She strong-arms him into agreeing to share some of his findings, and they form an unlikely association. His hypothesis gives her an idea for an article, and she wants his data. (Think of the film Her.) Marie still thinks he’s kind of nuts and finds him annoying, but she also – begrudgingly – finds him attractive. His study is attempting to prove that artificial intelligence could one day replace the need for human companionship and that technology could meet all of our emotional needs. Matt is an adorable genius without the gift of the gab for these situations, and he makes a verbal mess of trying to explain himself. He hadn’t set out to catfish her, but Marie doesn’t think what he did is much better than if he had intended it. He is computer scientist, Professor Matt Simmons, who was filling in for his coworker, real-Derek, in order to obtain data for their joint research study on artificial intelligence. At least she can now tell him off and find out exactly what happened, and it turns out that this-Derek really isn’t supposedly-perfect-Derek. Things don’t get better for Marie when she runs into supposed-Derek and discovers he is her good friends’ next-door neighbor and has become chummy with them. He’s cute, but she assumes he’s a liar and a weirdo and flees the scene annoyed and exasperated.

Derek is either catfishing her or has dramatically changed his looks, because he’s nothing like his picture or his profile.

Perfect – Derek – agree to a coffee meetup, but it quickly evolves into an epic disaster. Judging from his online profile and their brief email exchange, he does actually seem like he’s kind of perfect, so Marie and Mr. Journalist Marie Harris is at her wit’s end and fed up with online dating, but she decides to give it one more chance when “” says they’ve found her the perfect match. Whatever the case, just don’t wait a moment longer, because instant-gratification-itis doesn’t get better on its own. (Don’t get me wrong there’s always a place for quickies.) While Dating-ish is the sixth book in the Knitting in the City series, they are all stand-alones and do not need to be read in order, but if you have read the previous books, you’ll enjoy revisiting a familiar cast of characters. This perfectly plotted, beautifully complex, utterly charming, slow-burn romance will remind you why a meticulously built love story can be more satisfying than any instantaneous affair. I get a little fidgety and uncomfortable when I have to wait for feelings to develop and action to take place, but I’ve found a cure. I’ve become so conditioned to expect instant-lust, instant-love, and almost-instant-sex in my romance novels that I forgot how enjoyable delayed gratification can be. I have a disorder that could be plaguing other romance readers – instant-gratification-itis.

Dating ish book