I hadn’t read anything by Zoe May, and from the description I was interested in checking this one out.

I found this to be a light hearted, uplifting, humorous read.

Polly and Olly were never supposed to meet…

But then, they did!

I found the characters engaging and enjoyed the way Polly interacted with others.

The story was enjoyable if not a little slow at times but all in all it was a good easy read.

The rivals to lovers trope is such a fun one and the author does it so well in this book! You fall in love with the hero, and want to be the heroine. Such a good book I didnt want it to end!!!

Polly is a photographer but needs money so she goes to work for a company that goes through dating sites and picks people you are looking for so that you don't have to do it yourself. Polly starts at To the Moon and Back dating agency. But another company that does the same thing is owned by Olly, who is a hunk, This is the different challenges Polly has while having a crush on the opposition.
If you are into the chick lit books you will enjoy this one.

I thought When Polly Met Olly was a wonderfully written romantic comedy. It is a cute story about Polly trying to make it in her new job as a matchmaker in NYC, not wanting to have to go back home to her little town and live with her parents. All while also trying to actually make it as a real photographer. She experiences a little bad luck along the way. I really that each character has their own little quirky qualities. They are all likeable: Polly, Gabe, Derek, Brandon, Olly. With dating apps used so much these days, it is funny to see how her job for the agency works. I enjoyed the book. Thank you Netgalley for a copy for my honest opinion.

A refreshing read. Easy to follow, humourous, with likeable characters. I enjoyed this book a lot and would recommend it to others to put on ther reading list.

I fully expected this book to be heavy on the romance. Why wouldn’t it be, it is a romance novel after all. I was pleasantly surprised to find the romance was not over loaded and that the wit and humour the main character oozes is what drives this story forward.

Polly lands a job at To The Moon And Back dating agency. She’s actually a photographer, but not landing any lucrative commissions has meant she’s had to take jobs that aren’t anything remotely to do with photography in order to get by.

Derek, her boss, is a sweet guy and when he asks Polly to pretend to be a potential client for one of his business rivals in order to better understand the competition, Polly wants to do her best for him. But when she actually meets Olly, the owner of Elite Love Match there’s a connection between them, leaving Polly feeling a little disconcerted by the obvious chemistry that was sparking between them.

When Polly Met Olly was a lovely read. It wasn’t too heavy on the romance, despite it being set around a dating agency. Polly is the kind of character that you warm to straight away. She’s clever, witty, humble, and genuinely wants to do her best for everyone she’s involved with, in whatever capacity.

The story takes a little while until we see the blossoming of romance between Polly and Olly, but to me, that felt like the right thing. It allowed the background story to tell itself, without the writer having to add bits on here and there for the reader to make sense of what’s happening. The story flows well and the characters all work well together too.

A well written, witty romance novel that doesn’t drown the reader with love and romance.

Highly recommended.

I couldn't get into this one. I got 40% through and had to skim the rest. The writing style didn't engage me with the story. It sounded more like a diary. Today we did this, and then we did this, then this happened, etc. Stop telling me what happened and show me with words and character. Overall, I was not a fan of this one.

When Polly Met Olly by Zoe May is a contemporary romance novel. Polly is a struggling photographer, who moved to New York to pursue her dreams. She comes on an opportunity to work for a small matchmaking agency leading to her meet the handsome competition that is Olly. At first I was not as interested by the description of this book, but I ended up reading it quickly. Polly is somewhat naive and I really thought Derek was going to be a conman (dude, that is corporate espionage). Boy and girl meet in awkward circumstances, boy finds out who girl really is, girl and boy fall in love, girl hears gossip about boy and ignores him, and then they make-up. This book is an okay read, but not unique.

This book was ... fine. I can't say that since I've read it, I've thought a lot about it. I also can't complain that it was a difficult read (quite quick actually) - but it just doesn't really stick out from the pack.

Polly went to school to be a photographer. But she soon realizes that she needs to make some money, so she answers a classified add and becomes a matchmaker. Randomly, she ends up meeting Olly - who is also a matchmaker. And although he figures they should be together, it takes Polly longer to agree with him.

What worked:
Polly isn't a one dimensional character - Zoe May is able to create a sympathetic character who the reader will be cheering on. It's also nice that the book ends with Polly having a game plan for her future that feels authentic to her and her personal growth.

Polly's relationship with her boss. Super adorable. And it was sweet how much faith he put in her abilities.

What was a little lame:
Olly. Honestly he was a little one dimensional and too much of a typical "player gone right" stereotypical character. He was FINE - just nothing to get overly excited about.

I will admit that I read this after I had read Playing with Matches, and this was definitely similar but the better of the two books: the characters were more likable and believable and the story felt more authentic.

If you want a book that is quick, has a cute story line and who's main character proves to herself that she doesn't have to stay "stuck" - then this book is for you.

2.5 Stars

Also - Thank you Netgalley and HQ Digital for the copy.

I received a copy of When Polly Met Olly by Zoe May from HQ Digital and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!
I give this book 3.5 stars. Although this book was engaging and funny, I feel as though it missed the mark for a full 4 stars. So close. I definitely recommend this author and book for a quick, romantic read.

This was a feel good romance with much wit and humor. It was very enjoyable and made for a great beach read.
Many thanks to HQ Digital and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

💫Synopsis💫⠀
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Polly wants to be a photographer, having studied this at university, but ends up working for a dating agency when her photography doesn’t take off. Although it’s far removed from what she wants to do as a career, she actually enjoys it and her boss Derek is super loveable.⠀
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Polly’s path ends up crossing with Olly, who is from the rival dating agency, and after several non starters in her love life, she finds herself drawn to Olly, although his reputation precedes him. ⠀
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Although Olly has a terrible reputation as a womaniser, he soon realises that Polly is different, and maybe they both deserve some happiness and might just be what each other needs.⠀
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💭My thoughts 💭 ⠀
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This was a lovely book and I flew through it pretty quickly. I loved Polly and her flat mate, Gabe, is hilarious. ⠀
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It’s a funny book that made me smile and I was pleased with the ending, it gave me a warm fuzzy feeling.⠀
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The writing is fun and full of humour, I love books that make me smile and laugh out loud. All in all a lovely enjoyable read.

Was an enjoyable read. Characters were well written and relatable. Fun ride.Glad got a chance to read. Will pass along to friends and family .

This was a hard book to finish, but I did for the sake of the review. It was not what I was looking for when I think of romcom.

When Polly met Olly is a romance story, or at least, according to the synopsis, it’s supposed to be. But when I get through 80% of a romance book and the romance is lacking, it gets harder for me to consider this a romance book.

Polly is a Brit whose dream has always been to make it in the Big Apple. She moved to NYC to study photography and after finishing her degree she was stuck. She ended up working at a bar to make ends meet and could only get odd photography jobs here and there which were clearly not enough for her to be able to live in the big city for long. So she decided to go to an interview for a job at a matchmaking agency. Here’s her background and where the book actually starts.

Polly gets the job. She needs to get wealthy Wall Street single men dates by finding women who will suit their tastes and requirements and then struck up conversation with them and hope to score these men dates. Shady, yes, but nothing too bad I guess.

Her boss asks her to go undercover to the rival agency and pretend to be interested in their services. That’s when Polly meets Olly.

Now, you’d think this is where things get interesting but other than gazing into each other’s eyes on their first meeting and bumping into each other at a bar - where he realises she lied about who she was - they don’t really meet up again until she finds out someone from his agency pretended to be a new client at her agency to survey the building her boss rents - nothing of real importance for the story other than getting them to meet again without anything coming out of it.

Meanwhile she becomes enamoured by one of the clients but still volunteers herself to find him his perfect someone, which she does.

66% into the book and Polly and Olly meet again at an agency party where they realise they had been talking to each other posing as their clients.
Now, we don’t read much of their bonding over texting, but we’re told they spent hours/days texting while posing as the clients.

They set up a date, it’s cute but we’re 80% into this book and we’re supposed to start rooting for this couple with no chemistry whatsoever and there hasn’t even been much tension or a kiss. Just intense gazing. Like, how about a bit more banter?

Polly cuts contact with Olly after learning about some of his past actions towards other women and this lasts until 91% of the book, and they finally kiss!!!

Keep in mind this is a short book and at 95% I was already reading the Acknowledgements page.

Something else I was “promised” and wasn’t delivered was the “All is fair in love and dating war...” bit. There was no war. When she confronted Olly about his undercover employee, he backed down right away, apologised and promised it’d not happen again. Like I said, absolutely no tension. Or chemistry for that matter.

There were also a lot of spelling mistakes, which I would not have pointed out had I liked the story enough to see past them.

I’m sorry if this review is all over the place, that’s how my thoughts on this book are right now and I’m writing this at 2am and am super frustrated.

Honestly, I’m left super confused and unfulfilled after reading this. I’m really sorry to say but this book did not deliver.

I really wanted to love this book. Despite the concept of a matchmaker, workplace romance not being wholly unique, the characters seemed extremely different and quirky in the description of the book which is what made me request it.

Upon actually reading though, I found the entire book sort of slow and boring. I think my main problem was that I had this great expectation of this witty, quirky romance between the two characters and in reality, their interactions were not only sparse but a lot of their conversations seemed forced. And what little interaction they did have, it lacked any sort of spark which is what I look for in reading romance books.

With that being said, I did find this to be an easy read. Slow, but easy. If you want a book that wont make you think too hard or take up too much brain capacity, then this might be a good book for you.

I really enjoyed this story!
Polly takes on a job trying to help individuals create an interesting profile to be matched up with others. She does very well for someone who has not done this before that her boss asks her to spy on a competitive company and this happens to belong to Olly. What happens between the two is hilarious, sweet and a feel good relationship establishes. Of course they have their misunderstandings but for a new author this was an enjoyable read. Thanks Netgalley for the chance to read this ARC.

“When Polly Met Olly” is a sweet, contemporary romantic comedy book that sticks to predictable romance genre tropes but is, nonetheless, a fun book.

The main character was a bit bland at first, but she seemed to grown on me as the story progressed. I loved some of the secondary characters, such as Polly’s drag queen roommate and her amazing boss.

Polly’s annoying habit of explaining every little detail through her thoughts got to me after awhile. I prefer books that show rather than tell. The laugh out loud moments and the interesting secondary characters saved this book for me.

I recommend this charming book for anyone needing a light, fun, romantic comedy book as a form of escapism.

There were a lot of things I liked about this book - I connected with the heroine and thought the dialogue was witty. The pacing was a little slow and I didn’t connect with some of the secondary characters. There were a lot of issues with NYC geography and American phrasing that was really distracting and took me out of the story.

The review will be published on the publication day. The review is going to be a three star review.

Liebesroman mit einem interessanten Konzept

Seitdem ich vor Jahren "Match me if you can" von Susan Elizabeth Phillips gelesen habe, schaue ich gerne in Bücher rein, die mit Partnervermittlung zu tun haben, auch wenn ich das ganze privat sehr skeptisch sehe.

"When Polly met Olly" dreht sich um zwei Partnervermittler, die privat in Beziehungen nicht so viel Glück haben. Die beiden gehören zu unterschiedlichen Agenturen, sind also eigentlich Kontrahenten.

Die Grundidee der Geschichte ist durchaus frisch und nicht die Norm auf dem Gebiet der Liebesromane. Der lockere Schreibstil der Autorin macht es einem leicht den Geschehnissen zu folgen und in das Leben von Polly einzutauchen. Der Humor des Buches hat meinen nicht immer perfekt getroffen und leider sind mir in der Liebesgeschichte nicht genug funken versprüht worden. Hier und da waren meine Emotionen beim Lesen involviert, dies geschah aber leider nicht oft genug.

Von mir bekommt das Buch glatte drei Sterne.