One is that the humour in this book is often about embarrassment – this can be a dealbreaker for me, and this story took me close to the edge of that at times. I also really liked the theme of facing one’s fears that came up later in the book, and the way that those fears didn’t simply go away, but were easier to manage when the people you love are beside you. This made for a really cosy book – there were no bad guys in this story, just two kind, caring people, trying to sort their shit out with a little help from their friends and families.

Lexi’s flatmate is her best friend, and she has an affectionate, nearly sibling-like relationship with him and his partner, as well as warm relationships with her colleagues and the children who use the youth centre. Dylan has a close and loving relationship with his sisters, and his co-workers are like a second family to him. What really made this book work for me was the relationships surrounding the protagonists. Lexi and Dylan are both lovely people, the chemistry between them is VERY hot, and I was happy to spend time with them. I know exactly how this is going to go, but I am nonetheless totally along for the ride, because it’s fun. This is a classic ‘fake-relationship, we definitely aren’t going to fall in love, but also, we find each other really hot, so let’s have a fling to get it out of our systems!’ narrative. And who better to ask than the pretty youth centre director who mistook him for a strip-o-gram? But his sisters are worried about him, and he hates to disappoint them almost as much as he hates the idea of them setting him up on surprise dates, so a fake relationship is in order. But when a hot fireman turns up to perform a safety inspection at the youth centre where she is the Assistant Director…well, even if one isn’t dating, one can enjoy looking.ĭylan, the hot fireman in question, has sworn off relationships after his fiancée cheated on him with his best friend. Lexi is on a six month break from dating, because her boyfriends always take advantage of her giving personality.

The Dating Dilemma is a fun, sexy contemporary romantic comedy about learning to ask for the things you need in life.

The Dating Dilemma by Mariah Ankenman