Early Book Review: Blind Date Bet by Nicole Flockton

Blind Date Bet is the first book in a new romance series by Nicole Flockton. It is currently scheduled for release on January 22 2019.

Never say never… After loving and losing a soldier once, Isabella Knowles made a vow: No more military men. She’s rebuilt her life and has a classroom full of fifth graders to love, which is more than enough even though her father doesn’t agree. When he sets her up on a blind date, she only goes to humor him — never dreaming that the man she meets will tempt her to break her one rule. In theory, Ethan Masters is not opposed to the wife, kids and house with a white picket fence. But he loves his career as a K-9 handler in the Air Force, and a dream promotion dangles before him like dog tags. While contemplating his future, he accepts a drunken bet for a blind date, never dreaming that the captivating woman fits perfectly into his ideal, all-American dream. Only one problem. She’s gun-shy about all things military. Can Ethan prove to Isabella love is worth the risk?

Blind Date Bet started off strong, I liked the initial set up and thought I was really going to love the story and the characters. I did like Isabella, but I never really felt like I got into her head. As things were revealed I could understand her reservations, but I just never connected with her. Unfortunately the same holds true for Ethan and most of the secondary characters. Oddly enough the one character I want to know more about and the one scene I would have like to have seen never really has a presence in the story. As for the relationship between Ethan and Izzy, moments of it fit and worked, and others felt either too easy or that one or both of them gave up too easy. Adding in the surprise at the end just felt unnecessary and a little cheap. Maybe I was just not in the mood for this writing style or story, but it fell flat for me and too close to telling me rather than showing me the depths of the story. There was just so much promise here and some really good moment,but I was disappointed that it did not like up to the expectations I had for it.

Blind Date Bet is a book I really wanted to like, and had many of the element that I adore. However, I never really connected with the characters or their story. It just did not work for me.