Why I read it: I received a review copy via the author. The published version has an epilogue but the main story was first released as a free serial for newsletter subscribers (of which I am one).

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) year after his divorce, Daniel Stroman has decided that he’s too young to die—or fuse permanently with his couch. But when he downloads the dating app “Let’s Connect” and starts dating, his success/fail ratio isn’t encouraging until he gets a connection request from Robin.

Everything about Robin’s profile is different, from the bright little bird he’s using as an avatar to the long and thoughtful answers he’s written for the standard questions. He’s witty, funny, and easy to talk to. Robin could be his perfect match. But Robin is holding something back.

Then again, so is Dan—beginning with the seven-year crush he’s carried for his best friend, Trevor. Sadly, except for one brief moment, they’ve never been single at the same time.

Or have they?

What worked for me (and what didn’t): Let’s Connect is structured as a serial with each chapter being one “date”. Chapter one is therefore “First Date” and so on until the end of the novella. It’s intentionally episodic and works well that way.

My theory about what was going on was not quite right and it turns out that was a very good thing but I won’t go into more here because spoilers.

Dan has some unfortunate dating experiences on the Let’s Connect app, including the first one with a man with IBS. They meet unexpectedly in the bathroom at the restaurant where they’re to have dinner so needless to say, things do not go well. I found the disastrous dates not to be mean with their humour but I suppose those with IBS may think otherwise.

The connection that Robin and Dan make on the app, communicating as they do via text for the bulk of the story, is fairly deep. My marriage predated app dating so I have no experience of any of this myself, but I get the impression this kind of communication was pretty rare.

Dan and his best friend Trevor have clearly got some deep feelings for one another though and exactly who Robin will be to Dan is not clear until well into the story. I’m not giving it away here.

I did struggle a little with some of Trevor’s actions. While I had some sympathy for his reasons, I didn’t always find them convincing and I was left wondering why he took so long to be honest about his feelings for Dan.

What else? I very much liked the way the story featured older main characters who were physically imperfect and realistic.

Let’s Connect was a short read, but it packed a lot into the story. The romance was very believable and the epilogue rounded things off nicely. It’s worth picking up the published version for the epilogue which really embeds the HEA.

There’s a new serialised novella coming soon for newsletter subscribers, which links to the events of this book. Readers who don’t want to miss it can sign up for Kelly Jensen’s newsletter here.