This book had a cute premise but the execution didn't really work. The characters weren't well developed so I never really cared about the characters. Also, the meet-cutes and the relationships between Mia and her possible suitors felt forced. The entire plot felt slow and made parts of the book difficult to read. This book had the potential to be great but it was just kind of okay.

Mia needs a date to her sisters wedding so her friends decide to stage meet cute moments for her to find a guy to bring to the wedding. Mia's been so focused on school and her extracurriculars and helping her sister plan the wedding that she hasn't had time for boys. Where this book lets me down is that I thought that each meet cute moment was a little too short. I also didn't feel the romance between Mia and the guy she ends up with was well developed. She did some things wrong and so did he and I was waiting for an apology on his part and that never happened. But regardless it's nice to see an own voices story where a Black girl is just looking for love. It's also nice to see a normal healthy Black family where no one is being oppressed. We need more stories like this.

Hand this one to anyone looking for a cute teen romance between a boy and a girl. Also, the “meet cute” part will appeal to those fans who usually look for that in fanfiction stories. It’s own voices. Enjoyable, cute, and fun.

Super cute and fun rom-com! I enjoy the premise and this read very quickly. I definitely will be recommending it to some of my students who are looking for a fun, romantic read with an enjoyable cast of characters. Thank you netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

The Meet-Cute Project is a great YA rom-com. Mia finds herself in a tight spot - big sister Sam is engaged, and has told Mia she needs a date for her wedding. Mia, a star swimmer and mathlete, has no interest in finding one. So her friends set her up on "meet-cutes" to help her find a date.

This book felt so real and grounded in reality for me, but it is a little unrealistic that Sam, a type A planner, would let anyone Mia found stand with her bridal party at the wedding and be in all the photos. But outside of that, The Meet-Cute Project is a delight and I'd happily watch a tv adaptation.

This was just okay which is disappointing because I really really wanted to like it. This fell on the very young adult side of the spectrum and maybe that’s why I didn’t enjoy it as much. Over all it was just okay.

The Meet-Cute Project was... fine. If you're a fellow librarian, I think it would be a good buy for a library where traditional rom-coms are in high demand with teens, especially if you're trying to find more books with Black protagonists.

There were moments I liked and moments I didn't. Rhiannon Richardson hits all the romance beats, and the plot moves smoothly, if predictably. Ultimately it's anywhere near as funny as Save the Date, and it lacks the warmth and beautiful ordinariness of To All the Boys.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the advanced review copy!

4/5 stars

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Mia has her hands full--it's her junior year of high school, she's in the math club, she's on the swim team, and she's an excellent student. Not to mention she's been helping her sister, Sam, prepare for her wedding. Sam is a little obsessed with making everything perfect and has been relying on Mia a lot. However, she catches Mia off-guard when she forces Mia to bring a date to the wedding. Looking for a date is the last thing Mia wants to do; she doesn't have much free time and her options are limited. Her friends decide Mia needs a meet-cute like in rom-coms. They take turns setting her up for these meet-cutes and all kinds of chaos ensues.

This was such a cute YA romance story! Mia was a relatable main character--overwhelmed high school student struggling to deal with life and find a date. As cute as this story was, there were also some deep moments. I really appreciated how this book wasn't one of those cheesy YA insta-love stories where the MC lives a perfect life. Mia's struggles and relationships with friends and family were realistic and really added to the story. Also, I loved the whole concept that love cannot be forced which Mia has to learn the hard way.

The ending was a bit lacking in my opinion. I wanted a bit more closure, but that's just me. In the end, this story was cute and fun, but it also had deep moments. I'd definitely recommend this book to fans of YA rom-coms!

This YA romance was utterly delightful and adorable, the perfect one-sitting read to get sucked into on a cozy Sunday, because, guilty. Here, teenager Mia has a jam-packed schedule between classes, friends, and her growing extracurriculars. Thanks to all of that and how nervous she gets around boys, she's single. For her older sister Sam's upcoming wedding, she instructs Mia to find a date for the big day to help balance out the wedding photos since she's the only one sans a partner. To do so, her three best friends play matchmaker and arrange a series of meet-cutes to help Mia meet some prospective dates. It's such a cute premise and the characters and language are so authentic and relatable, I can't help but get sucked into this book. In addition to the blind dates, then there's the jerkish Ben who she has a crush on by her besties don't approve and Gavin who works at the community garden she starts to volunteer at, so this love triangle gets a bit bigger. She and Gavin have a completely organic meet-cute all on their own and made me scream out, several times, to just tell each other how they feel because it was so painfully obvious and I just wanted that be endgame here. As all of her friends setups go awry in different ways, she turns to Gavin like a Cyrano type to ask for advice from a boy's perspective. This book was so captivating that I just couldn't put it down and ended up finishing it in a single sitting. This quick read is absolutely, positively cute, and that ending, however predictable, was just adorable.

Thank you so much, Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this ARC.

The Meet-Cute Project is any rom-com lover’s dream. When Mia’s bridezilla sister Sam entasks Mia with the task of finding her own date to the wedding, Mia’s at a loss. Between the swim team, school, and all of Mia’s extracurriculars (literally -- I don’t think there’s a club she wasn’t involved in), she doesn’t really have time for dating. Luckily for her, Mia’s rom-com obsessed best friends have an idea: The Meet-Cute Project. The three of them will scout for potential date options, and arrange a meet-cute for Mia. Their prize? The satisfaction of being right, a Starbucks gift card, and Mia’s problems being solved.Enter the prospects: Kelvin, a cute guy who works at the hardware store; Richie, a swimmer on the boy’s swim team; and Ben, the guy Mia’s been pining for the last two years.

As if getting straight A’s, being involved in every club, and helping Sam with her wedding isn’t enough, Mia is also trying to run for president of her school’s honor society. In a ploy to spend more time with Mia, her mother encourages her to volunteer at the garden with her. There, she meets Gavin -- a boy her age, another volunteer, and someone who she becomes fast friends with.

But when each prospect seems to take an unexpected turn, Mia decides to take things into her own hands. Will Mia find a date in time for her sister’s wedding?

I was immediately invested in The Meet-Cute Project -- I’m a sucker for meet-cutes, meet-uglies, slow burns, friends to lovers, and The Meet-Cute Project did not disappoint. The amount of times that I had to put the book down, pace around my room and just say “CAN THEY JUST GET TOGETHER YET?” was probably comical. If any of my neighbors heard me screaming at 11 pm, I’m terribly sorry.

The Meet-Cute Project was simply so refreshing. While I love so many rom-com tropes, I love it even more when the characters aren’t white. There’s something so powerful in seeing authors reinvent these tropes and genres. I loved how joyful The Meet-Cute Project was too; while a little stressful at times (okay, maybe I’m just impatient), it was a generally happy story.

The entire time I was reading this, I kept thinking about how it reminded me of She Loves Me. While some of this book was predictable, I didn’t find myself minding at all. In fact, the predictability was what made it good. I loved the call back to other rom-coms as well, and I’ll be sure to add the ones I haven’t already watched to my to watch list.

Mia’s relationships with her best friends was one of my favorite things about this book. I’m very character-driven, and I really enjoyed the witty banter they all had. It was also evident how much they all cared for one another. Their willingness to do whatever they could to support Mia. and how they also voiced their discomfort with some of Mia’s choices was reminiscent of that of a true, healthy friendship.

I had a lot of trouble connecting with Sam initially. Whether it’s because I don’t have siblings, or because the way she came across just didn’t sit right with me - some of her words towards her sister felt manipulative and mean. But as the book unfolded, and we got to learn alongside Mia why Sam acted the way she did, I came to understand her a bit more.

Overall, I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a fast and fun read, especially one that is filled with only the kind of joy that rom-com movies can bring to you. A wonderful debut for Richardson, and I cannot wait to see what she writes next!