I had the pleasure of immersing myself into the story by reading The Pick Up while waiting for my kids at the pick up line from school. The story was so well written and just makes you laugh at the right times. “Since she started at St Barnaby's last September I've learned that any kind of 'day' requires parental input. Bloody days. As if we don't have enough on our plates. I don't remember reading about this one, though. I try my best to keep up with the sheer amount of school admin but the emails are so very long and then there's the app,the text message system and the class WhatsApp to monitor too. Sometimes, at the end of the day, I pour myself a glass of wine simply to celebrate not developing a stomach ulcer from the pressure of it all.”
Can I get an amen in the back! I loved the main characters Sophie and Joe and watching their friendship take flight. As a mother of four children who has been given the great privilege to be awoken from my peaceful slumber by one of my four kids so they could insistently show me their Lego/ Duplo creations, it was deeply refreshing to read Sophie’s motherhood struggle. We are in this together my friend! Sophie is a single mother who just wants the best for her daughter and for her daughter to fit in and to be accepted with her preschool classmates. So how does she try to help? By taking matters into her own hands, of course! Sophie forms a friendship with the swoony, Irish single/ widower dad named Joe who is basically eye candy for all the other moms at the pick up line. Together they form a fake dating pack to help Joe get those mommas off of his back and for Sophie to be a part of the parent committee which is a golden ticket for playdates!
It was so heartwarming to see Sophie learn to trust and open her stone gated heart to a kind hearted friend who quickly fell in love with her. Joe was just the perfect listener, sweet father, respectful to his family and just overall a good guy, so it's not hard not to root for their fake relationship to take a turn for the good. This was also a clean romance novel with some firework kisses, so you felt the emotional pull on from page to page.
I also loved the friendship that Sophie made with the quirky mothers from the school pick up line. They just reminded me of the bride tribe from Bridesmaids and it just added to that comedy layer. The story had so many sweet lessons that both characters and readers can learn from. I hope you will pick up The Pick Up by Hannah Doyle at your local bookstore, online retailer, or library.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and HQ Digital for the ARC in exchange for a review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed reading this book! Such a great palette cleanser after a heavier read. Both the MMC and FMC are single parents and I loved that they were in their 30’s. This is definitely a slow burn, but I was so invested in their relationship the entire time, just waiting for when they were finally going to give into their feelings. This was such a sweet story, and I loved that while it was closed door, it didn’t need the spice. Definitely recommend!

I absolutely loved this book and read it within 2 days! I loved the banter from the beginning between soph and joe. I know some people say it’s enemies to lovers, but I would say more strangers to friends to lovers! Definitely give it a 5 star!

I adored this book. It was so full of tension, and had some truly laugh-out-loud moments because of the two adorable kids and the other mums. I loved the dynamic between Sophie and Joe, and how it went from immediate dislike, to friends, to more. The way they reassure each other they’re doing the right thing with their kids as they’re both single parents was so sweet. This book was slow burn at its finest; the tension, the angst, the pining were all fantastic.

The writing at first was a bit hard to get into because of the language, but as Sophie opened herself up to love and friendship I noticed that language changed and it became much more casual.

Overall I really enjoyed this book.

This was such a cute book and the slow burn kept me waiting, but it was so worth it. Fake dating is always a favorite trope of mine and this did not disappoint. Joe and Sophie were both so likable, they had me rooting for them very quickly!

Such a cute book! Really liked the fake dating romance, Joe was very funny and sweet. It was a slow burner but was worth it in the end! Found the FMC Sophie a bit frustrating at times but I liked her dynamic with Joe, Lila and Poppy. Was a feel good read that made me laugh out loud. Thank you for this ARC read HQ and netgalley, really appreciate it.

The Pick Up was a slow burn that kept me waiting and curious. Joe and Sophie are single parent's whose kids go to the same school. They get a brilliant idea to start a fake dating relationship that will benefit both of them. As the relationship progresses I was going 'Awe!' when Joe would speak up with little facts about Sophie, things someone wouldn't have noticed unless they were paying attention.

This was cute! I really enjoyed the fake dating and the single parents. However this was a little forgettable to me but it was still a good time! I also think the ending was a bit rushed and would've loved to see it more drawn out but overall very cute rom com.

Honestly, who doesn't love a fun romcom like this? Hannah Doyle has created a story and characters that are so easy to love and be frustrated with and happy for and that's when you know a book is good! When it hits you in all of your feels and still leaves you satisfied!

🌷 Single parents
🌷 Fake dating
🌷 Dislike to love
🌷 RomCom

Unfortunately, this was a DNF for me. While I think it was over all well-written and I loved the premise of the story, I couldn't quite connect with the FMC. Sophie is a career oriented woman who is really headstrong, which I liked, but I found her a bit judgy, and I didn't like the way she let the sister walk all over her and not accept a 'no'. Both of these are just personal pet-peeves, but they made me DNF this book in the end.

I'm very sure that loads of people will enjoy it, but it just wasn't my cup of tea!

DNF. Really struggled with the writing style and connecting with the characters. I like the concept and wish it worked out better in reality

This was a delightful and fun read! An absolute romp if you will.

Fake Dating ✔️
Reverse Grumpy-Sunshine ✔️

New to me author that caught my eye because of the title and blurb. I admittedly went in with no expectations and truly enjoyed it so much! There were so many laugh out loud moments and I was smiling all throughout. A true Rom-Com! It’s light and fun, while airbrushing more serious topics to keep the same tone through the book. Rather than detract, this adds depth to the story and rounds out the characters of Joe and Sophie. They’re more than their tragedies, ya know! My favorite parts were all the banter between the two main characters and the authentic reverse-grumpy-sunshine. It was clearly there but not forcefully done as in so many trope-focused plots (as in the the grump is not just rude, silent, and smolder-y) Also, all the classic fake dating scenarios were there and beautifully done! Lastly, the Poppy and Adam subplot 👀 I need a book for them.

⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Based on the absolute blast I had reading this. Off to read the author’s previous books!


*Thank you Netgalley and the Publisher for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!*

This was a cute enjoyable read. Sophie was relatable and I loved her relationships with Lila and Poppy. (Both Lila and Sid were adorably funny). Joe and Sophie’s “plan”was good. Joe was funny and likeable and had good chemistry with Sophie. I liked the slow burn of them warming up to each other and then becoming proper friends with complicated feelings thrown in. I was a bit wary about ‘Barnaby’s Babes,’ at first since they seemed to be icing Sophie out which was inadvertently extending to Lila being excluded as well. However once the plan kicked in and they started letting her in and we got to know the group a bit more they all turned out to be much nicer than expected. I was a little disappointed with Joe at points towards the end and thought he should have been a better friend especially during the Mark of it all but overall I was happy with how things turned out once both he and Sophie got out of their own way. A solid 3.5 🌟

This book has fake dating, single parents, funny banter, and grumpy x sunshine where he is the sunshine! Oh! And I can’t forget that he is Irish!

The Pick Up is a first person POV told by Sophie, a 33-year-old single mom who wants to desperately get along with the other moms so her daughter can get invited to social events and not feel left out in school. Joe is a single dad who is LOVED by the other moms, and they are getting a little too smothering for comfort. So Joe proposes the idea they start a fake relationship so they can both get what they want.

This launches them into a romantic comedy love story that had me laughing out loud and eating this book up. It is heartwarming and sweet, and you get to see their relationship grow slowly until it boils over and they both need to make a decision.

The family dynamics were so perfect here, you not only fall in love with the main characters, but also with all those they hold dear to them. Yet, the only thing that kept this book from being a 5 star read was… YOU GUESSED IT… There was a lot of miscommunication that led to following assumptions and misunderstandings.

Sophie and Joe are both single parents learning how to navigate the world of school and parents. They hatch a scheme to be mutually beneficial and wind up finding so much more.

I really enjoyed this book and the dynamic between Sophie and Joe. Sophie could be a little frustrating with her aloofness but overall a likeable character.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the free digital ARC in exchange for an unbiased review!

The Pick Up was a super cute, clean, laugh out loud, fake dating romcom about two single parents trying to survive and make an in with the other mums from their children’s school. I LOVED that the main characters were in their 30s and had children, I found this book highly relatable, in that sense.

There was so much banter in this book & it wasn’t just from the main characters, the other mums in the school pick up clique brought so much humour. Good looking Irish Joe was such a great (fake) boyfriend. He was kind, caring, thoughtful and so so sweet. I’m not going to lie, Sophie took some warming up, she wasn’t my favourite but by the end of it, I really liked her. Between the two of them they had banter & tension, which is a match made in heaven if you ask me!

I understand that the sub-plot of the PTA group was used as a vessel to bring Joe and Sophie closer together, but I found myself getting frustrated. and not really enjoying myself during those scenes.

I really enjoyed this cute romance novel. It was sad, happy and funny all at once. Thank for for allowing me to read this ARC!

This comes out May 9th, 2024!

The Pick Up takes single mom, Sophie, and puts her into a Mean Girls situation. For the sake of her daughter making friends, Sophie wants to integrate into the posh inner circle. Also, she wouldn't mind getting her little sister to stop meddling in her love life. Meet Joe, a hot single dad and Sophie's answer to her problems. Together, they tackle single parenthood, fake dating, and Sophie's inner demons.

Hannah Doyle's writing gives the Emily Henry charm with witty dialogue and hilarious inner monologues. Sophie was such a fun character to read. The side characters were just as loveable, and the relationship between Sophie and Joe was so good. I loved every second of this book, hooked from chapter one!

Thanks to Netgalley and HQ for this eARC. All opinions in this review are my own.

4.5/ 5

Clean romance, fake dating, friends to lovers.

Sophie wants to be friends with the mums at pick up but feels like an outsider until hot, Irish, single dad Joe turns up to pick up and they take the kids for pizza. Joe proposes a fake romance between them - he needs to keep the feral mums at bay and Sophie wants an in with the same mums.

It's a really sweet story and Sophie and Joe are both lovable characters they just lack some communication when it comes to what's really going on between them. Though Joe knows what he wants, it takes Sophie a lot longer to figure out what she really wants as she's so thoroughly convinced herself she doesn't want or need romance in her life.

I know the description for this book says enemies to lovers but Sophie only holds some animosity towards Joe at the very beginning which is very quickly dispelled after two dates so I really would say this is more of a friends to lovers than an enemies to lovers!

I thought this might be a series as Sophie's sister has her own love life to sort out with her best friend Adam, being completely in love with her but they end up together in this book so clearly there is not to be a follow on.

Thanks to NetGalley and HQ Digital for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.