Review: 'Click: an Online Love Story' by Lisa Becker (2011)

Fast approaching her 30th birthday and finding herself not married, not dating, and without even a prospect or a house full of cats, Renee Greene, the heroine of Click: An Online Love Story, reluctantly joins her best guy pal on a journey to find love online in Los Angeles. The story unfolds through a series of emails between Renee and her best friends (anal-compulsive Mark, the overly-judgmental Ashley and the over-sexed Shelley) as well as the gentlemen suitors she meets online. From the guy who starts every story with "My buddies and I were out drinking one night," to the egotistical "B" celebrity looking for someone to stroke his ego, Renee endures her share of hilarious and heinous cyber dates. Fraught with BCC's, FWD's and inadvertent Reply to All's, readers will root for Renee to "click" with the right man.
Author Lisa Becker decided to use her own positive and negative experiences with internet dating to write a novel about this modern-day way of meeting new people. While a few years ago internet dating was something you’d give a try without mentioning it to your friends, it has become one of the most popular ways to find someone on the dating circuit. ‘Click: an Online Love Story’ is the first book in a series of three, and the blurb straight away caught my attention and made me curious. The cover is quite clever and cute, and I really liked the idea of reading about a group of characters trying their luck within the world of online dating. Thanks to Lisa for contacting me about this book; I really looked forward to sitting down with it and giving it a try!
Renee Greene is searching for her Mr. Right, but so far she hasn’t found him. As she is nearing her 30th birthday, she decides, together with her best friend Mark, to give something new a try, something they haven’t done before: internet dating. Renee decides to join the website ‘Choose Jews’, which is the start of an online dating adventure with all kinds of men. Renee has her three good friends rooting for her: anal-compulsive Mark who is joining Renee on her online dating quest, sassy Shelley who has enough guys of her own to deal with, and judgmental Ashley who is also figuring out her own on-again-off-again love life. Will Renee be able to find a suitable guy, even if it’s through the Internet...?
The thing that makes this particular book stand out from many others I’ve read recently is its format. Lisa Becker decided to tell her main character Renee’s story completely in the form of e-mails. There are no descriptions or direct dialogues; all of it are new e-mails, replies, and forwarded messages. I wasn’t too sure about this at first, but I ended up really enjoying it. The format doesn’t give the reader as much details and background information, but it provides you with a different way of getting to know the characters; a way which I personally really liked. Every character has his/her own distinctive voice and the author managed to create a cast of great characters. Renee is an easily likeable heroine and I also immediately warmed to her hilarious best friend Shelley and her friend Mark, who is also embarking on his own dating adventure.   
The plot of the novel is quite basic, but extremely enjoyable. I loved joining Renee on her journey to finding the right guy for her. Her different dating adventures formed a great mixture of all kinds of guys and experiences, and there wasn’t a dull moment in the book. It almost felt like I was flying through the pages; the e-mail format made it quite a quick read, but there is nothing wrong with a fast-paced novel every now and again! Overall, ‘Click: an Online Love Story’ is an entertaining, fast-paced, modern and light-hearted read about the world of online dating. I really enjoyed this and am already looking forward to reading the sequel! Rating:

8,5/10

  For more information about this book: Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com / Goodreads
Thanks to the author for providing me with a review copy in exchange for an honest review.