This book was so good!

Haleigh is tired of dating, so she concocts a scheme with her best friend to allow 5 of her closest friends and family choose 2 guys for her to date. If she wins and they all suck, they have to get off her back about dating and finding Mr Right.

So stinking cute. The banter and wit from the FMC is so amazing. The bad dates were truly hilarious. It was so nice to read a book about a plus size girl who was confident in her size and not always worrying about what others thought of her. She owns it! Such a cute book, but definitely more fade to black than I was hoping for. Still DEFINITELY worth a read so you can meet your next book boyfriend 😍

4.5 ⭐️

This was a great read! The main character is so likable and easily relatable and the personal growth is very well done. The dates are funny in themselves and I think the story is really well thought out.

I enjoyed the book but probably wouldn't read it again - though I so appreciate the ARC from NetGalley and the publisher! Thanks so much.

How to Get a Life in Ten Dates
By Jenny L. Howe

Haleigh and Jack have been best friends since second grade. They had a "thing" that didn't end well, so they now have friendship rules. She's at the end of her rope dealing with bad after worse date. So what better way to avoid more than letting your family and friends set you up on yen dates. Buckle up friends, these are not for the faint of heart. Makes you wonder if these people actually like her when you realize how colossally bad some of them go.
I love how well this book portrays the everyday coping with various mental illnesses. It's a struggle and just because you can't "see it" doesn't make the effects sometimes debilitating.
You will laugh out loud, maybe yell at them a bit, smile and go aww, then hopefully be happy with the last date.

I absolutely love Jenny Howe’s other books so I was very excited to read her next one! How to Get A Life in Ten Dates was honestly so much fun and perfect for fans of 90’s and 2000’s rom coms. I think Haleigh is now my favorite MC of Howe’s and I loved seeing a few familiar faces from On the Plus Side like Stanton, Logan and Everly! The bad dates Haleigh went on were hysterical (not Bradley Cooper was THE WORST) and I liked how she was very firm about what she wanted/needed in a relationship. Full disclosure, I knew going in exactly how this would end because, well I’ve read a lot of romance books and while I do think it came together extremely well…I was rooting for the other team to win. Even though it didn’t go the way I wanted it to, I still loved reading this book and was really happy with the characters, humor and the mental health representation. I think this is a must read for any rom com fan!
CW: fatphobia, anxiety, mental illness

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advanced digital readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a fun read! I ended up really liking Haleigh and couldn’t help but laugh and cringe at some of the dates she goes on. She felt so relatable trying to deal with the pressures of dating and adulting. We definitely get some good character growth - I was rooting for her. Yes she has her moments, but honestly who doesn’t?

I liked the chemistry between Haleigh and Jack - I really loved how he would try and find flaws with all of her dates. He slowly started to break all of his “rules.”

So she also makes a connection with someone else, and I have to say I really liked him! I was torn on who she was going to pick…

✨What to Expect:
💖Romantic Comedy
💚Friends to Lovers
2️⃣Second Chance
💋Plus Size FMC
🔥Slow burn
🔺Love Triangle
😂Laugh Out Loud
💜Anxiety & OCD Rep
🏳️‍🌈LGBTQIA+
👗Body Positivity

Intriguing title. Haleigh has had a not so great track record in dating. Her over achiever sister is having a celebration (can't say more without giving away a spoiler) and Haleigh needs a plus one. Tired of her family and friends intervening, she invites them to set her up with the proviso that if it doesn't work out, ... You can imagine the disasters, which were well planned by Ms. Howe. But enter the ex boyfriend who is still a friend. Well done Ms. Howe. I really enjoyed this story and look forward to more!

Thank you to @smpromance for my early copy of How to Get A Life in Ten Dates by Jenny Howe which released yesterday 🎉.

If you’re looking for a fun romance with sparkling banter/wit, best friends to friends with benefits to end game, then this is your next read!

I adore a strong plus-size FMC, and Howe writes great heroines! The premise of having your friends and family set you up on 10 dates was so fun, and watching Haleigh’s bestie, Jack, absolutely lose his sh*t when she starts having fun on these dates, was a joy! Eventually his jealousy and date crashing antics leads him to throw his name into the ring, and I was a goner watching Haleigh decide if friendship was groundwork for HEA.

3.5 ⭐
.25🌶️
Tropes Friends to lovers, it’s always been you, coming of age, second chance, anxiety rep, OCD rep, fade to black
Dual POV, 3rd person
This book was pretty predictable with low angst, but for the most part I enjoyed it. As a 40 something married woman I’ve moved past this coming of age part of my life and I don’t really know what the dating scene is like out there so it was harder for me to connect with the FMC. I did appreciate how Haleigh’s character was written as a plus size woman though. I have very high standards for curvy FMCs, and haven’t come across many I think are done well.
The gist of this story is that Haleigh is trying to find a plus one for her sister’s wedding, and agrees to let her friends and family pick out 2 people for her to go on a date on to prove to said fam/friends that the world “out there” is actually as difficult as she’s saying, and not because she’s being picky.
It’s a cute storyline, and it was fun to tag along on her dates (some were hilariously bad), but her unwillingness to attempt adulthood really irritated me. I felt like she knew what she needed to do and had the answers but just refused to even try. I realize a big part of that issue is caused because of her anxiety/mental health but I found it frustrating. It also needs more spice.
My assumption is that this is a “not for me” book, and will be best for the college/recent graduate/early 30s crowd.

Haleigh's Heartstrings- Would you rather?
Live under the sea or on a cloud?
Hear people's thoughts or be able to fly?
Be on the Bachelor or Survivor?
Meet an Alien or a Dinosaur?


This was a true Rom-Com, Friends to Lovers, Found Family treat.

Haleigh who is tired of finding her person on her puts her fate of a plus one to her next family event in the hands of her friends and family. This group includes Jack that she has been life long friends with and had a short emotional and physical affair with on a trip some years back. Haleigh friends and family play a huge role in her life, emotionally and mentally and the story really showed all of this and why she put her fate in their hands.

We take this wild ride along with Haleigh, the questions at the beginning of this post are completed by the potential dates. So many funny moments including a third wheel bird, a Bradley (Not Cooper), Brian who just might be the one as he helps Haleigh in personal life too and Jack who throws himself in the mix.

It was fun taking the journey with Haleigh and I highly recommend you do the same if you are looking for a good rom-com read!

Read if you like
❤️ Found Family
💚 Friends to Lovers
💛 Rom-Com Fun
🤍 Finding yourself
💙 Second Chance Romance

This was an entertaining, well-written book. It was fun, steamy, fast-paced and I didn't want to put it down. I enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more books by this author.

How to Get a Life in Ten Dates by Jenny L Howe
Contemporary romance. Same world as prior book On The Plus Side. This book stands on its own with a couple minor references to the other book.
Haleigh Berkshire has been dating for a decade without really connecting with anyone. She’s only twenty-five and tired of one bad date after another. She needs to find a plus one for her sister’s engagement party and would prefer to take her best friend Jack, but they made a list of rules between them after a disastrous weekend in Hawaii together. Haleigh agrees to let her friends and family set her up with a series of dates, hoping they know her well enough to make a good match.

Very little comment, discussion or concerns about her being plus sized. The reason for this is in the beginning author’s note. Haleigh’s main insecurities are about her job and her lack of dating success. And since we know going into the story that she’s still a bit in love with her long-time best friend, her dating woes aren’t exactly surprising.
Haleigh’s date with Bradley Cooper (not that one) was amusing mostly because of the name qualification every single time it or he was referred to.

Overall, a touching second chance romance.

I received a copy of this from NetGalley.

I really loved this book. I'm a sucker for friends to lovers. I also adore reading books with fat representation. Add the generalized anxiety disorder representation for both main characters and this book was a win!

Thanks to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for an Advanced Reader Copy - pub date 12/10/2024. Haleigh is just 25 but, between her overachieving sister and her overly concerned mom and grandfather, she feels like she has already failed at life. She's a mess, she's underemployed, she doesn't have her own apartment, and (worse yet) she is caught in the chronic hell of endless first dates while harboring a passion for her best friend. When her sister announces her engagement party and Haleigh knows she is expected to bring a Plus One, she proposes a new scheme - 10 dates, chosen by her loved ones, given a fair shot by her, and they will all back off for six months if none of the dates work. The concept is pretty adorable and fun. The book also has plenty of rep for plus-size, mental health issues, and LGBTQ+. The writing is pretty good, too, and the author is clearly creative as all heck. The Bad Dates are the stuff of hilarious legend. Emotional support cockatoo? Yes, please. In theory, this should have ticked all of the boxes for me.

Unfortunately, while I enjoyed the bad dates and the writing, too many of the characters were either flat-but-inoffensive or actively-unlikeable. Haleigh, in particular, quickly annoyed me. For all of the therapy that she had supposedly been through, she was incredibly unprepared to interact with other humans. All excuses, no action, plenty of complaints. For someone so wary of being judged, Haleigh makes judging and assuming a way of life. The first date you see her on, even before the plot really starts, shows her giving up on a date within approximately 10 minutes because the other woman wasn't talking her ear off. So, yeah, not a great first impression for me, the reader.

When she calls her BFF to "rescue" her, we get to meet this paragon that she is hopelessly in love with but they can never be because of REASONS. (The reason comes as no surprise to anyone who has read a lifelong BFF romance). You can immediately see how they work together; codependency is a definite thing here but they also 100% know and accept each other's dysfunctions. Frankly, when it is just the two of them hanging, the book relaxes and is adorable. Jack and Haleigh click in a way that cuts down on her hyper-defensiveness, allows the playful parts of her personality out. With this so obvious and them both being adults, this should have made the book much shorter as they talked and decided to bypass the challenge and just date. The End.

But, nope, because Jack is kinda toxic in ways, too. His cooperation with therapy appears to be as, ahem, effective as Haleigh's. Plus he never says anything to her about being equally in love with her until she actually finds a really nice guy named Brian is very much into her. Only then does he decide to insert himself into the mix. Aggressively, I might add, and recklessly.

But it is a romance novel so we'll get our HEA but I, for one, want #JusticeForBrian. So pretty please, author, can you write another book where he gets his HEA? I like your writing. Just... not Haleigh and Jack.

PS Also has it ever occurred to Haleigh to wonder if her buttoned-up sister also suffers from anxiety but copes with it in a wildly different way than she does? Of course not. Because the only mental health problems that exist are hers and Jack's. Sorry, not sorry.

I had fun with the friends-to-lovers / second-chance romance “How to Get a Life in 10 Dates” by Jenny L. Howe. I received a free ARC for this new release from NetGalley.

The story is of life-long best friends, Jack and Haleigh, are facing a relationship crisis as Haleigh challenges family and friends to set her up with ten dates so that she may earn a dating sabbatical. The fact that Haleigh must justify her decision to stop dating, or gain permission from her family as an adult is one of the many small quibbles I have with the book.

Jack and Haleigh both have mental health challenges – anxiety and compulsive behaviours, which has resulted in them being nervous about admitting their feelings to each other. Haleigh’s anxiety and low self-esteem are more central to the story.

Like in Howe’s previous book (“On the Plus Side”), the slightly villainous family seem to be self-created than actual toxic family dynamics. This was the most frustrating part of the book for me. Haleigh responds negatively to anything her family says; and, even when confronted by her sister, there’s a lack of self-reflection from our FMC.

Yet, the author does a great job creating a believable love triangle, humours dates from hell, and an earned HEA. A fun contemporary romance for the end of the year.

How To Get a Life in Ten Dates is a cute and spicy romantic comedy that had me swooning and spitting out my water in equal measures. I loved Jack and Haleigh’s friendship and chemistry. It was great to check in with Stanton and Ryan from On the Plus Side, but this isn’t a sequel, it just happens to be in set in the same world. The ending was perfectly satisfying as well.

I enjoyed reading How to Get a Life in Ten Dates by Jenny L. Howe. You will fall in love with all the characters. I received an ARC of this book courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and given freely. Happy Reading!

On the whole Jackson and Haleigh's relationship is kind of annoying. True they know each other really well, but that is because they have been friends so long and does not necessarily mean they belong together. The reason they decided to be just friends in the first place seems to be more because of Jackson's issues. Granted he does seem to be dealing with some serious mental health issues, but why does he wait to deal with them until Haleigh seems to be falling for someone else. He is okay with her having no one but he is not okay with her having someone else. If he really cared about her, he wouldn't want her to be alone just because he has issues he needs to deal with and maybe he would even deal with his issues before being pushed to because a rival for Haleigh's affections has entered the picture.

The majority of dates that Haleigh goes on are quite extreme and not very realistic. Her relationship with Brian seems more realistic and healthier than her relationship with Jackson. He is not perfect but he is a good guy, and the reason they break up seems rather contrived. Two people don't have to like all the same things to have a good relationship

The book does have some good points. Although Haley is described as plus size, her dating issues at least within the story have nothing to do with her size. She is also bisexual, but that is not an issue within the story either, it is just a fact. It is also nice the way the main characters from Howe's previous novel. On the Plus Side, make a cameo appearance in this book. It is nice to know that they are still together and still doing well. On the whole, that is a much more enjoyable book than this one.

I wanted to like this a lot more than I did. As a plus sized woman myself, I LOVE seeing curvy FMCs. Honestly, a lot of the positives I have with this book stem from our FMC being a curvy woman whose entire identity isn't wrapped up in her size, insecurity, etc. I also liked the LGBTQ+ representation. Sadly, not much else really sticks out to me as something I enjoyed.

My primary issue was that I found Haleigh to be an extremely aggravating character to follow. One of her main personality traits is that she "hates adulting", and the story and fake-dating plotline hugely centers itself around this fact. This and the way she acts toward and about her dates were giving such immature energy, and it really grated on me over the course of the story and made it a bit difficult for me to root for any serious relationship.

Overall, it was an okay read. I'd recommend it if you want a lighthearted read with LGBTQ+ and plus size representation. For me, it's a 2.75 stars, rounded up.

Thank you so much to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Haleigh Berkshire has been dating for ten years, and even though she is only 25, she is exhausted by bad dates. She’s been using dating apps and just having no luck at all. After her best friend Jack had to rescue her from a bad date that surprised her because the texting energy had been so good, Haleigh decides to take a break from the apps. Instead, before she takes a break from dating altogether, she’s going to give her family and friends a shot.

Five friends and family members get two dates each to find her a match. But each potential date has to fill out Haleigh’s questionnaire, so she has some idea of what she’s getting into with each match. She calls it Haleigh’s Heart Strings, and it includes questions like Would you rather drive your friend’s getaway car or help them bury a body? and Eat only French fries for the rest of your life or never eat them again? and Be on The Bachelor or Survivor? And the answers help Haleigh feel out who is a good match or not.

She is hoping to start out strong with these dates, but instead Haleigh meets a guy with an emotional support cockatoo. She goes on a hike with a woman she has nothing in common with. She goes out to a fancy restaurant with a man who wants to fix her finances and tries to force feed her oysters. She’s about to give up when she meets a veterinarian, Brian, who is happy to drive the getaway car or help bury the body. They have great chemistry, and Haleigh starts to feel hope again. Which is good, since other parts of her life are in need of work.

She lives with roommate Stanton, but he’s moving in his boyfriend Ryan, so Haleigh feels like it may be time for her to find a new place. That means finding a full-time job, since her dog walking and freelance editing isn’t going to be enough to pay for rent and utilities. And Jack seems to be struggling at his job, feeling more stress than usual. One of the things that brought Haleigh and Jack together and kept them together as best friends since elementary school is their struggles with anxiety. They have learned how to be there for each other during difficult times, and this is one of those difficult times in life, for them both.

But while the dates with Brian seem to be going well, Haleigh had agreed to go through with all ten dates, no matter what happened. And Jack still has one pick left. And he chooses: himself. After a trip to Hawaii that turned romantic and then disastrous many years before, Haleigh and Jack had made a pact not to date each other and not to talk about Hawaii. But when Jack names himself as Haleigh’s tenth date, they are revisiting the possibility of becoming a couple. And Haleigh has to decide: will she stick with the new guy who she really likes, or go with the guy she’s been in love with her whole life, potentially losing her best friend?

Jenny L. Howe’s How to Get a Life in Ten Dates is a celebration of living as a plus-size woman and finding love and joy with those who know you best. It’s a rom com, but it’s also about finding friends who genuinely understand and support you and taking chances to find the life that you love. Howe is known for writing strong women who are passionate and also happen to be larger, and Haleigh is no exception. She is outspoken and funny and smart, and it’s just so easy to root for her.

I really enjoyed How to Get a Life in Ten Dates. I have had one or two dating disasters myself along the way, and it was fun to read about someone else’s. I especially loved Haleigh’s Heart Strings questionnaire and the answers that the potential dates come up with. It’s surprisingly revealing and could be used by anyone actively looking for the right match for life.

Egalleys for How to Get a Life in Ten Dates were provided by St. Martin’s Griffin through NetGalley, with many thanks.