#BlogTour #BookReview ~ The Serial Dater’s Shopping List by @morgenwriteruk @bombshellpub @BOTBSPublicity

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for The Serial Dater’s Shopping List

~~About the Book~~

Are you looking for the perfect summer holiday read? Then you’ll love this laugh-out-loud comedy about the highs and lows of dating.

Izzy is a journalist who usually writes a technology column for a local newspaper. Her somewhat-intimidating boss William sets her the task of dating thirty-one men, via an internet dating site, all within a month, and writing about it for the paper.

Having an active, though fruitless, social life with her friend Donna, Izzy knows what she wants in a man, so creates a shopping list of dos and don’ts and starts ticking them off as she meets the men.

Follow the ups and downs of the dating process including Tim ‘the Weeble’, whose date leads Izzy to see banoffee pie in a whole new light, Lawrence the super-skinny social worker, Felix with his bizarre penchant for Persian Piranhas, and ‘the music maestro but don’t talk about dead pets’ Jake.

By the end of the month, will Izzy have met Mr Right?

Book links ~ Amazon UK | Amazon US

~~My Thoughts~~

Single and turned forty, Isobel McFarlane, or Izzy Mac to her friends, is a journalist who normally writes about technology and the gadgets she’s given to test. William, her boss has her given a temporary new direction for her column, with a view to attract new readers with something a little different from the usual. Her assignment is to join a dating site, line up one date per night for a month, then write about her impressions and experiences. Totally out of her comfort zone, not at all convinced about her foray into the world of blind dates, she devises a ‘shopping list’ of qualities she’d look for in her perfect date and those that would put her off completely. She’s a tall lady so height was an issue, as was smartness, a good conversationalist and an animal lover. How hard could it be to fulfil her criteria….very hard it would seem judging by her ‘dates’. 

The Serial Dater’s Shopping List, written in the first person and present tense, is a humorous and lighthearted look at the best, worst and everything in between in the world of internet dating—mostly the worst, it has to be said, as seen through Izzy’s eyes. If nothing else, there are lessons to be learned about sensitivity, kindness towards others and not judging people by how they look—all of which adds to her character’s depth.

Each chapter reads like ‘a day in the life’ and covers that day’s date, which became a little uniform at times. The inclusion of, and interaction with friends, work colleagues and family offers some variation. The story does pick up again towards the conclusion. I enjoyed Izzy’s column, her attempts at diplomacy and the ‘What I Learned’ section. She wonders initially if she might actually find someone, and there were one or two hopefuls if only for friendship, but that remained to be seen.  A diverse cast of dates adds interest (and a feeling of relief I’m out of the dating game.)  

I chose to read and review The Serial Dater’s Shopping List based on a review copy, courtesy of the author and Sarah Hardy.

~~About the Author~~

Morgen Bailey (Morgen with an E) is an author (of novels, short stories, writing and editing guides), freelance editor (for publishers and indie authors), writing tutor (in person and online), Writers’ Forum magazine ‘Competitive Edge’ columnist, blogger, speaker, and co-founder of Northants Authors. The former Chair of three writing groups, she has judged the H.E. Bates Short Story Competition, RONE, as well as the BBC Radio 2, BeaconLit, and Althorp Literary Festival children’s short story competitions. She also runs her own monthly 100-word competition. 2018 events include talks and workshops at Troubador’s Self Publishing Conference speakers, workshops and panels at Delapre Book Festival, interviewing and workshops at BeaconLit, and NAWG Fest with her ‘Editing your Fiction’ weekend residential course. Morgen can be found on Twitter, Facebook, and many others. Her blog is http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com, and email address morgen@morgenbailey.com.