Book Review: "Is She Really Going Out With Him?" by Sophie Cousens

Those of you obsessed with 80s music like me might know what song I’ve had running through my head since I first saw this book!

I absolutely loved this book. It was funny, emotional, sweet, and steamy, and there were just so many moments that melted my heart. I’ve been a fan of Sophie Cousens for a while, but this may be my favorite book of hers.

Anna is a magazine columnist and a recently divorced mother of two. She likes her job and loves her children, and has no desire to date anyone. But when the magazine’s new owner feels her columns are lacking and her rival is trying to take her column away, she comes up with an idea: she’ll allow her children to pick the men she should date, and then she’ll write about them.

As she starts out on what she knows will be a misadventure, her rival, Will, proposes writing a complementary column where he goes on dates similar to those Anna goes on. His manipulation gets under her skin, but then she starts to enjoy their collaboration—perhaps a little too much?

Anna’s dates range from her grumpy next door neighbor to a much-younger waiter, her postman to her celebrity crush. The more she dates, the more she realizes where her true feelings lie. Will she be able to find the courage to take a second chance on love, no matter the risks?

“I know there are plenty of women on Instagram who got divorced and took up running or weight lifting or started their own aromatherapy candle business. They look and feel better than ever, phoenixes risen from the ashes, embracing their ‘new chapter.’ I am not a phoenix. I am a dazed pigeon, looking for crumbs. But I am fine with that; being a phoenix looks exhausting.”