I really wanted to like this book but I couldn't connect with the characters or storyline and lost interest quickly

I did not realise I had forgotten to give feedback on this book. Probably because I hated what I read, did not finish it and then immediately started trying to forget how annoying all the characters were. This should have been a book about learning to be single in a world that overvalues romance. The main couple was despicable. Read something else.

Although I can appreciate the premise of this book, I simply couldn't get into this story. However I will say that I find the Authors writing style intriguing. unfortunately this simply wasn't the book for me.

Thank you to HarperCollins, UK; One More Chapter for the ARC of this book. I was excited about this one due to the description. I love a romance set in the Science World, but this one failed to catch my attention from the very beginning. That being said, it was a "do not finish" for me because I was just not enjoying it. It may be enjoyable for someone else but it was not the right book for me. Thanks for the early copy to review.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for an ARC of Once Upon An Algorithm in exchange for an honest review.

"My life ticked away and I seem to have missed the tide that caught others up and allowed them to hit the classic milestones by forty."

Once Upon An Algorithm is an office romance centered around a middle-aged woman named Leonie and a younger man named Jack. Leonie is in Paris celebrating the engagement of two of her best friends when her friends get the idea to enter Leonie into a dating app called Opp/Att intended to match you with someone that you normally wouldn't be interested in. After a night in Paris with Jack, Leonie starts her new job at a tech startup as a favor to her stepbrother where she soon finds out that maybe what she thought she wanted in a man isn't entirely accurate.

This book started out with a super fun premise of a group of friends spending a night out in Paris and our main character, Leonie just wants to have some fun. She ends up spending the night with a man named Jack who unbeknownst to her, works at her stepbrother's tech startup where she has agreed to start working as a favor to her stepbrother, Eric. Her job is to help the London team push the app that they have been developing over the finish line and ready to launch within two weeks. At the beginning of the book, I was really enjoying the storyline but as the book went on, I started to not enjoy it as much anymore. The age gap between Leonie and Jack was painful because I could tell how immature Jack was compared to Leonie. Also, some parts of the book got a little too deep into technology vocabulary that normal people do not have which took me out of the story from time to time.

However, the end of the book definitely saved this story for me. The twists and turns throughout the last 4-5 chapters of the book kept me hooked and wanting to find out how the story was going to end. My favorite aspect of this book was definitely Leonie's group of friends. At times they were a little bit harsh but they were completely supportive of Leonie from beginning to end. Overall, the only thing that brought the story down for me was that I felt Leonie and Jack were missing some chemistry. Some of their scenes definitely felt forced.

Overall, I would give this book 3.5 stars and would recommend it to a reader who likes technology-based books.

I was really looking forward to this book based on the description and it started off promising, but is this for real????

I loved how they met up but I wasn't feeling the characters' chemistry and the group of friends kind of drove me nuts, but my biggest issue was the cheating. I was so mad! We invest all of this time and energy into the MMC meanwhile he's MARRIED THE ENTIRE TIME?!?!?!? And, yes, it wasn't a "normal" marriage, but it was still a marriage.

I think the only part I enjoyed was the very beginning and some of the app logistic stuff.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC in exchange for my honest opinion and review.

I was promised a book for fans of Ali Hazelwood and Sally Thorne. Yes, it is STEM themed and is an office enemies to lovers situ a la the Hating Game. But it’s nothing like either writer’s work. I don’t know why I finished it when I literally skipped the first 3 chapters to get somewhere in the book. Neither character is particularly likable and so much of the focus is on the app launch. The whole algorithm focus promise is a passing reference that comes up a couple of time but hardly the focus of the book. Instead we learn more than we need to about app development and launches. I thought more would be made of the fact that our FMC is almost 40 and still single, but we get no backstory as to why that is the case (maybe it was in the chapters i skipped?). I just didn’t get it. And then there’s the MC and his “past” which was kind of problematic.

This was an easy and enjoyable romcom-ish book. The plot is somewhat confusing and the characters really do have their flaws, and the ending seems a little convoluted for the outcome. However, I did enjoy the slow burn and the banter between the two characters. The miscommunication trope is always my least favourite so I found that frustrating, and I’m never a fan of cheating, even when you could maybe argue it’s not, it’s still not my vibe. But as I said, it was easy and fun to read and overall I would say I enjoyed myself.

This was personally not my favorite book. I have never really enjoyed cheating in romance especially when it is revealed so late. I will just leave it at I could not finish because I can't read not only cheating but everyone supporting it the way this story did.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange of an honest review

Unfortunately this book just wasn't for me. I didn't gel well with that characters and found myself not overly invested or bothered what happened to them. There was nothing fundamentally wrong with the book, just not my cup of tea, I found the FMC very judgey and annoying.

So this guy is married like the whole book and no one seems to have a problem.
Then he gets a divorce and has to give his wife all the money which is dumb cause neither of them wanted to be married. So why would she take all his money

Okay, that wasn't really funny or romantic, it's just a confusion of unfortunate circumstances.

The stories of the individual characters would have been enough for one story, but it's quite exaggerated.

It's about an app that looks for a partner who is basically the opposite of what you are looking for.
But somehow it never turns out what the two of them are actually looking for.

They harmonize well, but the whole environment is mostly just toxic.

Exaggerated and not funny.

A fun and easy read. I love little stories like this that you can pick up and get straight back into the story

This was an easy romance read and although it wasn't the best I've ever read, it was enjoyable. Definitely a cute one.

Once Upon an Algorithm
⭐️⭐️.5
Author: Clara O’Connor

I requested a digital advanced readers copy from NetGalley and Harper Collins and providing my opinion voluntarily and unbiased.

Synopsis: Leonie’s personal dating algorithm:

1. Over 6 ft Tall
2. Funny and carefree
3. Well-travelled

But when a dating app leads Leonie to one night in Paris with brooding stranger Jack – the total opposite of what she’s looking for – she realises her list is missing out the most important thing: chemistry. And the chemistry between Leonie and Jack is off the charts!

Could the algorithm be on to something? When Leonie starts her new job at a tech start up the last person she expects to see is Jack. But there he is, sitting in the boss’s office, the man behind the code and the best night of sex of her life…

My Thoughts: Normally I put my trigger warnings within the body of my review, but is going here: cheating MMC. I really struggled with this book. The fact that he is married when he initially met with and had sex with our heroine just rings all kinds of bells for me. I could look past a married but long separated issue, but our hero lives with his wife, he then has no business trying to pin our heroine down. Onto the what the story is actually about. Our heroine, Leonie, has a dating algorithm of a few items. She meets a charming man while in Paris, has a one night stand, and looks to add “chemistry” to the algorithm. After she starts a new job with a tech start up, she runs into Jack again. Where will their path’s cross now? Can true love be found beyond the algorithm? Or is the damage already done and it is time to move on?

There were a lot of coding references with no explanations, making it very difficult to follow. I think having tech language in a book is fine, as long as there is an explanation somewhere behind it. In any other STEM I have read, if there is tech language, there was an explanation on why x was. Then we find out that the MMC is married three quarters of the way through? Not cool. Let’s talk about the friend group, who were not supportive of our FMC. Friends are supposed to uplift you, give you guidance that will allow you to be a successful person, not give you very misguided advice. The MCs chemistry was not solid, it was fluid, sometimes there and sometimes not. Lastly, the spice was one foot in the door and one foot out of the door. I enjoy both closed door and spice books, but this was neither, which made it difficult. The ending was not what I would like to have seen.

It has been a really long time since I have given such a low rating and it pains me to do so. While I liked the premise (expect for the married part), I think it could have been done differently and it would have been stellar. Unfortunately, I would not recommend this to other readers as presented. I will be on the lookout for the next work from this author since this was her debut novel.

I really enjoyed this book. It was different than anything else I've read recently. I couldn't put it down! I will keep an eye out for this author's future work!

I am grateful to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

I really tried to give this one the benefit of the doubt, even after reading what a lot of the other reviews had written. Unfortunately, I have to agree with a good many of those reviews.

The friends of the FMC immediately struck me as being incredibly annoying. They simply never stop talking and chatting. When they force the FMC to go on a date in Paris with an unidentified person, things take an unexpected turn.

There was no chemistry at all between the FMC and MMC. They truly kind of hated each other after their second meeting, and it's all because of a thoughtless error.

Wow! Once Upon An Algorithm kept me reading through the night. I just couldn’t stop no matter how tired I felt. This story stars two great characters in Leonie and Jack, but there was also a great supporting cast including Leonie’s entitled and utterly awful stepbrother Eric. I loved the enemies to lovers trope that played out between Leonie and Jack and the group chat messages Leonie received from her friends as the story unfolded. There was plenty of tension, both romantic and otherwise and enough plot twists to keep me guessing. I really loved this story.

This book was not for me. The FMC Leonie’s “friends” were way too pushy in my opinion and from the little bit I read, really didn’t come across as actual friends. I felt like the only thing that was focused on was the fact that She was single and NEEDED a significant other, specifically a male significant other, in order for her life to be complete. Beyond being annoyed with how toxic the friends are, I found myself bored and unable to find a solid story line

Dnf at 19%

The friends were literal psychopaths and mean friends.

The guy was too sus. And then come to find out he’s a cheater?! WTF. They also had no chemistry. And the FMC was mediocre at best