I absolutely loved this book. It pulled me in immediately and I loved the premise of the kids being so engaged in the dating assignment. I connected to the characters and loved the dialogue. The writing was so vivid and easy to imagine the settings and scenes. A week later and I’m still thinking about this story. This was a home run 5 star read for me.

I am LOVING this new (?) genre of romcoms for non-early-twenty-year-olds I have "recently" discovered!! Highlights of this category I have enjoyed include The Good Part by the amazing @sophie_cousens and Slow Dance by @rainbowrowell and then this one 🤌🏼 !! I am Here for It!! (But seriously, does this genre have a name?!? Help a girl out finding more please, and thank you!! 😁)
These characters are real! They've lived some life, they have real issues, but... They overcome! They learn to rediscover who they are! They find community! The find love! 😍 And... They are my age! 😏😬🤣
Anna Appleby is 18 months out of a divorce she didn't see coming. She's scraping by trying to juggle her kids (a teenage girl, and an 8 year old boy), her job at a local magazine that's in jeopardy, and just life! She somehow agrees to write a series of articles with her work nemesis, Will, as comparison pieces on dating today! He'll utilize the normal online options to find dates while she will date men chosen "in real life" by her children! What ensues is many comedic dates, laugh out loud (for real though) scenarios, discovering new things, found family, and growth... Oh yeah, with some love thrown in!
This book has so many moments of hilarity and one-liners that I found myself wanting to share with others! It has some super sweet sensitive moments as well (between Anna and new friends, her daughter, and of course her love interest)! I loved the character growth of Anna! I found myself rooting for her and getting so excited when she made some great choices for herself near the end! She was like a bestie I was so proud of! ☺️
If you can't tell by now, I loved this book and HIGHLY recommend it!! It will be published on 19 Nov, so set a reminder to get it ASAP! 🥰 And definitely let me know when you do so you can share your thoughts while reading!!
Thank you to @netgalley for the free advanced copy of this book!
#NetGalley #IsSheReallyGoingOutWithHim

📖 𝐈𝐬 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐆𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐎𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐇𝐢𝐦? 𝐛𝐲 𝐒𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬

“𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘨𝘨𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨; 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘶𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦, 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘺 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘪𝘵, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘺.“

There is just something about 𝐒𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬’ writing that hits that sweet spot right in my heart. The first book I read by her was 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 and it was one of my top reads of 2023!

This story was so freaking fun and sweet. It’s full of chaos and just so dang relatable. Anna Appleby is a recently divorced single mom trying to keep her head above water. Her ex husband is now dating, she’s in a Cold War with her neighbor over a hedge, and her job is now in jeopardy. Anna is a columnist writing about all kinds of things but has steered clear of love, dating and relationship topics since her divorce. If she can’t revamp her column, her spot will go to her rival Will Havers.

In a desperate attempt to keep her job, she agrees to go on dates set up by her two children. As she begins to put herself out there and meet new people, she starts to see a new side to her rival.

I loved everything about this book! I was hooked from the first chapter that ended with children shouting “𝘚𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘺!” 🤣 Anna was such a likable character. I really enjoyed her journey to finding herself after divorce. She was a whole vibe.

“𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘯𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘐’𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘐’𝘮 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘺’𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥. 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘪𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘦𝘳𝘢.”

Will was such a fun MMC. He’s lived his life putting his family before his dreams and it’s because he’s such a sweet soul. All of the side characters were so great! Everyone was so unique. I loved how an “ampersand - &” was described in the story.

“𝘐𝘵 𝘴𝘺𝘮𝘣𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘴. 𝘜𝘯𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘴𝘺𝘮𝘣𝘰𝘭, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘥, 𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘢𝘥.”

This is a fade to black romance but you could definitely get a taste of the chemistry between them!

If you love romantic comedies with a single mom just trying to find her new normal, go add, 𝐈𝐬 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐆𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐎𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐇𝐢𝐦? 𝐛𝐲 𝐒𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬, to you TBR today!

𝘛𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘴:
🫶🏼 𝘙𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴
🎀 𝘚𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘔𝘰𝘮
💞 𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘈𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘋𝘪𝘷𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦
🔥 𝘍𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬
🫖 𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘓𝘪𝘵
💋 𝘉𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳
🤭 𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯 𝘔𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘳𝘴

This one was so HILARIOUS! Sophie Cousens writing was done so well! I loved the pace of the story and the personality of the FMC! The characters in this one were so lovable and I love the plot of a misunderstood MMC! And he wears glasses….!
I really enjoyed this one!🤍
rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
spice: fade to black (non-descriptive)
CW: mild-moderate heavy language throughout!

Another absolute gem from Sophie Cousens!

Anna is newly divorced and on "the wrong side of 35" when her job gives her an ultimatum – bring something fresh to the magazine, or say goodbye to her column.

She can’t let her office rival steal her column, so she does what has to be done and pitches a dating column – one where her kids pick the dates.

Get ready to meet a series of (mostly) charming characters, like a waiter, the mailman, and Anna’s celebrity crush – all while Anne is slowly finding love where she least expects it.

I was rooting so hard for Anna and her love interest, who is a million green flags.

I don’t want to say anything else other than I loved this one so much. Please read it if you’re in the mood for a really, really good rom-com.

Thank you so much Putnam and NetGalley for the e-arc!

I really wanted to like this book—I had been such a fan of this author’s work. Her last book just wasn’t for me, but by the premise of Is She Really Going Out with Him, I was hoping to get back on track.

Unfortunately, this is working even less for me and it’s a DNF after 8 chapters. Anna is insufferable and so mean to Will for no reason, that I’m hoping they don’t actually end up together. I think there’s an age gap trope going on here, but it’s not really working because Anna lacks the maturity and I keep forgetting that this is a woman in her 40s. She’s also got no maternal instinct and it feels that her kids are only in the book as a means to go with the plot. And I’m trying to wrap my head around how literal children are supposed to be picking out dates in the first place.

Thank you to the publisher for the opportunity to read and review through NetGalley, but I’m afraid I’m going to have to bow out from this particular author’s books. They’re beginning to lose the charm of her earlier works.

UTTER JOY from start to finish!! I’ve followed Sophie for awhile. She writes tactfully, and this book had me licking my toes and laughing aloud more times than I can count.

Huge thank you to the publisher as well as the author for approving me for this one. What a delight!

4.5/5.0

I could not put this book down. Sophie Cousens has such a wonderful writers voice, and the story while not entirely fresh and unique was written beautifully. I almost wished for more conflict, but honestly wouldn’t change a thing. The little Google searches at the top cracked me up - my husband works for Google in upper management, and they show recent searches in their elevators. I loved seeing them, and it just made me giggle to think of someone seeing that pop up in an elevator.

Sophie Cousens is an auto read and buy for me who never disappoints 👏🏻 Her latest - IS SHE REALLY GOING OUT WITH HIM - was super cute ☺️

My thoughts:
-How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days vibes 💯
-single mom, enemies to lovers, workplace rivals
-love the MCs kids and how they choose her dates for her
-even though it’s closed door, the chemistry was palpable

Imo, Sophie Cousens can do no wrong! She always writes characters you want to root for and are relatable. Def pick this up and check out her backlist too. I’d reco starting with THE GOOD PART or BEFORE I DO 💍

Thank you Putnam for the advanced copy 💛

Is She Really Going Out with Him? by Sophie Cousens is a delightful romantic comedy that had me hooked from the start! The witty banter and charming characters made me laugh out loud, while the storyline kept me turning the pages. I loved the way the author explored relationships and the twists that kept me guessing. I will definitely recommend this to my library patrons!

I have enjoyed all of the other Sophie Cousens books I have read and was excited for this one.

I had no idea what I was in for. The hottest teasing scene I have ever read that involved stripping in across the street hotel windows? YES PLEASE! A plethora of hilarious dates chosen by the FMC's children? I laugh just thinking about it.

I enjoy a "mature" FMC (read, same age as me) and the younger MMC was not a bad thing.

Trigger warning and small spoiler alert: the cat is described as elderly at 12 years old and dies. I was sobbing and had to go pry my 15 year old cat off of the bed she spends most of her time on and make her cuddle with me.

I loved this book and am sad to have finished it!

Thank you to Net Galley and Penguin Group Putnam for the eARC! All opinions are my own.

Sophie Cousens has become one of my go-to authors for romance. She hit all the right notes with this heartfelt and fun romance. I could tell early on that this was going to get a high rating from me!

Anna, a 38 year old divorced mom of two, is such a breath of fresh air - confident, relatable, and truly endearing. Her dating adventures (picked by her kids!) brought out laughs and touching moments of growth.

Will, the love interest, had me swooning with his little acts of service, showing he was all in for Anna. And Cousens makes Bath feel so real - I wanted to dive into the setting myself!

This book was packed with charm, well-rounded side characters (Loretta & the Quirky Neighbor!), and just enough romantic tension to keep me hooked.

Tropes I Loved: single parent, reverse age gap, rivals to lovers, and all the banter and family vibes! Highly recommend it!

This is actually 3.5 stars.

I was really enjoying this and flying through it up until the 70% mark. I loved the MFC...she's a smidge older (38) than the usual contemporary romance books, which I appreciated. I also enjoyed that she was dealing with real problems: she's divorced and a mom of two children. I also loved the MMC because you can tell he was all in with Anna, and I loved his little acts of service.

Overall, this was a cute and funny contemporary romance. I loved the reverse age gap. I enjoyed the children as characters in the book, as well. Unfortunately, at around the 70-ish% mark, I started to get bored. It seemed to slow down quite a bit, and I really didn't like the third act conflict. It felt forced by the author.

This is my second by Sophie Cousens...it's not her best (The Good Part is better), but I still really enjoyed it and would recommend it to everyone. Just suspend your disbeliefs a bit with this one, and just sit back and be entertained.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Books Putnam for providing this book, with my honest review below.

Sophie Cousens hasn’t let me down yet with well written and deeply moving romances. Is She Really Going Out with Him? Is another example of her stellar writing and creative plots. We start off with a bang, introduced to newly single mom Anna as she has a meltdown during reading at her son’s school. A year later Anna is finally ready to date again - at least as a way of retaining her job as a columnist. With the cute spin of having her kids pick her dates, the different guys Anna goes out with are fun enough to read about, but what sticks with you are the realizations and growth Anna makes along the way. Sweet in the romance area but also significant in character growth (and rife with great supporting characters), this is a highly recommended read!

after coming back to read this book after a dnf, i was in a different headspace and found it truly enlightening. i was giggling and kicking my feet the entire time this read around. there really is love after darkness and i think this book reminded me of that.

Anna Appleby, mom of two and freshly divorced, has to come up with a fresh idea for a new column to prove she’s not redundant at the publication she’s working at. To complicate matters Will, a younger more hip journalist is angling himself for her column. When her children come up with the idea to pick out her dates for her (after online dating is less than thrilling), her publisher loves the idea! Anna must go through a series of odd dates picked out by her kids all while working with Will.

This was such a fun read, with so many great storylines for each date! As a huge fan of Jane Austen I couldn’t help but love her date wearing period clothing and the Grand Regency Ball. The characters in this were phenomenal (I loved Loretta)! This a book that I was sad to finish as I could keep reading forever. I went through all the feelings, excitement, cringing, embarrassed for Anna, frustrated, and overjoyed. I highly recommend especially for anyone who wants a good love story, especially if you love Austen!

Thank you to @netgalley and @penguingroupputnam for this advanced reader.

Sophie Cousens does it again! I loved Is She Really Going Out With Him. Anna is a print journalist who recently got divorced and is forced to start a dating column to keep her job writing for a magazine that’s going through hard financial times. She’s forced to interact with Will, a younger journalist who’s always annoying Anna with “correcting” her work. As part of saving the column, Anna agrees to go on a series of dates with men her children suggest. That’s where it gets interesting…

I loved that Anna is an unconventional romance heroine (a late 30s divorcee with kids who is confident in herself) dating different aged men, including much younger men. I thought the series of dates were funny and insightful, and the slow build tension between her and Will was tantalizing. The side characters were all richly developed, and I wished I could be there in Bath along with them. Speaking of Bath, Cousens brought the place to life and now I really want to visit!

This one was well paced and engrossing, and I was sad to put it down at the end. Definitely a great read!

Thanks to NetGalley, Penguin Group Putnam and Sophie Cousens for the ARC.

𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚: ★ ★ ★ ★
𝗥𝗘𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗘 𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: November 19, 2024
𝗔𝗥𝗖 𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪:

Let start off talking about this cover. This cover is so adorable and so fun and it’s PINK. SOLD. Now let’s get into the book…I LOVED this book. I had never read a book by our author Sophie Cousens but I can say that I am an official fan and now I need to read all books by our author!

This book was fast paced, it was addicting and I didn’t want this to be over. I had just about every single emotion I could possibly have while reading and I felt basically everything the characters felt in this book. The storyline was perfection, the characters were the best and the end, I didn’t want it to end.

The way that this author makes you laugh and want to cry at the same time was amazing!! The whole concept of this book was just the greatest but I really don’t want to ruin a single second of this book for you and just believe me when I say that this will be one of your favorite reads of the year and once you start you wont want to stop. I cannot wait for another to come out by Sophie so I can devour it as well.

𝗧𝗥𝗢𝗣𝗘𝗦: Banter, Work Rivals to Lovers, Family and Friendships, Single Parent, Age Gap, Enemies to Lovers

Large thank you to our Author, NetGalley as well as Penguin Group Putnam, G.P. Putnam's Sons

I absolutely adored this book!! I am a sucker for enemies to lovers and a good slow burn, and this book served on both counts!

Anna is in her late 30s, recently divorced with two kids. She works at a magazine, and is irritated by her younger coworker Will. When the magazine, and both their jobs, are at stake Anna and Will create a competition in which Anna writes a column about dates selected by her kids and Will tries to go on a parallel date but at an elevated level. Their completion evolves into major sparks, and while I am not necessarily a fan of age gap romances, this was oh so good. The story was fun, playful, and quirky, and the chemistry between the main characters was phenomenal! I loved this book so much and would have assigned a five star rating if only the ending would have been a little different. I liked the ending but just didn’t think it was powerful enough given how strong the rest of the book was.

This is definitely a must read for all rom-com fans!

I thought this book was so cute and sweet! I loved it! I really enjoyed the banter between Anna and Will, the way their rivalry sparked the whole plot and continued to weave throughout the story was great! The premise of a woman being set up on dates by her kids worked really well, and it was very fun to read about who they chose for Anna and why, and to see how the dates turned out. Throughout the story, as Anna continued to meet and go out with different people, she learned more about herself and grew as a person. I found myself laughing out loud and smiling the whole time I read this book and I would highly recommend it to others!