These matchmaking authors have sent cupid on a mission. Imperfect dates go awry and bring together some unlikely pairs. From blind dates and insta-love to second chance and brother’s best friend, rivals and the boss to fairy tale spoofs… something to tickle everyone’s funny bone.
Imperfect Date is an anthology featuring USA Today Bestselling Authors and everything you need to make you laugh.
Featured Authors: Denise Wells Beth A. Freely Ember-Raine Winters JLynn Autumn Stormy Winds Victoria J. Hyla Michelle Fernandez Rachel Radner Rayne Elizabeth Joy Eileen Gina Ardito Finley Brown Skye McNeil R.J. Castille Kenzie Rose Tracy Reed Michelle Mars Claire Davon Artemed Sullivan Tari Lynn Jewett Tonya Clark Naomi Springthorp
Denise has been reading since before she could talk. And to this day, escaping into a book is her go-to activity before anything else.
She likes to write about sassy women and semi-flawed alpha-esque men (hard on the outside and just a little soft on the inside.) Denise’s female characters always have strong friendships, potty mouths, and like to drink—a lot.
Denise is loyal to a fault, a bit too sarcastic, blindingly optimistic, and pretty freakin’ happy with life overall. If she couldn't be a writer, she'd be a singer in a classic rock band. Right after she learned to carry a tune. She has more purses than days in the month, an obsession with colored ink pens, and a slightly unhealthy bracelet habit.
Home is in the Pacific Northwest where she lives with six Siberian Huskies and a husband (BW) who has the patience and tolerance of a saint. And, lest she forget, Denise also lives with too many to count characters inside her head, who will eventually have their stories told.
Cute short romance stories with a variety of meet-cutes from some great authors. My favorite was by Michelle Fernandez with a sweeet second chance romance.
Catfishing Cal by Gina Ardito- Ok I didn't like the premise of this- her catfishing him to "get back at him" for their past. If it was more than a short story I am not sure I could have read this, but in this form it worked.
Puppy Love by Tonya Clark-this was very cute! I loved this one! It had a few stilted transitions though where a little "~" in between so you knew there was a change in the scene.
Nemesis Neighbor by Joy Eileen- I liked this one as well. But like the last book I wish there was a little "~" in between so you knew there was a change in the scene.
#DumpsterFireLove by Tari Lynn Jewett-Ok this one I really felt like I missed a lot in what must be a series but overall I liked it.
High-EXpectations by Denise Wells- I enjoyed this one!
Frisky Rivalry by Michelle Mars- This is the book I was really wanting to read in this book. I enjoyed this rivals-to-lovers story. I actually love that they had a previous night of bad sex years ago and still tried again.
Scotch on the Rocks by Finley Brown- I definitely love a book based in Scotland! (Thanks Outlander! LOL) I kind of wish this one was a full book!
Shoe Charming by Tracy Reed- Ok, I'm not into shoes so that part of this book was blah to me. The whole day date was weird, they both expected the other to have a plan but Winston specifically said he was new to the area so why wouldn't she plan the day??? He did give her 2 pairs of expensive shoes and she agreed to the day date. Then there was a weird moment where they were having ice cream where they mentioned blind bowling that they did earlier- but that never happened...
Deceptive Appearance by Stormy Winds- Ok I don't love that he took her address down from the business but I get it. He wasn't creepy about it. And boy did she judge him too quickly. This premise worked for this short form story.
Doggone It! by Claire Davon- I was confused about this one from the start. How did she end up tripping over a leash. Then the "bad" dog turned out to be a "good" dog but her dog was now acting "bad" Then the drama with the ex girlfriend. This is another one that definitely worked for me because of the short form. I mean he had a restraining order for her building!!! Yikes!
The Secret Ingredient by Kensie Rose- Ok I like crushes on siblings friends. So this worked for me. But I didn't like the "her brothers are going to kill me" like he thought they were literally going to hurt him. So ridiculous.
Brace for Impact by Beth A. Freely- How in the hell? LOL that is all I want to know. I did have to google this guys piercing. Funny that she has braces now when she kind of judged him for having them as a kid. Then they get stuck together by them?
Captain D by R.J. Castille- This one took some turns I wasn't expecting. From the boat crash and then the hero's change of personality.
The Laundry List by Rayne Elizabeth-I liked the meet cute and then the fact that they had a blind date scheduled but because of nicknames they each have they had no clue it was the other one so they were both dreading the date. Boy did that work out in their favor!
Imperfect Grave by Rachel Radner-These peeps have a weird career or side career. I thought this was going to be more paranormal. It felt like it was going the paranormal way. Abigail's boyfriend is a douche and she deserves better, which I guess she will get with Andor! They are a much better match.
Beautiful Imperfections by Ember-Raine Winters-This definitely made me feel like I missed out on a bunch of things in the past. (from previous book(s))It was odd that we got so many other people's perspectives in this. The moms were a little over the top here. Maybe if I knew the characters better it wouldn't have felt so off to me. Johnny should have changed his plans to ask Leanne to marry him when Leanne made plans to catch their moms spying on them.
Paws of Love by Artemed Sullivan- I didn't get confirmation that this was sapphic until the end. With the whole story being in Jaime's perspective I wasn't sure if she was a woman until they were having sex at the end. I found their similarities too much. A few things was fine but the continual similarities was unbelieveable.
Stupid Cupid by JLynn Autumn-I felt for Adelaide who felt she had lost a part of herself because of her comedy act. But I love that Cooper knows she is still Adds deep down. I like that he was the "one who got away" in her act and actually comes back around.
No More Interruptions by Michelle Fernandez- Meddling siblings trying to get their brother and sister to date---using their app no less! Love it! But I kind of wanted them to get matched with each other! But I like the twist of them having a random meet up and then Dawson offers to babysit. But how has he babysat his twin nephews and not changed a diaper?!?!
This book is a bunch of short stories focusing on first dates, blind dates & second chance dates. At first I didn't think I would be able to finish this book, but I’m glad I stuck with it because each story got better! Overall, it was a fun, beach read with lots of happily-ever-afters.Thank you to BookSirens for an advance copy of this book.
This review is for Michelle Fernandez No More Interruptions. Dawson and Heather’s story was sweet and a second chance to be with the one person you missed out on because of something you said and didn’t mean. This is a short story and get straight to the point of who these two want to be with. Time has gone by, but the feelings are still there. Such a great quick read and I can’t wait to read the rest of this anthology.
I love these anthologies! One can find new to them authors or read something from one of your favorites. I am reviewing for Michelle Fernandez with her contribution No More Interruptions. Dawson and Heather have a history and it is complicated by a misunderstanding. I really enjoyed reading their journey back to each other!
Thank you for the privilege of reading this anthology!
Twenty-two story anthology by twenty-two different authors featuring the lighter side of love, whether second-chance, friends to lovers, unintended matches, some with "help" of the furry kind...among these are Catfishing Cal by Gina Ardito where a woman, Rachel, now beautiful and sometimes confident "runs into" the guy who stood her up her fifteen years before on prom night...is there a spark or revenge?? Also featured is Doggone It! by Claire Davon where Jennifer is walking her dog, ends up running into former neighbor walking his dog...discover they had spark but because of his former girlfriend, never followed through, but could that change???...and another cute story is The Laundry List by Rayne Elizabeth where Cass is talking on her phone to her bestie who wants to set her up on blind date for Friday...enters coffee shop for her morning fix, only to knock into man carrying four cups of coffee, getting his drinks all over her since he was talking on his phone to his former college bestie trying to convince him to go on blind date for Friday...you can guess the rest...and these cute funny stories will brighten even the gloomiest day...I voluntarily read this book through an Advanced Reader Copy.
I love anthologies for their diversity and ability to appeal to a variety of reading tastes. Unfortunately, this collection of stories was an exercise in mediocrity. None of the stories were very memorable, though the additions from Stormy Winds, Kenzie Rose, and Ember-Raine Winters were the best of the bunch. The majority of the stories were more focused on physical attraction than any meaningful connection between the characters.
Furthermore, even for an anthology, these stories were unusually short. Most of them felt like a teaser or sneak peak into a book, rather than a standalone story. Because of this, it was difficult to feel very invested in any of the romances, and I forgot about the stories nearly as quickly as I finished them.
Overall, there was nothing terrible about this collection, but there was nothing great about it either. I’d recommend it to readers who have limited time and want stories that take less than 30 minutes to read.
*I received an ARC of this collection. This is my complete and honest review.*
One woman blames all her dating woes on one prom date that failed to show up. And she wanted revenge for all the hears he had broken. The plan: make him fall in love with her and then break his heart. But will everything go according to plan?
That was just one of the stories. Stories were clever, fun, and full of humor. Each story was witty, for the most part.
A woman’s dream house turns into a nightmare with her sexy next-door neighbor. A woman had a fetish for shoes and a Cinderella story. Some stories were a little longer than I wanted. Obviously, I liked some more than others. What’s “sapiosexual?”
There were a few typos. For instance, what should have been “rearview mirror” was written as “review mirror.”
After a while, stories tended to sound a little too similar. Overall, stories were sweet and romantic. Perhas they were a little too sappy for my taste, but they were fairly nice.
This is quite a long book of short stories, every one of which is well written, by individual authors.
The storylines include romance on every page, such as love on the ocean waves, love at first sight, friends to lovers, second chance love, blind dates, enemies to lovers, and a Valentine’s Day story to finish.
Each short story is followed by the author’s details, and information on how to follow them etc.
I really enjoyed every page, especially as I could pick up the book whenever I had some spare time, and read a short romantic story, and put it down until the next time. I would recommend this to any fan of romantic comedies, especially to anyone looking for new authors to follow.
I received an Advance Review Copy of this book, and am leaving this honest review voluntarily.
I love anthologies, especially RomCom anthologies. They're great for a little pick-me-up when I'm feeling down, or I just need a good laugh. This one is a great combination of everything from giggles to outright belly laughs. I read them a story at a time as I had a few minutes, spreading them out, and while I liked some better than others, I can't say that I disliked any of them. Best of all, I found a few new to me authors to check out - yeah, I can already imagine my TBR growing. I can see this book being a good vacation read, too. It's got enough pages to keep you busy for a few days, so you don't have to worry about needing to find another book in the middle of vacation (I've been there). Whenever or wherever you like to read, we can all use a laugh sometimes, and Imperfect Date is a good way to do that.
My review is for #DumsterFireLove I love reading stories written by Tari Lynn Jewett, and this one is no exception. Cassie's day couldn't start worse. First day on work at school and she is a witness to a dumpster fire, while she was looking for something to stop fire, firefighter Rob step in and put it down. They end up on Framed, and if you read previous stories in Hermosa For Holidays series, you'll know what will happen. Cassie has to hide. I'm so happy for Cassie and Rob story, loved it very much and if stories by other authors in this collection are similar, then I'm going to be very happy.
This was perfect for the upcoming Valentine season. This book is filled (and I mean filled) with short love stories by various authors. Some were better than others, but I just love this whole book. There are definitely some new to me authors I want to check out now.
This format allowed me to read one (or a couple) short stories at a time and find back time and again. I definitely recommend if you love quick little love story reads.
I received a copy of this book and am voluntarily providing my review.
I read a couple of these stories so far, and they are cute short reads. My first review is for #Dumpster Fire Love by Tari Lynn Jewett. I love this series. The books are sweet, romantic, and fun. I couldn’t put it down. Rob and Cassie are no exception. They are great together! You get to see all of the couples from other books come back too. I love the small town community vibe. Rob is a firefighter. Cassie is a new teacher. There is a fire in the dumpster her first day of school. Rob helps her put it out, and their picture makes social media. Things get wild from there! Can dating for show become real? It was fun to see this romance bloom. I did not want the story to end! I also read Puppy Love by Tonya Clark. It was a cute and funny blind date story with a mischievous puppy. I enjoyed No More Interruptions by Michelle Fernandez. It was steamy and sweet second chance story with a cute baby. Nemesis Neighbor by Joy Eileen was a sexy enemies to lovers story. Their chemistry was explosive. High Expectations by Denise Wells was a cute second chance story. You just never know when fate might throw you back together with the one that got away!
Thanks to BookSirens for an advance copy of this book.
This book was a collection of short stories. They were each a very quick read, so I could read one when taking a break, which I liked quite a bit. However, because they were so short, I thought some of the stories ended too quickly -- I wanted to know more about the characters. Overall, it was a fun, light-hearted collection with lots of happily-ever-afters.
This was a fun collection of stories focusing on first dates, blind dates, second chance dates and everything that can go wrong during one.
I really enjoyed the variety of different storylines and thought the writing was wonderful.
If you are looking for a book filled with laugh out loud moments, some serious chemistry and some steamy hookups then this is a must read book for sure.
This is a superb collection of bestselling matchmaking authors, who have come together to weave some amazing tales. ~ Second Chances ~ Blind Dates ~ Brothers’ Best Friend ~ Rivals ~ Fairy Tales This is a well written collaboration which is fun and sweet, with humor, witty banter, emotions, romance, wonderful characters, and love, which all leads to a compelling page turner. I look forward to reading more from these talented authors’ whose work I highly recommend.
Imperfect Date, a romantic compilation of some very cute and funny short stories. I definitely liked some better than others. I was making a list of the authors I really liked so I can look up some of their other books. The compilations are a great way to see which authors you really like and which you do not like. I must say all were well written so I was able to read through all of the books . I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
I really enjoyed these short stories about imperfect dates. I was entertained and had a few laughs with the characters in each story. Short stories are my favorite because I can read one each night before bed. It is my way to unwind from a busy and sometimes stressful day. I was excited and looked forward to reading each story. If you also enjoy short stories you will love this romcom collection.
There are quite a few terrific stories in this bundle. The concepts are unique and I found myself sucked into many of them and even finding some new to me authors I want to read again. From Denise Wells to Rachel Radnor. They sucked me in and left me wanting more. There are so many good choices so you have to click this and prepare for an afternoon of great reads.
This collection is so perfect for this time of year. They are short stories but they are written in a way that you don't feel like you're missing anything. However, they are well written so you obviously want to know more. They are sweet and cute and heartfelt love stories that will definitely get you in the mood for this valentine's day season. You definitely want to grab this collection!
With each individual author I was enchanted by each and every short story. They grab you and reel you in, make you want to not stop reading. Naomi Springthorp has a great story in this collection, and as always, Naomi weaves an amazing tale that is so very entertaining and super fun. I wish I could give more than 5 stars for this wonderful array of amazing authors.
This collection is so perfect for this time of year. They are short stories but they are written in a way that you don't feel like you're missing anything. However, they are well written so you obviously want to know more. They are sweet and cute and heartfelt love stories that will definitely get you in the mood for this valentine's day season. You definitely want to grab this collection!
This anthology is perfect for the romantics in all of us. My favorite is High Expectations, Rose and Colt’s story. I love that they shared a past but found one another again. Super romantic! Denise Wells brings characters to life that you want to know and this couple is no exception.
The perfect collection for Valentine's Day! This book was a collection of well written short stories. Each were perfect for a quick read. With a variety of storylines, each are fun, heart warming, romantic, steamy, entertaining with lots of happily-ever-afters. So worth the read! I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
I just love anthologies, they give me the chance to "meet" new authors I may never have found on my own and there´s always a good variety of tropes and approaches, so I don´t feel like I´m reading the same book over and over again. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Lots of amazing short stories full of fun & laughter. Still making my way through some of the stories but loved Catfishing Cal, Puppy Love, Dumpster Fire & Galentines Pact. All of these had just the right amount of love and laughter to keep me wanting more.
Great collection! Cute stories. They made me smile, laugh, and some made my heart flutter. I especially loved High Expectations by Denise Wells, it was a fabulous second chance story. A recommended read.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this anthology. The variety in each story is sure to keep you entertained. Tonya Clark's Puppy Love will give you a few laughs. Then Galentine's Pact by Naomi Springthorp is a fun read too, with a group of friends that have a pact they made but some things will mix that up. Overall, all these stories have something for everyone. It's a great read and I'd recommend reading.