Book Review: Switch and Bait

By Annell Gerson

Atlanta gives rise to another talented new voice in its ever-expanding literary community. Author Ricki Schultzs most recent release, Switch and Bait, continues her trademark of irreverent humor, insightful characters, and the complications of being single and trying to find the one in the 21st century.

Blanche Carter has a dream. Someday, she wants to own her own bookstore. Shell never save up enough money just working her day job, which happens to be managing a bookstore, so she resorts to something else shes good at matchmaking. Guided by a self-made list of rules for survival, Blanche runs the online dating profiles of Washington D.C.s most eligible women. For a fee, she will create the perfect profile then banter via text with potential partners until interest is at its peak, and its date time.  In some cases, she even attends first dates, sitting in disguise nearby, texting conversation tips to her client. Shes a marketing genius and text-flirts with ease, efficiency, and effectiveness.

All goes well until a new client wants to be matched with an unresolved fling from Blanches own past. As one of Blanches rules is no relationships (for herself), she thinks she can handle the situation. Normal circumstances might make things manageable. However, this old fling is Henry, and Henry is Islas brother-in-law, and Isla is Blanches best friend, and Isla has Huntingtons disease.  In other words, because of Islas illness, Henry and Blanche run into each other often first at family dinners and celebrations, then in hospital waiting rooms. Professionally, Blanche needs to help Henry and her client connect. Personally, it means she must ensure any lingering feelings for Henry are squashed, which makes her question how she really feels about him.

Shultz skillfully navigates the complexities of the current dating climate, revealing that though technology has changed much about the process, the results remain the same. In the end, love is all about chances, and whether desperate to find love or keep it at bay, the heart rarely pays attention to rules.