As someone who really enjoyed Kate Stayman-London's "One to Watch" with a similar premise, I really enjoyed this book. I thought it was entertaining and a great book to read for a change of pace.

One thing that felt so weird in the beginning is that Abby is stressed about using the name "Abigail Jones" and so they come up with a "alter ego" ... of.... literally Abby Jones.... which is the same as her original name? Am I going nuts? Like thats the same thing as just saying her name is Abigail.... anyways, after suspending disbelief at that point I was able to continue reading the book and enjoyed it!

A cross between The Devil Wears Prada and the Bachelor, Sandy Barker's book The Dating Game takes readers on a twisty adventure through the world of reality media. Abby Jones is not looking for love, in fact, she's only here under duress. Really. Writing under a pen name, her snarky write ups of a popular Bacheloresque show has won her a position as a contestant. Only she's not really a contestant, her job is to get as close to the top as possible in order to get an insiders perspective so she can write even more snarky articles. Whew! Unfortunately for her, one of the producers is a handsome, nice guy who seems to like her, many of her fellow contestants are fabulous women, and the bachelor is a jerk. All it takes is one wrong move and the whole thing ends in a blaze of glory. With a deft hand and lots of wit, this is an excellent choice for a beach read.

The Dating Game is a romantic comedy about the hottest reality tv show about looking for love. Abby is a writer that writes recaps of reality television under a secret identity. When her recap of the dating show, The Stag goes viral, her editor thinks that she should be on set writing the drama as it happens in the next season. She is excited to find out that the setting of the next show is going to be Sidney, Australia. The bad news is that the producers want her to actually be a contestant on the show as well as writing the recaps undercover. She does not want to be on camera pretending to be looking for love but she doesn't have a choice in the matter. Once she meets the gorgeous producer, Jack, she begins to feel more positive about being involved with the show. The contestants provide plenty of drama for the show. This is a funny good read. I recommend it.

I recently entered into sort of a romance frenzy and this book definitely fueled some of it!! It was such a fun engaging read all the way through. I love when books can make me laugh out loud just like this one did.
Thank you so much to netgalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review!

This really wasn’t romance-forward as I was hoping for but it was still relatively entertaining to read. I think that someone who works in tv or production would really enjoy this more than the average romance reader.
Thank you to Netgalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

If you love dating reality shows and wondering what happens behind the scenes, this book is for you!

The main heroine, Abby, joins a reality dating show (like The Bachelor) with secret agenda - she is a journalist sent inside to write snarky and entertaining recaps to attract a bigger audience. What starts as a job assignment ends up as a life-changing experience.

The best part of this book was attention on relationship build between contestants. It made me think a lot about our actual reality TV - about competition and how people involved are tricked to firstly get to know each other and later compete against each other. There is a lot to untangle in a situation where 12 girls living in the same house are competing for one man's heart. I think the author did a great job doing it! On top of it, some very likable side characters. And no better place to visit while reading than sunny koala-infested Australia.

Unfortunately, nothing much apart from that happens there. It is indeed not really a Romance book as barely any romance is there. Yes, we have a love interest (more than one). But through chapters, I am not introduced to them enough to sympathize or root for them. Nor believed in a connection between characters.

I was also a little annoyed with the build of the story. The pressure was building through the book, layer on top of another layer, several complications, challenges, moral dilemmas, secrecy. All of it was supposed to lead to ultimate culmination. But it never did. When I noticed, I am 95% done with a book, but some complications only arise by then, I was worried instantly. So in the end, I did not get any relief, nor epilogue. So while I was invested in the story and worried about how everything will affect the heroines' life after the show, the author decided it was not important enough to be part of this story. So it is like going to a restaurant and ordering small to make sure you have space for a desert to find out at the end of the evening that they do not offer any deserts.

If you are looking for an entertaining reality TV drama read, this will work for you just fine, but if you are interested in reading romance, this might not be for you after all.

Thanks to NetGalley, Sandy Barker, and the publisher for providing advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

overall it was an enjoyable read. i was intrigued by the idea and had never read any book with a similar concept before so i didn't know what to expect. abigail, the mc, goes undercover on the reality show "the stag" (read the bachelor) to write snarky and witty recaps of the episodes under a pseudonym. she is immediately attracted to jack, one of the australian producers of the show, it feels as if they have a connection but she thinks he's not interested in her and that he's just being a nice person. while it's not what i usually prefer to read, they were cute. i liked seeing the behind the scenes of a reality tv show and also the friendship between some of the participants. i couldn't quite connect with the characters but i kept reading because i wanted to see how it would all wrap up. i recommend it if you want a quick fun read and if you're a fan of reality tv shows.

What a sweet, funny, light book! I absolutely loved this! Abby was a great heroine, and the romance was so cute. Really enjoyed it!

Oh god this book was sooooo hilarious! I don’t think I stopped laughing from the first chapter to the end! Abby couldn’t stay out of trouble to save her life but she was determined to see it through til the end! Tough strong girl for the win!

Dating Game by Sandy Baker is a sweet, light, and fluffy read. Calling all Bachelor fandom, this book is for YOU! Our heroine Abigail is an aspiring serious journalist looking for her big break while writing pop culture reality tv reviews. In a whirlwind rom com montage, complete with full makeover, Abby is whisked off to Australia to shoot the UK version of the Bachelor, the Stag. Abby is put on as contestants but still writing reviews under a pen name. However, it seems she has more chemistry with the producer Jason, then the lead Daniel. I enjoyed this book, but personally for me it was a lot of filler, and less romance. If your into the lighter side of romance you will enjoy this book.

Thank you net galley for sending this arc for an honest review!

Honestly I don’t know where to begin. This book was quite extraordinary and helped me out of my reading slump. A new fresh read for me. The moment the title said “the dating game” my head went straight to the fake dating tropes which wasn’t exactly how articulated it but it did in fact come out way better. Seeing the MC fall in love with the producer even tho at first she didn’t enjoy the idea of being filmed at first was amazing and hilarious. Such a light read and would recommend to anyone in a slump.

I loved this book! It was so funny sometimes I found myself laughing out loud. For those in the US - this is like the Bachelor being filmed with an inside journalist as a contestant. It’s easy to see how contestants could get caught up in the competition or be confused about falling in love. Abby’s take on the situation is hilarious and down to earth. A quick, light-hearted beach read.

Thank you netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Unfortunately I could not get into this novel. Abby is a smart and snarky character but her endless inner thoughts and the lack of really heat between her and Jack turned me off. The story read like a very long run on sentence. Not my cup of tea.

Well! Abby Jones might be my mind mate! After watching each Bachelorette episodes along with my friends, the most part I fully enjoy is teasing with competitors! I put them into groups and give them nicknames. When I start to read this book opening with deliciously sarcastic and absolutely smart article of the character, I laughed a lot! And I thought I finally found a character reflects my inner snarky b*tch self!

Abby Jones is aspiring writer: well, at least she dreams to be a serious journalist to write for NY Times or Guardian but right now she writes articles by using her pseudonym name Anastasia Flabbergasted teasing must-watch show Stag! Concept is copy cat of Bachelorette: doe-s are the candidates to lure the gorgeous guy at Stag Manor, isolated from the outer world for two months, having cat fights, enduring lots of scripted or dramatized quarrels: the doe standing riding into sunset with the love of her life!

Teasing about show hiding behind her pseudonym name is easier task but her editor Prue van der Puttin who is incarnated version Putin with dictatorial skills force her to attend to the contest with writing an insider article for Feed Your Mind Magazine which will establish partnership between magazine and network , boost their reach and readership potentially ten-fold!

Even though she wants to decline the offer, she is scared of being a victim of her explosive violence tendencies of her boss. She doesn’t want to lose her job!

Let’s look from the bright side: the entire episodes will be shot in Australia where she always dreamed the visit and handsome producer charming Aussie Jack is already too helpful to her to practice her role play!

She has already classification system : between the contenders. There are: potential brides, dark horses, villains, fillers and miscellaneous.

They will compete to steal Daniel the British banker’s ( or the wanker’s) heart!

Plan is simple! She’ll learn to survive in the dorm life at the gorgeous villa with the spectacular view( they advised to mention it throughout their recording), befriending 11 competent to get more juicy gossips and details to embellish her up-close- personal backstage comments. She has also need to get immune to condescending comments of two villanelles: Tara and Kylie.

It seems like she already befriended Becca, Katz, Elizabeth. And as she spends more time with Jack, she stars falling harder but what if the pretentious, narcissistic Stag also gets interested in her! She’s so blunt and direct from the beginning. She doesn’t pretend like the other girls but what if her sarcastic and honest comments attract the guy she cannot stand! What will happen to her undeniable attraction at her lovely producer!

I liked the opening the book a lot. I loved the witty comments and living in a mansion- competing at a reality show- jealous girl cat fight- friendship- forbidden love theme but on the middle of the book, pacing gets repetitive and I lose my interest! But at the end the author wrapped up the story satisfyingly!

I’m rounding up my 3.5 stars to 4 just for the author’s enjoyable, smart, entertaining writing style and reality show theme!

Special thanks to NetGalley and One More Chapter / Harper Collins UK for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.

A nice, light hearted and original read, this one ticked a variety of boxes for me. I thoroughly enjoyed the interwoven storylines (although the early masses of characters was quite complex at first)

Well written and recommended, this is a great holiday read.

The Dating Game by Sandy Baker is a great lighthearted book with a great cast of characters. While I liked the main characters Abby and Jack, I really liked Kaz and thought she added a fun aspect to the story. I liked that you felt you were getting a sneak peek into what probably goes on behind the scenes of some reality shows.

The Dating Game by Sandy Barker was a really fun book! The book follows journalist Abigail Jones, who moonlights as tabloid writer Anastasia Blabbergasted. Abby wants to write about serious topics and has gotten some of her articles published in reputed publications. But until she can do that full time, she writes under the moniker Anastasia Blabbergasted at online tabloid, Feed Your Mind. Her most popular pieces are her recaps of the episodes of The Stag, which is kind of like the bachelor, but adapted for this book.

When one of her recaps reaches the creators of The Stag, she is offered the opportunity to make her recaps more interesting by getting the inside scoop by joining the set as one of the potential "Does" on the show. Initially, she refuses, but her fledgling crush on producer Jack, and the potential to write a more in-depth piece on the realities of reality television, change her mind.

I will start this review off by saying that I've never watched even a single episode of any of the Bachelor's many versions. The closest I've come is probably watching a commercial for one of the shows, so I was practically going in blind for this. And honestly, I was sucked in from the first time we land on the set of The Stag. The constant ups and downs, the way every person had a set role to play even though it was supposed to be "reality" tv, was all highly entertaining.

One issue I had was that there were times where it felt like all the different roles Abby was playing were melding together and it was hard to see exactly what was happening. The recaps she wrote as Anastasia weren't properly separated, so at times I was really confused as to whether she was narrating or whether she was writing.

The actual romance was also pretty light. There were some angsty/dramatic moments, but for the most part the actual romance was low angst and low heat. The main plot of the book revolved around the Does and Abby herself. The entire experience was a way for Abby to find out who she truly wanted to be and a way for her to accept that the different roles she played in life were all really her.

My favorite part was definitely the actual show, and the things that happened on it. One of the Doe's, Kaz was my absolute favorite and every time she was on screen, you knew things were going to be good. Each Doe was so different from one another and the way they constantly changed over the duration of the show, constantly kept me on my toes, so I never knew what was gonna happen.

The ending truly surprised me, but entertained me nonetheless. This book made me laugh quite a bit and was thoroughly enjoyable! I'd recommend this if you're just looking for a light, fun book that will provide you with some laughs and some entertaining drama!

Thanks to NetGalley for my gifted copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

The Dating Game is a poor mans One to Watch. After having read that book last year, (and really enjoyed it) I had high expectations for a book that presented essentially the same premise.
Abby is a writer who writes scathing reviews of a reality show, like the bachelor, called the Stag. She writes under a pseudonym and would like to eventually break out from this role and do more serious journalism.
At the request of / being “voluntold” by her difficult editor, she is tasked with going undercover as one of the contestants seeking love.
Abby is funny and sassy but the story drug on a little in the middle and the ending was abrupt.

Ironically, as someone who has not actually watched the Bachelor or Bachelorette, I apparently really like books based off the show’s premise. The Dating Game is filled with witty humor. The main character, Abby (also known as Abigail, Doe Abby, and Anastasia Blabbergasted), writes post-viewing show recaps for the show, The Stag, highlighting her hilarious and sarcastic humor. When Abby’s reviews get her and her gossip website noticed by the executive producer of the show, Abby gets suckered in to being a participant. Abby will become a faux Doe trying to vie for the heart of the Stag meanwhile getting a behind-the-scenes look at the show for her blog.

And of course, this does not go as planned. The Stag is a major prick, the producer Jack is a major nerd hottie, and there are villainous Does in the house. Can Abby keep her identity (actually identities plural since she is Abby hiding as Doe Abby while writing as Anastasia-whew!) a secret or will she reveal herself to her newly found friends?

The Dating Game is exactly what I wanted it to be: a fun romantic read that made me laugh out loud. There were some slower parts and areas that I thought should be cut, but that just follows any real reality show to me. The characters were likable, and the chemistry was solid. For Bachelor and One To Watch fans this book is for you!

Thank you to NetGalley and One More Chapter for granting me a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I received an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
This story follows Abby who is a writer, she gets put into a show called The Stag ( think the Bachelor ) to write recaps of episodes with behind the scene knowledge. She learns that what she sees from the comfort of her home isn’t as it seems, and just how real reality tv is. This book is everything you would expect from a RomCom. Laugh out loud funny, sarcastic and it has some complicated relationships when it comes to love.