This ended up for being a bit middle of the road for me. I thought I would like it more than I actually did.

DNF, didn’t grab me. Just too weird from the get-go and I wonder if I am not a part of a generation that gets this mash up of sci-fi and dating…

Tony Henwood Hoen pens a self-aware, witty romance novel with The Arc. It's about an elite, prestige, expensive dating service that uses science to help users find their match. Protagonist Ursula Byrne realizes that while tech might help her find a match, she probably cannot hack love.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing this book with me. All thoughts are my own.

The Arc by Tory Henwood Horn is a book with an inventive concept -- a sort of extreme matchmaking service. Although I am not a rom com reader, I thought the book was OK.

Love is hard to find. How much would you pay for an algorithm to set you up with your perfect match? In the day and age of online dating, career women, and ghosting, I found the concept of The Arc to be absolutely fascinating. Two people drawn together by a company who guarantees a perfect match. But what happens when things aren't so perfect?

I really loved the concept of this book, and also appreciated the growth of the characters outside of their romance as well. It was a very interesting concept that took modern dating to a whole new level (well, for those who could afford it).

Tired of the endless dating apps, Ursula decides to engage the help of an elite matchmaking service. She is paired with someone who seems perfect on the surface but you really can't base everything on that. Interesting concept but a little two dimensional.

Great book and enjoyed the characters . loved the slight romance and the how well the group worked together. Overall a great book . I would read this author again.

Not for me. this was a DNF. Slow moving and the story line did not hook me, I need a rom com to be alittle more than this one gave.

Wow, this one was not what I expected. It had an interesting premise - this perfect dating app with 100% success rate of picking your perfect partner. If you've been bouncing around on dating apps, then this sounds really good! But I found the characters funny but odd. I never seemed to figure out what they were going to do next - the MC, the friends, anyone. The banter was witty and I liked the twists to keep the plot moving. I thought there were a few eye-rolling moments but for the most part, this one was highly entertaining!

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

Sorry. This one is a rare DNF. It had an interesting premise, but it didn't work out for me. It was a little out there for my taste. I'm not giving the book a rating on Goodreads, because I didn't finish it. Netgalley won't let pass this on to the publisher without a rating.

📖My Thoughts📖

How much would you pay to find the love of your life? I had some mixed feelings about this book for a bit. Was it cute? Absolutely! Funny? It definitely had its moments. Captivating? Here’s where I had some mixed feelings about it. There were times where I just thought “This is just too good to be true. I’m not even sure this would be completely realistic”, but I honestly couldn’t help myself. I just kept reading. I had to know how it ended. As I said, there were some parts that it just seemed to be stretching the truth just a smidge, however, it’s a book so, why not? Maybe there is a thing where two people are just that perfect for each other and hit it off right from the get go. This was a fun book. I’m not entirely convinced someone would pay as much as these two main characters did just to find someone they were meant to be with, but then again, who knows? Overall it was pretty heartwarming and sweet to read, and I rather enjoyed it. If you’re looking for a sweet happy ever after book, snatch this one up!
Thank you Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press and Tory Henwood Hoen for the opportunity to read and review this book. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Making your way through the complicated modern dating landscape, expecting to find the right partner can be downright overwhelming. In an area like NYC, with millions to chose from you may decide to stay single and focus on your career. Ursula has had a number of dysfunctional relationships that all ended in break ups. After an odd encounter with a woman at her exclusive health club (brilliantly ridiculous) she decides to try one more option...The Arc. Her match Rafael, is in the same boat dealing with previous rotten relationships. The Arc's very high tech process and steep price promises the "perfect match"...but is any relationship perfect?
We are taken through their hilarious budding relationship, crazy career conversations, friend get togethers and their first "fight". Will they recognize nothing is perfect or fall prey to the promises of this scientifically proven match?
Witty banter, amusing characters and some insight into making relationships work.

Throw yourself into the story, don't take it personally, keep the pages turning you will be glad you did!

I received a complimentary copy of this book, all opinions in this review are my own. Thank you St Martin's Press.

This book is definitely an odd one. The premise is a dating or match making service, There were moments I will remember but I'll be honest right up front and say this is not a book I enjoyed or would personally recommend. The characters are a bit wacky and have unusual interests, making it really hard for me to connect with them. I can tell the author wanted to spark discussions on themes of gender inequality and use satire when describing the idealistic world of matchmaking, but I think for the most part it missed its mark. I'm sad to say this one did not live up to its potential! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the chance to try out this book.

~3.5 STARS ROUNDED UP~

I really enjoyed my time spent reading this book overall, but I did have one main "issue" with it. The major downfall of this book for me was the insta-love.

Yes, I understand that Ursula and Rafael were matched through copious amounts of scientific observations/research; however, I feel like there still should have been more of an adjustment period. There was literally no settling into each other and trying to understand why they were even matched in the first place? It was kind of just like "wow I love you" in the first ten minutes of meeting. We never really got to see them form this strong bond overtime, which would've made the reader more inclined to being attached to their deep love for one another and in turn make us want to root for their relationship in the long term. Their "deep love" for one another felt a little surface-level to me.

I did really enjoy learning about Ursula and Rafael as individual characters and why they chose to pay SO MUCH MONEY in order to find their soulmate, I just didn't love them as a couple as much.

Sometimes I just need an easy, mindless book to reset my reading...even if I don't actually like the book. That's what happened with The ARC. The ARC is a super high end matchmaking service in NYC…and it’s also secretive and enigmatic. Ursula, a successful branding expert, is sick of traditional dating apps, so she decides to give The ARC a try. She’s matched with a lawyer named Rafael and the connection is instant and electric. But, it’s not that simple. The beginning of this book felt more like Sci-Fi Light / Brain Candy than a Romance and I was more interested in how this extreme version of matchmaking would play out and Ursula's career arc than I was invested in Ursula's and Rafael's future.

DNF

This was not for me. By just a few chapters in, I knew I wasn’t going to enjoy this one. I couldn’t stand the MC and was not invested in her story or the setting.

Ursula subscribes to The Arc, a super secret and super expensive dating service to find her perfect match when she gets paired with Rafael, an attorney. All seems to be going perfectly as the sparks are flying until they receive notification that there has been an error with their pairing. Should they trust the data and break it off now or continue down this unknown and possibly doomed path?

I did enjoy watching their relationship unfold and develop as well as their thought process of what is true love and how does it last. Nothing is predictable and especially not this relationship.

This book definitely falls into the women's fiction category but definitely not into one of my favorites.

Thank you Netgalley, Tory Henwood Hoen, and St. Martin's Press for sending me an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest and fair review.

Witty, hilarious and perfect on audio. A modern take on dating and finding love. So original, I loved it!

Thank you for my gifted copy. This was tough to get through but it very much could be the wrong book at the wrong time. I felt not super invested in so much of this but thank you for my copy!

I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Arc! The book explores how far we will go to find our "perfect mate" and do we trust science to find that for us? Quirky Ursula is a modern, successful woman who enjoys time with her friends at The Stake, an expensive women's wellness club where health is an immersive/emotional experience (although told in a witty/snarky way someone might describe "Goop" recommendations, I think I'd LOVE to visit it!). She joins The Arc, as scientific dating experience promising to match you with your perfect match and she matches with calm, grounded Rafael. The book explores what does it take to create and maintain relationships, even under "perfect" circumstances with imperfect people. The romance was sweet as was Ursula's cat, and although I had been hoping for more of a futuristic/dystopian story centering around the Arc premise, I absolutely loved the story I read--funny, witty, hopeful and imaginative.