When a single mom ends up playing an unwilling fake girlfriend to a charming playboy baseball player, love suddenly turns everything upside down in this fun, heartwarming multicultural romance.Angel Gomez has never lived by the book. A Bronx-based unwed mother by the time she was sixteen, Angel’s personal mission has always been to show the world that a Puerto Rican girl is not to be messed … to be messed with–especially by a man. The only thing that matters to Angel, now, is providing for her son and earning enough tips at the club to complete her nursing degree along the way. Love is nowhere on her agenda.
Caleb “The Duke” Lewis is a star pitcher for the Bronx Bolts whose romantic escapades make delicious fodder for gossip columns. But lately he’s been trying to keep a lower profile–so much so that when he meets Angel, first while she’s in her nurse uniform and the next time behind the bar, she has no idea who Duke is, fails to fall for his obvious charm, and ends up throwing a drink in his face She is the perfect woman for Duke…to fool the tabloids into thinking he’s finally settling down. But what begins as a charade soon has Duke and Angel hurtling into a full-blown romance that rocks each of their worlds and begs the question: Is this the real deal–or are some love stories just too good to be true?
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If you look at the reviews for this book you will see it has a lot of potential.
The author has a fun concept, could shine a spotlight on a cause deserving attention, and would make a wonderful beach read.
That said, I blame the editor for not changing the book’s opening. This author loses half her audience by the gross way the story begins.
(If the editor made the author change a more benign opening, I apologize to Evelyn Lozada.)
Even the title is too gentle or (pardon the expression) vanilla to suit this book.
Angel Gomez is a single mom, having had her son before the age she should even have been having sex! This book could be a strong advocate for people of color but instead it seems to focus on and reinforce stereotypes, and not just against POC. The rich are targeted, men in general are portrayed as the scum of the earth, with good choices, decisions and deeds being the exception rather than the rule. That does not mean the women are much better.
Back to the beginning. Angel is studying to be a nurse. Commendable, realistic, even noble.
She also works in a bar/restaurant that caters to the sleazy, wealthy.
What is the publisher thinking calling this a “fun, heartwarming multicultural romance?”
Angel could be studying the names of bones in the hand or positioning of organs, but she is memorizing names for parts of male sex anatomy. This sets the tone for where this book is headed.
I did accept this book from Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review. I understand that formatting may not be final. There were areas where one scene blended into another where there should have been a noticeable break. That is not the author’s fault and hopefully would be adjusted in a final copy. For me, it just added to the overall dissatisfaction of the read. I did not hold it against my overall rating.
Angel meets the main male protagonist several times over the course of a week, in her capacity both as a nursing student and as a bartender. She has the opportunity to see him in good and bad light. She is also so anxious and exhausted trying to handle all her roles in life, especially as mother, that her abilities to make her best decisions begins to slip. She actually is beginning to believe she has no control over her choices any more and has only the lesser of bad actions to choose from until she finally gets her nursing degree.
So when the press and a baseball pitcher’s support team force Angel into the spotlight and pretend she is his new, mystery romance, she gets swept up and is taken along for the ride. Her own girlfriends add to the push for Angel to let loose and enjoy life for once. She deserves it.
It turns out the life of the rich and famous is neither a break nor a party or even enjoyable.
They seem to have the same problems as the poor, except in larger portions with bigger price tags.
Once again the reader is exposed to sex and drugs and stereotypes, making this a not so fun, light read.
I appreciated the underlying story, the main characters wanting to grow and change for the better, the potential for bringing attention to a worthy cause. I just wish the taste of the book had been more palatable.
If you get past the first chapters and give the story a chance to play out, I think you will find a good book here. You just have to give it a second chance.
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.
Angel Gomez was an unwed mother by the time she was sixteen & her personal mission has always been to show the world that a Puerto Rican girl is not to be messed with. The only thing that matters to Angel, now, is providing for her son and earning enough tips at the club to complete her nursing degree along the way. Caleb “The Duke” Lewis is a star pitcher for the Bronx Bolts whose romantic escapades make delicious fodder for gossip columns. But lately he’s been trying to keep a lower profile—so much so that when he meets Angel, first while she’s in her nurse uniform and the next time behind the bar, she has no idea who Duke is, fails to fall for his obvious charm, and ends up throwing a drink in his face!
I read the blurb & thought I’d give this book a try as not my usual genre, whilst I did overall enjoy it I didn’t love the main characters & found it very hard to like them & to connect with them. I much preferred Duke to Angel as I found her to be abrasive & had a huge chip on her shoulder. I struggled to finish the book & it took me days to actually finish as I kept dabbling in it between reading other books & that’s so unlike me as I usually devour a book in under a day. It was well written & I’m sure others will love it but unfortunately it wasn’t my cup of tea.
My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read
These authors are new to me so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I really liked how the book started off where they took a single mom who was kicking butts to make something for her and her son, and that’s where it stopped for me. I felt like Angel was built up as this independent women and was make something for herself and the she caved to a real jerk. I was not a fan of “the Duke” at all, they tried to make him the hero of the story and I was done at that. The story I guess you could say gives you an eye into what its like for some of the rich in famous with drug use, sex, unfaithfulness, parting and guns. In the end I felt it was abrupt and kind of leaves you to finish what happened with the main story line. Over all this book was not a book I could say I would recommend it was not a book for me that’s for sure. There is a lot of cursing and graphic details in this book so it may not be for all readers. I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley. I was under no obligation to post a review and have given my honest opinion
Rate this with a Huge R for Raunchy!
This could have been a great piece of Women’s Fiction. Romance, Political Commentary, Serious Social Hype, Sexism in the Workplace, and being a POC and poor. That part of the story was great. I did not need to have eroticism, foul language, and drugs in every chapter. I would not have requested this book had I known how raunchy it was. I found it neither ‘heartwarming’ nor ‘fun’. I received this ARC book for free from Net Galley and this is my honest review.
Unfortunately, I really did not care for Evelyn Lozada’s “The Perfect Date.” Another reviewer described this book as a “hot mess” and, based on my observations after reading it, that seems like an accurate description to me. First of all, the back cover description is completely misleading and doesn’t match what happens in the story at all. Second, the book is marketed as a rom-com, which it definitely is not. It is a rather dark and dramatic story (often overly so), and I can’t remember a single funny scene in the entire book.
Beyond that, the writing in this book was not very good IMO. I’m not sure if the many grammatical mistakes in the text were a stylistic choice used to imitate a certain style of speech, or if they were merely typos because I read an ARC, but either way, it was bad enough that I couldn’t follow what was happening in a number of places. Overall, the writing was very choppy with a lot of verbs missing and many random, confusing POV changes.
Further, I didn’t find any of the characters in the book to be likeable. They were all so angry all the time, and in a lot of cases they were downright mean and nasty for no apparent reason. The world the author has created in this book is not a world of which I would ever want to be a part, and these characters are not people with whom I would ever want to be friends.
Finally, the central romantic relationship between Angel and Duke did not seem believable to me. The physical attraction on Duke’s side was evident (he certainly thought about Angel’s “bangin’ body” enough), but Angel seemed like she actively disliked Duke a lot of the time. At most, she seemed to pity him because of his injury and the fact that his family and friends weren’t very supportive of him. Angel didn’t seem to like herself very much either. In any event, given both of their issues with anger management and self-esteem, the two of them being in a relationship seemed like a recipe for disaster to me, not long-term love and happiness.
Bottom line: It’s safe to trust the negative reviews for this book and skip it. There’s no reason to waste your time when there are so many more enjoyable books out there.
*ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The Perfect Date by Evelyn Lozada, Holly Lorincz is a book that was dubbed a romance while it had a little romance I would call this more of a drama. There was a lot of drama throughout the story, maybe a little too much. I am going to be honest and tell you that I didn’t think I was going to like this book but I did. I liked the way the main characters weren’t always the goody-goody do everything right kind of people. Angel is an overworked single mom trying to balance her life going to school to become a nurse and working two jobs to support her asthmatic son. Duke on the other hand is very immature and has very poor judgment but has a good heart. Part of this book is Duke growing up. Angel pushes Duke to become a person that he can live with. He isn’t worthy of her, but eventually he is. I am hoping that this is only because the book was an ARC but I found the formatting to be a little difficult to follow as there were no scene breaks between the two points of views. This book is a quick read and if you are looking for something easy this might be for you!
The Perfect Date by Evelyn Lozado and Holly Lorincz is far from perfect. Angel Gomez is a single mom, finishing nursing school while juggling a practicum, a part time job bar-tending and raising her son; she doesn’t have time for romantic relationships. The “Duke” is a pitcher for the Bronx Bolts but lately he’s been getting more attention for his behavior off the field than on. They meet at the clinic and at the club Angel works at where Duke tries to convince Angel to pretend to be his girlfriend to throw the paparazzi off of why he was actually at the medical clinic. I thought this would be a cute, light-hearted romance, but if was closer to the opposite. Duke likes Angel because she sees the real him, unlike other girls who only want him for the fact he’s a pitcher and has a lot of money. Angel also seemed determined to call Duke out for his behavior; at least for part of the book. As this story continued, the reader is exposed to rude characters who were either mean or angry much of the time. Then there is the male doctor at the clinic where Angel had her practicum who believed it was okay to inappropriately touch the nursing students. There were a number of misogynistic attitudes with some of the male characters or and female characters who did not care who they were hurting. They may have thought it was fun and endearing banter, but this reader found it a bit offensive. The epilogue was a definite redeeming moment in this dramatic and difficult story. Overall, despite the problems and drama, I enjoyed reading The Perfect Date.
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book.
Angel is one hardworking single mother. She works at a club at night to support her and her son. She is also in nursing school. She has no intention of falling in love. She just doesn’t have time for that! Enter Caleb! He is the star pitcher for the Bronx Bolts and Angel is not impressed! She is immune to his charm and good looks….until she isn’t!
Caleb and Angel have a love-hate thing going at the first. Angel is a fiery Puerto Rican and she does not take crap off of anyone. She doesn’t care if that someone IS the star pitcher. Caleb is attracted to her from the first he laid eyes on her. These two make a wonderful team.
I enjoyed Angel. She is my type of female character. She is tough, independent and smart. She and Caleb have a rocky start. But, soon they both realize they have way to much chemistry to ignore. Plus any book that talks baseball is perfect for me! This is a quick, enjoyable romance.
I received this novel from St. Martin’s Press for a honest review.
Angel Gomez is all about pulling herself up. She keeps persevering when life keeps throwing her curve balls. She is studying to be a nurse at the same time being a bartender. She also has the most adorable child and is raising with the help of friends. Caleb “The Duke”Willis is just trying to keep his job as a pitcher for The Yankees. He goes to this clinic he knows which will keep things quiet. While there he meets the most beautiful woman. Little did he know she would be a thorn in his side. She keeps pushing him to be better. She doesn’t put up with his crap. In the end, he turns into the person he can live with.
Gritty, realistic opposites-attract romance
Angel and Duke run in wildly different circles; he’s a famous professional baseball player and she’s struggling each day to provide for her son while she attends nursing school. After they cross paths a couple times, Duke’s image needs a bit of wholesome credibility so he asks Angel to be his fake girlfriend whenever they’re in public together. As they get to know each other, the differences in their lifestyles and circle of friends become nearly-insurmountable obstacles.
The writing style is unique in a romance book in that we’re not directed to see each main character as always doing the right thing or even acting reasonably. Angel is constantly having to rein in her temper, while Duke shows a surprisingly pouty side and occasional lack of backbone. There’s also an intriguing storyline running throughout that adds betrayal, mystery, and a bit of a crime drama element. The HEA expertly wraps all the assorted narrative threads nicely. I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book.
Angel Gomez is a twenty-three year old single mother who is studying to be a nurse and works part-time in a swanky club. She is a fiercely independent woman and that follows through during the storyline. She meets Duke Lewis, a pitch for the Yankees and ends up agreeing to be his pretend girlfriend when he needs to pretend to have settled down from his playboy antics. There was lots of drama during this story, maybe a little too much. The author has an agreeable writing style. The secondary characters were interesting and Angel’s son, Jose is very cute.
The Perfect Date by Evelyn Lozada is a not so perfect read. Ms. Lozada has produced a book that might appeal to very young adults, but it doesn’t appeal to this mature adult at all.
Angel is an overworked single mom going to school to become a nurse and working two jobs to support her asthmatic son. Duke is a baseball pitcher that suffered an injury during a shooting at a bar. Duke is angsty and spineless. Their story is loaded with drama, ghetto slang, bad decisions and sex. The story itself I would have probably enjoyed but the writing of it ruined it for me. I’ll be sure to skip any other books by this author. The Perfect Date is a complete book, not a cliff-hanger.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book that I received from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.