This entertaining but insightful novel cements Cousens as a must-read for me.

*Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an e-galley in exchange for an honest review.

📚Is She Really Going Out with Him? by Sophie Cousens.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🫑

🩷 Is She Really Going Out with Him? is now my THE most favorite book by Sophie Cousens. I have always loved her stories, humor, and voice, but this novel is incredible. It is hilarious, tender, and sexy, and so many moments in MC's life were relatable. The MC and MCC relationship development was incredibly well done, and their dialogue & banters are perfect. I giggled and laughed out loud (and yes, even snorted) so many times. I stayed past my bedtime just so I could read one more chapter; I made my bed while my eyes were entirely glued to my screen just so I could read a bit more in the morning. 💕

🩷 Truly, the best novel Sophie Cousens wrote. It goes to my 2024 top reads. Everyone should pre-order it now! You'll not regret it. I promise. I can't wait to read Sophie Cousens' next book!

🫑 this means there is no sex but a hint (in a very sexy way) that it happened. Multiple timessssssss. 😏


⚠️ TW: loss of a parent
⚠️ TW: loss of a pet

Thank you, NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam | G.P. Putnam’s Sons, for the opportunity to read the adventure reader copy eBook!

📖📖 Book Review 📖📖 Is there life after divorce? When Anna gets a simple email with her divorce decree, the question certainly crosses her mind. But then her job as columnist depends on getting back in the dating game,she really has no choice but to jump back in head first and hope for the best. Heartfelt and humorous, Is She Really Going Out With Him is a delightful journey through single parent dating.

Review is on Goodreads and will be posted on instagram closer to publication date and on Amazon when published!

4.5 this was another banger from ms sophie. i really enjoyed the dynamic between will and anna. the fighting, work place rivals if you will, but the entire time (basically) he’s so smitten with her and she doesn’t even realize it. i ate it up. the age gap isn’t even a big deal (8 years, anna is 38 and will is 30.) overall, i really enjoyed this one! it’s definitely a cute and quick read, with a hint of more seriousness to it.

thank you so much to NetGalley and publishers for this arc!

This book had me hooked from the title and I had so much fun with it. The premise is that Anna needs to up the ante with her job, even though she doesn't want to step outside her safety net after her divorce. Enter her children, who will select men for her to go on dates with and Anna will write about and analyze this. Along the way, she finds herself back on the path to love. Great characters, great writing, great idea. This was my second Sophie Cousens book that I requested to read, and I am really glad I have found this author and that the publishers have been so generous with allowing me to read these books. I really enjoyed this reading experience!

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam/G.P. Putnam's Sons for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Loved this and didn’t want it to end! It’s a solid 4.5+ ⭐️. Cute premise, well developed characters and cheeky British humor- say no more!

Anna is a divorced mum of two kids and magazine journalist trying to keep her life together. At work she seems to keep getting paired up with her cocksure coworker, Will, for assignments. Does he really always have to point out her typos and grammatical errors?? Their latest assignment is a dating column for which she dates men chosen offline by her children while Will is strictly online dating. They end up at a no phones couples nature retreat and start to really get to know and like each other, but things get tricky as the magazine goes downhill and Will is up for a job in another country.

As a fellow Googler, Anna’s Google search lists at the top of each chapter also gave me some good chuckles. Such a cute touch. I can’t wait to get my hands on more of Sophie Cousen’s novels!

Grab your copy on November 19th! Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is my favorite Sophie Cousens book so far! It probably landed with me because Anna, the main character, is close to my age. I LOVE seeing women on the page finding love (and themselves) again as their kids get a bit older.

The premise is clever, and in trademark Sophie Cousens style, the dialogue is downright hilarious. Anna’s experience with dating after divorce is so relatable! I like the age gap twist too.

Even though it’s closed door, there’s still great sexual tension and intimacy. Fans of Annabel Monaghan’s Summer Romance will LOVE this book!

After a somewhat messy divorce from her husband Anna Appleby, in order to save her career, sets out on a new feat. Letting her children pick out her dates in order to write a weekly column.
I unfortunately, feel very middle of the road about this book. It definitely feels like an it’s not you it’s me situation for the most part. I think a lot of it comes down to that fact that I’m not a divorcee pushing 40 but a 21 year old college student. Also, as a child of divorce whose mom days questionable characters some of the bad dates hit a little too close to home haha.
However, it wasn’t as if I didn’t enjoy a single thing from this novel. For example, the window scene between Anna and Will definitely had me giggling and kicking my feet. I also just thought in general that Anna and Will had good chemistry.
Another aspect I quite enjoyed was how real the ex husband of Anna seems to be. Although we see character development from him throughout the novel he’s still not perfect. I appreciate that from everyone in this book honestly. Every just seems very real and three dimensional and I can definitely appreciate that!
I also thought it was just very quick to get through which is always a big plus to me. (also the search engine at the top of every chapter was an amazing touch I found myself smiling at all of them).
Overall, I definitely think this is worth picking up even if it wasn’t an all time favorite of mine! Thank you NetGalley for the e-arc!

Oooh, who else loves a good enemies to lovers(when it's only a one sided enemy situation)? I've read a few other reviews and I noticed that one of the main characters being recently divorced seems to turn them off. Perhaps this book is steered towards a reader who has a bit more life experience. I REFUSE TO CALL MYSELF OLD(even if I am). I enjoyed the premise. I enjoyed the characters and their journey. I felt Annie's struggles about finding herself. I'm not divorced, but as a mom, yea, sometimes you lose who you are. I felt for Will's work crush and past heartbreak. Annie's kids are a good addition to any scene they're in. Lottie is Annie's rock and Loretta is a ray of light and mother figure all in one.

Sophie Cousens is one of my auto-buy authors that I always look forward to reading new work from. I always finish her novels loving the characters, laughing out loud, and feeling warm and gooey. Sophie’s latest work, “Is She Really Going Out With Him?” absolutely did not disappoint!

<‘There is a whole new chapter waiting for you, all you need to do is keep turning the pages.’>

This is a story of Anna, a newly divorced Mom of two, trying to pick up the pieces and her new path forward in life. There’s so many laugh-out-loud moments in this novel that I couldn’t help but relate to. We also meet Will, who is Anna’s coworker who she believes is her enemy/competition for her journalist career.

Things I loved:
*** The chemistry between Anna and Will was off the charts good. The tension was electric from the beginning.
*** The newly divorced aspect from someone in their late 30s thats also a Mom and has a career. I feel like this is so uncommon for romance novels and I LOVE that this was explored.
*** Will Havers is dreamy. The end.
*** The family dynamic: how we got to meet and know Anna’s kids and her sister.

The only thing I was alittle bummed about was the closed door intimate scenes. There was a great deal of tension and slow burn built up, and when it finally happened, I felt slightly cheated having it all implied and not seen on the page.

Even with that minor glitch, I truly loved this story. I highly recommend this book; all of Sophie’s catalog is excellent if you haven’t picked up one of her works yet. Add this to your shelf in November; I know I will be!

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the ARC of this novel; all opinions are my own.

Sophie Cousens has done it again! I always love the way that her books weave swoony romance with real-life struggles and relationships, and this one did not disappoint.

Anna is a mid-thirties mom of two kids trying her best to navigate her life post-divorce, with all the messy life-rearranging that comes with it. The one thing that feels stable about her life, her job as a writer for her local magazine, is suddenly threatened when the threat of redundancy begins looming. In a tale as old as rom-coms, Anna is forced into a column-writing collaboration with her rival, Will, as they end up comparing dating stories for their columns - Anna's potential suitors are all chosen by her hilarious kids, while Will pursues the online equivalents.

Things I loved: each of the dates picked by the kids is truly ridiculous and hilarious, and I loved the way that Anna is able to find the beauty in each of the scenarios. Will has such a wonderful relationship with his family and I love getting to see him slowly open up throughout the book.

I'm recommending this to anyone who loves a classic rom-com setup and a messy, learning-to-love-herself heroine!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC

This review contains spoilers.

Sophie Cousens always hits. Her books are always enjoyable with great characters and plenty of swoon romance.
I thought that the concept of this story was a lot of fun - Anna's kids get to pick her dates for her. I also appreciated that there were plenty of opportunities for Anna to discover friendship with her dates rather than everything leading directly back to romance.
While Anna's relationship with Will was entirely predictable, it was still fun to watch them fall for one another. I appreciated the epilogue but wished for more of a conclusive happily ever after for the characters.

An easy one to pass along to readers looking for contemporary romance. A definite purchase for the library's collection.

Sophie Cousens is an insta-buy author for me, but I was kind of offput by the premise of this novel. I am not a big fan of romance books about the recently divorced, but I absolutely loved this book!! It was so cute and fun, and I found myself so invested in Anna and her journey back to love. I always laugh reading Sophie Cousens novels, and this was no exception!

Dear, Sophie, Plz bring a love story to our favorite hot neighbor next, OK?

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

Is She Really Going Out with Him was a plot I hadn’t read before. We meet a newly divorced mom who is trying to keep her job to support her kids. She used to having it all together. Now everything has fallen apart, she’s not sure who she is. Her column is being pushed in a new direction when the paper is bought out. She now has to write a dating column. She hasn’t dated in who knows how many years. How can she navigate online dating? Online dating it too surface level and lacks genuine connection. She better come up with something good or her office enemy, Will, is going to take her column. Her kids give her a great idea to date only people she meets in real life. Soon her kids task her with going on ten dates… but the kids get to pick out who she dates. Although not all dates work out each has taught her something about that person and herself. She’s able to rebuild as well as forge new relationships even if they aren’t all romantic ones.

It made me laugh and want to read as fast as I could. It’s How to Loose a Guy in ten days with a family twist.

Some of our favorite tropes present are fake dating, divorced, one bed, enemies to lovers, age gap, single mom, big romantics gestures and happy endings. Is She Really Going Out with Him releases 11/19/24

Thank you NetGalley and Sophie Cousens for allowing me this advanced review in exchange for an honest review. @netgalley @sophiacousens #books #bookstagram #romancebooks #romancereader #isshereallygoingoutwithhim

3.75/5

totally requested this book for the title and title alone!

i have never heard of a book where the plot was letting your children pick your dates but i had the best time with this book. it is very, very british and slightly choppy but overall a great time!

anna is a great main character, her journey to being comfortable with her life and her relationship status felt very real. all the dates she went on were entertained and i loved multiple of the men, like noah is the sweetest, grumpiest man and i love him!!! will was a bit of an interesting character for me, i think if his pov was in this story he’d be more understood by the reader. like i needed more about why he liked her to begin with. also the moment they first got together was kinda fast and could’ve used some more lines or build up. finally i would’ve slapped sylvie for constantly saying the children has two moms and for naming her child after my boyfriend… that’s just me though

can’t wait to read more by this author because the readability of the story was amazing. could see myself upping this rating to a four by the end of this month !!

*thank you NetGalley for the ARC*

i’ve been reading sophie cousins novels for years now, and she’s yet to disappoint me! this may even be my favorite by her yet. such a cute summer read (at least that’s when i read it) and i thoroughly enjoyed her writing as well. highly recommend checking this one out!

𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝘂𝗺𝗻: Frustrated with the nuances of online dating, where I've met zero princes among many toads, I agree to 10 dates - all selected by my children.

𝗔𝗻𝗻𝗮 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗯𝘆 is on the "the wrong side" of her thirties and has a monotonous divorce with very overwhelming consequences in her arsenal.
As she stumbles back into the dating world, she's reminded of just how awful it is, truly devastating. But added to the already daunting task is thought that they're all handpicked by her dear children - from the neighbour to their classmates's granddad, no one's safe.

𝙄𝙨 𝙎𝙝𝙚 𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙂𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙊𝙪𝙩 𝙒𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙃𝙞𝙢? is a blend of women's fiction and romance set with an uplifting tone and witty plot.

- ~ -

From the moment my eyes graced the first page which read the title '𝘐𝘴 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘎𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘖𝘶𝘵 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝗛𝗶𝗺? ' with those particular tone inflictions, like what do you mean? She's REALLY going out? With HIM??? Oh the incredulity of it all.
I knew I was in for a ride.

And let me tell you, it was a bit scandalous. I didn't think the author had it in her. She had me giggling the entire time with my feet thrown in the air.

I'll not spoil the read for you but Anna deserves all the kisses from her prince.
Initially I thought the would-be-hero of the story wouldn't get much time amongst all these dates but no, it was all perfectly aligned. Amazing book.

- ~ -

4.06 / 5✩

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘗𝘶𝘵𝘯𝘢𝘮 𝘉𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯.

This was a cute, low spice rom com. Anna has been divorced for a year and is struggling with life and her ex moving on. She ends up doing a dating column for work and going on dates chosen by her children. The dates themselves were a little out there sometimes, but I enjoyed the genuine non-romantic connections that she made. I liked the coupling that happened in the book, but I struggled with the quick resolution that didn’t really resolve much. There was a happy ending, but it felt rushed and incomplete. Other than that it was a cute and fun read. Thanks to NetGalley and GP Putnams Sons for the ARC.

This was alright. The premise sounded interesting but Galway though it I started to loose interest. I do wished that the slow burn was a bit slower because I wasn't interested in the main couple towards the ending.

Thank you to Sophie Cousens, Penguin Group Putnam|GP Putnam’s Sons and NetGalley for an advance reader copy of this hilarious and heartwarming novel. I pretty much love every book written by Sophie Cousens, but this surpassed all of the others! Cousen’s gift of writing dialogue, her hilarious “google searches” at the top of each chapter and the sensitivity she writes middle aged women with (multidimensional-thank you!) creates a story that is so pleasing to read!

Anna, a recent divorcee, is struggling to remain relevant in her journalism job. Will, younger and highly ambitious, seems to enjoy critiquing her writing and fighting to take her column on his way up the ladder. I won’t say more because the joy is in the banter and scenes unfolding with much miscommunication and well meaning children. This story is such a fun read. It will be published November 19th, 2024 and I highly encourage you to pick up a copy for you and your best friend. I plan on buying several copies to give as Christmas presents!