3.5 --> 4 ⭐

"The Moment We Met" is the follow-up to the debut "Have We Met?" (I highly recommend reading that one first -- it is necessary to understanding the characters and backstory). It is a rom-com with a hint of magic, 🪄 but it also focuses on the growth and healing of our protagonist. There are themes of grief and loss.

Tiwanda, our bi protagonist, is at a bit of a crossroads in life. She's just had her 30th birthday when she quits her job, decides to finally start her business, and decides to begin repairing family relationships. As if these huge life changes weren't enough, a mysterious 'love app' called "Met" falls into her lap Met is not your typical dating app -- it has 'magical' properties. It will match Tiwanda with a series of suitors and she has to figure out which one is meant for her.

Will Tiwanda find her match? 💕

I am so torn on this. I read "Have We Met" and really, really enjoyed it, but this one had a bit of a different vibe. I read in the Acknowledgements that Camille wrote this during the pandemic and therefore struggled with it, and I think I see some of that here in this book. That's not to say I didnt like it -- I absolutely did! I just didn't love it as much as the first. I think I was hoping for a bit more in the romance department, like in book one. This seemed to be 90% about T and all of these big life changes. I wanted more romance and a bit more spice.

What I loved most: I love all of the inclusivity and diversity here. Both books are full of characters from all sorts of backgrounds. Obviously our MCs are BIPOC, but we also have LGBTQIA, disability rep. 💕

I look forward to reading what Camille has in store for us next! ☺️ Thank you NetGalley, the publisher and the author for my gifted eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing & Camille Baker for the opportunity to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Tiwanda is in the midst of launching her own business when the Met app mysteriously appears on her phone. Already familiar with the app’s soulmate-connecting abilities from the first book (Have We Met?), Tiwanda believes this app couldn’t have come at a worse time. They say love finds you when you least expect it, and that cliche couldn’t be more true here! 

The app was unexpected for both Tiwanda and her cousin Corinne, as is the nature of the app. But where Corinne seemed more open to the process, albeit weirded out, Tiwanda is much more reluctant. Over time she lets her guard down and begins to believe that there may be someone out there for her after all. But more importantly that she deserves and is capable of love.

I like that in this second book, the Met app has been updated. New logo, interface & functions such an ask Met a question feature and alerting you when you’ve met a potential soulmate. 

Tiwanda felt like a very different character than from the first book. Could be the transition from a surface level side character to a main character who’s more fleshed out, or it could be that her life circumstances have changed significantly in between these two books. Regardless, I was into it. 

Tiwanda poses an interesting question about soulmates. Is your soulmate someone you meet early and spend the rest of your life with, or is it someone you meet decades after having already established a life with someone else? She also realizes that a soulmate connection doesn't necessarily need to be romantic.

The soulmate trope must be growing on me, because, if this app, which connects you with 4 potential soulmates, was real, I’d try it 😅

I enjoyed this heartwarming and feel good story overall. Tiwanda experienced a lot of personal and professional growth. She learned it's okay to not know everything and to accept help from those who are willing to give it. This story focused more on family dynamics and found family through her friendships and of course her path toward achieving her dream of becoming a small business owner. I do not have an entrepreneurial bone in my body, so I appreciated her commitment, determination and sheer will throughout this story.

Although her match was the person I hoped for, I wanted more. I liked them together, but the writing style was too direct at times and lacked the emotion I'm used to from romances. I don't remember this in Have We Met? But, it was noticeable here, and I think that's what was missing for me with the romance.

[CW: grief, death of parents]

I was disappointed to find that this wasn’t the first book in the series and I wonder, if I had read that one first if I would have enjoyed this one more.

The story opens with Tiwanda’s thirtieth birthday. She has been working endless house in the accounting department in a medical lab for seven years but, after some gentle persuasion from her aunt she quits her job and begins a journey of self discovery.she then recives a grant to help her launch her dream business. She has also been gifted a dating app designed to identify four ideal relationship matches and one soul mate but its uo to her to work out which potential relationship is which.

The various life challenges presented felt a little too much. There was a bit too much detail for my mind to escape the real world as I usually do when reading. Some of the task descriptions slowed down the book pacing for me. While I enjoyed that Tiwanda was an overachiever, it felt a little too much at times and I wanted her to chill out a little. I found her to be a difficult character to care for because of this, I think. Due to her past she was often rude, snappy and dismissive which also didn’t help, she’s not someone I would want to be friends with in real life. The plethora of other characters were difficult to keep up with though I did enjoy the dry humour of this book and the diverse characters.

Thank you to NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing, and the author for an advance reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 3 stars


This novel opens on the eve of Tiwanda Harris’ thirtieth birthday. She has been routinely working endless hours in the accounting department of a medical lab where she’s been for 7 years. But, when a gentle urge from her beloved aunt paired with her own passion to pursue something greater spur Tiwanda to quit her full-time job, her journey of self-discovery begins. She receives a grant to help launch her dream business and eagerly joins a business mentoring cohort to carry out the details of her business plan. In the meantime, Tiwanda was gifted a dating app designed to identify four ideal relationship matches and one soul mate. But it’s totally up to her to discern which potential relationship is which.

A cynic of whether romance is right for her lifestyle, Tiwanda is challenged with figuring out how the task of finding true love can possibly happen while juggling the demands of her new business, becoming a pet parent, seeking to make peace with childhood trauma due to losing both of her parents at a young age, and steering her scary, yet exciting new life in the right direction.


As a disclaimer, I have not read the first book in this series, Have We Met?

While I enjoyed the dry humor, diverse supporting characters, and various life challenges presented in The Moment We Met, I found this novel to be quite detail-oriented regarding her business start-up process and even tedious tasks such as creating recipes, which significantly slowed down the pacing and hindered the reading experience for me. While I was impressed by Tiwanda’s calculating and overachiever tendencies, at times, it felt overstated and made caring about her character and engagement with the story difficult for me. Due to her past losses, she was guarded, snippy, and often rude and dismissive. This makes for a great character arc, but also creates a sizeable distance between the reader and the character. There were also a plethora of characters, which were quite complicated to keep track of.

Overall, I found the story to be just okay. I plan to read the first book in this series to gain a better understanding of some of the characters.

Camille Baker's story was delightful, thoughtful, and heart warming. Everything I wanted from the story with a dash of learning some more about being an entrepreneuer. I definitely reccomend reading The Moment We Met.

Synopsis: A meddling app says she’s about to meet her match, but which of the four possibilities is the one—and more importantly, is she ready for love? Find out in this novel about family, soul mates, and chasing dreams by the author of Have We Met?

Tiwanda Harris’s thirtieth birthday is a turning point. Gifted her late mother’s journal, Tiwanda is finally getting a glimpse of who her mother was as an adult. Shortly after, the budding entrepreneur receives a grant to jump-start a delicious business opportunity—and her sweet dreams don’t end there. Tiwanda’s been sent a dating app called Met that promises four matches, and among them, her soul mate. All Tiwanda has to do is tap “Yes”…

Though she’s doubtful about fitting romance into her life, the choices are hers. As the matches begin to surface, Tiwanda is surprised to find that maybe there is some future potential there after all. But which one could lead to real love? Only time will tell. That is, if she can find the time.

With her focus split between launching her career, helping heal old family rifts, maintaining friendships while building new ones, and also trying to open her heart to romantic love, chasing so many dreams is leaving Tiwanda breathless. But who knows? With destiny on her side, maybe there’s a chance all those dreams could come true.

I this was a charming book. A story about romance, family, and friendship. The author draws the reader into the story with her flawless prose.

This book was a quick read and I liked it overall. I think the plot was unique in its on way and I liked reading about it. I think what was missing from me was more emotion and personality from the character. I didn’t truly feel connected to her. I also felt the pacing was rushed in some parts. Overall though, I was content.

2.5 stars

All I have to say is, I wish I knew more of tiwanda because sadly it was only until the last part of the book that we get to know her and it wasn't enough.
I spent most of the book being a little frustrated with her and it makes me sad because she grew a lot by the end, and I think part of the reason of why this happened is because I feel there was so many subplots and side characters that took time away from the main story it was hard to keep up.
The talks about grief and the representation was amazing and one of my favorite parts of the book and again I was it was explored more.
What I didn't like was the app part because I didn't really understand how it worked and it pulled me out of the story.
Overall this was a good read that could've been great.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I unfortunately did not connect to this book at all and I truly which I did because the plot was interesting and the cover? Amazing. But I just found myself very bored and having to skim read before I had to call it quits.

The Moment We Met
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Romace
Format: Kindle eBook
Date Published: 7/5/22
Author: Camille Baker
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Pages: 256
Goodreads Rating: 3.59

TW ⚠️: Loss of parents and grief.

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for providing a digital copy of the book for me to read in exchange for my honest opinion.

Synopsis: Tiwanda Harris’s thirtieth birthday is a turning point, her mothers journal, grant to jump start her business, and a dating app that promises your soul mate. Though she’s doubtful about fitting romance into her life, but which one could lead to real love? With her focus split between launching her career, helping heal old family rifts, maintaining friendships while building new ones, and also trying to open her heart to romantic love, chasing so many dreams is leaving Tiwanda breathless.

My Thoughts: I did not read the first book, Have We Met, and this is my first book from this author. I am not sure by not reading the first app that I truly understood the “Met App.” It is kinda of glossed over in this book, likely presuming that I read the first book. This is a short book, which generally I like, however, I felt that there were too many characters and sometimes I had a hard time keeping them straight. I did love the premise of the book. Tiwanda’s character does get tremendous growth as she is developed throughout the book, with losing her parents, starting her own business, and fitting in romance, the character is developed well. At first, I did not like Tiwanda, but by the end of the book, she grew on me. I would like to have seen more time devoted to the romance of the matches, I do believe that would have strengthened the book. I also love the author’s writing style, the setting and the diverse characters she uses, it was beautifully written. Overall, I enjoyed the book, I just wanted more.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this eARC of "The Moment We Met" by Camille Baker.

I'll be honest, I was hooked from the get go. The whole premise radiated K-drama vibes and I loved it. However, I didn't like the ending. I didn't love Ben for our protagonist, I felt he was too passive. I was definitely a Eliott fan.

thank you to netgalley and Lake Union Publishing for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

it took me a while to read this and type out a proper review with my honest feelings towards this book.
i enjoyed the writing style and how beautiful Camille Baker sets the tone. how wonderfully she weilds her pen to create these vibrant settings and diverse characters.

tiwanda, with all of her shortcomings, was a wonderful character to get to know. however, i felt like there wasn't enough of her until i was halfway through the book. perhaps because tiwanda was also opening up to eliot and so it felt like she was opening up to the reader at the same pace? i don't know, but even when i reached the ending, i felt like i didn't truly know her.

"my grief was disturbing, so that's all anyone wanted. the counselor, my grandma, teachers, and coaches— they all wanted me to focus on moving forward, the one thing i couldn't stop if i tried. as if time would cure my grief. i believed it would."

the book deals with serious subjects like grief and loss of both parents and at first i really thought it would skim over these topics, because i'm so used to that happening, but i was so surprised and very impressed when the author went into great detail to describe tiwanda's feelings. it almost felt like this was the only thing that we really knew about tiwanda. and her aversion to relationships. it did make me understand her a little better though and why she was the way that she was.

i also felt like there was so little given, i just didn't have enough time to truly appreciate the beauty of the different characters. but it was so great seeing all of them interact with one another. as the reader, you can definitely feel tiwanda's appreciation or distaste for the characters. it wasn't only just said, but it was shown and i enjoyed that.
also. met was not as meddling as i thought it would be? i really expected the app to be more of a menace, you know? but the whole thing being connected to tiwanda's mum? that was something that made my heart soften. and kinda left me in tears when tiwanda had to say goodbye. again. so, there's that, lol.

all in all, i think this was a good read.

⭐⭐rating: 3.5 stars.⭐⭐

Tiwanda is working hard at being a young entrepreneur. She lost her parents young and was raised by her grandmother. Tiwanda is busy but ready to start dating using an app. Through the novel, she learns more about the background of her family, finds some pieces she has been missing and creates a space in life to let love in.

Thank you, NetGalley, for an advanced copy of this book.

||3.5☆||

**TW**
Grief, maternal death

This book is a difficult one to review. It's interesting and light, it has potential and it certainly caught my attention.
But, in some areas it just seemed to be dragged out.

I haven't read the first book and perhaps that could have helped sway my opinion on this book. Even though I didn't read book 1, I never felt as though anything was missing. I loved understanding how the Met app worked and I loved the theory of it being a loved one guiding you.
It was no surprise when the main character ended up with *that* match in the end. I could see it coming from the moment they met and I believe that is what disappointed me.

I did enjoy how Tiwanda was portrayed as a strong, independent female lead. Her idea, Bathe in Chocolate, grabbed my attention and I wanted to know more about it. I loved following her journey and watching as her dream became a reality. I also really loved how she gave in and allowed Penelope to become part of her family. Tiwanda's attitude and humor is very similar to mine and I loved that. I loved that I could relate to this main character.

This book had great diversity which I also loved. It allowed the book to have that sense of reality.

One thing that irked me was the whole scenario with the fourth Met match. We didn't meet this match until the very end of the book and it honestly felt as though the author was leading us on.

I am happy with the match that Tiwanda had in the end but it was obvious from the very beginning and the book just felt like a normal romance between two people and two people alone.

I would like to give Camille Baker another go though as I do see potential in their writing.

Such a sweet sequel to an intriguing story! I loved Have We Met? and was pleasantly surprised to find that I enjoyed The Moment We Met even more. Baker is fantastic at creating a diverse cast of lush and interesting characters. I only hope that they each get their own story someday! I also really like the way the plot unfolds. The main character is never given a cheap happily ever after amidst all the chaos, instead they face realistic wins and losses and we get to see them navigating difficult or less than ideal scenarios. Overall a lovely novel and I can't wait to see if a third will come out!

I feel like this had a lot of potential, but just fell a bit flat for me. The concept of the app was really interesting and I liked all the parts about the main character dealing with grief and family relationships and starting her business, but I felt like a lot of those and the romantic parts were underdeveloped. I never got to a point where I really cared what was going to happen and I wasn't completely sold on the relationship either. I would definitely read another book by Camille though!

I quickly read the first book so I could understand more how the MET works. But unfortunately I was left feeling empty even after the second book. I liked Tiwanda’s character more than Cori’s but I wish there were more actions around the app. I was waiting some funny laugh out loud romcom but I felt the story just went through the girls family and work history.

I was rooting for Elliot but it was obvious that Ben is the winner. He was all right. I didn’t get much of him to decide whether I like him or not.
In this book I felt that the ending was all rushed. I missed a lot of emotions. And I believe it could’ve been so much more fun to be read but sadly it didn’t work out for me.

Thank you to NetGalley for my advance eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Tiwanda is very much a strong, independent woman. She is career-minded and generally knows what she wants. At the start of the book, she leaves her job to pursue her own small-business, teaching chocolate and soap making workshops. While competing for a business grant and participating in their mentoring program, she is found by the MET app--a devious dating app that links users with several potential soulmates in the hopes they will find love.

Okay, so I think I should start off by saying that I haven't read Camille Baker's first novel, which presumably explained the whole concept of MET more thoroughly. However, I still think that for a sequel The Moment we Met should have introduced the app and the characters better from the outset. I think the idea of dating apps in romcoms is very promising and when I read the synopsis, I was intrigued. But right from the beginning, I was confused about how the app worked and found the whole thing a bit bizarre--the app just didn't blend with the rest of the story well.

In keeping with that theme, three quarters of the way through the book, I felt like I barely understood who the characters were and what their motivations were. There were a LOT of characters. Too many for the length and scope of the story. It was hard to keep track of them. I think that all these peripheral characters distracted from Tiwanda's character, to the point that I didn't get to know her as much as I wanted to, which is a shame because she seemed like a cool lady.

What I really appreciated was the representation. I liked how the main character was a career woman who didn't want kids, which we need more of in romance books. She's Black and queer, as were many of the other characters.

I wish I enjoyed this a little bit more because it sounded so promising! I would definitely considering reading something else by Camille Baker in case this was just not the right story for me.

The writing style in this book was not for me. It was too unemotional and dry, and I felt like I was reading a list of groceries all throughout. The premise really hooked me and I think the execution of the plot were okay, it's just that the writing style really made it hard for me to care. Tiwanda's monologues are bland because the writing style does not make her interesting as our main character. The writing will tell us who she is instead of showing us her characteristics, thoughts, and personality. I hope the author's other books were not written like this because the writing in this one was definitely not for me.

I really liked this first book in this series I read. This book felt like a sequel that never needed to be written.