"The Dating Debate" is a super-cute YA romance that is every booklover's dream! Nina loves reading Harry Potter books, the library, and her pet dog Gidget. She has some trust issues and a dislike of the holidays because her father left them around then. She knows she does not go to the Valentine's Day Dance- even though her brother is trying to set her up with a guy who hasn't read Harry Potter (so he's clearly not dating material).

West is the hot guy next door, who is a bit of a recluse mostly because of his mother's illness. His best friends are his cousins who know what is going on with his family and around whom he can be himself. He is talking with Nina when his ex and her want-to-be date show up. Nina pawns off her date on West's ex. West attempts to help by saying he and Nina are going to the dance together. Although Nina hadn't planned to go, she has decided that since West has said so, they will indeed go together. Add to that when Nina sideswipes West's car mirror and she drives him to school while it is repaired, and they begin to see each other in a way they never had before.

I absolutely enjoyed every minute spent reading this delightful book! There were a lot of cute details (like I am pretty sure Nina is reading some of the author's YA fantasy series during the book- the shape-shifting dragons reference) and the side characters were really fun- I liked both Nina's and West's friends. I am so excited that this will be a series, and I would love to read more! Cannon's books are always a pleasure to read, and this is no exception!

The romance between West and Nina is sweet and really cute- they are both easy to like. Although you can feel the book building to a conflict, and it felt a little forced (they are both really mature and handle everything so well), it was still delightful for the way it all came together. This book is a delight for all booklovers who will easily fall in love with this sweet romance.

Please note that I received an ARC from the publisher through netgalley. All opinions are my own.

I received this book from netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion. this book was super cute! I really loved West and his need to protect his family. I would definitely recommend this to a friend!

I loved this book so much! Nina is so similar to me in my younger days, I really connected with her and her feelings. West, I just felt so bad for him. The way he handled his life made me rethink things about the standoffish person. You never know what is going on behind closed doors. In West case I am glad he had his cousins to help. Loved the humor and the Harry Potter references. The classroom scenes were not over the top and it was like I was back in school again. Nina's love of debating everyday life situations was interesting. Her comeback lines were great. The relationship part was not rushed and had its bumps. Overall the book is considered one I would put on my keeper shelf. Right next to Harry Potter ;). I received an ARC at no cost in exchange for an honest review.

The Dating Debate (Dating Dilemmas #1)
Chris Cannon
Review: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥❣

Nina is a bookworm, Harry Potter lover, animal enthusiast and an unusual cookie. She is comfortable being herself and wants to date someone like minded. Valentines Day is just around the corner and Nina wishes being single didn't make the holiday so cringeworthy. Her brother has set her up for a potential date, all she needs to do is accept.

West has just split with his girlfriend and enjoying the company of his new neighbours, when his ex shows up. She wants to go to the Valentine's Day dance. Luckily for West, he thinks fast on his feet. He manages to get his ex a date, but himself one at the same time. He's hoping he can convince Nina she doesn't want to go with him.

Nina doesn't really want to go to the dance but enjoys holding West to his promise. These two easily form a bond and have lots in common. They challenge each other and keep things interesting.

Nina is quirky and at first, West thinks she's a little crazy, but soon realises how loveable she is. I really enjoyed this book. It had an original story. Nina was funny and they bonded over family madness. This book had a lot to offer and I would easily recommend it to teen romance readers like myself.

"The fact that she just accepted it- accepted me- made my world a brighter place."

4.5 stars out of 5. *I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.


Kindle Edition £3.95, 242 pages

Expected publication: February 5th 2018 by Entangled Crush

I adored Nina and West's story. It wasn't a typical hate to love story. Nina's penchant for debating (aka arguing) and their shared love of reading was what threw two unlikely neighbors together. While no romance could be complete without drama, both Nina and West carry an appropriate amount of angst over their family lives. While Nina chooses to focus on the things she can control, not lying, reading obsessively, and being more like her dog, West has choose isolation in an effort to protect his mother's secret. This was the perfect antidote to stupid boys on dating apps and West is now the epitome of a good book boyfriend.

This is definitely one of my favorite Entangled Crush books! Chris Cannon had me at Harry Potter and saving a library! This cute romantic read finds two next door neighbors bonding and falling for each other through the book, while Nina's believe in making everything a debate keeps West on his toes. West is struggling with his own family issues and trying to keep his mother's hoarding issues a secret. Nina is dealing with her complete honesty and abandonment issues due to her father leaving her mother for his secret family. The dialogue in the story keeps is moving and the characters are enjoyable to read. The way the author incorporates of love of reading for these two characters was a delight and I found myself quickly reading this story. I know that many of my high school students will love the quick romance but realize like I did that it is much more than a YA romantic read. Thank you netgalley for this arc.

I almost never pass up an opportunity to read an Entangled contemporary, because I know I will get a low angst, low drama story with a sweet romance and likable characters. Once again, I got what I expected with The Dating Debate.

Who?

•Nina, an avid reader, who had sworn off all boys, except fictional ones, following the demise of her parents' marriage. She was still reeling from the betrayal and abandonment her father inflicted on her, and was struggling with trust issues.

•West, the boy next door, with his brooding good looks and his lone wolf approach to life. He appeared to be content with his solitary status, but was actually weighed down by a family secret.

What?

When Nina butted in and saved West from his ex-girlfriend, he concocted a lie, that he and Nina would be attending the Valentine's dance together. This led to forced time together, and eventually, real attraction. However, as West and Nina grew closer, he was forced to decide between letting Nina in or protecting his family secret.

Why?

I found The Dating Debate to be a fun read. There were quite a few things that charmed me, and I smiled quite often as I read this book.

•West and Nina were easy to ship. I liked both of them, and also liked them together. They would get into these "arguments", which Nina would always call "debates", but they were not dramatic. In fact, they were often quite amusing. They were very sweet together too, and I liked the way their romance grew slowly.

•I actually found Nina's love for books adorable. She had these dates with her best friend, where they would go to the book store and loiter in the cafe as they read. She often wore bookish merch, and even discussed the importance of having the hardcover, paperback, and ebook version of the same book.

•I thought "the secret" was handled well. We saw the effect it had on the person suffering from the problem as well as the family members.

•West was a complicated boy, and it really broke my heart when he finally opened up to his parents about how their secret was affecting his life. I loved seeing him let his guard down with Nina, because the boy really needed to be able to do that sometimes.

•Gidget, the dog, was pretty fabulous. She stole just about every scene she was in.

•There was this side plot, that seemed a little random at first, but then I sort of understood its purpose. I have to say, I didn't actually care at one point, because I got a grand gesture out of it, and you all know how I love me a grand gesture.

•I got an epilogue!!! I always want more. I want to know what happened after, and this epilogue was the perfect kind of epilogue for me. It was jump ahead, and it made me very happy.

Overall: A sweet romance, punctuated with quirky characters, fun "debates", and lots of bookish love.

Reading this book was about as exciting as watching paint dry. Or as interesting as stating each and all the contents of your fridge to me. (Except if you have a lot of chocolate in there, I'm intrigued.)

Now at first, I thought I'd like this book. We got this bookworm heroine and the love interest is this brooding and leather jacket-wearing guy who, surprisingly, is also a bookworm and they have this common love for Harry Potter. Sounds about fascinating, eh?

First off, I'd just like to say that the Harry Potter thing in this book is some kind of a bookish clickbait that was mentioned in the synopsis to entice readers about the supposedly bookish characters they could relate to. But loving the Harry Potter books and/or movies alone does not make someone a bookworm. They're just fans of Harry Potter, not bookworms at all.

And even if the main character Nina, did all these bookish activities like going to the library, buying books, reading books, and preferring fictional book boyfriends than real ones, somehow it did not feel genuine at all. It felt forced and as a reader who inhales books to live, I can't relate to her and she just feels fake to me. You know what I mean? Also, Nina is supposed to be this girl who loves debates but the truth is, she just likes confrontations and pushing her opinions on people and not minding that other people are entitled to their own opinions as well. No, it frustrates her that other people have opinions very different from her own.

The other main character, West, was as bland as my sister's pasta dishes. He's dull and dry. And yes, he's a rare guy who "loves" books but again, it felt fake. And although I can understand him being frustrated with his mother's illness affecting their lives, the statements he and Nina made here just further perpetuates the stigma regarding mental illnesses. As someone who has depression and anxiety, I find this as distasteful and narrow-minded.

The romance thing is also kind of nonexistent for me. The attraction seemed to come out of nowhere and there's just no chemistry between West and Nina that made me swoon. It's not even a bit cheesy at all.

Another thing that just turned me off with this book is the writing style. I was bored to tears with it. This book is just like a play by play of the characters' everyday routine from waking up, eating breakfast, driving to school, going home from school, petting the dog, eat again, sleep and REPEAT THE NEXT DAY. The pacing was sluggish and the book was just overall uneventful. Nothing really much happened. Even the conflict felt lame and nonsensical.

The only thing that inspired me not to DNF this book was Gidget, the dog. That dog just has this halo of rays of sunshine whenever she's mentioned. Dogs are life for me and Gidget was the light at the end of the tunnel for me in this book.

Me and Nina are like the same person. Books are my life, and my bfs are usually book bfs. Anyways, this basically showed how some feel about Valentine's day being single or not. I could relate to mostly everything. I loved it ❤️

Nina thinks Valentine’s day should be optional. That way all the single people aren’t subjected to the humiliation that comes with kissy cupids. Until her mom moves them next door to none other than the schools broodful hottie, West Smith. He’s all punk rock, but has a sense of humor and is fluent in Harry Potter but Nina isn’t sure he’s boyfriend material( WTF NINA!?!?!)

West doesn’t know what to think of Nina. She’s cute and shares an interest in books like he does but she feels the need to debate everything and is 100% honest. All. The. Time. Dating her could be fun as long as she doesn’t find out about his home life. It could make or break them.

I want to start off by saying I really liked this book. A Harry Potter Bookworm is THE perfect main character. But the one fricking thing that ticked me off is Nina talked about West being “fluent in Harry Potter” when all he literally said was ” I’m trying to figure out if you’re Ginny or Hermione”…. how does that equate to a Harry Potter fluent bad boy!?

Other than that this book was a great, cute book. A lot of romance, a bit of angst, it was perfect. Just needs more Harry Potter .

This book is absolutely perfect!
Readers everywhere will fall in love with self professed "hippy-chick bookworm," Nina and her maybe not-so-brooding neighbor West.

The delightful sparring that is their courtship, filled with Harry Potter references and dueling causes just kept making me smile.

Perfect for fans of Kasie West. Highly recommended.