Published by Avon on August 25, 2026
Age/Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Rating:
Goodreads
A sparkling enemies-to-lovers romance about a podcaster who embarks on a matchmaking tour of Ireland in the hopes of falling in love, only to butt heads with her broodingly handsome and grumpy driver.
Maya Davis is chronically terrible at dating. So much so that she's turned her catastrophic experiments with dating into a full-time job. As the cohost of a podcast aptly titled, A Spinster’s Guide to Offline Dating, she is no stranger to the awkward, messy, and hilarious aspects of the first date. Being in love, however... that’s something completely different. For the sake of an exciting podcast, Maya decides to embark on a trip to Ireland to meet a local matchmaker, renowned for his skills the world over. What she doesn’t anticipate is how quickly he gets to work, setting Maya up on a slew of horribly hilarious meet-ups with random Irishmen during the town’s matchmaking festival, including a terrible blind date with the handsome but incredibly surly sheep farmer, Tadhg.
Despite things getting off to a rocky start, the matchmaker convinces Maya to take a road trip across the country, going on dates and interviewing couples along the way. But when Maya turns up, she discovers there's been a last-minute switch, and instead of the jolly, older matchmaker as her guide, it's the outrageously grumpy Tadhg, and he's none too pleased about the setup either.
As Maya and Tadhg journey together across picturesque landscapes and green countryside, their constant verbal sparring feels increasingly like a cover for some serious chemistry. And the more time she spends with Tadhg, the more she realizes she may have been too quick to judge his brooding exterior.
An equally hilarious and heartfelt enemies-to-lovers romance brimming with humor and delicious tension, this love story is the perfect escape!
Maya, a podcaster who has had no results after years of online dating decides to go OFFLINE entrusting the task of finding love to an Irish matchmaker. Her first date with local sheep farmer Tadhg was a disaster (as expected). She thought she detested him, but when Tadhg and Maya end up on a roadtrip together, Maya starts to see a different side of this grumpy man who slowly works his way into her heart.
This was a fun one! Part of this journey involved a roadtrip, and it was a thrill to tour Ireland again. Mackenzie does such an incredible job shining a spotlight on the beauty and wonders of the Emerald Isle. The food, the music, the people - she made it all come to life.
But I also adored the premise of this story. Maya was self-proclaimed awkward and had never been in love. Dating was a painful chore for her, but she managed to turn her spinsterhood into a career with a successful podcast. The podcast segments were wonderful and often hilarious. I mean, the banter between the hero and Maya was good, but the banter between Maya and her podcast partner was phenomenal. The humor and sarcasm was a perfect match for me.
I adored both Maya and Tadhg. Maya was funny, sharp witted, loved books, and animals. She was definitely the sunshine in this story, and Tadhg, he was the grump. But you know, there were reasons, and I had no trouble forgiving some of his off-putting behaviors because he was your gooey-centered grump. He was so protective of Maya and was always doing small acts of kindness, and he cuddled sheep and baby talked to his dog. Yeah, he was worth the work.
With a spectacular setting, great premise, and quirky characters, Experiments in Offline Dating was a hit for me that had me laughing and cheering the whole time.
Published by Atria/Emily Bestler Books on August 25, 2026
Age/Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Rating:
Goodreads
Allie Lake is a scientist is on a held-up flight travelling home from a job when she is seated next to troubled movie star Milo Ford. She is in no mood to talk to him, whoever he might be. Her most recent project at a research station has just come to an end and she's about to move in with her sister and her love life is non-existent. As for Milo, he wants nothing more than to be at home hiding out with a little normality. Instead, he has to go and film a movie in the Romanian mountains... all the while, the press are getting closer, circling his most closely guarded secret.
Post-flight, they both quickly realise they've accidentally swapped phones with their fellow passenger. Easily rectified, except Milo's about to be on a remote set for a month... and Allie has no idea who Milo is, only that he is the keeper of her entire digital life.
As they trade back and forth on each other's phones, they can't help but notice there's more to their chat than practicalities...
After arriving home from a research trip, Allie realizes she inadvertently swapped phones with another passenger. She quickly works out a way to communicate with the other person and learns that American actor Milo is in possession of her phone but is on location for three weeks. During that time, they connect via text messages, phone calls, and video chats and a friendship was soon born.
This book was a roller coaster for me. It started out with bang as I adored all the mixed media and have a thing for people falling in love before they meet. It was lovely watching them peel back the layers and seeing that trust form between them, but then this thing happened. The story took a bit of turn, but I was pleased with the path even if it was a very bumpy one.
As a STEM girlie, I was all over the bird stuff. It was fascinating and the science bits were written with quite a bit of enthusiasm which was contagious. I also loved their besties. Both Allie and Milo had great steadfast friends who were pillars of support. Allie and Milo both has been through a lot, but their friends were there for them the entire time.
Did the miscommunication drive me batty? A little because even when they directly addressed things, the other person didn't believe them. That part could have been cut down, but I reveled in these two falling in love and finding a way to have it all with each other.
*ARCS PROVIDED BY THE PUBLISHER
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