The Right Swipe by Alisha Rai follows Rhiannon. After she’s forced out of her previous company Swype by a jilted ex-lover, she joins develops Crush a swipe-based dating app to rival Swype. Then there’s Matchmaker, the oldest and only non-swipe app left on the market. At a tech conference for the apps Matchmaker has a new spokesperson, Samson Lima former NFL football player. Who also just happens to be the one night stand who ghosted Rhiannon on the beach over the summer.
Rhiannon runs into Sampson who has a legitimate reason for his no-show. But Rhiannon’s already been crushed in the past and she’s not about to give second chances. Sampson vows that he’s not the guy she thinks he is if she’ll just give him another chance. Plus she’s been wanting to possibly buy Matchmaker and Sampson’s personal friendship with the founders may give her the in that she needs. Can these two figure out dating in the digital age or is Rhiannon ready to swipe left on the whole thing?
I enjoyed this one overall. Rhiannon is very prickly and it takes her a long long time to drop her defenses and let anyone in. She wears a full suit of armor at all times to protect her heart after being hurt so much in the past. Sampson is patient and continues to prove to her that she can trust him, if she for once will just give him the benefit of the doubt and not assume the worst. I liked watching her tough exterior slowly crack. I do think the romance in this one is a little more of a subplot and the jockeying between the tech companies was a little more the focus. The steamy parts were great but this story is very much Rhiannon’s journey of escaping her past and letting her walls down. Sampson also has his own storyline about concussions and CTE (chronic trauma encephalopathy) resulting in former NFL players who sustained repeated concussions that I thought was really well done. They both have such strong individual arcs with the romance in the background for those who like books where the relationship isn’t the only focus, this may be a great place to start! The Right Swipe is out Tuesday August 6th!
Love finding your blog (thanks to Silver Unicorn). Wish I could attend the Romance Day but I’ll be out of town. Such a great idea to bring romance out of the closet and shout out about the fun (and necessity) of romance. And romance books.
It was such a great day! I hope they do it again soon!!