The Referral Program is a multiple POV of 3 girlfriends who refer men in their lives for each other to date in order to find their forever partner. I was enjoying this book up until about 40% through and then it lost me. The spicy scenes were great, but the terminology used for a woman’s v@gina turned me off. For one woman it was called “kitty”, for the other it was “flower”, and for the last one it was “blossom”. It was just a strange way to describe it when you had no problem speaking about a man’s shaft or wetness.

Although this book was multiple POVs it was hard to tell. Outside of the use of the characters name, and the man that they were dating, it was hard differentiating between each of the three women. I believe it’s because we don’t really get to know each of them outside of what they do for a living. Their history/dating experience was only briefly described. There’s also an incident that takes place towards the end of the book. That was just a little confusing and overexaggerate it for me.

Just a reminder, just because this book wasn’t for me doesn’t mean someone else won’t like it. It’s out on 8/29/23 if you want to give it a try! It’s also still available on NetGalley if you are looking for a sneak peek 😉.

The Referral Program by Shamara Ray
In the olden days, people didn’t find dates on Tinder or other social media programs. They met potential mates at work, church, school, and through friends and acquaintances, sometimes on blind dates. So, I was a bit skeptical about where this book was going when the three protagonists thought their “Referral Program” was something “new” that had to be kept secret.
Sadly, my opinion went downhill from there. The three protagonists, Ivy, Brooke, and Dylan, where indistinguishable from one another. They had different jobs, yes, but they were all beautiful, shapely, ambitious black women with high expectations for relationships. But … they didn’t have anything that differentiated them from each another. Likewise, the male characters they “referred” to one another. All successful, handsome, wealthy, fit black men. Everyone was experienced in dating and relationships, and suddenly, they all had the same goals. Only one, discarded character was “less” –and that was because he was nine years older and sold cars for a living (though of course, he owned three dealerships.) Buzz words like Faith, Integrity, Loyalty are present throughout, whether through the mouths of the male characters, or the female.
First dates are painful for most people, tenuous at best, especially blind dates. I hate to say the reader struggles through no fewer than seven first dates in this novel, each painful. And when a couple finally gets to sex, these bright, educated, mid-thirties women refer to their own genitalia as “kitty” or “flower” and it was … for the reader…awful.
Finally, the author had trouble with point of view throughout the book, jumping from one woman to the other …and since they were indistinguishable in language or goals, it was difficult to follow. At one point, we even switched to one of the men’s point of view mid chapter and without warning. When anyone tried to have a conversation with a potential mate, the “dialogue” turned into preachy monologue. Three lines from one character at a time is a rule many writers have been taught. This one missed that lesson. It is not unusual to read 10-12 lines with no break, and sometimes, honestly 22-25. I have no sense of the setting and very little sense of the characters actions, habits, distinguishing features, etc.
I hate to leave a less than stellar review, as I know it takes so much to write a novel. I believe this writer has the skills to do a better job. The book is The Referral Program, and it will be released August 29, 2023. Thanks to the publisher, Atria Books and NetGalley for the review copy.

They (whoever “they” are) said this was “an engaging novel about a group of single women who come up with a plan to try and meet Mr. Right” and holy man, they were right! I was a little sad there were no “bad date” stories involved (they were always my favourite part of my teen magazines) but I know that was not the story Ray was trying to tell. I am here for the one she did tell!

Meet Dylan, Ivy, and Brooke. They’re best friends in their 30’s decide they want to find Mr. Right and all have male friends who they’re close to, but they’re just not the right fit (you know the ones?). So these women have a very enlightened idea: what is they introduced the men to their friends and see if any sparks fly? The adventure really kicks into high-gear once the ladies each refer men who they think will be matches for their besties. The women will each setup the date and if it’s not a good fit, move on to the next man on the list hoping to find that perfect match.

I loved the plot, characters, even the various POV’s! I found the multiple perspectives helped the story, never confused me, and added to the beautiful tale. Each character had their own unique personality and each complimented the other (gotta love besties, amirite?). It’s been said by other reviewers, but I felt like I was watching a movie versus reading a book. Such a treat! This isn’t just a beach read, it’s a year-round read my friends.

Thank you to NetGalley, Atria Books, and Strebor Books for a temporary e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I wanted to love this book! Brooke, Dylan, and Ivy have been friends forever. All established career women in their own respect, they have now reached the point of borderline give-up in their love lives. It feels like no one can meet their standards and expectations in a partner for this stage of their lives. So is born the Referral Program. Each girl picks men in their life that they themselves wouldn't date, but think would make a great match for one of their best friends.

The premise is fantastic! But the execution fell flat. There isn't specific POV changes, with just chapter numbers designating shifts. I could only tell the girls apart by career or man they were seeing. It got to a point where I just didn't like the characters anymore, with their potential matches becoming more developed and interesting.

As some other reviewers have mentioned, the smut scenes are literally so cringe I couldn't get through them. I wanted to love this, but overall, I would not recommend this title.

This book is a fun pool side read. It's a bit cliche at times and some of the characters start to run together in terms of personality, which makes it a bit hard to keep up with who is who. Overall an easy summer read, but don't expect anything spectacular.

I thought the premise and idea of this book was great! The blurb for it had me itching to read it! Unfortunately I felt it just did not hold up to my expectations. In my opinion the three FMC’s were way to similar to the point I got confused too easily. The extremely child like nickname of the female body part threw me a fast ball. If you aren’t comfortable enough, at the very least, calling it what it is, then maybe it shouldn’t be discussed at all and the steamy scenes should have just been fade to black scenes. I would have found it much more enjoyable and entertaining than reading about her “dew-drop covered flower” or even “his masculinity deep within her femininity”. That was torture to read. Other than those issues it was a pretty fast paced book and like I said I loved the idea of it. I just don’t feel like the author captured this book quite the way I had been expecting.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced readers copy in exchange for my honest review.