When you are searching for love but do not or cannot see what’s in front of you

Synopsis

On an anonymous online dating app, LittleMissPerfect meets HotAussie007 and it’s love at first click. In real life, a smart but spiky woman in STEM, research scientist, Dr Eden, meets a laid-back Aussie marketing manager, Finn, at the big pharma company where they both work in California. They’re forced to compete for special projects funding, and both their jobs are on the line.

Eden just wants to win at science and in life. It’s not happening! She can’t stand Finn’s too-cool-for-school, nice guy act, or his delectable forearms that keep invading her space. While Finn is stupidly attracted to Eden, when she’s not telling him off, he isn’t free to pursue her. He’s stuck in the worst position in his professional life, and doesn’t see a clear way out. He can’t tell her the whole truth about what’s going on at work or in his personal life. . . or it could all blow up in his face.

When they realise the truth about their online alter egos, dating is off the table. Can they ignore their inconvenient attraction, and work together to take down their unethical boss? Or will intense rivalry cause their IRL work lives and online love lives to collide and explode like a science experiment gone wrong?

Note: Dating Little Miss Perfect is an updated take on You’ve Got Mail for lovers of online dating romcoms, with added science, cupcakes and old movie references! This new release from award-winning author Cassandra O’Leary is a stand-alone contemporary romance novel of approximately 97,000 words.

My review

Eden is a research scientist known for being a Little Miss Perfect. Well, of course everything should be perfect when you’re doing groundbreaking research. However, her perfectionism also makes it impossible to find love. Yet she managed to find her perfect match online. HotAussie007 is everything she is looking for a man and she cannot wait to see if HotAussie007 is also in real life a perfect match for LittleMissPerfect.
In real life there is another man in Eden’s life. But in a negative way. Because Finn is the Australian marketing manager the company Eden is working for. And whenever these two are together, it’s a clash of the titans.
Yet there is that saying that there is a thin line between love and hate. However, Finn has other reasons for not pursuing Eden… and what about Eden’s online match? 

There are stories where you know from the start what is going happen and how it’s all going to end. And yes, beside a few twists, this story was one of those kinds. But did it bother me? No, because those twists make it worth reading, and there is for sure enough originality to make you want to keep reading. 

I am not the kind of person that understands anything of doing research or elaborated science, so whatever Eden was saying about her own wok, well, I just went with it. But no worries, it isn’t that the author is slaying you with scientific words! In Eden’s line of work it’s normal talking about results going not the way they expected and I let it go over my head. 

Eden is indeed a Little Miss Perfect, but while at work that may seem sometimes that Eden is a know-it-all (but she truly does know it all), we see that she has reasons to be so determined and resolute to make everything work. 

She is also the kind of person that would do anything to protect who and what she loves. she isn’t happy where she working now, but she needs the money in order to keep the house and protect her sister, especially with their background… 

Yet it was lovely to see a complete other side of her, while she is talking to her online match. They for sure do say that still waters run deep! To say I was shocked is overstating it, but I didn’t expect her to be talking like that!!!  😊 

Finn is the complete opposite of Eden. He is the perfect example of how I would imagine Australians to be like. And I mean it as a compliment!
He is laid – back, doesn’t even take that great offence whenever Eden is being her usual self. In everything he does, his caring and loving character emerges. The way not only he is looking after Eden after their literal clashing, but also the lengths he goes afterwards.
And seeing how even in time of need, he doesn’t hesitate to return back to his parents, shows his true heart.  

His background for sure is a sad one too, and it truly left a mark on him. It’s clear how that event made his life take a complete different direction.  

Yet he also is the kind of person who makes it clear when a line has been crossed, and expresses clearly his hurt feelings.
He is also the kind of person that wants to do the right thing, especially when he sees that there is something dodgy going on at the company. 

Eden and Finn together are just explosive! Their banter is hilarious for us readers, while we can sense the simmering attraction, waiting to erupt!
It was sweet to see how slowly they realize that in fact they have more in common than they would think.  

Of course the revelation of the online matches wasn’t that big of a revelation. But in a way it also shows us that what we see in front of us isn’t the complete person. How we are at work, where we have to show our professionalism, isn’t the same person at home, where we can be 100% ourselves. 

In this book we also see that sometimes our own doubts can hold us back. Because we Eden having doubts about Finn, and how she is afraid to go all – in. And that results in her doing things the logical Eden wouldn’t do. But I could understand her, because haven’t we all done stupid things for/because of love? 

But we also see that love makes us protective. Because Finn, when on the look for answers, sees things that would point its dodgy finger towards Eden. Yet even if he is doing the right thing, he wants to protect Eden, even at risk of losing her… 

This was a wonderful, hilarious book. The author takes her time to make us get to know both main characters. There is depth in the both of them, making them even more human.
And we see that finding love isn’t always easy, as even when we have found it, there is still room for making mistakes, having misunderstandings. And that love can also be a scary thing, as we want to protect ourselves from a potential hurt. But love is also amazing, as it makes us see what we have in front of us, making us protective, making us open up about our fears.
And then, to end on a lighter note, there is love that makes your love for cupcakes only expand! 😊