ARC Book Review: Dating the Alphabet by Samantha Napier

I received an e-arc of this book from the publisher  via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Publisher: Impulse Australia

Pub Date: 31 March 2015

Pages: 227

Challenges: Women's Challenge

Summary

Ramona Rawlings is going to make dating fun again. Armed with an alphabet poster, post-it notes and her best friend Emma, Ramona is going to date the alphabet - from A to Z and everything in between. Throw in the chaos of managing a theatre restaurant with a roster full of strong personalities, unfulfilled dreams and lustful hook-ups and Ramona's world is turned upside-down. In between Evan the arrogant, Ivan the emotionally stunned and Glen the racist, Ramona discovers what she really wants. But how many frogs will she have to kiss before she finds her fairytale?

My Thoughts...

I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this book. I didn't hate it, but I didn't quite like it either. I was in the mood for a light read, so I picked this up thinking it would be a funny, romantic comedy. And in some ways, it was. There were some really hilarious scenes, but unfortunately, for me they were too few and far between to make this what I consider a funny book. Of course, it's entirely possible that I just didn't get the humor (it happens more often than you'd think...) but either way I didn't laugh (or even giggle, or smile...) as much as I thought I would.

I thought the idea behind this story was very original. Unfortunately, it just didn't work for me in its execution. It's not that it was badly written or constructed, but it just felt really bland and generally uninteresting. I was not the least bit invested in the characters' lives, not even Ramona's, who is the main character! I didn't even care about any of the secondary characters, and I found it quite annoying that they didn't seem to have any first names... I mean, everyone just called each other by the name of the character they played as waiters in the restaurant (Tarzan, Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood...). That just seems really confusing! I did, however, like the fact that Ramona experienced a great development throughout the book, and ended up quite changed in the end from when she had started, although that still didn't help me to develop a connection with her.

Overall, this was an ok read. It's fairly entertaining if you really enjoy light romances, although to me it felt more like I was watching a parade of men with really annoying habits rather than reading the intense love stories I usually love. It was fine, but all in all pretty forgettable. 

Rating: 2.5/5