I loved, loved, loved this book! For one thing, I love books that have New York City as its background. Since I am a bord and bred New Yorker. But this story right here took me to another level. Caleb and Angel both have their own baggage along with people who are trying to use them. Filled with drama and of course love. It was one roller coaster ride and I was sad to see the book and get off the ride. Let me say this one more time..I loved this book! I would love to read more from this author. I voluntarily read this book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

2 stars
This book has "maid in Manhattan" vibes, single mother working very hard to provide for her only son. Along comes a handsome rich man that sweeps her off her feet. It has the struggling single mother.
There is drama, romance and tension, however it's uncomfortable. The storyline didn't flow at all.
Thank you to netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A super cute read and I love that it includes sports. The characters have potential and the story is so well written.

Angel is a single mother, trying to get her nursing degree and help her son who is asthmatic. Duke is a pitcher with the NY Yankees, and is struggling to overcome an injury. Overall, the book has more parts I liked than disliked, and the characters have redeeming qualities. Didn't like the creepy doctor, and wish the sleazy ex girlfriend would have had more exposure at the end. Overall I would probably rate this 3.5. I enjoyed it but felt it could have been a bit stronger.

This one was enjoyable. More of a fun read for the sports romance lover. All the twists and turns came together although several of the characters felt cartoonish to overemphasis their role in the story.

✨Book Review🎆

🌟🌟🌟🌟/5

I just finished this book and I was pleasantly surprised given the reviews I had read from other readers. In this book Angel is a single mother working to provide a better life and better medical treatment for her son. Angel is close to finishing nursing school and is working two jobs to make ends meet. One day she runs into Duke at work, but now's not the time to get distracted by a guy (regardless of how hot he is). Caleb "The Duke" Lewis is the star pitcher for the New York Yankees and is trying to recover from a traumatic night last year that left him with a career threatening injury. Will these two find a way together or will the obstacles keep them apart?

This is definitely a romcom book that you can easily work your way through (I read it in one day). It has everything from interesting POC main characters to gossip following Duke's rich friends. I love Angel's friends that are more like family and her ability to stand up for herself. I wish there was a bit more quality time spent between Angel and Duke, but I can see how it was hard to work it into their schedules. Overall I enjoyed this book and it kept me engaged while reading. If you are looking for a light, quick read, this is the book for you. Look for it in June of this year!

Thank you @stmartinspress and @netgalley for an advanced digital copy of this book

I received an ARC through NetGallery and St Martin Press in exchange for an honest review of The Perfect Date. This book has such potential. Each page I read carried a good story, a good "lesson learned". The lines read well for the most part and portrayed characters with flaws, with troubled pasts. With a few corrections it could go up a star in rating. The main female character is strong and determine. A single mother setting goals for her future and for her son, She is working toward her nursing degree while working two jobs. The male character is a baseball player on his way to the big leagues but battling an ankle injury.

The writing was well done and moved the story along. Interesting to see how each character's life is filled with bad influences. The story is well maintained and moves forward easily as they meet, date and engage the bad influences to purge them from their lives. This reader believes the title of the book should be "Playing the Game". The date was far from perfect....but learning to work together against the wrong and standing up for your talent and initiative overcoming the bad and setting to achieve your goals.

Good story with a few tweeks it could be a great story.

Angel and "The Duke"'s relationship prove that the journey to perfect involves a lot of hitches along the way, and when one person is at their best chances are the other will not be, but if anything they can always support each other.
I loved Angel. Her personality, struggles, fears and hopes spilled out of the pages. This is a contemporary romance and I believe readers of romance would relate to it. Thanks Netgalley for the eARC.

Personally I’m not a fan of sexual books, so keep that in mind for this review. I really liked how the character Angel was built. I feel like she was very relateabke for anyone who had gone through something tough. The author’s style of writing was really good and I am a big fan of books were the point of views switch back and forth. Anyway, I am more of a sweet romantic book fan verse sexual romantic book fan. But if you do enjoy those books than this one is for you. Keep in mind it’s not like 50 Shades of Gray type it just includes some more sexual content and jokes.

This hit all the beats of feel-good contemporary romance. Its main characters - aspiring nurse Angel and soon-to-be-retired athlete the Duke - are hugely relatable, particularly in terms of the sexism and racism that limit their options. It's not hugely memorable except that I want to read and forget a hundred just like it instead of a hundred unmemorable romances with characters who seem to live in a world where diversity is absent or distorted. Would recommend as an antidote to a day full of mansplaining coworkers.

Thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Skip this book! I really thought I would like this story but as I read on, the star rating went lower and lower. I was going to settle on at least two stars because this book offers a good amount of diversity but nope. There's not one likable character in this whole book except maybe the child. Angel is studying for the nursing exam and The Duke is a baseball player who is recovering from a shooting. Angel has a serious temper and she blows up at the drop of a hat. She does have an excuse with BOTH her bosses being sexist jerks but otherwise, it's too much and too quickly. The Duke ignores the advice of doctors and keeps playing on his messed up ankle and the people he hangs out with are all terrible. It's not even until the very final pages that you're even contemplating liking or rooting for the characters. The villain of this book doesn't even get a satisfying finish nor are they fleshed out enough in the first place.
It's not a straight romcom about fake dating. It's a complicated drama that isn't well thought out or established well enough to get excited about it. The characters haven't known each other long enough to get into the situations they do and actually care what happens.
The editing in this book is NOT good. The transitions between character POVs is terrible and lacking clarity in every chapter. I found myself having to go back multiple times because I didn't realize the setting had changed after a couple sentences. Dual POVs is fine with me in books but there's literally no spacing or chapter breaks to discern between them. There needed to be more build-up to the proposition of fake-dating as well as the time between fake-dating and real dating. It was all too much too soon. Very little about this book will stand out as memorable. The only good thing about this book is that it was a quick read. Definitely do no recommend.

I did not like this book at all, I thought it was very fragmented and the villain of the story did not get the consequences she deserved in my opinion. basically, everything did not tie up in a nice little bow.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for a early digital copy of The Perfect Date.

I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, it could be that I was expecting a cute romantic comedy about a baseball player that falls for a young single mother and essentially tries to woo her. But what this book actually is, is a romantic drama about a young single mother who becomes entangled with one of baseball's bad boys - the star pitcher of the New York Yankees who goes by "the Duke". There's little wooing here, the Duke is hardly charming and I'm not quite sure how I'm supposed to feel about this book.

Let's start positive though, and focus on what was done well here. Lozada is absolutely in her element creating a narrative with dramatic flair. The swanky parties and high brow clubs teem with the sort of drama you'd expect from a sports drama - only without any actual talk about sports. The whole thing is reminiscent of a reality TV program. It's super compelling if that's your thing. I'll admit it was entertaining to me.

Drama and expectations aside, my one complaint about this book would be that it could have been edited more. Descriptions of characters become repetitive, elements of the storyline could have been honed a little more, the entire thing seemed to lack some direction and polish that could have come from more editing. I realize that these are picky things, but when it comes to this genre I feel that editing makes a huge difference between cliched/tired and something new and memorable. While this isn't perfect, I think there is definitely an audience for it. I read this in a day, was entertained - and I'm sure there will be others who will be too. Overall it was a fair attempt at a distracting, escapist romantic drama.