Back to top

Power plays

Cover of The Right Swipe
A review of The Right Swipe by Alisha Rai

The Right Swipe tackles the intersection of technology and modern love, where an app developer and a rival company's spokesman end up filming a series of promotional videos and fall in love in the process. Rhiannon, Gabe's sister from Rai's Forbidden Hearts series, returns as the creator of Crush, an app that works similarly to Bumble. She had a brief fling with Samson, a spokesman for Matchmaker that ended with Samson ghosting Rhiannon. When Rhiannon attempts to buy Matchmaker, she ends up reuniting with Samson, to Samson's delight and Rhiannon's reluctance. Fiercely independent and determined not to let a relationship interfere with her career, Rhiannon agrees to a relationship of convenience, not knowing that she's actually met a man who is her match. Meanwhile, Samson has to deal with his career and life choices after retiring from the NFL and caring for family members with CTE (Chronic traumatic encephalopathy)

Going into this series I had to remind myself that this story arc seems, judging from the covers alone, to be less about the angst that made me love the Forbidden Hearts series so much. But once I let go of those expectations, I really enjoyed this book. Rhiannon's reluctance for a relationship is a bit trying at times, especially when the reader gets Samson's POV which make obvious that Rhiannon's assumptions about Samson are incorrect. But Rai was obviously influenced by current events, and her discussions on the abuse and gaslighting of men in power within the NFL created complexities behind both of the main characters. Overall, this book managed to be a fun read while still having an emotional depth that kept things interesting.

Nov 21, 2022