This was so stinking CUTE 🤭 I was kicking my feet and laughing at most of it! Anna is such a lovable FMC who is in her late 30s, navigating a recent divorce and trying to spice up her writing column at work. In effort to do so, she lets her children become her match makers! They pick suitors for her to date, offline - and she can’t say no. In the midst of this, her office rival, Will continues to annoy her life and try to steal her thunder.

I want you all to read this book + thank me later! I loved the middle aged characters and unique/raw plot. This is more than a cutesy romance. Anna navigates grief, relationships, parenting and intense emotional moments throughout. Sophie’s writing does it again!!!! 🥲

4.5 ⭐️
I loved Anna and Will so much!!🩷😭 I loved how much I related to Anna (single mom, dating, kids) and how real her situation was (not wanting to get hurt after her divorce) because YES that’s how it really is especially as a mom!!!🤧❤️‍🩹 The enemies to lovers trope was my absolute favorite especially when the MMC falls harder!!!😭 Will put up such a hard front but it was so cutie seeing that part of him slowly go away the more he got closer to Anna 🥹
Her kids were also so hilarious!! I can’t imagine having my kids pick dates for me, even if it were for my job 🤣🤣 I’m also going to add that the narrator made the story SOOO enjoyable!!🥹🥹

Thank you to Putnam and PRH Audio for the ARC and ACL! 🩷

I read This Time Next Year by Sophie Cousens a few years ago and I loved it. It was one of those stories that has stuck with me since. I was so excited to receive an e-ARC of Sophie's newest release. I loved Is She Really Going Out With Him? just as much and I know it's another story that will stick with me for years. It was refreshing to read about an FMC who is older and has children. I felt like Anna's journey to falling in love with her life and finding out who she is again after divorce was written to be more important than her falling in love with Will. I did love watching Anna go from despising Will to tolerating him to becoming friends to falling in love. But I so appreciated that Anna's journey of going on different dates led her to creating new friendships and finding new passions and hobbies in life aside from being a single mom and her career. This is one of those books where I am glad that Anna and Will got their happy ending, but I do believe that Anna would have been happy even if they didn't find a way to make their relationship work because she learned how to be truly happy with herself.

I loved this romance novel. Anna is in her late thirties. Her husband cruelly dumps her, leaving her with a challenging young teen daughter and a sweet younger son. Her job as a journalist is in jeopardy, and her smug and handsome colleague, Will, isn't helping. To save her job, Anna proposes to test out non-online dating and write columns about it--and her kids are going to pick out the men for her to date. Of course, this has hilarious results. The employer is thrilled with the idea, but wants a concurrent column from Will. As they date, they compare notes, growing closer but always competing. The two of them end up spending a weekend together off-grid, with consequences that are predictable but delightful.

What I loved about this story is the author's narrative voice--smart and funny. I cackled all through the novel. The ending was rich and satisfying. Highly recommended.

Adore Sophie’s writing style. She writes chemistry so well and her newest did not disappoint. I’m already telling my friends about this one!

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group for the e-ARC of Is She Really Going Ot with Him?! I ABSOLUTELY LOVED this one! Sophie has a way of writing very relatable moments and troupes that could actually happen in movies and miscommunication that sometimes does happen in real life. Annie and Will are teh perfect work place romance characters and I just ate this one up! The google searches as the chapter headers had me laughing out loud! I have found an auto buy and auto request author for me!

A hilarious love story about a disillusioned divorcée who agrees to let her children play matchmaker.

Columnist Anna has left her love life behind after a painful divorce. Who needs a man when she has two kids, a cat, and uncontested control of the TV remote? Besides, she’d rather be single than subject herself to the hell of online dating. But her office rival is vying for her column, and no column means no stable source of income. In a desperate attempt to keep her job, Anna finds herself pitching a unique angle: seven dates, all found offline, chosen by her children. From awkward encounters to unexpected connections, Anna gamely begins to put herself out there, asking out waiters, the mailman, and even her celebrity crush. But when a romantic connection appears where she least expected it, will she be brave enough to take another chance on love?

This was my first read by Sophie Cousens and now I want to go back and read her backlist. I enjoyed this book so much! It was cute and I really charming that the children were her matchmaker. The dates are cute and awkward, but also brought a lot of laughter.

Do yourself a favor and get this book ASAP. It feels like a warm hug and I loved it. I was rooting for Anna and her messy life post divorce with kids and getting back into the dating world. Will as the leading man is a sweetheart. I felt very immersed in their world and loved the coziness.

Thank you Netgalley & PENGUIN GROUP Putnam | G.P. Putnam's Sons for the advanced reader copy.

HUGE thank you to Putnam Books for the ARC!

This was such a highly anticipated book for me! Sophie Cousens has definitely become an auto-read author for me, especially after THE GOOD PART blew me away last year and left me crying in my car in the grocery store parking lot while listening to the audiobook! Her books and sweet and enduring and I'll continue to read them as long as she writes them.

While some of her previous books were romance mixed with magical realism, this one was straight romance. Some people are going to love that and some people are going to miss the magical realism whimsy. While I truly enjoyed this one, it didn't move me in the same way as some of her previous ones, and I think that is all due to the expectations I had going in.

The main character, Anna, works for a magazine and is charged with writing a column all about dating, something she's utterly failed at! To help her out, her children help her pick/plan the dates for her! I loved that the story so heavily involved her two kids and thought all the parts with them were realistic and heartwarming.

There were lots of tropes here, but they were all done in a fun and fresh way that didn't feel overdone! Overall, a very cute and easy to read story!

To save her job, a recently divorced columnist embarks on seven offline dates chosen by her children, leading to unexpected romantic connections and a chance at love.

I loved Anna and Will, and the enemies-to-lovers energy between them. Much of the humor of the novel comes from the bad dates Anna goes on.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

This book didn't really do it for me. It was cute and I've loved previous books by the author, but this one just seemed to drag on. Also, I kept getting the characters confused with each other.

This is the second book of Sophie Cousens I have read, and I really enjoy her books. Anna is a 38 divorced mom of two who is still reeling from the divorce and that her husband moved on very quickly where she is still kind of stagnant. Anna works for the local magazine and has been tasked to do a dating column. Quickly realizing that she is not up for online dating she pitches an idea of doing ten dates that her kids set up. Will is 30 and is smart and doing life stories for the same magazine. Will and Anna are tasked in doing a tandem column where he writes from a male point of view of online dating to go along with the dates she is tasked to do. With each date – Anna’s character starts to grow and heal. I really enjoyed the characters in this book and the growth. This book was a perfect distraction from the past week and will be a good one to read if you are into the romance genre. Thank you to Netgalley and Putnam for the Advanced Reader Copy.

Thank you Netgalley and Putnam for an ARC of Sophie's newest novel! A recently divorced Mom realizes that she needs to get back in the dating pool, but doesn't know where to start! Her kids decide that they will help her pick her dates and help plan them. Does she end up with one of their picks, does she end up with someone who has been right under her nose this entire time.. Guess you'll have to read it to find out!

Sophie Cousens’ latest novel is a five-star gem! Anna, a divorced mother of two, is working to prove her value at her journalism job—until Will, her new colleague, starts stealing the spotlight. In a bid to get ahead, Anna creates an elaborate plan involving a staged romance, which only pulls her closer to Will in ways she didn’t expect.

This book is everything you’d want from a feel-good romance: it’s witty, clever, and packed with lovable, unforgettable characters.

The chemistry between Anna and Will is both believable and adorable, and Cousens captures the humor and heart of modern relationships perfectly.
A must-read for romance fans!


Thank you to NetGalley, Sophie & the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my review.

I adore Sophie Cousens and have enjoyed everything she's written and this book in no exception. When Anna and Will, rival(ish) columnists for a local magazine find themselves fighting for their jobs, they begin to write a side by side column about dating. Will is meeting people online, Anna is only dating people her children choose. But, when one of their articles is about a get to know you getaway resort, Will and Anna go together and find a mutual attraction that had always been simmering. Away for all reality, things are amazing, but what happens when they go back to real life? To children, an ex-husband, new job opportunities, etc? Is this meant to be?

Sophie Cousens has done it again! 𝗜𝗦 𝗦𝗛𝗘 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗟𝗟𝗬 𝗚𝗢𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗛𝗜𝗠 was just the book I needed to distract me last week. It has humor and heart and I didn't want it to end.

Yes, this is a romance but there's so much more to it. The story revolves around Anna Appleby, a recently divorced magazine writer who agrees to let her kids set her up for a dating column she hopes will save her job. The dates she goes on are a riot, but what I really loved is how realistic a character she is - Anna's struggle to balance everything and put on a happy face for everyone is so relatable. She's on a quest to figure out who she is and what she wants as much as she's trying to find love. The side characters are also terrific - from her kids to her ex's new girlfriend, they're all entertaining and entirely believable. If you're looking for a book that will put a smile on your face, this is it.

Thanks to Putnam Books for the copy to review.

Cute, with just a little extra rizz to bump this over three stars (I give this 3.5, rounded up). It was just missing something that makes it a four-five star read. It wasn’t as impactful as some of the hard hitting rom coms that people like Emily Henry and Abby Jiminez have a vice grip on. I mean, honestly the main thing that was memorable for me was the voyeurism which… is that really what you want to be remembered for lololol. Points for making Sylvie both insufferable and likable lol. Girly was delulu (and honestly, same).

Enemies to lovers is my trope. It’s MINE. When books don’t deliver (He was in love the whole time), I get big mad. Will was big book boyfriend energy though.

I think, perhaps, the biggest pitfall of this book is that neither of these people seem ready to be dating for at least half the book. I kept thinking pls get these people into therapy lol (SAME). But in the end, it did seem like there was good character growth.

In the end, I would still recommend this to the rom-com girlies. And I’d still pick up a Sophie Cousen’s book in future.

Anna's ex is moving on and moving in with her new girlfriend when a new assignment lands on her desk to report on the dating scene in Bath. She hits the apps only to strike out, but that's when she lands on a new angle: let her kids choose her dates. All she needs to do now is outshine her coworker Will who is writing a parallel article. But is their rivalry masking other feelings?

Read if you like:
-Later in Life Romance
-Single Mom Romance
-Rivals to Lovers
-Rom Coms

I adore this book. It was a great mix of classic rom com shenanigans with emotional gold. There was really an amazing balance, and the pacing was perfect too. I loved watching Will and Anna grow closer while she found herself post-divorce. I know he didn't win her heart, but my favorite date was the Jane Austen stroll with Michael. If you have liked any of Sophie's other books, add this one to your TBR immediately.

This book follows Anna a divorcee figuring out how to date again. I really enjoyed the twist of her kids choosing all her dates. As each date went on she started to allow herself to be happy again. And there was so much relatability and growth in her character. The dates helped her in different ways. She started off closed off and not wanting any change. But in the end she found herself again.

I can’t believe how much I was laughing throughout this book 😂 There were so many times I truly felt like I was watching a romcom instead of reading one. I really got lost in the story and it was exactly what I didn’t know I needed.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to arc read book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the advanced E-copy of this book.
This is my first book by this author, but after reading this, I can confidently say that I am a fan.

The google search chapter intros were so clever and relatable as a self-proclaimed googler of all things.

I loved that the MFC was in her late 30's, recently divorced and emerging from her sweatpants era. Her journey of self- discovery, finding confidence, and forging new friendships was my favorite part of this book. I think every female can relate to feeling mundane and like a passenger in your own life. I loved when Anna came out of her comfort zone to try new things and find pieces of herself that she didn't realize had been missing.

I love a good reverse age gap romance and this book nailed it. Will and Anna play well off of each other's differences and it creates for a sizzling chemistry between the two. The road from work enemies to friends to lovers was so well written, it was a seamless transition from each stage to the next.

The side characters of friends that Anna picks up along the way prove that at any age you can start anew. There is light to be had if you are willing to allow yourself the freedom to reach for it.

To all the anxiety fueled mom's out there just getting by one day at a time, this one is for you.