The Perfect Date

by Holly Lorincz and Evelyn Lozada

[chymerra]

I was excited to read The Perfect Date. The blurb totally pumped this book up for me. Then I read the book and was let down.

I liked The Perfect Date’s plotline, despite not liking the book. With everything stripped away, I thought that the plotline was solid. If the author chose to focus on that main storyline instead of bringing in all of the outside drama, it would have made this book a little bit better.

I did not like Angel. She was a rage fueled, nasty, immature woman. Every scene she was in ended in some sort of confrontation. She left a bad taste in my mouth. Now, I did feel bad for her with her issues with Dr. Collins. But other than that, nope.

I didn’t like Duke either. The way he treated Angel throughout the book made me sick. He manhandled her (twice!!), he didn’t stick up for her when she needed it, and he objectified her sexually. There were parts of the book that I did feel bad for him. He was obviously in pain from his ankle injury. His survivor’s guilt over his teammates killing was palpable. His relationship with his father was tenuous at best. But I couldn’t like him.

What I didn’t like was that this book insinuated that sexual assault and sexual harassment was something that should be put up with. The scenes with Angel and Dr. Collins standout in my mind. As well as the scenes with Duke and Roland at the club. There were times in the book where I couldn’t believe what I was reading.

I got zero sense of romance from The Perfect Date. Angel and Duke had zero sparks between them. Plus, whenever they were out together, he treated her like crap. The sex scenes, thankfully, weren’t graphic. But if they had been, I have a feeling that they wouldn’t have done it for me. Because of how I felt about Angel and Duke. And because of the lack of anything between the two of them.

I also had an issue knowing when the book shifted to another character. I would be reading Angel’s part of the story and bam, it would be Duke. I had to reread chapters because of that. Again, something that drove me nuts about the book and just added to my displeasure with it.

The end of The Perfect Date was interesting. I liked how everything was combined at the end. I felt that justice was served in several instances. But at the same time, it didn’t ring true with me. And the epilogue, well, that definitely didn’t ring true with me.

I would give The Perfect Date an Adult rating. There is sex. There is language. There is violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.

I would not reread The Perfect Date. I would not recommend it to family and friends.

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**