Click Date Repeat

Click Date Repeat is a chick-flick story of one woman’s experiences while searching for “a perfect match” through online dating. The year is 2003 and online dating services have been around for a few years, but the concept of finding a future mate via the Internet is a bit foreign to twenty-five-year-old Chloe Thompson. Chloe is encouraged to pursue this route nonetheless, since one of her coworkers successfully landed a fiancé through one of these services. Chloe receives a lot of flak from her friends when they get wind of the way that she’s picking up guys, and over time one particular dating experience pushes Chloe to see her doctor. She is reminded of a psychic reading that not only mysteriously lines up with her medical report, but also includes the details of a future husband. It is a matter of time whether the latter predictions will come true or not.

Rising author K.J. Farnham utilized plenty of literary tools to enhance her first person narrative. Farnham tightly couples carefully designed character development with lots of irony. Chloe is riddled with insecurity issues and certainly can use sound advice. Unfortunately, the advice she receives – often unsolicited – is from friends who also have their own issues. Furthermore, it doesn’t help that Chloe’s mother still holds a grudge toward her ex-husband and everything she says is highly opinionated. As a result, she incessantly harps on a sundry of topics, including the promising relationship that Chloe could have had but abruptly cut off.

If that isn’t enough, many of the men she picks have a tendency to feed on Chloe’s insecurity, which only exacerbates the already present confusion. While all of these people are quite annoying, Farnham has a method to her madness. By creating a slew of such characters, Farnham actually thrusts Chloe into a position of having to make her own decisions as well as standing up for herself. Yet in the midst of the dysfunctional environs, Farnham includes many hysterical scenes, such as Chloe’s phone ringing off the hook followed by a rather lengthy and pleading voicemail message from one of her previous lovers while she’s desperately trying to enjoy a romantic moment with a handsome date.

Farnham keeps her novel constantly moving by incorporating all of the above literary tricks into short chapters with alternating scenes focused on Chloe’s friends, her love jaunts, the relationship Chloe has with her mom, and particularly Chloe’s character development. Indeed, Farnham has created a dynamic character. Chloe is a bit of an underdog, but as the novel progresses, readers have the opportunity to applaud her efforts for trying to break old habits.

While Click Date Repeat is funny and extremely charming, the relationship dynamics represent more reality than just an interesting story. Undoubtedly, earmarked for the ladies. But that shouldn’t stop the guys from engaging in this great read.