The Right Swipe audiobook

Don't you just love it when a book lives up to your expectations? THIS WAS SO GOOOOOOOD. If you're looking for a sexy and smart romance with a strong ass female lead, THIS IS THE BOOK FOR YOU. I loved it SO MUCH.

RTC

If this book was written, published, and read by Goodreads users the world over as part of an elaborate plan to teach me empathy, let me tell you: it worked.https://emmareadstoomuch.wordpress.co...I am usually on one side of the negative-rating equation, giving low ratings and rant reviews to people’s favorite books that they find inexplicable, presumably dropping to their knees and shouting WHYYYYYYY?! heavenward. But oh, how the turntables…Because now, I am reviewing a fairly low-rated book well, and I am SO CONFUSED. Now I understand how you all feel when you see that I gave a Harry Potter book one star. (Well not really. But I’m closer to it than I was.)I had to read negative reviews of this book to try to figure out why people didn’t like it, because I legitimately couldn’t fathom it. And while I don’t understand the urge to comment on said opposing review and refute every point (WHY DO PEOPLE DO THAT! WRITE YOUR OWN REVIEW!), at least I can say that at one time in my life I enjoyed a book and then immediately read a negative review of it.Which, I must say, has always seemed like an unhinged move from my perspective. Hurting your own feelings on purpose? Couldn’t be me.Anyway. A lot of people complained about our main character, Rhi, being too abrasive/hard-headed and too inclined to jump to conclusions, but I didn’t feel that way. I thought this was a realistic portrayal of people with trust issues, a woman who has been traumatized by a past relationship. This book didn’t choose to glorify the aftermath of such manipulation. Traumatized people can be hard to love and that’s a difficult thing to reckon with, but it’s true.Some people took issue with the romance, but I liked it too. I liked the idea of two people being like “hey we can both be difficult so let’s just deal with it together and be in love!” That’s nice.And I loved that Rhi had a tight-knit group of family and friends and coworkers who supported her, because that, besides potentially swoon-worthy reconciliations, is my favorite part of rom-coms. Honestly, the only issues I really had with this were the kind of teeny-tiny observations that are part of my charm (by which I mean evidence that I have gotten completely out of control).Here are some of those minuscule things, for your reading (dis)pleasure:- Talk shows don’t have plastic single-use water bottles. They have water in branded mugs. The plastic of the bottle would be hell on a sound editor for god’s sake.- Though Rhi’s love interest, whose name I honestly don’t remember, is a former professional football player, I at no point got the impression that the author is any kind of expert.- WHY WOULD PORTLAND, OREGON HAVE A FOOTBALL TEAM.- The mechanics of the way people who are not our main characters treat each other - in terms of suddenly deciding when they will date and who and why and for how long - did not track.But otherwise I found this to be a pleasant surprise.Bottom line: A delight!-----------tbr reviewthere's no problem a rom-com can't solve (if this isn't true, don't tell me. i'm fragile)

Alisha Rai has become quite the popular name in romance lately, so I have been dying to pick up a book of hers. There are so many romances out now about dating apps and websites, but I loved how this one was about someone who actually owned a dating app company. I couldn't wait to read it! Ever since Rhiannon left her old job on bad terms, she is determined to succeed by starting her own dating app with her best friend. Now, Rhiannon's app is very successful and she's looking to buy a competing dating company. The last person she expects to find as the new face of the company, though, is the guy she had a one night stand with who ghosted her immediately after. Rhiannon has no desire to even talk to Samson again, but Samson is determined to try again with Rhiannon. Can she let him in? First of all, I'm all for a good romance, but I love when the two characters falling in love have so much to their storylines. Both Samson and Rhiannon have two separate lives and separate problems going on that need to be resolved. While they were trying to figure out their relationship, they were also dealing with their own conflicts that were equally as important to them. As for the romance, I really loved how Rhiannon made Samson really work for her attention and for that second chance. Both of the characters have really rough pasts, so it was really nice seeing them learn to trust each other and grow closer to one another. Overall, this was a super sweet romance that had a lot of depth and layers to the story. I really enjoyed the messages about work place harassment and CTE (concussions in the football industry) this book dealt with, along with the diversity among all of the characters. If you want a refreshing, timely romance, I'd definitely recommend picking this one up!

I knew before I was even halfway into this book that it would be receiving five stars, and holy hell was I right. This book did not hold back any punches and it offered such a profound story about powerful women of color that also was so touching that I was weeping throughout the last 20% of this book. My list of things I enjoyed about this book is vast compared to a nonexistent section of things I didn't enjoy. I'll try and write a brief (read: long) list of things I adored about this book. The representation. This book is primarily about people and women of color, so the main character is a dark-skinned black woman, her best friend and assistant is an Indian lesbian, her other best friend and roommate is a thai-american plus sized woman with agoraphobic anxiety (!!!!!! i need a book about her), the love interest is Samoan, the love interest's two best friends are black, one of whom is a stay-at-home father. That's not even mentioning other side characters. So yeah, this book rocked. The way women of color uplifted and supported each other in this book was also so touching and empowering. This book dealt with such a diverse and unique array of subplots and handled them all spectacularly. Even the trope of the love interest being a sports player had valuable discussion about mental health and retirement. This book also tackles women of color being in positions of power and how others perceive that, as well as the trust issues Rhiannon experiences. It's hard to get me to genuinely care about side characters, but even the side characters in this book had full character arcs and contributed meaningfully to the story in their own wholesome ways. I hope this book gets developed into a long, drawn-out spinoff series because I loved all the side characters. The romance in this..... OOF!!!!! And I'm talking both the angst, the pacing of it, the consent, the steamy scenes..... everything was spectacular. this is SOOO healthy but is never boring or robotic because of it. the characters are still sexy as hell and have genuine and cute and funny interactions alongside maintaining healthy boundaries and communication. LOVED rhi and samson together!The only complaint that I had during the first half of this book--that Rhiannon's bitter and rock hard side seemed a lot more developed than her soft side--definitely went away by the last half of the book. It was so touching to see women championing other women and to see Rhi's growth in learning to trust and speak out against injustice.This is NOT a book to miss and I cannot smash the preorder button on Amazon hard enough.

Rhiannon Hunter worshipped at the altar of no man. Sometimes, ratings and reviews are hard, and this is one of those times, because this is probably one of the most “meh” 4-star reviews I’ve ever given a book. I can’t find any good reason to lower it to 3 stars because it objectively has so much good stuff going for it, but when I think back on it — having finished reading it several weeks ago now — it feels like the sort of book I’ll forget about pretty quickly.Rhiannon’s a likeable heroine and Samson’s enjoyable enough as a hero (if a bit bland). There’s a lot of conversation around some really necessary and tough topics, like the treatment of pro athletes regarding sports-related injuries, and the way assault/abuse survivors are often cornered into keeping quiet about their abusers, especially when the abusive person is someone in a position of power.All of that said… I don’t know, something about it just never fully “clicked” for me, but I’m leaving this at 4 stars because it does have a lot going for it. I really loved the diverse range of characters (Rhiannon is black, Samson is Samoan, Rhiannon’s bestie/housemate/business partner is Thai-American and fat, her assistant is Indian and queer… everyone important in this book offers some sort of valuable and beautifully done rep), and because it’s the sort of book that I will happily recommend to others even if it wasn’t the perfect read for me.All quotes come from an advance copy and may not match the final release. Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I received this book for free free as part of an Instagram tour (TLC Book Tours specifically) I did to promote the book.I was really impressed with this book. This is the first book in Alisha Rai’s new Modern Love series which is an appropriate name for it since it reflects exactly that. It tackles a lot of timely issues, like dating apps, the #MeToo movement, and CTE in the NFL. It was so refreshing seeing a romance that was very on point with what is going on in today’s world. On top of that, this is a diverse book which is always nice to encounter, especially in the romance genre. I loved the cast of characters. I really liked the female lead, Rhiannon. She was a total boss. The male lead, Samson, was a great love interest. I loved how he was able to get through to Rhiannon since she is so guarded due to her past. Additionally, I loved Samson’s Aunt Annabelle, who was a supporting character. She was so quirky and eccentric but very endearing. Rhiannon’s friend, Katrina, was another supporting character I loved as well. This book does fall prey to the typical miscommunication at the end of the book (a common trope in the romance genre) but it does get resolved fairly quickly. Overall, I loved this very modern (and diverse) take on romance and will be looking forward to reading the rest of the books in the series.For more book reviews, be sure to check out my blog: https://oddandbookish.wordpress.com/

3.5 starsI received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.Rhiannon has been burned badly in the world of tech business, she decides her best revenge is to succeed. With the help of a friend, she starts her own dating app company, Crush, and wants to buy Matchmaker, one of the original online dating companies.Samson ended his professional football career early in protest over how head injuries were being taken care of, after seeing how his father and uncle suffered from CTE, he has no compromise for it. Now that his uncle has died, he begins working for his aunt's company Matchmaker in a P.R. campaign.Rhiannon and Samson end up having one amazing night and then a next day that, accidentally, ends in ghosting and then are brought back together through chance and some meddling. Rhiannon has trust issues and Samson has patience, in the world of modern dating these two might just find themselves in an old fashioned love story. She’d been decimated before, and by someone whom she’d thought was on her side. Samson was technically a competitor, and she needed to be careful. If you've read Rai's Forbidden Hearts series, you'll recognize Rhiannon as Gabe's (Hurts to Love You) sister. We know her as a tough cookie who doesn't like to dress up and has a strained relationship with her mother. Rhiannon clearly has trust issues and as you learn the backstory of how her boss, who became her boyfriend, began to become controlling, and eventually forced her out of a company she helped to build and spread nasty rumors about her, you'll understand why she's developed a harden layer. I thought Rai did a good job of giving us glimpses into her cracks, her relationship with Katrina (silent partner in Crush and friend) showed her caring and human connectivity side and the way she continuously “hugged” herself with hoodies or long sleeves. The sheer fact of how hard Rhiannon fought to be unreachable showcased her vulnerability.Samson came from a football dynasty that was publicly celebrated but he lived the personal downside of what professional sports can deliver back. The way his father's personality changed and how his uncle declined through ALS and Alzheimer was sad and anger inducing, Rai did a good job of addressing how players had to fight against an employer who didn't want to admit there was a problem and accountability and a culture of “tough it out”. I did think we missed some emotional connections without getting scenes of Samson with his uncle. Samson has friends that pop in and out but there were times where he felt like he existed more in a vacuum. Now what? What did one do when someone behaved badly and gave you a reasonable explanation for what motivated their bad behavior and apologized? I thought the set-up of Samson accidentally ghosting Rhiannon and the surprise competitor angle worked well but even though their decision to do a P.R. campaign together gave us some cute and steamy scenes, I'm not sure I really ever bought into the why and then it is kind of left to dangle off in the end. There were some heavy topics discussed and addressed in this story, CTE, work place sexual harassment, abuse, and toxic masculinity, while I felt Rai did a good job creating a story and characters with these topics, the romance seemed to be left out in the cold. He missed Rhiannon. Like she was home. As a story, I give this 3.5 stars but if I were to rate it solely on the romance, it'd be 2 stars. Rhiannon and Samson have their P.R. campaign dates and then some text messaging but I didn't quite feel they had enough time together, giving me the highs of seeing and feeling them fall in love. Samson was also written to be a very patient and understanding man, which made two later half instances where Rhiannon leans into her trust issues very frustrating. I understood why Rhiannon had trust issues but by that time in the story, Samson's character warranted more trust.Distrust issues stretched out too long for me and for the most part, this felt more like Rhiannon and Samson's story separately, instead of theirs together. Rai is fantastic at writing family and friendship and all the support and angst that can come from those relationships. There were some steamy sexual moments but, maybe due to feeling a weaker emotional romance connection between the leads, I thought they lacked the heat of her usual flair. I always enjoy Rai's writing and will definitely be reading the next in the series that stars Rhiannon's friend Katrina, and hoping for more of a romance feel.*******************************************************************************First, my excitement for this story knows no bounds. Buuuut, kind of disappointed they went with drawing cover, I LOVED the Forbidden Hearts series live model cover photos; really some of the best covers I've ever seen.I see others really liking the fun vibe the cover does send out, so I'm going to go and stare at my Livvy and Nicholas cover to work through my feelings.Friends, what you thinking/feeling about this cover?

➽ book 21 out of 100rtc! tw: sexual harassment, workplace harassment, talk of a past emotionally abusive relationshipread for book roast's O.W.L's Magical Readathonyoutube ❀ twitter ❀ instagram

This...Okay, so I rated this book four stars not for the romance but because of the social issues that it tackles. The romance, in my opinion, falls a little flat because the characters don't feel like they have chemistry. I enjoyed them individually, but it was quite difficult to visual them as a romantic couple. I loved that this book focused on a WOC that OWNED a dating app company and didn't just work there. Rhiannon reminded me of a lot of experiences that I've gone through as a Black woman and how often you have to continuously work to prove that you're even qualified to hold any sort of position in your career/community. It didn't surprise me that she had trust issues or was so focused on doing what she needed to do to become successful. In contrast, Samson is caring, has such a love and respect for his family but has let a lot of his familial and emotional baggage determine how he does and does not allow himself to fall in love. After ghosting Rhiannon for a supposedly unknown reason, these two get a second chance at love. As stated above, Rai does an amazing job tackling and incorporating social issues into her books. I don't want to say specifically what she does cover because they both feel like spoilers. But it is clear from her discussion within the text that she has done research and handles each topic with care. Honestly, I'm a huge fan of romance books that not only focus on the romance of the book, but also social issues that the characters may be facing. Rai's writing was easy to follow and I loved the alternating perspectives of Samson and Rhi. You could really get a sense of the different lives that these characters lived and how it affected their interactions not only with each other, but with their own family and friends. I just wished that Rai would have addressed a small conflict that arose with Samson's aunt. I don't think that it was explained very well or really addressed. Overall, I thought this was a good first book to a series and I'm looking forward to reading the next two books.

(free review copy) I had such high hopes for this one and they were MET 🙌🏼 Steamy and modern and including many relevant current topics, Rai pivoted from her latest series, Forbidden Hearts, and created a whole new fabulous world. I don't want to say too much because this is such an early review, but here are a few things to know:1) Tech + CTE in pro football2) STEAMY but not at all erotica3) so much diversity in characters4) consent, consent consent + #MeToo5) some long-time Rai fans have wondered if the cutesy cover would be deceptive given how steamy her other books have been, but I can assure you that this cover is perfect for the book! A traditional mass market paperback cover with tons of skin would have been deceptive, though.

This is just a lovely book-- I think if the trope combo had been a little more in my wheelhouse (I'm always a bit of a hard sell on a second chance romance), this could have been even higher for me. Things that I loved: a) that this feels like a story that actually takes place in our world- the overall sensibility just feels modern; b) the characters, especially Rhi & Gabe (loved seeing him again after his book); and c) the thematic content -- I loved how this book explored what it means to trust after being hurt, both with a specific person & with the world at large. Overall, very excited to get to the next book

3.5 starsSometimes the strength of a story can also somehow be the weakness as well and that was the case with The Right Swipe. A story revolving around dating app companies was a good idea but at times it overshadowed the romance. I think the author was ambitious and tried to bring too much to the table at the expense of the love story. Still a decent read though.Rhiannon Hunter is the creator of a popular dating app. On occasion she has used it herself for some no strings attached hookups. After one such meeting went very well, plans were made for another get together, but the guy ended up being a no show and ghosted her. Months later she attends a conference and she runs into that same guy, former football player, Samson Lima. To complicate matters, he is the new spokesperson for a rival matchmaking company. Rhiannon wants to buy out that company and he might be the key to achieving her goal.Both lead characters are likeable and that's a big reason I wanted more interactions with them that didn't involve company stuff. You want to root for their happiness together but it's like you weren't given much opportunity because the story was focused more on the companies or other minor plots. On the plus side, this book wasn't a fluffy read as each character had interesting backstories. I definitely have more positive than negative feelings about this book even though this review doesn't necessarily reflect that. I'm curious about the other books in the series and will eventually seek them out as I do think this author showed a lot of potential even though this book wasn't a perfect read.Thank you to Avon for providing me with a copy! All thoughts expressed are my honest opinion.

4.5 Stars for The Right Swipe: Modern Love, Book 1 (audiobook) by Alisha Rai read by Summer Morton and Brian Pallino. This was really cute modern love story. I love the characters and I’m really looking forward to the next book in the series. But it also makes me glad that I’m not in the dating world today.

The Right Swipe is a heart-warming romance that quickly won me over once I got over the hurdle of getting used to its 3rd person narration which I always feel is a bit clumsy for romance novels. Once I fell head over heels for this storyline, I was immersed in Rhi and Samson’s romance where Rhi is an independent, fierce woman who secretly is afraid of vulnerability and just wants someone to hold her while Samson is a clumsy, supportive love interest who stole my heart. Their chemistry and banter was smile inducing, and just their openly honest conversations and the way they worked through their individual issues and supported another was so refreshing to see. I can never get enough of healthy, honest, and understanding relationships shown in romance because they are sometimes hard to come by. I also really enjoyed how this romance wasn’t just fluff. It spoke about some hard hitting topics like the dangers and corruption of the NFL, workplace harassment, and what it takes to be successful when you’re a woman of color. This romance was just what I needed to put a smile on my face, and I absolutely adored the ride it took me on and the topics it brought up that need to be discussed more often. AT A GLANCE- Black MC who runs a successful dating app runs into an old flame who is a retired NFL player and is the new spokesperson of a rival dating service- A hint of fake dating & friends with benefits- Soft and clumsy love interest who is Samoan !