Was It Good For You is a really enjoyable and entertaining story with characters you can't help but love. The chemistry between Sophie and Michael is fantastic, they are perfect opposites but go so well together. Each of their dates and every moment they shared had me smiling. I also loved Betty, she was a standout character to me and I loved her cheeky prying and subtle meddling with Michael's life. I'd definitely recommend to anyone looking for an enjoyable romance read with fun dates, some misunderstandings, caring moments, and some spice. I'd previously read 'The Italian Job, A Novel' by Kathryn Freeman and loved it, so was excited to read more of her work. 'Was it Good For You' was just as enjoyable and had me smiling throughout. I look forward to reading more by Kathryn Freeman

I loved this book! Sophie lives her whole life through spreadsheets and even rates her dates as she wants to make sure she meets the perfect man. She is set up on a date by her Zumba teacher with Michael, her brother in law. Sophie rates him a 2.5 without bothering to find out why he didn’t tick the boxes! What follows is a 10 date plan to see if she can still live her life by her spreadsheet or not! Lots of great characters including dogs and a cat!

Thanks to Netgalley for allowing me to to read & review an advance copy.

This book is laugh out loud funny, but it also left me choked up a few times. Who knew talk of spreadsheets & the adding of columns could be so entertaining? Cue the Excel-lent puns…
It’s really easy to like Sophie, Michael, & most of the side characters. Everyone could use a Betty, an Ava, & a Grace in their lives. Sophie’s & Michael’s insecurities, fears, & doubts are all common ones in real life. It’s all very relatable. I’d like to note that the family birthday dinner scene is a favorite of mine. Michael finds a way to say exactly what I was thinking. Don’t underestimate the quiet ones.
I like that the characters don’t have drastic personality or behavior changes to make the relationship work. I appreciate their gradual self-realizations that seem to make sense for the circumstances.
As things progressed I was counting down the number of dates they had left. I found myself worrying about the hurt one or both of them might suffer before the end. I think it’s a sign of good writing when I can worry, even when I know this genre is bound to give me a HEA. Things are indeed tied up nicely in the end. The epilogue is great!
One question: does Tinkerbell come live with Fudge & Princess?
Thanks to Netgalley for allowing me to to read & review an advance copy.

4.5 stars!

I surprisingly enjoyed this! I usually love romcoms, but I haven't been lucky with ARCs lately, but this was truly delightful!

Our MMC Michael was amazing, and his character truly screamed man written by women; he only had green flags. He was attentive, selfless, handsome and just in general a great person. I loved his relationship with his grandmother, and including dogs in a story is always a bonus point for me!

It took me longer to warm up to Sophie, the FMC, and this read not being a full five stars is largely due to her character. I found her kind of insufferable for the first half of the book to be honest. While I knew going in that her obsessions with spreadsheets was what was driving the plot forward, and kind of the point of the whole book, her mucking up the relationship between her and Michael because she refused to see the error of her rating methods for so long was very annoying.

I really liked the writing style, it reminded me a lot of popular traditionally published romances of the 2010s (think The Hating Game), so I'm looking forward to reading more from Kathryn Freeman - I just hope I'll like her other heroines more.

Well that was adorable and entertaining, though it relied HEAVILY on the miscommunication trope (and that's not my favourite).

Michael and Sophie were complete opposites, and they prove -- just like books everywhere -- that opposites really do attract! Not to mention they help each other heal: She pulls him out of his comfort zone and he helps her find her own in the world.

The writing style was very comfortable and had a healthy mix of descriptions and dialogue. I loved Michael's dry humour and the fact that we read from both their POV's throughout the book. YOu really get to learn when they're catching feelings and -- back to the miscommunication trope -- when they just really need to have a good conversation instead of spinning out of control.

Definitely recommend if you enjoy contemporary opposites-attract romances!

Sophie managed everything in her life with spreadsheets- including her dating. When Michael scores just a 2/10 on his date with her, he agrees to 10 dates to try to convince her that love isn't something you can rank in a spreadsheet.

Though slightly unrealistic at times, this book was a page turner. It was a fun rom-com with memorable characters, and felt like a mix between Bridget Jones’ Diary and The Thursday Murder Club. A warning to those who like a spicier book, this one won’t be for you. The build up to the first kiss takes the whole first half of the book, and the spicier scenes are over before they’ve begun. I didn’t mind this at all but if you’re looking for it, you may be disappointed.

All in all this was a fun and easy read and would be great to have by the pool on holidays.

Many thanks to @onemorechapterhc @harpercollinsire for sending me an advanced copy via @netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A classic summer rom con, read this on holiday and it was perfect, such a page turner it was read within the day. Would like to hear the next chapter of this story for Sophie, Michael, Betty, Dennis and Ava and Grace as well. Thank you for letting me read the advanced copy of this story.

A fun read and a different way of looking at romance. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me review this book.

While a bit predictable, this was a solid summer read. I enjoyed the author’s writing style and the peripheral characters were fun!

What a delightful and funny romcom this was! Revolving her life around spreadsheets, Sophie came across as a quirky character. I mean, so many scores & spreadsheets he had were bonkers.

Michael was a fun-loving guy but came across as a Grump sometimes. His unique way of dealing with the score '3' was hilarious.

<i>Thank you Netgalley and publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.<i>

3.75/4 stars

Sophie runs her entire life from a spreadsheet - diet plans, workout & social schedule, her finances and most importantly, her dating life. Following a break up she is determined not to waste more time on someone who isn't perfect for her, so she ranks all her dates on multiple metrics to give them an overall score, and if it isn't high enough she will end it. She is set up with Michael who due to being a generally quieter person and arriving at their date following an incident with his neighbours, only scores 2.5/10. Sophie accidentally sends her spreadsheet to all her contacts, including Michael, and feels a need to apologise. Michael is instantly attracted to Sophie and wants to keep seeing her, and also thinks her spreadsheet is total nonsense. He agrees to 10 dates with her to try and convince her that love isn't something you can rank in a spreadsheet.

I really enjoyed this story! Sophie and Michael were both really likeable. I absolutely love a 'good guy' MC and Michael is the absolute definition of a good guy - he's caring, a good listener, loves his gran and niece and is a doctor in a small village. He is careful with his words but the ones he uses are butterfly inducing at all times. Sophie is bubbly and loud, but in many ways this is because she is trying to live life to its fullest following some death in her family. I was routing for both of them to get their happy ever afters. The spreadsheet is so clearly flawed but the author does a good job of addressing why Sophie is so wedded to it and how she becomes less reliant on it during the story because of how she grows through her relationship with Michael.

This book is so rich in wider characters for Michael; Betty & Dennis are absolutely adorable, as is Olivia, and I loved meeting all the characters of Little Brook and seeing Sophie fall in love with the village.

I was concerned initially that Sophie & Michael just wouldn't make sense together as a couple but this is addressed well within the story and its highlighted that they bring out the best in each other. Being a romance there is of course some third act drama, though to be honest I felt this was really addressed in this story and it was easier to understand where this drama came from, although Michael did turn on Sophie very abruptly which maybe didn't need to happen. This book is steamy, and often refers to attractiveness on this level. The actual steamy scene was maybe a little quick given how much of it is spent working up to it, but you feel the connection between the characters regardless.

My only criticism is the constant reference to both of the MCs being slim/toned/fit or other variations. This is something that comes up in so many romances so isn't specific to this one alone, but as a curvy person it's just not my favourite to have this so constantly brought up, and it really did come up a lot in this story. Whilst there is a lot of reference to liking each other for their personality, a lot of it is led by or focused on looks and I'd have liked that toned down to balance it more with these two really falling for each other's whole selves.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for providing me with an ARC for this book; all opinions are my own.

Gosh, I love an opposites attract and REALLY love it when we have a cute dog in the mix!

I thought the premise was unique with her spreadsheets and I really enjoyed the entire story from start to finish.

So cute and funny.
Michael is definitely the kind of guy I'd be more into dating.
I love how Sophie uses spreadsheets to organise her life (or organise her emotions).
Betty and the dogs were wonderful.
I could have gone for more sexy scenes though.
I received a copy via NetGalley and all opinions are my own.

This book had me engrossed until the late hours of the night.

📚 opposites attract
📚 adorable labrador
📚 Dual POV

🌶️

|Synopsis|
Sophie is addressing her dating life with a mathematical mindset, using a spreadsheet to rate each date. It seems to be working until she accidentally shares it with her whole contact list. However, things take an unexpected turn when she accidentally shares her spreadsheet with everyone in her contact list. Michael, who had the lowest rating after a disastrous first encounter, decides to challenge the spreadsheet and improve his score, one date at a time.

"Besides it's only for me. A kind of mathematical brain dump of what I'm thinking. They're never going to see their score, but I get an instant decision on whether to keep seeing them".

|Thoughts|
This was an overly charming romance that saw two characters resistent to love, falling for each other.

"He wanted that, he realised with a start. He wanted more time to get to know her"

The conflict towards the end was a bit hypocritical of Michael. He tries to convince her that 10 dates with him will prove her spreadsheet wrong. But then gets annoyed that she is still using said spreadsheet. Yet completely ignores how she feels about him.

Despite my reservations about the motivations behind their conflicts, the book remains captivating and possesses an endearing charm, making it a worthwhile read.

The conclusion of the book was incredibly romantic and just what you're looking for in this light romance reads.


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Thank you to NetGalley, publisher & author for this arc in exchange for this honest review.

Sophie is trying to check the suitability of a date for a long term relationship using a scoring system on an Excel database, unfortunately she inadvertently sends a copy to everyone on her contacts list including her previous unsuccessful dates. Michael, who she scored as a 3 out of ten, challenges her to 10 dates to see if she changes her mind.
This book definitely hit the spot for me. I use Excel in a work environment, but would never think of using it like Sophie does. I'm much more like Michael, quiet and reserved, and I'm not sure that I could cope with outgoing Sophie but you learn that there's much more to her than her outside appearance. I'm also sure that I couldn't cope with living in London, Michael's home sounds far more my style, but it's the difference between the two lifestyles that makes the story and I would love to meet the "real" Sophie.
Overall a book that I really enjoyed and can definitely recommend - although please note that there are a few spicy moments if they're not your thing.
I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher through Netgalley, however this did not influence my review of the book.

Another great one from Kathryn Freeman! A classic romcom with the protagonist learning lots about themselves whilst finding the perfect man along the way! I really like the way Kathryn writes and tells the story, and definitely makes us fall in love with all the characters!

Sophie has her whole life planned out through excel sheets, she records absolutely everything about her self right down to her dates and what score she has given each one of them. She has Dr Michael Adams on this list and poor Michael only scored a 3 on her list.

One day Sophie accidentally sends her excel sheet out to everyone on her contact list and when she goes to apologise to Michael he issues an unexpected challenge: ten dates to prove that her spreadsheet is wrong. yikes!

This book is a hoot! I laughed so hard and also cringed so hard because I just cannot imagine accidentally sending out an email like that to anyone let alone my whole contact list!

An original story that has stayed with me ever since highly recommend!

Was It Good For You? is delightful, blanket-hugging and endearing. Sophie excels with her spreadsheets, each tab monitoring different aspects of her life. When she is set up with Dr Michael, who appears dishevelled and distracted on their first date, she scores him a 2/10. An accidental send to all contacts means everyone has access to her spreadsheet. After coming to gripes and acing accountability, Sophie reaches out to Michael, who counters that he can prove the ineffectiveness of quantitative measures with ten dates.

One of the biggest wins of this book is its reliability. Technology surely helps us become more productive and effective, but does it fully enable us to discover the power of time, connection and taking in our environment? At first, I was reserved with Sophie but with every page; she grew on her. Her character growth and development were simply remarkable as she holds space for Michael's views, to truly digest his words and try something new. Dr Michael Adams is one of my favourite protagonists of 2023. He was a quiet and humble man who challenged Sophie's synonyms of quiet (timid, aloof and distant) with a dry sense of humour and his wisdom made my heart soar. The progression of their relationship was delightful and magical. Though it appeared repetitive, Sophie not letting go of her spreadsheet and Michael's insecurities show the power of words and how old habits truly die hard. The supporting characters, be it Sophie's city friends and the seniors, were wonderful additions.

Do not skip this book if you're looking for a gradual romance etched with wisdom, vulnerability and challenging your comfort zone.

Thank you, NetGalley & HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter, for this e-ARC. This honest review is left voluntarily.

Sophie tracks everything, from finances to meal plans to her love life, in her Excel spreadsheets. Obviously these pages are meant for her eyes only, but she accidentally sends them to every contact in her phone…including her previous dates. Suddenly it seems like she’s receiving texts from just about everyone, from her boss about her bikini wax appointments, to her previous dates about the secret scores she’s been giving them. One of those guys is Michael, a doctor from a local village, who unfortunately has the lowest page on the score after a not so successful date. After meeting with Michael to apologise, he proposes a bet where she'll give him ten dates to prove that her spreadsheets are useless for finding love.

It’s a cute little second chance/he falls first romance. The whole spreadsheet theme of the story worked better than I anticipated and I just really enjoyed reading it! It was cute seeing Sophie, the outgoing party loving Londoner, get to know Michael, a quiet cricket-playing doctor from a nearby village, and how they both change for the better over time.

Absolutely brilliant, loved it. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me an advance copy, I will definitely be recommending.