Three best friends, all unlucky in love, have tried all the usual ways to find love - even speed dating which was a disaster! Milo has been looking for Mr Right for a long time, and has always settled for Mr Right Now - and scared him off by using the L word too quickly. His sister Tamara has 3 children and a completely useless ex husband who was never there for his children, and has just got his girlfriend pregnant - his girlfriend who is young enough to be his daughter! Milo's best friend is Saffie and she has also had a string of awful ex boyfriends behind her - including the one she left at the alter when she realised that she didn't love him.

They all work together on a tiny niche magazine that has been owned by Milo and Tamara's family for years. When they hear about the 24 Hour Dating Agency, the 3 of them decide to sign up - although Saffie is only doing so to write an article for the magazine.

They all meet very unexpected dates - certainly not ones they would have chosen for themselves. Which of them will find true love, and which will ask for their money back? You will have to read the book to find out!

A lovely, light, funny story with a very feel good ending and just a touch of magic making it a perfect summer read. I loved it.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4796918253

Thanks to Head of Zeus (Aria) publishing, Netgalley and the author for an ARC of this book. I am leaving this review voluntarily and have not been compensated for it.

I loved this story - it sort of reminded me of 'He's Just Not That Into You' with its ensemble circle of amazing characters with friendship at the centre. Milo, Tamara and Saffie are not just looking for their soulmates, they are rebuilding their confidence in love after life has sent them many challenges. They help each other to take risks and support each other in a way that illustrates how friendship is as deep a connection as romantic love.
While the love interests in this book are really delightful (especially Harry), the way these three evolve as people is the real joy in the story.

I also love the idea of the 24 Hour Dating Agency and, in particular, the mysterious Dr Sheldrake's incredible intuition. It's true that as humans we can be incredibly shallow and miss the opportunity to meet the person that is maybe not who we would have picked, but is still the right one.

A wonderful, heart-warming story that made me smile.

This was an entertaining, well-written book. It was clever, fun and held my interest. I wanted to find out what would happen. I enjoyed this book and would read others by this author.

Firstly I’d like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for the eARC 🥰🥰

The 24 Hour Dating Agency is the story of Tam, Saffie and Milo and them finding their ways in love. They work together at their family run newspaper and decide to sign up for an agency who promise true love or a full refund!! What could possibly go wrong?

When I saw the cover and read the synopsis I thought the book would be light and fluffy but it really has some substance, especially with Tamara’s storyline, hers deals with some really tough subjects in regards to her children and ex husband. All 3 MCs have storylines that I wasn’t expecting, it made the book a deeper read for sure.

The book is super quirky and truly British 🥰🥰 It’s loving, revolves around family and deals with real life situations. Don’t judge a book by it’s cover!! ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

I absolutely love books that aren't just romance, and really highlight different people and personalities and how they all interact differently. By highlighting three women who work at a newspaper and their journey navigating dating and experience with the 24-hour dating agency, this book does just that, and brilliantly!

The story is unique, quirky, and something that will keep you interested throughout. It may be a lot of information for some, as it's three different stories in one, but I personally loved it so much!

The 24 Hour Dating Agency tells the story of three friends / coworkers, Tamara, Saffie, and Milo, who sign up for blind dates, promising to find their soulmates. Mary Jane Baker did a very good job at depicting each character’s story while entwining their relationships throughout the book. It was a fun read that I enjoyed! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher.

Once I got into this book, it was cute. I wasn't sold from the first few chapters however. I did feel like there was a lot going on in the story, but I did enjoy it.

I got excited with the concept: Insta dating and a guaranteed match. Who isn’t looking for their other half? However, the delivery was not what I had hoped. I had trouble engaging with the characters and didn’t relate to them.
This book was not what I had hoped.

I loved the idea of this book. The concept sounded great and the cast of characters was awesome. I loved the set up of the three friends/family working together on an oddball magazine and them signing up for a unique dating agency.

But sadly something just didn’t click for me with these characters. I found I didn’t care about them or how their story played out. It had three main characters and mostly we heard about Tamara’s awful ex-husband. Milo was almost ignored for large parts of the books.

When it came to the romance it felt like there was no actual romance and no build up. The characters seemed to go from dislike to kissing with almost no development of the relationship in between.

DNF - This felt like a very busy. There were too many completely different storylines going on. I couldn't relate to any of the characters and I felt like the characters weren't really introduced. You were expected to know these characters and their story already as if this was the second book in a series.

this was such an amazing book! i can't wait to read more from this author in the future! and once again, thank you to netgalley and the publisher for giving me an advanced copy!

I absolutely judged this book by the cover and was expecting a light romcom. There were humorous moments, but this book also tackled some deeper issues. I really appreciated the way Baker was able to weave the 3 stories together. Typically, it seems most authors will break apart perspectives by chapters, but Baker was able to transition between characters mid-chapter, and I was never once confused about what was happening. My only complaints, which are minor, are that I felt the book was a tad longer than necessary, but also tied up loose ends a little too quickly at the end, and I wish we had better physical descriptions of the main characters. I didn’t feel that I was able to fully picture each of them. It’s a great book for anyone looking for a fairly light read full of strong friendships and family drama, particularly someone familiar with the struggles of dating apps.

I always find myself intrigued with romantic matchmaking. As this is a central theme in The 24 Hour Dating Agency, I was super excited to read it! The three main characters, Tamara, Milo, and Charlie, were equally intriguing and Baker did a fantastic job making them come to life. The only issue with this is that I wanted more of each of their stories. I wasn't content with the alternating narrators/storylines. This book could have easily been a trilogy, with each book focusing on a single character's journey to find love. This is totally just a personal preference and does not dissuade me from picking up another title from this author in the future.

Thank you to Head of Zeus & Netgalley for the opportunity to review this ARC.

I DNF’d this book at 35%.

I thought the idea was very good & seemed to be well executed. The writing was lovely & flowed well. The characters are realistic & very well thought out with good back stories & personalities.

So why did I DNF? Partly, I felt that pacing was a little slow & it wasn’t grabbing my attention fully. But mostly, I strongly feel that this book wasn’t written for my demographic & I just couldn’t relate to any of the characters, which is a real shame but something I find really important when reading a book.

If the rest of the book carries on as well written as the first third, I have no doubt it would be an excellent read, just not written for people like me in mind!

This was an absolute treat!
I thoroughly enjoy this author's writing. She knows how to throw in that British humour and had me laughing quite a few times throughout.

I loved the relationships in this story. A fun chick-lit that truly let's you forget about the real world and let's you escape into the creative mind that is Mary Jayne Barker.

Milo, Saffie, and Tamara work together at The Throstle's Nest, a small family magazine. As their love life is not being as they wished (among other reasons), they decide to sign up for an adventure they saw in a pamphlet. Dr. Alison Sheldrake ensures she can find the right match for anyone – they need to sign up, fill out a questionnaire and have a 24-hour meeting.

Milo goes with open arms hoping to finally find a companion for life after several failed relationships. But to the astonishment of both of you, they already know each other.

Saffie doesn't believe she can find a partner in just 24 hours and goes more with the idea of gathering information so that she can write an article about the dating agency, for the magazine. What will happen if she likes the other person?

Tamara is at a bad stage in her life - divorced for a few years, her ex-husband is going to marry a younger and beautiful woman, feels old, would like to feel wanted again and have a full day of fun, without thinking about work and her children. Something you're used to as an editor and mother of three is that everything doesn't always go according to plan. How will the date go after a little unexpected change of plans? How will she react when she meets who has been chosen for her, someone with whom she has very little in common?

This book isn't just about the dates, but also about the magazine (which is in a transition phase), the life of Tamara and her children (of the past and how it's intertwined with the present/future), the new relationship of Tamara's ex-husband, among others.

It was a slow-start reading, but which I liked very much. It has more content than I expected initially. I felt that the characters are well developed and we get to know their past, which helps us to understand them better in the present.

These are 3 very different stories that are intertwined through friendship, love, a magazine, and destiny.

It was a wonderful surprise.

"Because sometimes it takes people a while to realize what they want."

4,5*

This was another absolute winner from Baker about three friends whose romantic lives were at a dismal stalemate. They end up going to the titular dating business to be matched up with someone who will be guaranteed to be their true love. The agency plans dates to last 24 hours.

The real charm of this book was the friendship among these three friends and the sensitive portrayals of their lives, thoughts, and feelings. I was especially drawn to Tamara’s story. Now in her mid 40s, her loser husband walked out on her when she got unexpectedly pregnant and he just couldn’t cope with taking care of a newborn. He also abandoned his teenage twins. And now he’s back seeking to enter their lives again. The depiction of her relationship with her older children and her adorable five-year-old was so very touching. She had the most unexpected match of the three friends, but the guy she ends up with is just so sweet and delightful.

This was a lovely book and I enjoyed it very much!

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book that I received from Netgalley; however, the opinions are my own and I did not receive any compensation for my review.

I am in two minds about this book. I did enjoy it but some aspects I really didn’t enjoy. I found it quite hard to follow all the characters are one point. A unique story though and it was easy to read, definitely worth a read

This was such a fun, quick easy read. The concept of going on a 24 hour date with your perfect match was a really fun idea and led to lots of funny moments between the characters. I really liked that we followed 3 characters, Saffie, Tamara and Milo, as they tried to find love and what they really want and need from life.
I adored the characters and how close they were as best friends, I also loved how they interacted with each other and the love interests. There was a lot of cute moments, funny moments and little bit of drama! I really enjoyed this book.

I really really liked this book. It was interesting to see how all three of these characters arrived to desperation in their dating lives, the ways in which they though their match provided through the agency wasn't right, and how they turned things around. Much more character development than usual, as typical of Brit lit, but I found that made the journey even more worth it. I was thrilled to discover that this author has a decent sized backlist that I hope to eventually get to discover!!