This isn’t the classic rom-com the cover suggests it’ll be - with an important message, Wilder explores some heavy subjects we don’t talk enough about.

Not only were the medical themes interesting and informative, the religious trauma in which Avery experienced was a huge contributing factor to her issues. Wilder was brave to delve into Avery’s parental relationships and with Devin’s own experience, I enjoyed the common ground they found within each other and the relationship that they went on to find.

I found Avery’s character particularly inspiring and hope this book will encourage readers to seek help of their own if they’ve had a similar experience.

ARC via NetGalley

**Book Review: "Confessions of a Virgin on a Dating App" by Sydney Wilder**

*Rating: ★★★★☆ (4/5)*

Sydney Wilder’s "Confessions of a Virgin on a Dating App" is a refreshingly candid and deeply relatable exploration of love, sex, and the complexities of navigating adulthood when things don’t go according to plan. The novel follows Avery Murphy, a woman who, despite her best efforts, has been unable to have sex due to a mysterious and painful condition. After a traumatic college experience that leaves her estranged from her religious family, Avery rebuilds her life in Orlando, finding solace in her job, her friends, and her love for tabletop gaming.

Avery’s story is one of resilience and self-discovery. Wilder tackles the often-taboo subject of sexual dysfunction with sensitivity and humor, offering readers a protagonist who is both vulnerable and strong. Avery’s journey through the world of online dating is filled with awkward, funny, and sometimes heartbreaking moments as she struggles with the question that looms over her: who would want to be with a woman who can’t have sex?

What makes this novel particularly engaging is how it handles serious topics—like sexual health, religious trauma, and self-worth—without losing its sense of humor and hope. The relationship between Avery and Devin, the snarky gaming shop owner, adds a layer of warmth and chemistry to the story, offering a slow-burn romance that feels genuine and earned.

Wilder’s writing is sharp and witty, making it easy to empathize with Avery as she navigates the often frustrating world of dating and self-discovery. The novel’s portrayal of the struggles and triumphs of living with a sexual dysfunction is both eye-opening and empowering, reminding readers that love and acceptance come in many forms.

"Confessions of a Virgin on a Dating App" is more than just a romance; it’s a story about self-acceptance, the importance of friendship, and the courage it takes to confront one’s deepest insecurities. Sydney Wilder has crafted a heartfelt and inspiring novel that will resonate with anyone who’s ever felt different or unsure of where they fit in. Avery’s journey is a testament to the power of vulnerability and the unexpected places where love can be found.

*Confessions of a Virgin on a Dating App* by Sydney Wilder is a refreshing and candid exploration of love, intimacy, and self-acceptance. Avery Murphy’s journey is both heart-wrenching and empowering, as she navigates the challenges of dating while dealing with a painful and misunderstood condition. Wilder handles Avery’s story with sensitivity and humor, creating a relatable and deeply human protagonist.

Avery’s move to Orlando and her new life surrounded by supportive friends, including the charming and snarky Devin Lancaster, provides a comforting backdrop to her struggles. The gaming shop scenes are particularly endearing, adding warmth and levity to the story. Avery’s foray into online dating is filled with both cringe-worthy and touching moments, making her quest for love and self-discovery all the more compelling.

While the pacing occasionally falters, with some parts of Avery’s journey feeling a bit rushed, the overall message of the book shines through. Wilder’s depiction of Avery’s sexual dysfunction and her eventual discovery of deeper health issues is handled with grace and realism. *Confessions of a Virgin on a Dating App* is a thoughtful and engaging read that will resonate with anyone who has ever felt like they didn’t quite fit the mold. It’s a story about finding love in unexpected places and, most importantly, learning to love oneself.

#NetGalley #BookReview #RomanceReads #SydneyWilder #ConfessionsOfAVirgin #SelfAcceptance #DatingApps #EmpoweringReads #MustRead #BookLovers #ReadThisNext

I ate this book up. It really opens your eyes to issues a lot of women have. I swear I smiled through most of this book. Everyone wants to be loved how Devin loves Avery. This book is so heartfelt and a nice quick read. It isn’t often that a book hits so deep. You NEED to read this!!

3.5⭐ contains trigger warnings

Judging by the cover this novel looks like any other rom-com but it actually contains serious subject matters. The main issue it tackles is identifying and dealing with having Endometriosis which can be a long journey for getting a diagnosis. There are other serious things mentioned but everything is written in a clear and very straightforward, descriptive manner. While the content of this novel is serious, the tone is sweet and informative and supportive. Not a rom-com at all but still a very readable, appealing story.

Much of the background content is very niche, and will appeal greatly to gamers, especially lovers of RPGs.

The book, with all it's serious topics, has been handled gently and thoroughly, not shying away from the more difficult details. While the writing is good, I think the story needs to be trimmed down to make it tighter. There were far too many examples of how wonderful and thoughtful Devin was even though it was very sweet.

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This book did a great job of balancing light-hearted romance while also giving an insightful exploration and depiction of endometriosis and religious trauma. I loved how Devin and Avery seemed so far apart in terms of personalities and lifestyles but once they opened up to each other they had so much in common that brought them closer in the end. I adore a nerdy hero and this was just full of nerdy goodness I could not get enough of sweet sweet Devin!!! I also appreciated that there was still growth happening in the epilogue, it was not all solved once they got together which was refreshing. Important topics were brought to the table while also showcasing an adorable romance, I could not ask for more!

Thank you to NetGalley and Victory Editing for this ARC.

Avery was brought up in a strictly religious American household which has damaged her sexual wellbeing. When she tries to lose her virginity to her boyfriend in the dorm of her uptight Christian college she discovers not only that it hurts beyond belief but also that it gets her kicked out of college while nothing bad happens to her boyfriend's reputation, who promptly dumps her.

Five years later she has made a life for herself in Orlando, Florida and has a book editing job, a flatmate and friends in the gaming community, including Devin, the tattooed owner of the gaming shop. However, her attempts at online dating fail miserably due to the old problem - sex and periods hurt and she doesn't know why.

This is a very unusual book in that it tackles women's health and sexual problems head on. I couldn't relate to the religious bigotry but I've overcome vaginismus myself and know the struggle with the dreaded dilators. I also know you must be honest with a potential partner from the outset - the right man will stay.

In the light of Avery's upbringing I understood her naivety regarding sexual matters but only to an extent - not to have heard of a clitoris or endometriosis nor know how to deal correctly with a small bullet vibrator at the age of 27 when you live in the modern world felt alien to me. It made me sad when she called herself broken and a monster.

I'm not a gamer so the descriptions of the multi-player tabletop games events were like a foreign language to me and there was definitely too much mention of it, but I liked the community and friendships they gave Avery. Avery has found her family after her own is such a disappointment.

The title though - really? A book of that quality really needs a classier title, one that represents the content in a way that isn't out for cheap laughs or thrills.

The romance, however, is lovely. Devin is such a great, supportive character, despite or because of his own struggles with mental health. He is instrumental in persuading Avery to overcome her self-loathing and finally stand up for herself and start believing that she is a normal person with a couple of medical problems that can be cured or at least treated.

This is a surprisingly easy, light-hearted read, despite some of the topics. It's brilliantly written and I couldn't put it down. I'm so glad women's sexual health is finally getting more of the spotlight - it's about time. There is a lot of sexual content in this book but as little as I usually like spice in a romance, here I was cheering on Avery to finally get her groove on!

4.5 stars

Review to Come

Love the cover ❤️
Description intrigued me…
Author is new to me.

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC

This books deserves to be on my being-good-enough shelf on Goodreads. I don't think it is actually mentioned in the story, but I do think it is a theme. And one worth mentioning, because no one – either with or without a dysfunction or illness – should feel less than others.

The scene where Avery called herself a monster brought tears to my eyes. I've called myself a freak before, nothing related to her medical issue, but for being ill with ME for almost twenty years.
Similar to Tristan, people don't seem to be able to see past their own wants and needs, it is as if they don't know how to be uncomfortable with someone else being ill or less than perfect. People who have been (and still are) hurting me, toxic family members are very much a part of that. Thankfully, not everyone :) Good thing this is all included in this book, I am very glad I bumped into this on Netgalley.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the book.

This book was amazing! It had some deep themes in it and it handled them very well! I really enjoyed the thought and insight that was put into this book!

It is a perfect book? No. Am I very glad I read it and will recommend it to people looking for soft romance or endometriosis rep? For sure.

Loved all the gaming, wish there had been more religious stuff, honestly. Opening with a sexual assault was a choice. The stalkery guy at the beginning was such a weird call. The rest I enjoyed, although I think the editor needs a slightly heavier hand. It is an ARC though; maybe some of the errors and repetitions will be fixed by pub date. It's a light, fast book, and the author should trust the readers to remember details.

Florida gives IVs in the ER for everything? Wild. Y'all feel goofy after general anesthesia? I just sleep until they worry I'll never wake up. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

While I wouldn't necessarily call this a romance, it was a very well-written book about a young woman coming to terms with her religious upbringing and undiagnosed endometriosis. How her life is impacted by the disease had been depicted very well, and I rooted for her to either overcome it or somehow learn to live with it. Overall it was not what I had expected, but still an engaging book.

First of all, I really really wanted to love this book. I hugely support more authors writing about tough topics like medical issues, disability, and/or mental illness. And especially since I know the endometriosis portion of this story is based on the author’s own experience. I can say that she treated the topic with grace, and also wrote about Devin’s struggles beautifully.

However, overall, the book could have used a lot of smoothing out for at least the first half. And the tone throughout was very young. It didn’t read like a romance novel at all, and while the friend characters all insisted it had been obvious that Avery and Devin would get together, that chemistry did not show up on the page at all.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this book early.

Not quite what I was expecting, it was far more emotionally intelligent than I assumed - the medical aspect of this is dealt with so well, and is a breath of fresh air honestly, as it's massively under-represented in romantic fiction, or when included is easily solved. This felt educational and realistic - I just wish the heroine had a better mindset, but it was a realistic one.
However, this doesn't mean it was light and had it's sweet moments, with an adorkable hero! It just lost me a bit with the gaming (it's not one of my interests... at all).

Overall this was a cute little romance which was low-angst and focused on found family. I was happy to see endometriosis covered extensively in this novel - it's one factor that interested me in the first place, and the toxic religious upbringing which contributed to Avery's sexual dysfunction was also pretty fascinating. Devin, the MMC, is delightful - always kind and supportive despite his own challenging back story, and the care and love they have for eachother has developed over years as friends so it's lovely to see that turn into something romantic.

However, there were a few points which I struggled with which may, or may not, be relevant to other readers. Firstly, there's a LOT of gaming - it's mostly in-person table-top (rather than computer games) but still, if you're not into the 'world' this gets a bit tedious and isn't necessary to move the story along. Second, while we see occasional glimpses of Devin, Avery is dating other people at the beginning of the book and it's only around 30% that's she's single and we start to really see them together. Finally, I spent quite a bit of time getting frustrated with ex-boyfriends and Avery thinking the only option for physical intimacy was penetrative sex (though this naivety was explained away by her religious upbringing). It was only when the older, more worldly Devin came along that she found out about any of the things that can be done alone or with a partner that don't involve penetration. As she was almost 27 by this time and away from her religious parents for five years it didn't really ring true.

So, a mixed bag for me. I enjoyed the sweetness, the concept and the representation but it felt quite simplistic.

This is just excellent. The plot is great, some excellent gaming and board games and detail of the culture of gamers and running a gamer shop, but also just lovely romance. Avery is so lovely, she is normal, with a job she enjoys, friends and a great flatmate, she has disasters on a dating app and just stops. Devin is also great, he is hurt by his past and every time he thinks he has come up for air, someone pushes him back down, they are made for one another, if they can be honest,
The backdrop is Avery’s painful periods and painful sex. This is dealt with very sensitively and with real knowledge. It all wraps up to a cracking read.

YESSSS!!! We love visibility for underrepresentated topics like endometriosis! I'm not diagnosed with anything officially but I could releate to some aspects of the book so much and this is literally the first time I saw a book tackle this topic. As someone who likes gaming and boardgames I also liked that the primary setting was a game store.

I just found the title not that suitable for the topic and fear that many in the target audience might skip over it, because they think it has some weird 2000s Rom-Com vibes? Idk how else to explain it, sorry! But I mean I was curious enough to look at the description after reading the title (more in like a wtf way) so hopefully it will work on others too!

Thanks to NetGalley and Victory Editing for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Confessions of a Virgin on a Dating App is a book I seriously think anyone who has struggled embracing their sexual side needs to read - especially for my menstruating individuals who have dealt with shame around sex, painful intercourse or the idea that the only way to share physical intimacy with someone is through traditional sex.

Sydney captured all of the shame, exhaustion, anger, pain and frustration that many people go through in finding their person - the ideal person who accepts you for who you are without conditions while addressing what I truly believe is a common issue for many women - that sex is all we are good for but is also something we should be ashamed of. Weaving these heavy topics through Avery’s journey in finding Devin may make it seem like the book is too fake and heavy to enjoy but I found it to be the exact opposite. Sydney balanced the story so well, addressing these subjects with the weight they deserve while also creating an adorable romance that leaves you rooting for the couple throughout the novel.


If you’re a romance lover like me I highly suggest adding this to your TBR! I know I’m glad I did!

Confessions of a Virgin on a Dating App was a very interesting read for me because I related to the main character's journey with endometriosis and religious sort of trauma. Although the latter I shed myself from when I was entering my own life. 20s.

The bones of this book, the essence and what the author tried to communicate, was the best thing, in my opinion. The topic of endometriosis is SO COMMON, yet there are no enough people talking about it and its symptoms, or not doing it in a very female centric space like romance novels. For that alone, I command the author.

However, as a romance novel, I really feel unattached while reading the book. I was engaged when the endometriosis topic was full on, but when it came to the rest of the book -relationships (both romantic and platonic), work, how the female lead actually is, and the religious aspect, I was not that invested. I felt a disconnection in the narrative, to the point of feeling like reading a series of notes, rather than a book.

It was very much like “I did this. He did that. I felt this.” I really don't mind that most contemporary novels don't have the flowery style of writing that fantasy novels tend to have, for example, but some of that could have been very beneficial to this book. That also hurt the exploration of the characters a lot. Other than with the female lead, I could not say what the other characters' deals were. The best friend, pretty none existing. The love interest, he was fine in a very non-descriptive way for most of the book, and then we got more information on him in the end. The rest of the friends, they were just there.

It was the same with the religious part. I'm not saying that there had to be this super in depth dive into how that shaped the main character and how exactly it was affecting her. She struggled with finding a balance between believing in something and letting that be all your life, but some of that would have been nice. Especially, because that made her not to explore her sexuality or even research about it for years. That, being totally frank, I could not believe.

You are telling me that a woman in her mid-twenties, that consumes a lot of pop media, is on the internet a lot, plays online games with other people, and reads a lot of books due to her job, that woman has never heard about a clitoris?

Anyway, I don't want to sound like I didn't like the book because it was the opposite. The potential of this story is huge, so much so that, what I did not like, it felt like a punch because the core is perfect.

I firmly believe that, with time and more exploration and more feedback, this author could be a force to reckon with in this genre.

I was initially interested in this book as it deals with religious trauma. I thought the author did a great job of capturing the aftermath of leaving toxic religious organisations and the ongoing difficulty with family members still within that world.

Whilst I don't have endometriosis, several friends do. From what I know, it felt like an authentic depiction of endometriosis.

I am not the key audience for this novel as I have no interest in gaming, but I like the idea of a loving community like that.

Overall, I thought this was a lovely little book for anyone experiencing religious trauma or endometriosis.

I'm giving it 4 stars even though I'm not the target audience as it was well written and covers some topics that should be spoken of more.

Thank you Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.