This was a really cute story. I wasn’t a fan of how the one male characters narration was done. At one point I was also confused as to what was going on. Did enjoy the overall story.

The Many Dates of Indigo by Amber D. Samuel is a fun, light, read about an independent female entrepreneur in Houston, TX, who is soon to turn the big 3-0. Her mother is throwing her a huge party (that she doesn’t really want) and pressuring her to find a date. I’m fact, all of her family and friends are pressuring her to find a partner. Everyone, that is, except Tate - Indigo’s long time childhood friend (briefly college boyfriend) and now her best friend/neighbor/dog sitter/eater of all her delicious cooking and leftovers. “It’s complicated,” is an understatement. Tate is everything Indigo wants in a man, but for some reason (unknown to the reader for most of the book) he is not an option as a boyfriend.

So Indigo proceeds to get set up by friends and date a couple of guys. The title of the book led me to believe that she would be dating lots of guys. I kept waiting for more to be introduced into the story. But she really only dates two guys through the course of the book. For that reason, I was a little let down from my expectations. Maybe I was picturing more of a Groundhog Day of dating?

Although it was different from what I expected, I did enjoy the book. I liked Indigo as a protagonist. She is a strong, confident female who has a fierce work ethic and drive. She runs her own designer clothing/shoe store in a very affluent Houston neighborhood. I realize this is fiction, but that is not an easy thing to break into and sustain. She loves her family and is close with them, while also having close female friendships too. I found myself thinking I could learn from her on how much time and effort she invests in her family and friend relationships. Oh, and she has a giant fur baby, Gambit. Who is a character himself throughout the book. Who doesn’t love a dog in a book?

I would recommend this as a light, ChickLit, friends to lovers, romance read. The “Romance” portion was pretty tame.

Special thanks to Dreamscape Media for the audiobook ARC via NetGalley.

This was cute. I wish the mc would have gone on more dates with some people. I also felt like the relationship with Tate was good but could have used more depth. But overall I enjoyed my time.

This one tells the story of 29 year old Indigo, an entrepreneur who is finally ready to get back in the dating scene after focusing on family and work for too long. There are several secondary characters in this one, as you might expect by the title, as there are a few potential love interests. Indigo's best friend, Tate, lives next door and is essentially part of her (large) family. Through her work friends Hazel & Emery, she meets Nathan, who is the first "date" as described in the title. She also has an enemies-to-lovers trope start up with Diego, a horrendous customer, who also happens to be the person who replaced her father in the family business when he retired AND the former college roommate of both Tate and her brother-in-law Xavier.

I found things pretty predictable and while I really liked some of the characters, I really didn't like others. I'm not 100% sure if this was the fault of the author or the narrator though. With so many male characters, it might have been a good idea to consider having two narrators. I really disliked the voice of Nathan in particular. I also really hated Diego's character, and the voice didn't help for that one either. In general, the writing was good and there was really thoughtful character development, even with so many characters. I do think I probably would have preferred (and stuck with) a physical copy of this one. I do think I'd recommend it, more in the physical form than audiobook, but if you're an audiobook fan then it might be the right book for you!

Indigo is on the cusp of 30 and reflecting on how her life isn't exactly what she dreamed it would be. She has a great family, a successful career as an entrepreneur, but her love life is sad. She hasn't been in real love since college when she was dating her best friend. It has a long list of Mr. Wrong, Wrong, Wrong. Indigo decides she is ready to find the right one. She begins dating in earnest with one a good prospect and then another. All the while there is the friendship with her best friend and former lover Tate. They worked really hard to build the friendship back and despite a connection, she doesn't want to risk the friendship. Who will Indigo choose to go into her future with? It didn't take long to realize where this story was going. The story was cute, but one deep conversation and this would not have been a book. One of her suitors was a giant red flag, and I just could not wrap my head around that situation. The characters are fun, great relationships and family throughout.

Im still trying to figure out if i liked this book i went back and forth with the audio and the ebook didnt really like narrator of the story but i also felt like i rushed through and didnt really care for the characters.

Really cute friends to lover rom-com. It was simply just ok to me. I didn’t really connect with all the characters and expected a little more from the story. It does touch on some heavy subjects so I suggest to look up trigger warnings.!

Read this if you want a cute story about finding love and defining success on one's own terms. Indigo was a fun and headstrong lead and her relationships with her siblings and friends were almost more fun than her dating pursuits. The narration was hit or miss so I would potentially recommend the paper book over an audio copy. I had some conflicting feelings about the way addiction was portrayed but overall I thought this was a cute low stakes read. See the content warnings as there were a few sensitive topics.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for this ALC!

The Many Dates of Indigo is a friends to lovers second chance romance. Indigo is a smart, ambitious woman with a thriving shoe store. She is surrounded by best friends who love her, and a supportive family. She has everything she wants but as her 30th birthday is approaching she begins to feel the pressure of being in a stable long term relationship. Indigo decides to start casually dating in the hopes of finding the "right" man. As she begins to go on these dates we also get a glimpse into her relationship with her best friend once lover Tate. Indigo and Tate are childhood best friends who tried the whole romance thing. It didn't work out. We are left in the dark as to the events that led to their separation. Now several years later they're closer than ever but Indigo thinks it will never work out.

I really enjoyed watching Tate and Indigo's friendship. I could feel their connection even though Indigo was set on exploring to separate relationships. We get a couple of corny and at times cringe worthy cheesy scenes. The relationships with the other two characters didn't feel as developed as the one with Tate, especially the relationship with the lawyer.

I did enjoy how Samuel included hard and honest conversations that couples can experience. I also enjoyed all the descriptions of food in the novel. It always made me hungry as I was reading.

Romance is not generally a genre I gravitate towards and I would like to continue to explore the romance genre to find what I like. As a newbie to romance this was a solid, entertaining read.

Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC of The Many Dates of Indigo.

Cute friends to lovers to friends to lovers romance book, with a somewhat predictable plot. The story dragged a bit in the middle - the bits with the other love interests were too long and in depth and just frankly unnecessary, and the "true love" relationship was hinted at waaaay too much throughout. But what irked me the most was the writing. I think this author wrote this with a thesaurus because no two hair colors were described the same. We couldn't just say brown or brunette or blonde, oh no - we got "honey" and "chestnut" and "auburn" and "mocha" (also why all the foods??). Coffee couldn't just be coffee - it also had to be "java" and "caffeinated beverage." It was just too much. I think it wanted to sound sophisticated but it tried too hard. Tl; dr - cute story, little too long, not great writing. 3.5/5

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. The narrator read to fast in this audio, and when I tried to slow the audio down, it became to slow. I couldn't find a place where I could focus on reading the book, though the parts of the story that I did read, I did like.

DNF at 30%. I’m sorry I really like the story so far but the narrators are not to my liking. I am having so much trouble wanting to keep reading because I am not a fan of the narration. Will be picking up an ebook or paperback to finish reading though.

Listen if you like:
☝🏻 One Narrator
❤️ Romances
🥈2nd Chances
🥂 Dating
👠 Shoes

This books is pretty cute! Only features Indigo who is finally looking to find a relationship that will end in marriage. She has a couple options the cranky lawyer, the friends cousin with some skeletons in his closet, and her best friend whom she dated back in her teenage years.

This one definitely has you going between who will she end up with between the three? The childhood sweetheart, the nice guy, or the super successful lawyer like her parents?

You’ll have to read this one to find out! One thing to note is I didn’t enjoy the narrator’s attempts at a male voice so that was one aspect of the audiobook that I didn’t like.

Thank you to the publisher for my ALC in exchange for my review!

Indigo is trying hard to live her life the way she wants to while trying to forever live up to her mothers truly difficult, judgmental self. That she isn’t already married to the “right” man and have given her grandchildren is yet another disappointment to add to her mothers list. That Indigo is a smart, good, kind successful business woman living her best life doesn’t really matter to her mother. Along the path to her finding her forever love and HEA she is stymied as she is constantly trying to use the list her mother has convinced her is what she needs and anything else is unacceptable. On paper the men she dates seem right. In reality, not so much. Ultimately when she opens her heart, lets go of the past and sees what is in front her of she gets her HEA. It was somewhat predictable, but still a nice listen. Good narration.

I really enjoyed this book. It showed a real picture of what it is like dating at thirty or close to it. As I was reading I wasn't sure who I wanted her to end up with. Of course towards the end I so knew! I loved all the family involvement in Indigo's life. Indigo had so much character growth. Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the audio arc in exchange for my honest review.

I'd say this book was mid. The story was nothing special, nor were any external events. What made it still stick out for me were the characters.

The plot is simply about a woman on the brink of turning thirty, and her desperate attempts to find 'the one' due to her age. The book is not at all filmy or over the top romantic, but gives you taste of real life and realistic expectations.

Indigo's choice in the end was obvious to me from the start, so I felt a tad disappointed with the slow ride. Amber however, did a brilliant job in highlighting actual issues and romance which is necessary to hash down our unrealistic, dreamy expectations from most books and movies.

As said before, the characters were crafted thoughtfully and struck a chord with me. Be it Indigo's parents, siblings, or best friend, their moments shone through and warmed my heart. I loved the little back story which we get a glimpse of towards the end, though I'd have liked some more of that.

Reina Mystique is an amazing narrator and voiced all characters to perfection. The addition of her voice to this book makes for a charming, relaxed experience.

The Many Dates of Indigo is very different from popular books, but this change is refreshing and much needed.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the ALC in exchange of my honest opinion.

NetGalley let me listen to an ARC audiobook of The Many Dates of Indigo. I liked her, and I felt I knew from early on who I wanted her to end up with (and I was not wrong). There is relationship growth, especially with her mother throughout the story. I think Amber D. Samuel did a great job setting up characters and why they matter to the story, except Tate, I would have liked to know more about him. Some mature content and language. Thank you NetGalley for the chance to try a new-t0-me author!

I will say my biggest pet peeve, in books, and in real life, is when people give cutesy names to their private parts. Can we just normalize vagina, clitoris, and I don’t know, penis? So when Indigo’s mom called her privates a “cookie” pretty early on in the book…It was just downhill for me from there. I just struggled. The miscommunication in this book was also on the level of it being annoying. So many problems could have been solved with a simple chat. Oh and Diego, just what a piece of work. No thanks.

The narrator on this one nailed the character of Indigo, and all the other females. But she struggled with the male voices. They just were…odd.

Overall, my level of frustration with this book was too high for me to recommend it in good faith to others. I will not be posting this review on my Instagram, but leaving it here and goodreads only.

Thank you to the publisher Dreamscape Media and Netgalley for this ALC in exchange for an honest review.

Indigo hasn't really given love a chance, or she has but no one really knows about it. Her siblings convince her that she needs to really put herself out there and she starts to date. She meets Nathan as a suggestion from her friend and she really likes him. She also ends updating Diego despite how rude he was to her employee in her store. It takes Indigo a while but she realizes that neither of these men are what she wanted or needed. The "one" for her was her best friend, Tate all along. Eventually they move past previous hurts and end up happily together but obviously when he writes a book for you, he's the one. It was a great listen, the narrator did an excellent job.

2.5. I really, really wanted to like this more but there were just too many things that didn't sit right with me to really love it.

First the things I did like: I loved Indigo as a main character. She's so strong and independent but also isn't afraid to be vulnerable and admit that she wants someone to spend her life with. I also mostly really liked her friends and family, and it was nice to read a book about a woman of color who is literally surrounded by uplifting, loving, successful and realistic characters in her life. I also of course loved her dog.

Now a few things that I didn't like...almost every conflict in this book is based on miscommunications or refusing to talk about things. This is a trope that really bothers me because everything could have been solved so easily if yall would literally just talk. Omg. The ending was also pretty obvious THE whole time, to the point where the book dragged as I waited for us to get there. Also, I hate hate HATED Diego from the absolute first moment he appeared in the book. Who goes out on a date with someone who treats a service worker (YOU!!!) like garbage the literal first time you meet???? Trash :) There was also some weird negative self-talk from Indigo about her body randomly that I didn't love...it seemed very out of character and took me out of the story every time.

I also liked the audiobook narrator EXCEPT when she was doing male voices...she clearly struggled with that.

Based on the name and description I expected this to be a fun little journey through a bunch of dates of varying quality with different men as our MC looks for The One. In actuality, she dates two different men that seemingly just happened to be around. It wasn't really what I was expecting. I'm sure some people will definitely enjoy this, but it wasn't for me.