Almost-30-year-old Zoey is new to NYC, and struggling to both make ends meet and avoid a panic attack on the subway. She's got a strange freelance job as a dating app ghostwriter, and the cafe across from her house has good coffee and free wifi. Unfortunately, it also has Table Thief, the man who stole the last day-old biscotti, and has taken up residence at the only good place to sit. Soon, the two are engaged in a daily war for the table. Who cares if he's cute? He's obnoxious.

Miles has been burned by his ex-fiancee, who left him for their yoga instructor. He's sworn off love, and it's making his day job difficult. Little does Zoey know, Miles works for a rival dating ghostwriting service (yes, there are two in this world), and the two of them are actually chatting with each other on behalf of their respective clients. In the real world, they're enemies. But online, they're flirting and maybe even falling for each other.

This has all the charm and warmth of a good rom com. There are obvious parallels to You've Got Mail, except no is being catfished by Tom Hanks, because neither of them knows they're talking to the other. The plot is a bit farfetched, but if you suspend disbelief and accept the wacky characters (ex-spouses with rival ghostwriting firms, eccentric '80s cult movie stars who own apartment buildings and give rent breaks to struggling artists), you'll enjoy the ride.

I haven't read anything by this author team before, but I'll definitely be checking out their other books. They've got a nice, light touch, and obviously good imaginations!

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the authors for the ARC to review.

I really enjoyed the story and I loved the concept of romance developing via text messages however, it was a little too slow for me. On saying that, it is a very entertaining and cute enemies-to-love story, perfect for a cozy weekend in bed!

A whimsical, cute love story and a fast paced book I read so far. It feels good to read this kind of modern and techy story. Though I feel like it's slow burn story, it still captures my heart. I enjoyed reading this book and so much fun joining the character to their own witty world.

The cover of this book was perfect and I really enjoyed how it looked. I just couldn't get into the plot. I don't feel like the characters had much going for them and it wasn't relatable to me. I had higher hopes for this book but i'm hoping that someone else will be able to connect better. The plot was lacking and the characters needed development.

This was a creative and unique romance plot that was incredibly fun to read. Skilton's writing style was a bit wordy, but the plot of the story kept me hooked.

When I read the synopsis, I was just expecting this to be a cute romance story, but I was pleasantly surprised that it was not only cute, but also delightfully funny.

Imagine a cross between Hitch and You’ve Got Mail. Except there are two “matchmakers” and they’re talking to “each other” on a dating app on behalf of their clients. They meet in real life, not knowing of the other’s ghostwriting job. And they both might be falling for both their client’s match (i.e. matchmaker) and the actual matchmaker.

😂 It was just really good! Them falling in love, not realizing who exactly they’re falling in love with. And when they meet in real life, it’s the classic enemies to lovers that I love.

And that poor table they fight over at the café! The interactions between Miles and Zoey is gold. I laughed out loud several times at their banter!

This light hearted modern day romance is sure to delight readers. Miles and Zoey work for competing ghost-writing companies who unbeknownst to each other, pen out the conversations for their clients (that of course are seeing one another), while also fighting for the same big table at a local coffee joint.

I had difficulties putting this book down as it caught my attention right from the beginning.

Thank you to NetGalley, Tash Skilton, and Kensington Books for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

My Review: Overall… Meh

The Pros: What worked for me

The premise of ghostwriting/copywriting was so unique! Now, I’m familiar with the concept of having someone else write content for you but I had never thought to apply it to a dating website.
I really liked the female protagonist in this story. She showed such great character development and was so easily relatable. Everything isn’t perfect for her and it shows through her personality – but all of that just made me love her more.

The Cons: What I didn’t like

This story took SO LONG to get going. According to my kindle, it only really picked up its pace around the 40% mark.
Things were just a bit too convenient for my liking. What do I mean by this? Well, let’s just say one character that is present in this novel has only purpose: to effectively remove all roadblocks. As much as I wish I had a fairy godmother in my own life, I don’t really like reading about such a character in a book because it doesn’t lead to any struggle on the part of the main characters. And life does not work out that nicely.
I did not like our male protagonist. He was whiny and rude – and it didn’t improve later on. I had very little sympathy for him, even though he had been cheated on and dumped by his fiancee. There was just no character development and his behaviour was inexcusable.
A very personal pet peeve of mine: I don’t like reading erotic scenes. And this novel had one that I was just not expecting.
At the heart of it all, my biggest issue with this novel was the ghostwriting setup itself. While I found it to be very unique, I didn’t envision it the way the authors wrote it. It was just fundamentally immoral. I thought the protagonists would be writing while their clients watched on, or there would be some kind of screen-share situation (similar to when you need IT help); I never expected the protagonists to have free rein over someone else’s account to use as they see fit! I get that it was done to advance the plot, but it just felt wrong to me, no matter how I looked at it.

Overall, this novel was okay. If it weren’t for the heroine in this story, I would probably have DNF’d it. While it may not be the worst contemporary romance I’ve read, it certainly wasn’t the best. For those reasons, I’m giving it 2.5/5 stars.

Ghosting: A Love Story by Tash Skilton
2.5/5 (spoilers ahead)

While I thought there were some parts of this novel that were cute, I was personally not a huge fan of this one. However, I am sure that people who enjoy the haters to lovers or fake dating tropes (both of which I am not a huge fan of) would enjoy this one!

One thing I thought was interesting, and a nice change, was having the majority of the chapters begin with memos from the respective companies that the main characters work. Some of them were a bit random but there was a story line within the memos which I found different than any other novel I’ve read before, and which I liked!

Another thing I liked was the exploration of family dynamics. This was lightly touched on but could've been discussed further, with Zoey having a much different dynamic with her family than Miles. I also enjoyed the theme of chosen family, like with Zoey and Mary and their relationship, which was sweet and endearing.

This novel starts with two ghost writers for dating profiles who eventually fall for each other - at the same time they know each other in real life, end up living in the same apartment building and fight for a table at a coffee shop - all of which seems quite juvenile to me, personally. What I could not get over was the fact that both main characters worked for companies that basically helped people lie on dating sites - that didn’t sit well with me throughout the story. Is that even a thing - can you hire someone to be you on a dating app?? Is that even a thing?

Another thing that I noticed in this book was that Zoey’s anxiety is heightened more so throughout the book, had it been the same from the beginning of the novel I wouldn’t have found it so strange, but it seemed to be heightened in the middle of the novel which was interesting to me. Similarly, the storyline of Zoey’s use of weed for her anxiety was sort of randomly brought up, and I am fairly certain NYC has medical marijuana legalized so she would’ve been able to use it.

Finally the last thing that bothered me a lot was the many times in this novel that trashed on either New York City or California. While characters (and people) are allowed to have their own opinion, I was not a fan of how many sentiments there were about California only being good for the fact that weed is legalized there.

Overall there were a solid few things in this novel that irked me. The story line was interesting, but something that I could not get over was the deception behind their jobs! However, I would recommend this to people who would like to read something that is a combination of fake dating and haters to lovers tropes!

A huge thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the ARC e-book.

I am loving this romance reading streak I got going on. It makes it hard to review romance books though just became they all have about the same structure. I will say that I really enjoyed the mother daughter relationship that Zoey and Mary had especially with Zoey's parents being so absent from her life. I also liked the relationship that Miles had with his boss Leanne. There is also great representation with all the characters. There is some ghosting at the end so if you don't like it no matter the reason I wouldn't suggest reading it. Even if he was dealing with some stuff he could have just texted that he needed a couple days or even just explained what happened. Communication is key people. I did like the twist that they did with You've got Mail. It was new and fresh. The main characters work with companies that people that use online dating to edit their profiles to make their profiles more appealing and even act like their clients in the chatrooms. It was a great way to make Miles much more than the grumpy coffee shop guy.

*Thank you Netgalley for providing me a copy for an honest review*

3/5 Stars.

I have mixed feelings about this book. While I did kinda enjoy the plot and the romance, I found that I often left the story and didn't want to pick the book back up. I'll admit this may just be a personal thing and have nothing to do with the actual book, but it affected my enjoyment. I did feel like I was constantly rolling my eyes at the characters. While sure there were some cute moments that I really enjoyed, there was just something missing. Also, don't even get me started on the characters that our main characters were ghostwriting for. I really couldn't stand them at all. Overall this was an average read for me, It was an easy read and I didn't mind the plot.

Another DNF for me. I tried to like this one, but I just couldn't. Again the female lead was hard for me to like. She was a little obnoxious from page one.

This was okay, but just didn’t do it for me. I didn’t really buy the story of how Zoey and Miles “met” or their connection. They were quirky, but it was definitely not a modern you’ve got mail as it’s been pitched. Thank you Netgalley and Kensington books for my advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Ghosting: A Love Story by Tash Skilton, Sarah Skilton, and Sarvenaz Tash, and my first book by these authors. I really wanted to like this book, but I didn't. I didn't like the main characters, and the book was really slow for me. I was really drawn to uniqueness of this book, but I really struggled with finishing it.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

The tag line is what got me, in addition to the cover of course. This book, I got to say, was very smart, unique, and witty. It definitely kept me entertained throughout. The inner monologues from the characters definitely made the story even more enjoyable. One of my favorite tropes in a book is an enemies-to-lovers trope. This did just that. Who wouldn't love it?

3.5 stars

This had great banter between the main characters and humor throughout the story. This was a slow burn that at times seemed a bit too slow for me. I was ready for things to happen a bit sooner in the story. Can’t wait for another book from this author duo.

Thank you to the publisher for the free review copy

I wanted to love this so much. But I couldn't connect with Miles and Zoey. It just moved too slow for me. While they had great banter between each other, I just couldnt connect. I did enjoy Tash's writing, especially all of the emails and messages added.

This was a hilarious, fun twist on Cyrano/You’ve Got Mail with fun characters, fantastic banter, and some of the best absurdist humor I’ve read (Hotel the !!!)

I had a difficult time getting into this book. I did not find the characters very relatable and I did not connect well with them. I really wanted to enjoy this book, but it just wasn’t for me!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced digital copy of this book!

This book was amazingly cute! It’s the perfect everything read. I loved the cute banter, the argue over the “good table” and free biscottis, and how they had such similar jobs, that happen to I think be a little of our worst nightmare, that end up benefiting the good. It’s like The Hitch in book form.

Writing style was excellent, you stayed engaged, and rooting for them even in their low or not so flattering moments. Definitely recommend!