The story intrigued me, the Taylor Jenkins Reid comparrison drew me in. However, that's where it stopped. I found the story long and drawn out. The whole feminist club was just too much for me. There are far too many details in this book, I don't need to know everything the characters feels. I can it, I'm.not much for inner dialog. I simply just lost interest. Sorry, can't love them. Right?

Can love be boiled down to a science? The Arc thinks so and so far has achieved a 100% success rate.

Ursula and Rafael are thrilled to be matched and smoothly transition into a happy duo, but after one disagreement it’s revealed there is just a single area in which they’re not a perfect match.

Can their relationship survive without a guarantee of success?

There are a lot of surprises in this one! I loved the twists and turns and that final jaw dropped.

I wouldn’t call this one just a romance, maybe a sci-fi romance?

An interesting twist on modern dating. All the facets were covered in an exciting but different way that kept things interesting.

the premise was so interesting and the relationship was really cute but ursula was hard to get attached to tbh and it ruined my experience with the book.

How far would you go for love? Would you pay 40,500 to meet the love of your life? This question is posed to Ursula in The Arc by Tory Henwood Hoen. Ursula had a non traditional childhood where she played alone and took care of herself for hours at a time from a young age. While this has turned her into a very self sufficient and successful Brooklynite, she’d like someone to come home to other than her cat.

This book felt a little alternate reality and I loved it! I was surprised and intrigued the entire time and it has left me thinking unlike most fiction. This one reminded me of The Farm by Joanne Ramos.

I didn't get the Taylor Jenkins Reid vibe here but that isn't a bad thing; interesting book premise and likeable characters. I'm always very wary of reading anything that even hints it falls in the romance category but this was interesting and worth the read.

The Arc was an interesting read. On the one hand, I loved the hyper-feminist world the heroine, Ursula, lives in. I'm obsessed with her club, The Stake, where you can take showers to Prince songs and then scream into a designated crying cube. Sign me up. On the other hand, Ursula's relationship issues were so glaringly obvious that I wanted her to go into therapy, not find love.

This is another story about having science find your perfect match, but it was written in such a way that kept my attention. I'm glad I pushed through some of the wordy descriptions living in Ursula's head to find the happy ending I knew we'd get.

What an interesting and unique premise this book was. The ARC is an app that promises to find you your perfect love match, in fact they guarantee it. What could go wrong...right? Ursula decides to give it a go and eventually ends up meeting Rafael. At first they seem perfect for each other, but then of course the newness and the novelty wears off and they begin to question if they really are meant to be together.

I really loved these characters, flaws and all. They were very realistic and I was cheering them on to stay together, they had such a romantically sweet relationship...even if Ursula did get on my nerves at times. I especially loved the dual points of view because it gave me a chance to get to know these characters as people.

This book begs the question...
is it science, hard work, kismet or just dumb luck that make people perfect for each other?

I think it's all of the above.

I'll start by saying I really really enjoyed this book. I loved Ursula and Issas friendship so much and thought the whole idea of the Stake was both hilarious and probable that it actually exists haha. I loved the writing and thought it was an easy fast read. Rafael was great and I loved how much he truly cared for Ursula and played into her little weird tendencies. The ARC was also a cool concept. I didn't really read much of the synopsis prior to reading the book but I feel like it almost gave away too much. The little "twist" near the end was really nice too, it showed how even though this may have been a fabricated relationship it was still real.

I'd recommend this book for others to read!

Thank you netgalley, St. Martins Press and Tory Henwood Hoen for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

The Arc reminded me of Christina Lauren's latest, Soulmate Equation. Unfortunately, I didn't love it quite as much as I loved that book, but I still enjoyed this one and the central relationship at the center!

Ursula and Rafael were incredibly interesting characters with an easy dynamic to fall into and be enraptured in. I really enjoyed the well flowing plot and would definitely recommend this to fans of light romance!

This book was certainly interesting and entertaining! A super fun premise - Ursula signs up for The Arc under a promise to find her soulmate. And, not surprisingly, The Arc delivers. Of course it's not as simple as they lead you to believe and there are some twists and turns in the relationship. Quite a quick read and very interesting!

Ursula Byrne has a history of proactively ending her struggling romantic relationships. Now she is ready to try anything to find the kind of love she's looking for. And for $40,500, the Arc promises her exactly that, a scientifically chosen partner that will be perfectly mesh with her personality. And they do, but is a "perfect match" really so perfect? And will she still manage to torpedo it?

Ursula and her best friend, Issa, hang out at The Stake; a feminist wellness club. This is a place where they can reflect on their lives and what is important. Ursula claims she is romantically retired. After four long term boyfriends she is giving up until she is given a card for the ARC. The ARC is a relationship architect dating service designed to match you with the perfect partner. It is an intense process, takes a week, and costs Ursula $40,000. She meets Rafael and he seems perfect but is that because the ARC deems them the perfect couple? It is not long before she begins to doubt herself. I thought the thought processes a couple goes through as they look at their relationship was realistic. The characters were true to life, a bit eccentric, but people you would like to know. I enjoyed the book.

I actually really enjoyed this book! I was immediately sucked in by the premise and I love all the dark and sarcastic undertone. Overall, I really loved The Arc, it was a really great read.

The Arc is an intelligent take on the science behind matchmaking and how people form genuine connections with on another. I enjoyed Ursula and Rafael and the way they embraced their weird. Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of The Arc.

The Arc offers an interesting premise; Can true love and compatibility be fabricated due to matched personality traits and history? If said relationship evolves is there pressure for it to be perfect and devoid of conflict due to the pressure both emotionally and financially?.I certainly think that at the beginning, Ursula and Rafael epitomizes this as they cannot believe they found each other and how quickly they became best friends and lovers. However, Ursula was determined as a perfectionist to set herself up for failure. She was so regimented and in need of control that the relationship and herself imploded. It is only taking a step back and determining that no relationship is perfect did she find her way.

Interesting premise for a story but it kind of freaked me out at the same time just imagining the lengths we could go to to find our perfect matches in the future. I also had a hard time connecting with the main character and found myself skimming a lot of the book. This one just wasn't for me.

3 Stars

I enjoyed this romance book. A fun take on what we resort to in order to find love, and the costs we pay (both figuratively and literally.

Thirty-five-year-old Ursula Byrne, VP of Strategic Audacity at a branding agency in Manhattan, is successful in all but her love life. She’s tried all the dating apps, and feels she is loosing hope in the male race.

Enter The Arc: a highly secretive, super-sophisticated matchmaking service that uses a complex series of emotional, psychological and physiological assessments to match partners that will go the distance. The price tag is high, but the promise gives a lifetime full of love and blissful companionship.

Ursula is paired with forty-two-year-old lawyer Rafael Banks. From the beginning this feels like the love they’ve each been seeking their whole adult lives. But as their relationship unfolds in unanticipated ways, the two begin to realize that true love is never a sure thing. And the arc of a relationship is never predictable...even when it's fully optimized.

Likeable characters, and a what could be very realistic part in the near future. I found myself questioning how much I would pay for the guarantee of true love. It also shows that nothing is perfect. That’s why I love these characters and story. Yes sometimes it all may seem good and shiny but dig deep and there’s some rust hiding under. Definitely a good read that I would recommend. Thank you for the ARC NetGalley