Harry Potter references in this day and age are unfortunately just an instant turn off for me. I also was struggling to care about the characters from the very start. This was unfortunately a very swift DNF for me.

*thank you to the publisher for giving me a free ARC*
*all thoughts are my own*

*SPOILERS AHEAD*
Let me start with the fact that I initially really enjoyed this book up to about the 75% mark. I thought it was pretty good and had the potential to be a solid 3.5/4 stars. However, the last 25% absolutely destroyed it. Finding out the MMC is MARRIED and LIVES with his wife AFTER the FMC and MMC sleep together?? That is crazy. And the rest of the book just made it even worse with the very end just so unrealistic that I simply cannot believe they stayed together more than a week after the end of the book. And after finishing the book, i started thinking back and noticing little red flags throughout the book from the MMC being so rude to the FMC and refusing to communicate with her, instead just harassing and undermining her, to the FMC's step-brother never seeing sufficient consequences for his absolutely horrible treatment of the FMC the entire book. I really held out hope after the marriage bombshell that there would be some sort of amazing turnaround for the end, but there just wasn't and I was really disappointed. I am absolutely sure that some people will really enjoy this book, I am just not one of those people. If a really techy/ software startup-type romance seems interesting and you think you might enjoy this book, maybe pick it up and try it, you might love it, I just decidedly did not.

I tried giving it a million chances and it did not meet any of my expectations or excitement that were given by the cover. The characters were all over the place and I don’t think I understood anything that was supposed to be written in this story.

I originally stopped reading after 4 chapters because it was boring and nothing clicked for me. Not the characters, the settings, or the story. But I HATE leaving anything undone. I had unanswered questions (the main one being would she find love and how would it come about) and I needed that answered. So, I forged thru but then came to a complete stop. I literally could not go further cause I felt let down, as should every woman who reads this story written by another woman who thought it was ok to write this?! Are you serious?!

At nearly the end of book, we learn that the love interest (the guy) has been married the entire time he embarked on another relationship! He didn't tell the heroine of the book this fact before he had sex with her!! And to make matters worse, she only found out because her step brother told her the guy was still married!!! This was acceptable and would turn to a HEA?! SERIOUSLY?! But it didn't end there. Not only is he still married, but he still lives with his wife? I'm sorry, but after that, I didn't care read any explanation as to why he kept her in the dark, that status of his marriage or the HEA that comes after. This book was/is officially DNF'd. There is just no coming back from that.

Okay, nope!

No matter what I thought of the story throughout, the revelation that he is married ruins everything for me. I cannot get in board with that relationship being romanticized or shown in a good light at all.

No, no, no!

There was honestly nothing good about this! This felt poorly written, with annoying characters, terrible pacing and the worst part? A cheating MMC! I jumped on this title because it sounded like an Ali Hazelwood type of STEM-novella, which I love, but this was the furthest thing from it.

Would not recommend, sadly.

Once Upon An Algorithm follows Leonie who is a product manager that has promised to put herself out there more in searching for a partner. After meeting a one-night stand through an “Opposites Attract” app, she meets him again in London at her new consulting gig. As things heat up with Jack, will their respective secrets mess things up for them?

Starting out strong, I really liked the writing style and the settings of this book! We jump from London, Paris, and a bit of California, all with some great descriptions and atmosphere. I’d definitely be interested in O’Connor’s future books.

I also enjoyed Leonie’s friend group. A mixture of successful women at varying stages in their life, the sisterhood that they had through group chats and the gatherings, really felt awesome.

Now onto something that wasn’t great, there are a lot of reviews already about a significant plot point that I didn’t love. This plot point definitely played into my rating and enjoyment of the book but knowing it beforehand might have made it more palatable to me. I have lived in LA and brushed elbows with a few rich people/celebrities that definitely live their lives in a way similar to some of the “rich people” attitudes we see here. As much as I didn’t enjoy it in a romance book for our main character, I can’t deny that it’s partially realistic. This is a fairly large plot point so it’s not something that could just simply be removed, but I do wish there was some other event to pull it all together. Typically, romance readers don’t want to root for characters a part of a situation like this.

This was an entertaining read with the two main characters being fun and relatable. the story was a bit far fetched but that made it more fun to read! thanks to Netgalley x

This book is marketed a spicy, STEM romance and it just felt way off mark for me.

LA-born, London-based Leonie Durant is in her late thirties and painfully single. One of her best friends is recently engaged and her group of girl friends all head to Paris to celebrate. Leonie is a planner and a list girl but her friends urge her to try something different. They sign her up to a dating app called OPP/ATT where you input what you like and the algorithm recommends opposites that would suit you. Leonie reluctantly agrees to meet Jack.

When she gets back to London and is helping her stepbrother with his app/tech start-up, who is there too? Yep, Jack.

When I first started this book, I got all the romcom vibes, I LOVED the set up but it quickly went downhill for me. It was very work-based and I found myself losing interest. The biggest disappointment for me was that Jack (spoiler alert) was married. When reading a romance, I am looking for the perfect book boyfriend so having a "cheater" of sorts instantly puts me off. I know the relationship is described as them not being properly together but I couldn't get past it.

The spice was also non-existent and any scenes that did happen were closed door.

I did love Leonie's friend group and it was an easy read. I flew through it in a day(!) but unfortunately, it just missed the mark for me personally.

The beginning was a bit hazy and confusing. There was so much information and names to keep up with that I somehow got lost trying to figure it out.

It took more than a quarter in before the plot started to make sense. Even then, the morality of the characters is a big question for concern.

Written in the first person, the continuous monologue of the FMC was nerve grating and did not help the monotonous plot.

Also, it featured a lot of coding and tech/geeky stuff which was both good and bad. Good in the sense that you can learn a bit from them. Bad in that it was a lot of jargon not needed in a rom com.

Despite the above, it was entertaining and I was really curious to see what would happen with both main characters.

If you are into the nitty gritty of the tech industry mixed in with some drama and ‘romance’ then you will enjoy this.

I got an advance copy via Netgalley and the review is mine and voluntary.

I really wanted to like this book. But it's pretty bad.
I'm giving it two stars because I think the concepts are really interesting, and novel and had a lot of potential. So I think the author came up with an interesting idea but the execution was prettyyyy msierable. Honestly, where was the editor on this book???
First, unless you're in tech, the book working plot is incredibly hard to follow and brings nothing to the reader.
Second, there's a lot of plot points and subplots that make absolutely no sense in the real world and detract from the book.
Third, the main character is made pretty unlikeable. She's pretty classist, misanthropic, reallyyyy cares about age (and her tone and age didn't match...) and just made no sense to me. The first chapter I thought oh my gosh, she's so relatable but by the third, I was more 'I hope I'm nothing like her'
Fourth, a good editor would have helped clean the objective mess that is making the MMC married and a cheater. This brings down the book's potential to be a seller for sure. No one will be recommending this book because of that I think.
There's a lot of raw potential but it wasn't shaped well. Is it too late to go back to editing and not publish yet?

I was very much due an easy going rom com read and this book came along at the perfect time for me. I needed something to read that didn't require me to think and just sweep me away in a story and Once Upon an Algorithm delivered.

One of the big reasons I got so lost in this book was because I could relate to so much of it; not the romance part though. The work setting and all of the references to software development were basically my day to day life. Leonie stood at a board with post it's trying to prioritise an MVP produce was me. Leonie trying to get engineers to estimate their work was me. Some of it I cringed at, but only because it was so close to home.

The enemies to lovers storyline had me hooked but my word was I frustrated with these characters. It was classic enemies to lovers in that if they just communicated like normal human beings, their story would have been so different. But that would make for a very boring book. So I guess I just enjoy being frustrated at people.

I devoured this book, reading it in pretty much two sittings. It was straight forward rom com with lots of angst and the personal familiarity with the professional setting was the icing on the cake for me. Very much enjoyed!

I am so ready for this one. *cracks knuckles*

I really want to have a conversation with the person that decided this book should be marketed as a romance, without warning people that the man is a cheater. There is no excuse, he is a cheater. While at the same time this book takes the time to compare weak knees at meeting him with "Supermarket Romance". How can you use derogatory reference to romance and want to market this trash of a book as romance and expect positive reviews? Please, explain it to me.

I understand 100% why this book has mostly 3-1 star reviews. I read some of them before picking up the book and thought I should give it a try. I still hated it.

I think the romance aspect was barely there, since the backstabbing was the main plot line. I understand family dynamics and I can understand being in an uncomfortable situation with your wife as your going through a divorce/separation, I just won't forgive it.

I also think I could've like this book more if when it came down to it he chose his wife over FMC when shit went down, cause at least the wife "picked him". I thought it was so gross. I guess you can't pick who you fall in love with, but that man needed to grovel more.

If you like romance, don't read it. if you like general fiction, read it.

I thought this was a cute romance. I really enjoyed the mmc, and I really, really enjoy tech romances but this just wasn't rom-com-y enough for me.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6148278289

This is a fairly typical romance novel - girl meets boy, various obstacles come between them via a fairly flimsy/preposterous plot etc etc. As a result it falls into the usual three star category for this sort of thing - a reasonably fun, light read but not one that will stick in the mind for long when you put it down. That said, it did earn an extra star for a protagonist in her late thirties with a bit more about her than your average romantic heroine, and for not going too overboard on the smultz.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an ARC in return for an honest review.

I was really interested in the book summary, but in practice struggled to get into and finish the story. Thank you for the arc in exchange for an honest review

First, thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book!

Okay, so honestly, it wasn't a book for me and maybe because of the cheating trope, I ended not liking it at all.
The supposed hero is just garbage he had shitty decisons like all the time...
And the heroine simply accepts it because she likes him?

So yeah, this plot was not really for me, I found it too dramatic and with little love (if you know what I mean).

About the writing... it was also a no for me. Since I started reading the book, I felt like it was reallyyyyy slow and the writing wasn't helping because it wasn't fluid and that easy to read.

I had a lot of expectations since I read the synopses but unfortunatly I ended not liking it.

I enjoyed this book! Leonie and Jack have a definite chemistry despite the age gap. Their no sex one-night stand in Paris was unforgettable. They were strangers, but there was a level of intimacy between them when the met and as their night moved along. Ngl though, there were some parts that got me confused. As someone with a limited tech knowledge, I got lost in the technicalities. I felt like there were also so much going on at the same time between the secrets and misunderstandings between the MCs.

Other things:
> Not a fan of Leonie's stepbrother
> I liked the NorCal setting
> Supportive female friends
> Hollywood/ pop culture references

Even though I was getting lost in some parts, I still highly enjoyed this read!

Leonie uses an app to meet someone whilst visiting Paris, which results in a one night stand with Jack. Expecting to never see him again she is therfore stunned when she finds him working at the start up company she has been asked to help project manage. Cue an opposite attracts / one night stand trope.
This book gives an insight into the world of app development and the struggles associated with it, although the techie stuff is difficult to understand I did enjoy that part of it. I have worked with many project managers in the past and the good ones are worth their weight in gold, and she certainly sounds like one of those. There are some quite spicy moments whilst the two explore their mutual attraction, but both blow hot and cold at times in their relationship - but it would be a much shorter book if this didn't happen. Leonie's group of friends sound a bit wild, but are very supportive. In summary a book to try if you fancy something different, but won't be to everyone's taste.
I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher through Netgalley, however this did not influence my review of the book.

Sadly, this book was my first "not for me" of 2024.

I haven't read this author before and I always reading something new by an unknown author as you can find some gems. Unfortunately, whilst the book had a great premise - I was left feeling a bit icky.

Leonie is just such a passive voice. She neither wants to get out of her own rut or accept the help of her friends to do so. The friends she surrounds herself with are not friends I'd want or myself. Whilst they come from all walks of life and around the world, they all felt really pushy and "I know best". I really struggled to like any of them if I'm brutally honest.

Our MMC Jack was also a hard sell. I tried to love him but again his character just grated against all my nerves. He seemed both uber-confident and riddled with insecurities - sometimes at the same time. And the big reveal at about 75% was a big no no for me.

I thought the concept and storyline were great just the characters were not for me. The secondary characters such as Leonie's family were lacklustre and her step-brother I'd never tire of punching in the face!

As usual this is only my opinion and I'd never dissuade anyone from reading what they want but I'd have rather read this as a love-story with no HEA than as a RomCom.