Another crazy long review ahead... I just have so much to say this week.
2.5 -3 stars. Three Blind Dates didn't really do it for me. I liked parts of it and others were just Meh. I heard that it was super funny. I laughed out loud a couple times but the rest didn't really hit the mark with me for being really funny.
Details:
Three Blind Dates was told primarily from main character Noely's POV. The only exceptions were chapter 37, which is the second to last chapter, and the epilogue. I see why the author did it, wanting to show what the other character was thinking, but it didn't come off as seamless. It was a bit out of place.
The book is broken into 4 parts.
Part 1: The Suit. This is Noely's first blind date. She is set up with Jack. He is scared
after being burned by a past love and is overly private about his life and business dealings now
as a result.
Part 2: The Rebel. Noely's second blind date is with Beck. He is very reserved, closed off and secretive about his past 8 years and his divorce.
Part 3: The Jock. Hayden is Noely's third blind date. He is still hung up on the last girl he dated.
Part 4: The Mystery Man. The mystery man is one of the three men that Noely already dated. He is either The Suit, The Rebel, or The Jock.
Dislikes:
I had a hard time getting into this book. I kept reading a few pages and then putting it down. As I got further into the book, it held my attention a lot better. Part 1 was hard to get through. Part 2 was better and then 3 even better than 2. Part 4 had ups and downs. I also struggled a bit because we didn't really get to know about Noely down deep. It was mostly superficial type things. We didn't get to know much about her family relationships either. She had her brother, his wife, and their daughter, but even when she was hanging out with them or talking to or about them and it wasn't anything of real substance. I want to feel attached to the main characters. I want to know them and be invested in them. I didn't really get to that point. Along these same lines, we also didn't get as much information as I would have liked about the three men she dated. I really wanted more. I wanted deeper connections.
One thing that kind of annoyed me throughout the story was that we had to repeatedly read about how Noely's co-host / best friend Dylan took her bra off as soon as they were done shooting each show. For whatever reason, it irritated the hell out of Noely and she had to talk about it every. single. time. I don't know about the rest of you ladies, but I am quite familiar with the need to remove uncomfortable articles of clothing such as my bra after I finish working. Granted I wait until I get home, but two seconds inside the door and I am already beginning to get more comfortable. And since removing bras is an age-old thing that women have been doing modestly from underneath their clothing for decades, I can't see how it is such a big deal. Noely and Dylan are best friends and Dylan remains covered up the entire time. Why would Noely care so much and talk about it every single time??
There was one part I really hated. It turned me off so badly that it knocked the book from a 3.5 star rating down to 2.5 to 3 stars. Slut shaming is gross. There is nothing wrong or slutty about two consenting adults who share a connection being intimate. Even though I am not someone who has casual sex, I do not fault or look down upon those who do. To each their own. Whatever makes you happy. The only thing disgusting about it is this excerpt from the book. This is from Noely having sex with one of the dates that she clearly still shares a strong connection with after they broke it off.
“Oh God, I look like such a slut. And don’t try to tell me I don’t. I know what you’re thinking: look at that Noely chick. She just had sex with a guy who dropped her like a pelican with no wings—ignore the reference, I have no idea where that came from—giving in to him the minute he stuck her breast in his mouth. Yes, this is true. I let the nipple sucking happen, but . . . But . . . God, there is no excuse. I’m slut-zilla, climbing dicks like skyscrapers. Be disgusted, because I am." Dislike.
Editing: There were some very minor editing mistakes sprinkled throughout. For the most part, they were easy to overlook and move beyond. One bigger editing mistake was blatantly obvious and took away from my reading experience. I actually went back and re-read two different parts to make sure that I hadn't missed something, but nope, I read correctly. It was just something stupid but since it stopped my reading process and caused me to spend time investigating, I am mentioning it anyway. When Jack sent Noely flowers, we had two different and separate scenes where she says thank you and he says you're welcome. This was at location 880 when Noely received the flowers and sent a message to Jack to thank him. At location 888 he responds to her and says you're welcome. Then at location 1047, Jack send Noely a message to ask her if she received the flowers that he sent. At location 1052, she confirms that she did receive them and says thank you to him. So, like I said, it was something stupid that didn't change the outcome of the story but I certainly noticed it.
Likes:
I didn't dislike this book. There were things I liked quite a bit. I thought some of the parallels between the book and the movie You've Got Mail were really cute.
I genuinely liked all three men. I think they all had great qualities and there was definite sex appeal and heat between Noely and two of her dates. There were a few really sexy scenes in this book.
I liked that even though all three men were vastly different from each other, they all had the ability to be a great match and partner for Noely.
As for the dates and the dating program, I loved the ideas. I thought that a blind date restaurant and dating app was pretty much genius. I loved how the program worked and how after the first blind date you have an opportunity to set up a second date and the app has all these cool suggestions of things to do. One of the dates was a cooking lesson at a place that had all sorts of themed kitchens to choose from. That was neat.
I liked that one of the dates ended up with Noely. It was the one I was rooting for so that was pretty cool. I would have liked to see a happily ever after for them but at least we see that they are happy for now.
Final Thoughts:
Overall, I think that this book will just depend on each reader's tastes, much like most books. It will be great for many and maybe not quite measure up for others. I don't regret reading it at all. It only ended up being an okay to moderately good book for me but I like the author and other books that she has written. I would recommend some of the other books this author has written before this one but this wouldn't be out of the running or anything. I look forward to reading future books by this author though I am not quite sure if I will be reading the next books in this series. At the end of this book, there is a note from the author letting us know that the dates who did not end up with Noely will get their own books in the future.
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Jill
I liked some of this book quite a bit...just not all
Reviewed in the United States on January 30, 2018Verified Purchase
Amber Goleb
Laugh out loud
Reviewed in the United States on July 2, 2018Verified Purchase
Lily
A fun read 🙂
Reviewed in the United States on January 7, 2018Verified Purchase
Top reviews from other countries
Terri T.
A really good read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 25, 2018Verified Purchase
Readers Together
A fantastic read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 4, 2018Verified Purchase
n young
4 fun filled stars!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 15, 2019Verified Purchase
Kindle Customer
Fantastic!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 17, 2018Verified Purchase
Liz
Brilliant
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 12, 2018Verified Purchase