Today I’m pleased to be taking part in the blog tour for The First Date. My review is written with thanks to Rachel Gilbey at Rachel’s Random Resources for inviting me on the tour and for my copy of the book via the publisher and Netgalley.

Blurb:

After breaking up with her childhood sweetheart, clueless dater Rosie has found herself in a boyfriend-drought. So when she finally swipes right on a guy who seems interested, she can’t wait to meet up in person.

Until she’s left standing alone. In a bar. Stood up.

Enter Noah. Confident, funny … and a serial first dater. Offering to give Rosie a crash course in seduction, this could be just what she needs. Until her matchmaker turns out to be the best date she’s ever had – and Rosie wonders if she wants the fake dates to be the real ones after all …

Review:

I can always rely on Zara Stoneley to make me laugh and The First Date does exactly that! On her journey to learning about dating, Rosie finds herself in a lot of sticky situations that are described with a wonderful warmth and humour.

Rosie is our narrator and Stoneley has developed the narrative voice perfectly. She comes across as down to earth, bright and funny and this made me warm to her really easily and root for her as she tried to find her dating feet. The character of Noah is also well drawn and I loved the chemistry between Noah and Rosie.

There are some poignant moments and more serious themes in The First Date that gave me a lot of food for thought alongside the humour. Stoneley explores fidelity, self confidence and grief to name a few and I loved going on a journey with the characters as they came to terms with their histories.

The First Date is available from Amazon.

You can follow the rest of the blog tour here: