Insider Dating

by Jennifer O'Connell

Abby Dunn, barely thirty and recently divorced, has taken herself off the dating market. Instead, she's using her experience to turn the tables on the opposite sex by building a dating database to rank underperforming men and set women straight when investing their greatest asset: themselves.

Now, what started as a pet project is becoming a fulltime enterprise. But while Abby's busy hedging bets, someone is skewing her data and threatening to ruin her model. Even worse, he's about to teach Abby that, while it may be perfectly legal, nothing good can come from insider dating.

Genres: Chick Lit, Adult, Romance, Fiction

274 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2007

About the author

Published teen fiction under the name Jenny O'Connell.

Although she's written about a reality dating show, a prescient pastry chef, and a woman who inspired an 80's rock hit, Jennifer has not spent hours dissecting The Bachelor, she can barely follow the directions on the back of a Betty Crocker box, and she can only dream of a long-haired, guitar-thrashing rocker even giving her a second glance.

While she cringes at the thought of being called Jenny again after all these years, her first teen book PLAN B, was published under Jenny O'Connell by MTV Books (March 2006). Jenny's second teen book, THE BOOK OF LUKE, arrived in April 2007, and her Martha’s Vineyard Novels, LOCAL GIRLS and RICH BOYS, were published in June 2008.

Her days as a high school senior may be long behind her, but Jennifer did receive her B.A. from Smith College and her M.B.A. from the University of Chicago.

You can e-mail Jennifer at jennifer@jenniferoconnell.com.

Reviews

[Ruby · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't love everything about the characters or plot, but I loved how original the way they got stuff done was, it had its cheesy and campy moment. and the ending was a love it or hate it kind f finish, but overall it was a sweet and short read.
I do wish some people were fleshed out a bit more and we got a bit more depth to the characters as for reasons, but for what it is the story is not bad at all.

[A. Macbeth’s bks · Rating 1 out of 5]

In my opinion, the female protagonist became really psycho about the oh so great American dating scene. Nice dating, like adolescent girls can get indoctrinated into expecting by reading mainstream Young Adult fiction, not Harry Potter or manga lit, that great American institution of Dating, does not exist.
Dating sucks, folks, and probably someone will be outright indecent during it.
To treat people with respect and with mental health seem to be professional requirements way beyond the capacities capabilities and pay scales of most people, including the protagonist here who had to regress mentally to ending up with her Mom.

[Marsha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chicklit romances are supposed to be about falling for the wrong type of man, right? Then again, maybe they’re about getting away from the wrong type of man and finding love in unexpected places. They’re supposed to include danger, risks, frantic kissing and sweaty, steamy love scenes that cause your underwear to come peeling off your body just by reading about it. Aren’t they?

This book isn’t.

Ms. O’Connell has once again blown a gust of fresh air across this genre. There’s romance but of a very tentative sort. It’s more of a coming-of-age story even though the heroine is way past her teenage years (because who really grows up while they’re in their teens?). The heroine is deeply flawed and so is her ex-husband. But she comes to an understanding about him, about herself and about her own viewpoint about the world.

I have to raise my glass to Ms. O’Connell for giving me a novel that’s wholly unexpected in its pay-off. It left me wondering and guessing after its final page and yet, somehow, I didn’t find myself frustrated. True, I wondered, “What happens next?” but it is mildly titillating filling in the blanks for myself.

There’s no clichéd happy ending, no crazed sex, no running into the sunset with the hot next-door neighbor she somehow never noticed before her husband left her. This is a journey for Abby and for the reader as everyone explores just what makes a happy relationship between men and women. (Here’s a hint: it takes two.)

“Insider Dating” is a reflection of life after the hearts-and-flowers parts hit the road. This is what happens when chicklit grows up and grows a pair. Not bad, not bad at all.

[Lydia Laceby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Originally Reviewed at Novel Escapes

I enjoyed this single girl lit novel and felt the main character’s quest was an original idea. The story wasn’t entirely predictable which is always nice and although I’m not sure I entirely related to Abby’s character at first, something kept me reading so towards the end of the novel I was rooting for her, even with her misguided efforts.

This chick lit novel was written well and was a quick, easy read. It flows well and there is enough action to keep it moving along quickly. It was written in the first person, which somehow always makes me enjoy these novels more (which is something I never realized until we started writing chick lit reviews).

Abby’s thoughts about her marriage ending were an interesting insight into why marriages sometimes fall apart and I agree with Kathryn, it was nice that her marriage just fell apart without any cheating spouse. I enjoyed her friend’s characters but thought that some further characterization of them might have made them more dynamic.

Overall, an enjoyable read that was neither terrible nor one of my favourites, but I would definitely read another Jennifer O’Connell book in the future.

[Sherri Bryant · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first book I've read by this author. I liked the characters and the story had a good premise. The back cover blurb is not accurate, though. The author doesn't spend a lot of time in the past which would have given the reader a better understanding of why Abby's marriage failed, which is the catalyst for her actions in this story. I liked that Abby was a flawed heroine. She made a lot of mistakes and definitely wasn't the victim of a bad marriage as she contributed to the downfall quite a bit. She also carries a lot of baggage from her own parents divorce with her that established the foundation for a lot of her behavior and thinking. I will be looking for more books by this author.

[Norhayati · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is a must read!! wouldn't it be really cool if this database she's talking about do exist...and we women can really access it find out more about someone whom you've not met or about to date.. haha.. insider information that's what insider dating is all about.. yet another good read
for me. I just can't stop reading Jennifer O'Connell's books :)

[Christianne · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked this book until about halfway through. That was when I realized I was not a huge fan of the heroine. Her interaction with Mitch drove me nuts. Also, description of her relationship, what went wrong, and how she gets over him just didn't ring true for me. Especially the end....I just didn't buy it.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as fluffy as the title would lead you to believe. This novel is about a woman who is a financial analyst who comes up with the idea of a database rating men as if they were stocks. But it's also about the main character coming to terms with her issues with men and why she got divorced. For me, none of Jennifer O'Connell's books have been as good as her first one (Bachelorette #1.)

[Angel Perkins · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yet another book where the main character is a weak puke. This could have been a very funny book. However, the comical parts are mired in the constant memories of her marriage and its demise. A marriage, mind you, that she doomed to fail before even saying "I do". She doesn't miss him, or the marriage, so she really needs to just GET OVER IT. Blah!

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eh... not my favorite of Jennifer O'Connell's books. It was more than a little boring and it didn't really hold my attention. The ending lacked closure as well. The idea was great but the execution was flawed...

[Megan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book has an interesting premise - a woman decides to create a database with information about men so that other women can make informed choices when dating. However, I just didn't feel that the plot really went anywhere, and I was disappointed with the ending.

[Cheekygryphon · Rating 2 out of 5]

This could have been a lot better but she spent about 75% of the book reminiscing about what went wrong with her ex-husband. The story progressed very slowly and there was little content based on what the book description says.

[Red · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not as good as it sounded. Almost too much internalized thinking from the main character, but even with that, you hardly get to know her.

[Sharon Roeder · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book. A nice easy read!

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish that someone had invented this same concept for workplace environments. Pretty well written for chick-lit. I loved the Boston references.

[Valdez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Story of a woman who creates a secret database that tells other women about men they are interested in dating.