Dating is a nightmare. For successful Aubree Cole, finding love while building a lucrative career seems to be just out of her reach. The Meet Cute dating app sounded like a great idea. But a series of crash and burn dates has her rethinking dating that is…until she meets him. Matthew, a sexy Australian bartender comes to her rescue after a date bails on her. He gives her a much-needed cocktail … gives her a much-needed cocktail and some great advice…along with inspiring a few naughty daydreams. It’s just enough to make her take a chance on love again. When a secret admirer challenge lands in her dating app inbox to French Kiss a Stranger, she knows just where to start.
Throwing caution to the wind, she accepts the dare. Maybe she needs to get out of her comfort zone a bit to uncover something…more. One supposedly-harmless challenge turns into multiple romantic encounters with Matthew and she’s left more confused than ever about which man she wants more, the friendly neighborhood bartender or the sexy secret challenger from the dating app.
Aubree is ready to find the one. But is the one ready to find her?
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Having another unsuccessful Meet Cute dating app pairing, Aubree’s slips out of the bar and leaves her with the tab. Matthew, the bartender, witnessed the bad behavior, and took care of Aubree’s tab. She strikes up a conversation with Matthew, he buys her a drink, and it turns out they have pretty good chemistry.
Meanwhile, Aubree gets a few dating challenges from the Meet Cute app, and she decides to work on those challenges with Matthew. The more time they spend together, they start falling for each other. Having been burned by the app, Aubree is confused as to whether to go out with the person sending her the challenges, or continue the great time she’s having with Matthew.
Although a quick listen, I really enjoyed the story, and it flowed quite nicely. There was plenty going on in the story, but it didn’t feel rushed or crowded. I listened to the audiobook, and Shane East and Stella Hunter narrated Matthew and Aubree beautifully.
I loved every minute of this! The story was cute and sexy and the characters so good! The fun, the flirting and great dialog kept me playing this book.
The narrators, Stella & Shane did a fabulous job bringing this cute short story to life. This will definitely be on my repeat listen list!
Lauren Smith’s book, Cocktail is beautifully written. Mathew and Aubrey gives you a piece of that saying, love at first site. Bartender Mathew sets his eye site on Aubrey as she goes through her series of bad dates. He eventually gets the nerve to ask her out on a quote unquote date. They use this time to get to know one another.
After this date their instant attraction takes off. The quiet times are soft and sentimental for both characters. The scene setting during the winter is great. It makes the love scenes more cozy and special.
I voluntary reviewed this ARC after receiving a free gifted copy.
I very much enjoyed reading “Cocktail” (nook). The chapter titles and the corresponding alcoholic beverages were inspired. The story was short and sexy sweet with a happy ending (which I loved). I would have been tickled if it had been a little longer!
Read this when it was released with other author’s stories. This was the best by far in that compilation and the only reason I bought the book was Ms. Smith. I like the characters and the plot. However, in the future I will wait to see that she releases a story on her own and I won’t jump to buy a bunch of stories because of one author.
4.5 Stars
Aubree Cole has put her energy into building a lucrative career now seems to be the right time to find love. The Meet Cute dating app sounded like a great idea. But after a dozen crash and burn dates she’s rethinking dating that is…until she meets him.
Matthew, a sexy Australian bartender comes to her rescue after a date bails on her. He gives her a much-needed cocktail and some great advice…along with inspiring a few naughty daydreams.
When a secret admirer challenge lands in her dating app inbox to French Kiss a Stranger, she knows just where to start. Throwing caution to the wind, she accepts the dare. Maybe she needs to get out of her comfort zone a bit to uncover something…more. One supposedly-harmless challenge turns into multiple romantic encounters with Matthew
I love the author’s books & this is no exception. I read it in a sitting as I just didn’t want to put it down. Strong characters with depth, not easy to do in a novella & a story that just flows effortlessly. I loved both Matthew & Aubree who both fell hard & fast, their attraction was so hot. A well written captivating read that made me smile, sigh, fan myself & totally lifted my mood
My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read