This was a great book. I found it very interesting and fun. Great charcters. The plot was also very well. The writing style is easy to follow and catches your attention.

I really wanted to love this story. It had so much POTENTIAL, which is maybe what disappointed me when it didn’t live up to my expectation.

The basic plotline is great – as I said above, the whole idea it revolves around is super intriguing! I think the novel gets a little caught up on subplots and romantic interests for my tastes.

I never felt as a reader that I had the chance to dive beneath the surface of these characters. It’s like the author gave us the icing on the cake – just icing. None of the rich gooey layers below it. Still okay, a little too sweet, but can still survive on its own. The author definitely succeeded in creating a character I love to hate – one certain character who annoys the living heck out of me. I definitely admire her skill for writing characters that make me cringe and roll my eyes (this sounds sarcastic but I promise, it’s not!).

Personally, I felt like everything moved way too fast in the story. Relationships, friendships, even plans go at breakneck speed. However, I would be interested in seeing other books by Kiley Roache, as she definitely has potential!

I didn't like this.
It felt very... stock. The characters didn't have much depth to them, and the feelings they felt didn't feel real.
The idea of this book was a good one, in this day and age, but it also felt more superficial.
I don't know if that makes sense, but I just couldn't get into this.

Sara, Braden and Roberto could not be more different. Teamed up for a business class, the three come up with the idea for a dating app (because what the world needs is more dating apps) and it soon proves to be a hit. Of course, a love triangle breaks out, as you might expect, but it’s a great one, and the characters really grow as the book progresses—especially my boy Braden. Above all, this book feels authentic to the college experience, and the tech aspect is first rate. App development has rarely been so much fun! – Clara Shipman

This review appears in Romantic Intentions Quarterly #4.

I received an ARC of this title from Netgalley and Inkyard Press/Harlequin Teen for an honest review.

Three college freshman of various socioeconomic backgrounds are required to work together for a startup business pitch idea, a dating app.

I was excited to see a novel set in the tech world of Silicon Valley where a group of teenagers could create an original idea and make it big. The novel was a quick and easy read, but unfortunately it was a bit underwhelming.

The plot was predictable which isn’t necessarily a turn off for me, but the characters were underdeveloped. The author did a good job of setting up the characters and their background in the beginning, but it never took off in terms of character development. It felt like we were only scratching the surface.

~3 Stars

This book was a little rough for me. I thought it started out very promising. I liked the premise, and the first few chapters were enjoyable to read. Once we got past the first few, that changed. I felt like the story was a bit unbelievable. Some of the characters choices seemed out of character. The only one I really liked was Robbie. His plot line was the most interesting and real.

Everything worked out a little too neatly in the end. The "company" the students created was a huge deal, very, very quickly, and all of their problems were neatly resolved in a very timely manner, which is so unrealistic. I did not expect the book to exactly mirror real life, but so many things were sugarcoated that it was hard to see things that weren't

It also featured a love triangle. I am not inherently opposed to love triangles, but this one didn't have much development. It seemed like it was mostly created so that their could be a falling out, which was realistic. Unfortunately, it made me dislike two of the main characters.

I requested this title based off the cover. It's super cute!!

I have to say... that I'm a sucker for titles...but lately cover love isn't equal to my love of the book!

EEK... unfortunately this book fell super flat for me. I have been having a hard time loving YA novels that I've been requesting lately. Apparently... I'm a picky reader and hard to impress ;).

The plot was a tad predictable in this one. Three students are required to work together on a start up business idea. They all decide to create a dating app. The idea behind the app is you rate people and they rate you back. The higher your rank...the pickier you can be with your "dating search."

I didn't really like the 3 main characters in this one. There of course is a love triangle in this one between the characters and I was just annoyed by the characters. Who will Sara end up with? Roberto or Braden?

I did enjoy that it was a super easy and fast read for me! It was just a mediocre read and nothing too special unfortunately.

Overall, 3 stars for The Dating Game.

Huge thank you to Netgalley and Inkyard Press/Harlequin Teen for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

Pub date: 3/26/19
Published to GR: 12/26/18

Disclaimer: I received this ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review all thoughts and opinions are of my own.

Once again I requested this book because of the cover. I mean it's super cute. This book is about 3 students who are required to work together and build a startup business idea. If they fail their grade will suffer drastically. Finally they come up with idea of a dating app. One that's all about status and is exclusive to only certain school's campuses. The idea of the app is that you rate people and they rate you back. The higher you rank the picker you can be with your dating search. If you only want to talk to certain ranks then you can change it.

The story is told from three different point of views. Sara is a control freak who wants to do things her way but is slowly changing to try to fit in with the crowd. Braden is a self centered rich boy. All he cares about is becoming successful and not a disappointment to his father. Roberto is a boy who's doing everything he can to get enough money to get his mother a good lawyer to have her reapply to come back to the united states.

The plot of this book is kinda predictable. There's a love triangle which was very annoying in this book. Sara went from hating Braden to feeling sorry for him after one sob story next thing we know they are dating. I wished this book didn't have any romance at all or if it did it would be subtle. I wish it would have focused more on the app but I guess the love triangle was the main plot of the book. Who will Sara end up with. I wish Sara and Roberto would have put their feet down when they realized that the app was morally wrong. Neither of them liked the ranking system and how it made others self-esteem low. Braden is stereotypical rich boy. You automatically know he's going to be a jerk. He even told one character that they didn't need to eat a lot. I couldn't believe that he was trying to enforce how much she could eat in front of his rich friends. He's a terrible friend and overall a terrible person. His views of a relationship are boarder line possessive.

Overall I thought this book had potential and was an easy read but I would never want to read it again. I just didn't like the cliche's that showed up everywhere in this book.

Rating ~3.5

Well, this was pretty fun.

The Dating Game tells the story of three University students that, by process of elimination, end up working together on a group project focusing on entrepreneurship. They must come with an idea and pitch it to their professor, who just so happens to be a a rich millionaire/billionaire (can't remember which). Basically, their teacher is like one of the investors on Shark Tank.

So, after much trial and tribulation the kids come with the idea for Perfect10. Which is basically like Tinder, but you get ranked based on how many times people swipe right on you. Now it doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize how flawed that system is. But nevertheless, it becomes a hit.

In the wake of success, the three must learn to navigate through the ins and outs of their app start-up, their personal relationships and try not to loose themselves in the craziness of it.

Overall, it was a good, entertaining read. Though, at points, it did feel quite reminiscent of the Social Network movie.

I’ll be honest I didn’t finish this book. Part of that is due to a stupid reading slump I’m in, but part of it is the book just didn’t suck me in. I can’t get into it. The characters are so trope-ish and maybe I just didn’t try long enough but I just didn’t enjoy it that much. I’m not opposed to trying it again later but as for now I’m taking a break from it.

Nope. This was just a hard nope for me all around. It’s possible that my age is showing, but this was mindless and not in an enjoyable way.

There's a lot to like about The Dating Game but unfortunately nothing that I just LOVED about it. It's a fun light hearted read about three very different students forced to work together on a project for the hardest class at their school. The main characters were all different and unique which led to some very fun conversations and disagreements. I just never fell completely in love with any of them. They are witty, charming and little neurotic at times. The Dating Game is a quick read if you're in the mood for a quirky contemporary this might be the book for you.

The Dating Game is a cute, short, and fun read!

Thank you Netgalley for providing an ARC for an honest review.

I had not read anything by this author and the plot seemed like something I would really enjoy. Sadly this book fell very flat for me. It was a pick up, put down, and not care if I never saw it again.
The premise, characters, and length were all perfect; the author just seemed to miss a lot of plot holes. There is also a suprisingly large amount of tropes smashed into one book.
The only real redeeming quality for me was the fact that Sara grew throughout the book. You could see her growth and feel that she was a well thought out character.

Thank you for the chance to read this egalley.

I really wanted to love this book but I feel like it fell a little flat. I think I was expecting more.

Thank you Kiley Roache and Harlequin Teen for allowing me to review The Dating Game! Full review will be posted shortly.

Not nearly as strong as the author's first work, Frat Girl, but still an easy going, quick read. I hope her next book more closely resembles her debut but I will continue to read her works regardless.

This book started off with such a great premise and I really enjoyed it, but then the author turned the character of Braden into a villain. Originally, he was smart and sarcastic and vulnerable, but then he became one-dimensional and mercenary and vengeful.

The original premise is that Braden (which is not the name of a wealthy boy who has gone to prep school), Roberto and Sara invent a new dating app in a college class. It becomes wildly successful. Sara and Roberto are the developers. Braden has the business savvy (marketing and finance knowledge). Both boys are interested in Sara.

Obviously, Sara and Roberto are endgame, but Sara and Braden become a couple first. And instead of finding another more nuanced way to break them up, the author made Braden the bad guy.

Beyond the obvious changes to the character assassination of Braden, there needs to be a change to the portrayal of Braden's use of money. At the beginning of the book, it's clear that he's embarrassed by the way his parents fling money about and he wants to try to prove to his dad that he can make something of himself.

Full disclosure... I went to prep school. My parents didn't have a lot of money then and I don't have a lot of money now, but I know people who do and the ones who have the most money are the people who are the most discreet; their money is usually tied up in trusts. And I don't know anybody who would take someone on a helicopter ride for a date (that only happens on tv). Also, none of us really knew which members of our class came from serious money, unless their parents were famous.

The thing about <i>The Dating Game</i> by Kiley Roache that really gets to me is that I wasn’t ever actually impressed with the novel in any real way. There were things about it that I liked and things that I didn’t like, but nothing ever made me feel any strong emotions barring a rather disgusting display of misogyny about three fourths of the way through the novel—and wonderfully, this <i>was</i> addressed and called out, so points to the author for that one. But ultimately <i>The Dating Game </i>was one of those forgettable novels that you didn’t mind reading but definitely wouldn’t read again.

Now, as far as the three main characters go, I really liked them. I enjoyed their personalities, the way they meshed together, and the progression of the story centered around their experiences with this class project turned profitable app. A mildly unfortunate piece lies in the fact that certain aspects of the app are not exactly believable, but as this is not my area of expertise and sometimes a suspension of belief in fiction is necessary for a story, I found this aspect forgivable.

What I didn’t care for, however, was the unbelivability of their Professor, the all but ignored minor characters, and the return to that <i>ridiculous</i> trope where someone completely random and honestly unrealistic gets involved with telling a character to “tell [insert person of listener’s affection] if you care about [him/her].” This is frankly one of the most <i>annoying</i> things I’ve seen authors do and I’m truly sick of seeing it in books I read. Fortunately, <i>The Dating Game</i> was not one of the worst offenders, only including the stupid push for a ship once throughout the course of the book—though I’ll be honest, it was one time too many for me.

I had an exceedingly difficult time rating this book, largely because a part of me feels like certain aspects of it—namely Sara’s growth, Robbie’s family situation, and the way Braden’s character was handled—were ones I deeply appreciated. I think the book could have included Robbie’s situation a little more, but at the same time I was pleased with the fact that it wasn’t used as a plot device, but rather as something that a real person could be going through. Braden was believable and actually quite incredible in how much he made me feel, both good and bad.

But the rest of the book was somewhat dull and never really held up to anything substantial. The app itself didn’t make sense, though I suppose if this were a world pre-Tinder then maybe I could buy in? And overall, I just don’t personally consider it a great read. It wasn’t bad by any means, but it falls into a sort of mediocre with some good moments category. And so maybe it’s not quite a three, but it’s definitely not my definition of a four.

<i>I was provided a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.</i>

I received this book on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I really wanted to like this book. The premise of this novel seemed to make it seem as if it would be a feel good novel about three cofounders of a company. However, when I read the book, it didn’t reach my expectations.

I’ll first start out with what I liked about the book:
It was a nice short read, and I found myself hooked on to the story and I read it in one sitting. I am someone who is very interested in startups and entrepreneurs so I found that part of the book to be interesting though somewhat unrealistic and inaccurate.

Now onto my dislikes…
First of all, the plot of this book was quite convoluted. Their app starts to take off right at the get go, and there is a large hullabaloo about how unique and great the app is, but the app in itself is not some grand, never done before idea that the book makes it out to be. Not only that, but the app itself is very regressive, and though towards the end of the book the author tries to makeup up for the regressiveness of the app; I don’t know how the book went so far a long without addressing the problematic aspects of the book. The plot was unrealistic, had no clear direction and moved too quickly.

I also didn’t enjoy the character development as there was an information dump of the characters in the beginning and then after that any personality development would be added to benefit the plot and seemed disingenuine.

A small gripe is that they mention the fictional company Instafriends without ever explicitly stating what it is, so throughout the book i was confused as to what social media company they were referencing.