3 Star
Recently divorced Abby Dunn has discovered a way to put her financial background to good use. When she develops a dating database, where all the men are rated and ranked to help women not repeat the same dating disasters, she's flooded with requests. Then she meets a man who seems far too perfect and begins obsessing about finding his hidden flaws, undermining her second chance at love.
Lydia - 3 Star
I enjoyed Insider Dating and felt the main character’s quest was an original idea. The story wasn’t entirely predictable which is always nice and although I’m not sure I entirely related to Abby’s character at first, something kept me reading so towards the end of the novel I was rooting for her, even with her misguided efforts.
This chick lit novel was written well and was a quick, easy read. It flows well and there is enough action to keep it moving along quickly. It was written in the first person, which somehow always makes me enjoy these novels more (which is something I never realized until we started writing chick lit reviews).
Abby’s thoughts about her marriage ending were an interesting insight into why marriages sometimes fall apart and I agree with Kathryn, it was nice that her marriage just fell apart without any cheating spouse. I enjoyed her friend’s characters but thought that some further characterization of them might have made them more dynamic.
Overall, Insider Dating is an enjoyable read that was neither terrible nor one of my favourites, but I would definitely read another Jennifer O’Connell book in the future.
Kathryn - 3 Star
My first thoughts on Insider Dating were mixed as I wasn’t sure I could really relate to the main character. As I kept reading I decided that it was a pretty good concept for single girl lit and that that overrode the lack of initial connection to the characters.
We are following the story of Abby Dunn, who divorced a year ago, and is trying to sort through her feelings as to why her marriage ended. I was impressed that we weren’t given the cookie cutter version of events that so many novels rely on these days. It’s not over because of a cheating husband but it is her husband that decides to leave. Abby comes back to this several times throughout the story and eventually I think finds some peace in understanding that her marriage ending was inevitable. In the meantime she’s come up with a brilliant idea to sort out (as in a database) the “good” men from the “bad”- in terms of their relationship potential. It has a big city feel (although nicely not set in New York) which I liked. I also thought it was a nice touch that her friends are smart and sophisticated and that they were not in each others pockets all the time. Not sure why that appealed to me!?!
All in all I enjoyed it although I think there was potential for more somehow? At the end I felt as if I hadn’t been given the whole story. But it was an easy, light read with a different concept to keep it flowing.
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