About the Book

Left, left, left, left, left, right. What are any of us looking for as we swipe away? Someone to go on holiday with? Sex? Validation? Love forever after, or all of the above?  

Charlotte knows what she wants. Having focused on her career for years, she’s after a partner, a father for her unborn children, a family. 

And it looks like she’s found it, in the shape of James. After hundreds of dates and pointless exchanges, she’s hit the online jackpot, won the dating lottery, which is why when it goes away, it’s so incredibly painful. 

Charlotte’s devastated but then, things take a turn for the ‘even worse’ and nothing is safe and that’s when things get tricky.  

As her world collapses the light at the end of the tunnel fades. But will it go out completely?  

Bad dates, love, scandal, betrayal, no one can say life isn’t exciting. But sometimes, exciting is the last thing you need…

My Thoughts

I was thrilled when Jemma Forte offered me an ecopy of Be Careful What You Swipe For as I had already seen the book and was very keen to read it. I’m so pleased that I did read it because it was such a brilliant read!

Charlotte is fast approaching 40 and she’s wants to settle down with Mr Right and to start a family like so many of her friends have done. She’s on all the dating apps and has had some awful dates but she keeps trying. Charlotte is also very focused on her work – she’s a make up artist at a TV station and she’s hoping she might get a promotion very soon.

The novel opens with Charlotte telling the reader about her bad dates, about her previous relationships and why they went wrong but then we see her swipe right for someone new and he sounds like he could be the one!

I was expecting this book to be quite a light read about the perils of modern dating but it’s so much more than that. The novel tackles some really tough subjects like depression and anxiety, and how the actions of others can have such far-reaching consequences whether the person meant harm or not.

As Charlotte begins to face the aftermath of all that has happened to her she learns a lot about the facade we all so often present on social media. The way we want to be seen in our best light and that isn’t always the reality. I love the way she explores how she sees others and how others see her and then where it all leads her. It was refreshing to read about all this happening to someone very close to my age, I could really identify with some of Charlotte’s insecurities and her wish to be like her friends.

There is some humour running through the book to lighten things up a little. Some of the early dates were toe-curlingly cringeworthy and made me giggle. It reminded me of my first date with my husband (we met on twitter) where I was so nervous I literally couldn’t speak to him for about half an hour!! I wouldn’t have blamed him for doing a runner but he stayed and eleven years on we’re very happily married.

Ultimately, I was cheering Charlotte on from the beginning of this book all the way to the end (and beyond). I wanted her to find happiness in her own right and to find a man who could share her happiness. She has such an horrendous time and what happens to her is a nightmare and she deserved so much better than she got from some of the men in her life. I keep thinking of her since I finished the book and even though I know she’s just a fictional character I cared so much about her that I keep hoping she’s happy and fulfilled.

Be Careful What You Swipe For is a brilliant novel that explores the dating scene, mental health issues and the harm that our social media addictions can do. It’s a very prescient novel that has real depth and sensitivity to it and I loved it. I highly recommend this one!

Be Careful What You Swipe For is out now and available from here as a paperback and ebook.

I received a copy of this book from the author. All thoughts are my own.