Match Made in Manhattan
by Amanda Stauffer
My rating: 
Alison is fresh out of a long-term relationship with a man who couldn’t bring himself to commit. Naturally, Alison decides that the best way to get over her ex and move on is by jumping right into the dating game in the most efficient way possible: online dating. Alison goes through a series of dates–some awfully hilarious, some hilariously awful–as she tries to find the match who will end up being The One. And after countless failed matches, Alison finally thinks she may have found the one. The only question is whether she’s his One or just one of the many.
Problems:
1) This one was a slow read for me. Maybe because we spent so much time in the beginning getting to know the ex I knew would stick around, or maybe it was the constant cycling of new men. Whatever it was, I had to trudge through this one a bit.
2) I know the dates are supposed to be humorous, and some of them were. But first dates are weird and awkward, and sitting through like fifteen first dates is a whole lot of awkward. And for many of them the chemistry just wasn’t there. Probably another reason the book felt slow. And at times reading it felt like…
3) Like I said earlier, a lot of time was spent showing us Alison’s relationship with her ex in the first chapter. (It was a long chapter.) It was so long in fact, that I started to wonder if maybe she was going to end up back with him in the end. Otherwise, what’s the point? But it didn’t go that way, sorry for the spoiler, so I’m still sitting here wondering ‘what is the point?’
4) The ending left me unsatisfied. Not because of who Alison ended up with (I don’t think), but more like it all just felt unresolved to me. I feel like the main character went through this whole journey, but I didn’t see much growth or change in her. There was some change, but it seemed separate from the whole dating plot.
5) I know these are a lot of negatives, but it really is an okay book. Just lacking anything to really make it stand out.
Praises:
1) There were a few guys/dates I really liked. One in particular stood out, and I found myself swooning and giggling when he was around. So there were definitely some good parts in there that I liked.
2) Some of the dates were actually funny. I found myself laughing at the absurdity quite a few times.
Overall, a bit of a ‘meh’ in my book.
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Shannon Stults 