There were so many characters that I ended up not feeling very connected to any of them. It is a fun idea though that I really wanted to enjoy.

“Just because he's not for me...”

I have finally finished a book after ages, thank goodness!

The Referral Program was a sweet little book that had a very promising premise. It was a fairly quick read and there were some things I really enjoyed and some things, a bit less. The idea of friends introducing each other to their potential soulmates was so simple, but I loved the excitement about its potential in the book.

The friendship between Dylan, Ivy and Brooke was lovely and mature. The writing carried this book to the end for me… the material felt a bit repetitive and I could see it being off putting, but Ray has a way of wanting you to finish the story. I also thought they were way too many characters and it got hard to keep track of them.

All in all, a cute and quick read, but the story fell a little flat for me. I loved the author’s writing style and wouldn’t hesitate to pick up more of her books in the future.

this book was one of the best books i read this year so far. the friendship…the romance…the comedy was chef’s kiss. it was a comfort read

I ADORED the premise of this book. It seemed like such a fun way for this trio of women to get back to a more personal dating experience after failing with the apps over and over again. Unfortunately, I think this story could have used a little more work. Our three FMCs felt interchangeable at times and their POVs would feel repetitive. I also wanted more angst and more actual dating before they found their matches. They each had SIX men to pick from! There could have been so many funny terrible dating stories for the girls to chat about.

I also have to say, I wish romance authors would stop having their characters cross boundaries in regards to sex. As someone who has experienced that over and over again, it isn't okay even in fiction. One of the FMCs comes on to her man multiple times after he explicitly tells her he wants to stay celibate. She doesn't respect that decision for even a minute and she throws his boundaries out the window. If nothing else, that tanked this book for me. Publishers need to catch things like this before they go out, in my opinion,

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC.

This was an entertaining book. It was fun and kept me reading, though it seemed to have quite a bit of describing someone's thoughts rather than describing the interactions the characters were having. I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to others.

📖: The Referral Program by: Shamara Ray | 📅 Pub Day: OUT TODAY!!!

Happy Pub Day!!! So, this one didn’t work for me at all. I’m not sure if it was a me thing or the actual book but after almost deciding to DNF at 25% I continued reading on giving it another chance and I still came out with the same outcome. I was particularly super sad about this because the vibe from the synopsis was giving me nostalgic Black 90s rom com vibes (but set in the present day) that my mom would watch and I would sneak into the room and watch (when I had no business doing that😂). When it came down to it i think the plot became a little convoluted and messy in all the wrong ways.

I’d definitely give this author another chance in the future, as this was nothing personal, just not for me at this time!

2.75⭐️

Special thanks to Strebor Books and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book prior to the publication date and review it.

THE REFERRAL PROGRAM
Shamara Ray


In THE REFERRAL PROGRAM, we follow three friends: Dylan, Ivy, and Brooke. Over brunch one Sunday the women start to discuss their desire to find a serious relationship. Dylan proposes that each of the women refer men in their lives they feel the other women would like. Ivy and Brooke thought this was a fantastic idea and THE REFERRAL PROGRAM was born.

I immediately loved this concept. It sold me right away. I could easily see this as a movie or a romantic comedy TV series. The writing in THE REFERRAL PROGRAM did not disappoint and the dynamics between characters felt realistic, fresh, and fun.

Dylan, Ivy, and Brooke are very interesting to get to know. As a reader you learn their quirks, likes, dislikes, desires, and the needs they have that have been met while others go unfulfilled. It’s interesting to find out with their referrals how well they know each other as friends.

The men in the book were an especially fun part. We follow along as each of the women goes on prospective dates with the men in the “program”. It doesn’t always go as planned and the journey to finding Mr. Right is almost as fun as the destination.

I’m so happy to have discovered a new and exciting romance author. THE REFERRAL PROGRAM is out today!

Thanks to Netgalley, Atria Books, and Strebor Books for the advanced copy!

THE REFERRAL PROGRAM…⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

2.5 Stars

This was not the book for me. And I stress for me. I liked the idea of it but the execution was frustrating. Out of the 3 friends I couldn't stand 2. Imagine Molly from Insecure and Toni from Girlfriends in the same friend group... It was too much.

Dylan was overly confident, dismissive, and stayed in her head. Brooke was dramatic and immature.

I think the men they ended up with should have ran for the hills.

Ivy was the only saving grace for me and I didn't appreciate how she was treated.

I feel like a lot of good points were made in regard to needing to be loved, needing companionship, letting your guards down, communicating, and connecting on a mental and spiritual level before sex. But at the same time a lot was messy.

I kept waiting for something to happen and nothing ever did.

I would first like to thank the publisher Atria for sending me this ARC in exchange for my honest review. I was very excited to read this book. I found the subject matter interesting and thought it would make a great plot. I found the book to be extremely difficult to get through and not at all enjoyable. The writing didn't flow and I felt like I spent most of my time inside the characters head (from a third person viewpoint) instead of inside the characters world. It never sucked me into the story. The writing never attempted to paint a thorough picture of the characters world. There were times when there would be long ongoing conversations between characters where nothing was really happening and repetitive statements were made. Lastly, the goal was find men who were marriage material, nothing about it felt romantic or made me feel excited about the womens possibility at finding true love. I wanted to like this book, I truly did, but it was it just wasn't for me at all.

2.25/5 stars! The premise of this story sounded intriguing, so I wanted to give it a chance. The writing felt a bit sloppy to me and lacked depth. It toted itself to be some heavy story about growth and finding both yourself and love. The reality was that it was a few concepts that were extremely loosely held together. Not my favorite.

I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book follows a group of friends who are all in married and are starting to think that’s how things will be forever. They decide to make up a program for which a friend will refer you a person to go on a date with. Now one would think that since you’re friends are the ones referring the guys it would equate to matches made in heaven but that was not the case. The friends find themselves going on several dates.

While I did read this book fast I did have some issues with the povs of the characters seeming all similar. I thought there would be a difference in the women’s voice as written but to me it seemed they all were the same person. That was my only real negative about the story.

Thank you Atria Books, Strebor Books, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

I got an advanced copy of this book from the publisher through Net Galley.

This story was about three friends who were fed up with being single. Dylan, Brooke, and Ivy decided to set each other up with guys they knew in hopes that they would each find the one.

There were so many things that I liked about this book. I enjoyed getting to follow each friend on their journey. I loved the short chapters. I was glad they didn’t each magically meet Mr. Right on the first try. Their romantic relationships were tested as well as their friendship. In the end, they each got to their happy ending.

This was a good book. I’ve never read this author before but would definitely be willing to read more from her.

Thank you, atria for the ARC for an exchange of a review.

Personally, this book fell flat for me. There are three POV’s in the novel and it was hard to tell a distinction between the three. I also did not enjoy any of the romance within the three POV’s that are given unfortunately I had to DNF the novel. It just was not for me and I found the characters to be not be interesting at all.

Three single friends in their thirties are tired of failed relationships so they decide to try a new approach to dating. They each choose 3 men in their lives that are great guys, just not for them, to set up with each of their friends. The goal is each woman will have 6 potential matches from these referrals and will hopefully find their perfect man in the process.

I thought this was a fun premise and in some ways this story gave me almost Sex in the City vibes. I loved the friendship and the love between the women and it was fun seeing them go on their various dates, even the unsuccessful ones. This was a quick and fun read!

Thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for the advance copy.

Three besties, Dylan, Brooke, and Ivy, are sick of the shape of the dating game in our modern existence. Any guys they meet in the usual ways, at bars, online, etc, seem to keep coming up duds. So Dylan comes up with the Referral Program. Each lady comes up with a list of three men they know personally who might be good matches for each of the other two. And we're off...

These characters were so hard to follow. The women all seemed so similar. Sometimes they even had similar - if not identical - conversations with the men they were dating. Their inner monologues were in almost identical voices. Their wants and needs for their relationships were pretty similar... it felt like the author couldn't be bothered figuring out three distinct voices, so everyone was the same, abs probably pretty close to her own view of the world.

The guys each woman ended up with were absolutely the epitome of clichéd ideals. One of them cooked, another one was a wealthy trust fund baby that wanted to spoil his woman. And one was so super-over-attentive.

No one felt "real."

There was a sex scene for each lady.

One was ALMOST IMMEDIATELY after the dude said to his woman "I've been celibate for a couple years, and want to stay that way." Like, they had a makeout sesh, she groped him (crossing a line!) and then she went home... She couldn't stop thinking about him. Then he appeared on her doorstep, and jumped her. So much for that. I was actually looking forward to seeing how the author would handle that, and was super disappointed. Why say it if you're going to just murder the idea in cold blood before it even takes off. (Lazy writing!)

One scene has the guy finish FAST, and then he ghosts her for almost the rest of the book. I figured it was straight embarrassment on his part, but he explains his absence as anxiety over the relationship as a whole.

And all three of them use stupid words for female parts, but go straight clinical for the dudes. "Flower" and "kitty" vs "penis" for every mention of the bits. Why??

And the major conflict in the 3rd act? It's between the besties more than the women and their dudes. Because of a misunderstanding. And the offended woman refuses to have an actual discussion about the whole thing with the women she calls her sisters. It's... stupid. The situation is contrived and the fight - or lack thereof - is useless.

The writing as a whole made me think this was a debut by a new author... But she's written 5 other books already?? And she still writes like this? Why is she still getting things published? Why aren't her editors pointing out the fact that everyone is the same and no one is believable?

I received an Advanced Reader Copy via NetGalley in return for sharing my thoughts on this book. Thanks to the author and publisher for this opportunity!

Dylan, Ivy, and Brooke have been friends for a long time, through the ups and downs, when they’re taken or single. And now, they’re all single, and they’re all in their mid-thirties. Tired of the apps, they decide to start a referral program, recommending men to each other until each of them finds “the one.” Dating is never easy, but hopefully with the help of some friends, it can go a little smoother.

I received an advanced reading copy of The Referral Program in exchange for an honest review.

The Referral Program is a romance novel by Shamara Ray. I don’t read too much romance, but I’ve been getting more into it lately. In fact, I’ve read a couple this year, and I’m learning just how deep books like these can be, and how much I can love them.

As a thirty-year-old woman who recently did the online dating thing, and who’s often wished I had friends who could set me up with potential partners, I thought this would be the perfect book for me, which is why when I was invited to review a copy, I immediately agreed. But I don’t think this book was for me.

You guys know that I’m a sucker for good characters. I love getting to know characters, learning so much about them, and basically finding out what makes them tick. When I opened this book and was introduced to Dylan, Ivy, and Brooke, I was looking forward to getting to know them too, and especially learning about their relationship, their friendship, with each other. This book, however, mostly focuses on the romance aspect, and rarely gives us scenes of the women by themselves. And that was fine, since it pushed the plot forward, but I wanted more of them. And when we didn’t get them by themselves, I hoped we’d get more of their friendship, but also, that wasn’t as deep as I’d hoped. In fact, I was expecting to get so much more on the friendship, especially since the entire plot hinges on it, but the novel was a little light on it. Also, there was some head-hopping going on, which isn’t my favorite writing strategy.

I will say, however, that the book does show some absolutely excellent communication between the characters, and especially those who were romantically involved. They were great examples of how to be open and how to talk to each other, and I enjoyed seeing so many good conversations between them, and when things didn’t work out, it was due to lacks of chemistry rather than people being awful to each other. Also, almost every character in this book is Black, which was fantastic representation, and especially of successful men and women, both of whom are able to express their emotions to each other.

But while this wasn’t the book for me, I have no doubt other people will love it! Those who want to see much more romance in books, and have less interest in characters, might enjoy it more. And especially those who admire good healthy conversations between characters!

The Referral Program will be released on August 29 by Strebor Books. You can preorder your copy from them here.

Honestly in the beginning…actually for a majority of the book I was getting 90’s black sitcom vibes. Its Girlfriends meets Living Singles meet Waiting to exhale and I like that particular aspect of the book. The writing wasn’t my favorite, but the plot was really good. I enjoyed the dynamic of the friends and this idea of how they’ll date men. All in all it was a good read and not bad.

3.5⭐️ This read like an early 2000s chick-flick which I loved! Plenty of girl power and just enough scheming. I loved getting to see the 3 main characters thoughts and feelings as they moved through the dating world. Their fears and insecurities felt very real. I did get a little annoyed at some of their banter though because it felt like they were always ready to jump down each others throats if they disagreed. However it had a great ending and great messages throughout.

I wanted to love this book so much. The plot was fun and different and I felt like there was so much potential but this book just wasn't it for me. All the lead characters felt interchangeable? And like they were all the same person but in slightly different fonts? And the way the conversations in the book happened just didn't feel natural to me. The smut scenes actively made me cringe. I never want to hear a vagina referred to as a "kitty", especially by a grown ass woman ever again. Overall, this was kind of a disappointment for me.

The Referral Program follows a group of friends who are struggling in their dating lives, and agree to do something that is "normal" yet unconventional in their format...setting up each other on blind dates through their own personal referrals. They agree that this experiment will not tarnish their friendships, but of course comes with its own conflicts.

Overall, I enjoyed this read a lot. I loved the individual character development, however I wish I was able to learn more about each of the relationships. The plot was easy-to-read and had a very enjoyable experience, I just wish there was more depth at times. I would recommend this book to the majority and would be excited to read more from this author in the future.