One of the most unique romances I've read, with a sharp and entertaining premise anchored by interesting characters. Satirical, though-provoking, and ultimately very charming.

Ursula Byrne is a busy executive who wants a better way to meet her soul mate. Dating apps are terrible and don't work for her. Meet The Arc. An expensive but supposedly better way to meet quality people. Will it work and is it worth the expense?

I LOVED THIS BOOK SO MUCH! If I did a top whatever books of 2022 this would be on it! I connected with this story so much on so many levels. Ursula’s story and situation resonated with me down to my core. I recall a part where Ursula is describing how she feels and what happens to her in a relationship and I felt like the author reached into my soul and pulled out how I felt without my brain even being aware that THAT was exactly how I felt. I love the unconventional way that Ursula and Rafael got together, and it is definitely not something I would be ballsy enough to do (or have the finances for lol.)

I finished this book a couple of weeks ago (prior to release date) and waited to write my review because I wanted to be able to describe better how much I loved it, but I’m still struggling with finding the right words.

I cannot wait to reread this book and hope you will consider picking it up and giving it a try!

Ursula Byrne, the VP of Strategic Audacity for a branding agency in NYC, is 35 and single; she’s tried all the dating apps, but they’ve been a disaster. When a woman tells her about The Arc, a secretive agency that promises to find you your ideal match by going much more in depth than any other dating agency. Ursula is paired with Rafael Banks, a 42-year-old lawyer. The connection between them is deep and immediate, but as their relationship progresses, they discover that even a promised love is not without bumps or fights.

Do people like Ursula and her friends really exist? She is a piece of work, although at least she realizes in the end how she is sabotaging her own life. This book is very pretentious, although you can definitely feel the connection between Ursula and Rafael. I think this will be hit or miss depending on whether people like the tone of the book. If you would like a book satirizing feminism, rich people, etc., check this one out. Otherwise, I suggest giving it a pass. If you’re looking for a romance novel, please note that this is not your typical romance.

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me an ARC of this book.

I have been trying to read this book for 3 days and I can’t get passed 20%. I can’t connect with it, it feels unnecessarily pretentious and I just can’t try to force it on my self anymore. My apologies.

DNF at 20%

This is an intriguing concept but doesn't hold the interest of the reader. There are some interesting things to say about genre fiction and plotting in general. The audience for this book but be off the target.

The Arc definitely wasn't like anything I've read before. A book where they charge a crazy amount of money and put the people through insane testing to determine compatibility with others. I was sold by its inventiveness. I enjoyed Ursula's personality right off the bat. When she's finally matched with Rafael, I found his character to be completely perfect for her. And that's where I'm going to stop. I won't give away any of the plot twists for the book. Let's just say it isn't as cut and dry as it sounds. It's clever, inventive and timely. But these two characters matching with the help of this dating agency is just part of the story. There's much more to it.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. I voluntarily read and reviewed it and the opinions contained within are my own.

I wanted to love the ARC, an interesting premise with a mature, career-driven MC, Ursula. Ursula takes a chance on a comprehensive approach to finding her perfect match, taking a chance on an expensive service known as the ARC.

However, after a couple tries to get into the book, I finally stopped at 28%. I found it a bit slow and maybe too much emphasis on Manhattan wealth. I wish I could have pushed through and wish that she met her match earlier (at 28%, we still haven’t met the other MC). There was really great potiential for this novel, but I just wanted something to happen earlier to keep me engaged.

How much would you pay to be matched up with your perfect person? $100? $1000? $10000? Well for the bargain price of $40-$50K, The ARC could be perfect for you.

This is a well written story of Ursula and Rafael being paired together through The ARC. The story has the right amount of twists and turns to keep the story going and a good pace. I enjoyed the satire in the writing and really want to advocate for a local The Stake!

A drawback I found is that this story wasn’t overly original. Between The Soulmate Equation and The Love Hypothesis

4 stars

Thank you to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

As I started this story, I was convinced it wasn't going to be for me. I'm not one to easily buy into scream therapy, aligning chakras, and a lot of the hippy dippy stuff that seems to be the in thing with the younger generations. After all, I'm old...so I just grumpily yelled at the kids to get off my lawn and plowed on...and I actually really enjoyed myself. A romance is a romance, regardless of the details, and this one was well done and gave me warm squishies...maybe that was just my chakras finally realigning!!!

Interesting And Controversial Story. This is one of those stories that is off-beat enough that it really defies normal conventions in most every way except the obvious: ultimately, it checks every single box to be a romance novel even according to the strictest definitions I am aware of. Now, it turns out to be a very angsty romance novel filled with some unique characters and twists and turns that few romance novels are prepared to attempt, but ultimately it *is* a romance novel. And while I debated internally of 4 vs 5 stars due to pretty heavy handed feminist preaching, one scene in the back of the book redeemed it just enough that I feel comfortable not deducting a star over it - though I won't detail which scene here. It will be obvious to most readers once they get there. :) Still, a lot of the quirks that other reviewers commonly panned this book over - The Stake women's club, the cocktus cactus-styled vibrator, even the quick banter ala Gilmore Girls (my own connection, I didn't see others panning that one) - were things that stood out as interesting and funny enough to keep me interested. Then there is the billionaire our female lead gets tangled up with, who always struck me more as Mike from Madam Secretary but who one character portrays as Gordon Gecko. Absolutely read the other reviews, as this book truly won't be for everyone. But if you like *late* late night offbeat comedy... maybe give this one a chance. If that type of story isn't your thing... yeah, you may not like this one. Very much recommended.

An out of the ordinary romance with flawed characters and great ideas (The Stake!) The plot was a fulfilling example of adult life in NYC and the quirky characters carried it along well. Hoen has great energy and a flowing vibe which is felt throughout the entire story. This was an enjoyable read!

There were a lot of things I enjoyed about The Arc; the female friendships, the character backstories, and the spot on description of dating in your 30's. I thought all of the angst surrounded Ursula's career could have been truncated. But overall a decent read.

The Arc by Tory Henwood Hoen
When I read a blurb about The Arc by Tory Henwood Hoen saying that if I was a Taylor Jenkins Reid fan that I would love this book. So of course I HAD to read it, being a big TJR fan. Sad to say, I was disappointed. This was nothing like a TJR book in my opinion.
Ursula is successful yet single and very underwhelmed with her options. She complains a lot to her BFF Issa. They both belong to a posh feminist wellness club which I found pretty over the top. I wasn't sure whether to roll my eyes, laugh or toss the book. Ursula ends up discovering The Arc which a super secretive and sophisticated matchmaking service. It claims to find your ideal mate. She's matched up with Rafael and everything seems to be going quite well for the couple. Until it doesn't anymore.
Everything annoyed me about this book. Ursula in particular. This book was definitely not for me.

Thank you Netgalley for the advanced readers copy in exchange for my review.

I enjoyed this book. The prose was well-written, and the characters were dynamic and jumped off the page. I thought the story was interesting and the plot kept me guessing.

I got about 15% in and didn't love this one and thought it was trying a little too hard to be trendy yet ironic? If you wanted romance with a twist, you might try this.

In THE ARC, we follow Ursula and Rafael both in their late 30s/40s and are sick of the way dating life has become so virtual. And so they decide to visit The Arc, where soulmates are brought together through high-tech science. When these two meet, they begin to discover that they may be soulmates, until real life infiltrates.

THE ARC is a book I was incredibly excited for, and it is...ok if you want a dystopian and kind of bizzare story similar to THE SOULMATE EQUATION by Christina Lauren. I wanted to like this book more, but found it to be overly done when it comes to vocabulary used and the non cohesive statements regarding feminism and capitalism. I do think others could enjoy it, I just wasn't the best reader for it.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing the arc of The Arc by Tory Henwood Hoen in exchange for my honest review.

The Arc could be described as a rom-com for people who don’t like rom-coms. It is a love story for the modern age of dating apps and independent women who need to control every aspect of their lives. I mean, I honestly thought this was my kind of love story.

We meet Ursula Byrne, whose job title is literally VP of Strategic Audacity, at a feminist health club in Manhattan. After being introduced to the Club, it took a lot to keep reading, but I pushed forward. Ursula is a fiercely independent 35-year-old woman who’s had terrible luck when it comes to dating. While at the ridiculous Club, she is handed a card for The Arc, a new-age matching-making service for people willing to spend a lot of money to meet their ultimate match.

Ursula decided to give this Arc a try. After a week-long lock-in, she walks away feeling great but questioning if it will work. She is matched with Rafael. They are perfect for each other in every way, or so they thought.
I had such a tough time reading this book. I never connected with Ursula. I found the way she treats people to be rude and disingenuous. Her frustration with her job is entirely understandable, yet she won’t do anything to fix it. Then we met Rafael, and I wanted to like him. I wanted to like them together, but I found myself rolling my eyes. Rolling my eyes a couple of times is fine, but when I took a week off from the book and returned to more eye-rolling, I knew it was time to move on. I raced through the end of the book, hoping something would happen to change my mind. In the end, I didn’t connect with The Arc at all. I know plenty of people will love these characters and their story, but I’m not one of them.

The premise of this book sounded so interesting, when I read the description, however it was a lackluster story that I got bored as I continued to read The Arc.

Ursula and Rafael want to find a perfect love, and are willing to spend a lot of money for it. The Arc is a high end matchmaking service that promises to match couples after a series of tests and observations. At first when Ursula and Rafael met, it was practically love at first site, but after a minor disagreement, it is learned a mistake was made by the Arc, and they should immediately dissolve their relationship.

This book was so droll, that even the conflict was boring. The idea of this book on the surface reminded me of John Marrs’ The One which I absolutely loved. While that had a thriller element, this is the nice calm version of this story. I found that our two main characters especially Ursula were so cumbersome to read about. Especially, Ursula who seems to be having a mid life crisis at times.

While I did stick with this one all they way through, it was just because I invested so much time reading it. Stronger start than middle and ending. If you decide to pick this one up, I would be interested in hearing your thoughts on this one.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really liked this book. It's based on a dating social experiment where you pay a lot of money and then go to the company to stay and they delve into all aspects of you as a person and find your one true match. One of my favorite shows is Love Is Blind - a social experiment reality show where people fall in love site unseen so this book had this vibe for me. It's actually something I can see as the new way to date in the future.

I loved the characters. Ursula and Rafael were very likable and completely compatible. I felt like I felt everything that they did. I smiled, laughed, and even cried with them. The ending was a little different. I'm not sure if it was a twist or not but I figured it's something The Arc was doing.

It does start a little slow but once they meet it seems to pick up. I love that Ursula is quirky and how Rafael is smitten with her. It made sense that their relationship would be instant with being told that they were perfect for each other.

This was fun and I'd recommend it to those who like romance.