I really enjoyed this overall, to see the relationship between Will and Rachel through the ups and downs, showing positives and negatives to their relationship.

I found it challenging to get into this book. Perhaps the timing wasn't right for me, or maybe the style was a bit too slow. Will try it again at another time I think, I like the idea behind the book

oh. my. goodness. this book was absolutely incredible!!!! i had so much fun reading this book. it was lovely and wonderful and amazing. thank you so much to netgalley for letting me read this book before the publication date!!!

Incredibly slow-paced and with many fillers, Date Week by Ted Fox is about a man who plans a date week for his pregnant wife while he gets involved in her career behind her back.

Summary: Will Easterly arranges for a road trip with his pregnant wife Rachel Armas to go down memory lane and reminisce about their love story. In the meantime, he secretly arranges for the job interview Rachel turned down because she was pregnant.

Tropes/Genres:
• contemporary fiction
• married couple
• a baby on the way
• road trip down memory lane
• daddy issues

Review: I'm sorry, but this book was painfully boring. Usually, I'm fine with books that are slow-paced and character-driven. However, this book was SO SLOW and had so many filler scenes that felt so pointless. The pop culture references, which I usually do not mind, felt very unnecessary – why do I need to know that Rachel's sweatshirt was from the Eras Tour? It's such an unnecessary piece of information that serves zero purpose apart from perhaps pleasing Swifties. And by the way, I am a Swiftie. I wasn't amused.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the first 33% of this book. I found the premise interesting and was excited to see what Will had planned for the trip and what other obstacles they may face along the way. However, whatever came after that was simply a mess. The encounter with her ex Seth was actually good, and I really didn't like his vibe. I wondered what role he had to play in this book – spoiler: nothing. He didn't appear after that. The only mildly interesting character in this book merely served as the driver of Will's insecurities. SPEAKING OF INSECURITIES, Sir, your wife is already married to you and having your baby, so why are you doubting her love for you? Seriously? Lame. If that were my husband, he would seriously break my heart.

Will and Rachel are such unlikeable characters. Don't get me wrong. I started the book liking them, and they just became more and more unlikeable as the story went on. I think their struggles with their families are fair, but they are just so annoying, especially Rachel. While Will's struggles with whether he would be a good father are discussed fairly well in this story, Rachel merely comes across as annoying. I mean, she's still friendly with her ex who was so clearly still hung up on her despite being engaged, and she didn't even stop him from talking about their past, which included having sex on school grounds. Is that supposed to be funny now? Because it's not.

There are also many random scenes in this book that don't even make sense or contribute to the story. The main storyline is this married couple going on a road trip to reminisce their love story, all while the husband secretly arranges for a job interview his wife passed up because she was pregnant. In the end, there was a ton of random stuff like Will being high because Rachel thought buying him edibles was a good idea. And for some reason, they thought it was a good idea to try and hijack someone's dinner reservation on a ferry. Somehow, this is all supposed to be cute. They really aren't. There were even some random comments about race, climate change and whatever that's irrelevant to the story. It just made me wonder why the heck they're even there when they have nothing to do with the main storyline.

However, one good part about this book post-33% was when Will finally confronted his father. I think that scene is powerful, logically, even though it was so underwhelming for me because of how unenjoyable the bulk of the book had been. The build-up wasn't there, so I couldn't really feel the impact of that scene. It was just so sudden, but I'll add it as a plus point for effort! The tattoo scene was also quite sweet; reading about that small piece of their history was nice.

Overall, this book wasn't worth my time. There are just too many random scenes and the characters weren't likeable. By the way, the book description says it's a rom-com, but it doesn't feel like one at all. It would've been better if the book focused on the storyline instead of dumping random fillers. However, some people may enjoy this book, so if you're keen, it doesn't hurt to give it a shot!

Thank you, NetGalley, for the read.

William and Rachel have everything: a home, careers, a baby on the wag, and most importantly, each other. They have their last 'do nothing' week: a whole week of annual leave to do nothing. But when Will sees the pressures of her impending motherhood piling on Rachel, he decides to turn their week into the road trip of a lifetime.

I loved the narration of this. It is told from Will's point of view, which is something I haven't seen in the romance I have read. Will is a very emotionally mature and generally lovely guy. He is so in touch with Rachel. Even more so, he is in touch with himself: he is worried about the baby too, and the impact his difficult relationship with his father will have on his ability to parent. I liked seeing a male character explore those insecurities.

To complement, Rachel was a genuinely nice character too. Their relationship was really beautiful - their chemistry leaped off the page.
The whole book just made me happy to read. It was such a feel-good, heartwarming rom-com. I can safely say if this ever transfers to the big screen I will be there on opening night!

It just missed the mark for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this arc in exchange for an honest review!

I was curious about the premise for this book--about impending parenthood and rethinking what it means to be married--but I found the writing to be a bit too meandering for me to stick with this. I'm just not the right reader for this book.

Could not finish.

Not for me. Got to around 10%. Book felt very slow, which I’m usually okay with, but I felt story progression here was painfully slow and dragged out. I liked that this was written in Will’s perspective and I liked him as our main character, but I found Rachel to be pretty intolerable and flat.

Captivating and witty, I had a great time reading this and read it cover to cover in one sitting. It was a very easy, fun read with great narration. I fell in love with the two main characters.

I don't know about other reviewers but I liked this book from the get go. Some of it was hopelessly funny.
I was delighted to read from
Will's point of view. Not much is written from their side I don't think.
But anyways, I really liked the characters and the storyline. This book definitely deserves 5 stars.
I appreciate the author making these characters flawed, loveable and what I call a team. Even if they don't see it at first. That's what made this book so adorable laugh out loud.
Well, anyways I loved both of them Will and Rachel. They were hilarious at times.
Thanks for a wonderful rom com laugh out loud wonderful character type of story. This book made my day.
I finished it one day because it was so delightful. A great read and one I highly recommend!
5 stars!
My thanks for a copy of this book. I was NOT required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Captivating from start to finish, this romance novel weaves a spellbinding tale of love and self-discovery. The characters are richly developed, and the author's vivid prose brings their emotions to life. A perfect blend of passion and heart, this book is a must-read for anyone seeking a delightful escape into the world of love and romance

William and Rachel have everything: a home, careers, a baby on the wag, and most importantly, each other. They have their last 'do nothing' week: a whole week of annual leave to do nothing. But when Will sees the pressures of her impending motherhood piling on Rachel, he decides to turn their week into the road trip of a lifetime.

I loved the narration of this. It is told from Will's point of view, which is something I personally haven't really seen in the romance I have read. Will is a very emotionally mature and generally lovely guy. He is so in touch with Rachel. Even more so, he is in touch with himself: he is worried about the baby too, and the impact his own difficult relationship with his father will have on his ability to parent. I really liked seeing a male character explore those insecurities.
To complement, Rachel was a genuinely nice character too. Their relationship was really beautiful - their chemistry leapt off the page.
The whole book just made me happy to read. It was such a feel-good, heartwarming romcom. I can safely say if this ever transfers to the big screen I will be there on opening night!

This was a nice story which was resolved very neatly. I liked the depth of detail on the character development but, for me, the pace was very slow and it really inched along to get to a not very exciting climax.

I absolutely adored the cover and liked the idea of this book. Unfortunately, I just didn't fall in love with the characters. I felt like Rachel was just miserable character and she bothered me.

Loved this rom-com story that included a lot of heart, humor, and fun. The week-long trip with the tension of the secret the well-intentioned husband is keeping from his wife, knowing he is trying his best while still making the wrong decisions and waiting to see how this loving couple will work their way through it was a delight from start to finish.