Really lovely peek into a speed dating disaster that turns into the beginning of a promising throuplehood. This one left me desperate for more. 

 I received an ARC from the author and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own. 

The Speed Dating Escape is the third in Skye Kilaen’s First Dates After Forty series of short stories As with previous ones, it’s a standalone, with not much beyond a thematic connection to prior stories, although I would recommend those if you enjoy this one. And while I did like what this one was trying to do, it did feel like the weakest overall. 

Like the others, it focuses mainly on a single POV, that of Portia. And with it focusing on that first date, you’re not going into these stories expecting an epic romance, especially given the length. But I at least got a sense of how the characters would work long-term together, and this one felt the most “happy for now,” without real bubbly feelings that I got from the other two. Even considering the drawbacks of length, I didn’t feel like I got to know either Birdie or Sommers much. It’s not a major mark against it, because who knows how their relationship might have progressed from here, but with the others, I’d be intrigued to see them a few months, even years down the road, while these characters just weren’t all that exciting, even though the premise seemed the most exciting. 

While I wasn’t the biggest fan of this installment, that’s a personal preference thing, and I still objectively like what Kilaen is trying to do here, and would recommend it to readers who are in the mood for a polyamorous, queer short romance.