*Blog Tour Review: “Blind Dates, Big Love & Six Tinder Weeks” by Bena Roberts

Today’s review is for Blind Dates, Big Love & Six Tinder Weeks, written by Bena Roberts and hosted by  Rachel’s Random Resources.

 

Helen’s children leave home at eighteen. She sleepwalked through her marriage of twenty years for their sake. But when they go, she leaves her husband. Her house is a mess, as is her image and Helen breaks down. Through her pain, she draws blood and allows the universe to guide her and her decisions.

The unexpected happens, scientist Helen gets thrown into a new life of hedonism, dating, and self-discovery. A charming lawyer steals her heart, but is Helen ready for the fast lane? Will the local village firefighter provide the romance of her dreams? Or the military spy CJ, who is convinced that Helen is part of a Romanian smuggling gang.

With the help of her sister Portia, Helen starts to transform her life. The universe guides her to finding something in herself.

Debut author Bena Robert’s provides a unique perspective in this witty black comedy. Dark humor meets chick lit with a robust and realistic voice.

I honestly had no idea what to make of this book as I started reading it. I was simultaneously horrified and awed by what was happening to Helen, and it wasn’t at all what I was expecting when I signed up to review it.

That being said, by the time I’d finished it, I was in love.

Helen starts off broken and depressed. She’s kicked her husband out, her kids are grown and have flown the nest, and she’s alone and lonely, with very little self-worth.

The book takes a long, deep look at what it means to be a woman, whose entire focus has been her kids and her career, rather than herself. It explores concepts about sexuality and dating that in our patriarchal society are considered healthy and normal, and it turns them upside down.

I’m very much a feminist, but I love and respect men, and the reality that Roberts explores in her debut novel spoke to both sides of me. There’s no shaming or condemnation, simply a woman who discovers the courage to take back her life and step into her true feminine power.

That being said, it’s not an easy read. There are aspects of it that made me deeply uncomfortable, and I wanted to scream at Helen for giving strange men her home address, among other things.

Blind Dates, Big Love & Six Tinder Weeks is, without a doubt, either a love it or hate it type of book, and I personally loved it enough to rate it four out of five feathers.

Purchase the novel from Amazon, Kobo, Nook, or Smashwords.

*I received a free copy of the book from Rachel’s Random Resources in exchange for an honest review.

About the Author

Bena Roberts was a journalist and analyst. Now she prefers the title romance adventurist! She graduated in England 1994 and then with a Masters in 1997.

Born in 1973, Bena lived in West London until she was 24. Then she lived and worked in Budapest, Bruges, Prague, Amsterdam, Vienna, Hamburg and Munich. She currently resides in Germany, between Heidelberg and Frankfurt. Although she still refers to London as ‘home.’

Bena successfully created a technology blog which gained funding, had lunch with Steve Ballmer and was ‘top 50 most influential woman in mobile.’ Her blog also won several awards including Metro Best Blog. However, her technology career ended after she was diagnosed with a rare type of cancer in 2009. Since 2012, Bena has taught English in Germany and managed a small relocation business.

Bena has two children, loves small dogs and always writes books with a cup of Earl Grey.

Six Tinder Weeks, now Blind Dates, Big Love and Six Tinder Weeks is her debut novel. Other books include The Forever Night Stand, with Tammy & Lisa: Mum Detectives at the Village School available in 2018.

Social Media Links 

Twitter – @benaroberts

Amazon Author – https://www.amazon.com/Bena-Roberts/e/B076ZRDW8G

Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17307556.Bena_Roberts

Blog – www.sixtinderweeks.com