Oh my GOSH this gave me so many feels. Although I couldn't particularly relate to the struggles the protagonist Penny went through, I was rooting for her the ENTIRE time which made me cry more than once. All the love interests were unexpectedly loveable and although I thought I knew what would happen, I truly did not know what her decisions would be and I didnt really care as I just loved everyone. SIGH I'll be thinking about this one for a while!

Thank you @netgalley and @avonpublishing for this ARC of a “The Love Square” by Laura Jane Williams. I’m always a sucker for a good love story and this was exactly that. It was such a fun read with such interesting and easy to relate to characters, that I just couldn’t put it down! The Love Square is due out July 2020!!

Penny has been unlucky in life and love. After losing her mother at a very young age and surviving cancer herself, Penny wants to settle down with a good man and raise a baby. After repeated dating failures she finally meets an amazing guy. Francisco is everything she is looking for and after a rocky start, Penny starts to feel like she is moving on the right direction. Just when things are starting to heat up, Penny is called away to manage her Uncle’s restaurant. Not wanting a long distance relationship, she ends things with Francisco. Penny thinks about him a lot and is very lonely when she first arrives but that doesn’t last long and soon she has more men than she can handle. When Francisco shows up again out of the blue will this mean an opportunity for a fresh start or does Penny have just too many men in her life? A fun and fresh new read! Pick up a copy to find out what happens to Penny and her love square!

I really struggled to get into this book and didn’t enjoy some of the topics it focused on at all which meant I really didn’t enjoy it unfortunately

I enjoyed this book - about the amount I assumed I would but if Im being 100% honest it was for none of the reasons I thought I would.

From the cover (i know I KNOW never pick a book by its cover but sometimes…) and description I was expecting a light hearted romance - it was far from it. In fact I needed the biggest glass of wine and a chat with my mum after I had finished.

This book covers and array of hard hitting topics from Cancer and loss of a parent to infertility and I think these were handled well and with respect.

The writing style was excellent! It led me through the hard hitting themes without losing step or humour.

I also appreciated that I didn’t always necessarily like the lead character, flawed characters are the way forward! But Penny, Penny was her own person and with a book as turbulent as this you need that touch of reality from a real character.

It was an emotional ride and although I do recommend it. Go in with your eyes open and with a box of tissues.

I read a lot of romance. I think I’ve said that before. Historical, fantasy, thriller, paranormal, contemporary and pretty much any combination of genres anyone would care to mash. This one left me a little bit cold. And that saddens me.

I had high hopes – all the boxes were ticked – but I felt something of a disconnect from the heroine Penny. She seemed too deliberately quirky. Too self-deprecating. It was all so… nice. Even the stuff that wasn’t.

The Love Square feels like a story that had been constructed out of all the gaps in other contemporary RomComs but ultimately led a pretty conformist life. I’d read other books by this author as her reviews suggest that, this time, it might just have been me.

I was really excited to read this book and I'm so disappointed in myself to say that it wasn't for me.

I felt like I had to push myself to read it through, I wasn't captivated in the story and my lack of interest and the lack of flow found it the story, for me, put me off reading it.

I'm grateful for being given the opportunity to receive and read this arc and I'm devastated that I couldn't provide a more positive review.

There is an attempt at non-binary representation but I honestly thought it felt a bit forced and there's nothing worse than when a character feels forced in a story. I understand the want to have inclusion in your story but I personally think it looks worse to habe inclusion and for it to seem like you're only doing it to say it's inclusive.

Characterisation for me was not a strong suit in this book. I felt nothing for Penny or any of her love interests. They were fine but nothing stuck or made me interested in continuing to read for enjoyment.

Don't be fooled by the colourful cover and tongue in cheek title, this book is a heart wrencher!
Scarred by loss and suffering, Penny struggles to let love in until she meets Francesco. Then a turn of events tears the two apart after just three weeks.
Back in Derbyshire the way Penny heals her heart is questionable and I struggled as a reader to understand her selflessness but nevertheless I enjoyed this ride of a read. Laura Jane William's is at the forefront of diversifying modern fiction; this is the first book I have read with a non-binary character, I must admit it took me time to adjust to the appropriate plurals. Brilliant relationships and a great cast of diverse characters. Thank you netgalley!

There was a lot to like about this book, but surprisingly for me it was none of the love interests. Penny gets her romantic HEA, but for me that wasn’t the point of the book.

I was excited for this after Our Stop, but I was also nervous because I’m personally not a huge fan of non-monogamy. It ended up being more of a serial dating situation, which turned more complicated when they all reappear at the same time. I thought there was a clear choice (even if not my choice) and not a lot of competition from the others, but I also loved that Penny wasn’t putting a lot of pressure on these relationships, enjoying them for what they were. Not every relationship has to be going somewhere if it’s making you both happy right now and you’re clear on expectations. Maybe I got something out of that too. Unlike someone else in the book, I didn’t think she was hurting anyone — there was one instance where she might have communicated expectations a little bit better, but otherwise she’s her own person and can make her own decisions.

There were so many great things in this book:
- Bad sex (not great, but how often do you see that addressed in a romance novel?)
- Good sex (you can’t give us bad without the good)
- Penny becoming more self-confident and addressing what she wants in life and not being afraid to ask for it
- The relationship between Penny and her sister
- When people put expectations on you and you’re angry at them for asking because you know you couldn’t say no (…what if you did? What if you could at least address your own needs too?)

And then what I didn’t like, which has to do with her final choice: <spoiler>Francesco started out great, and then it seemed like he turned into a different person. He took his hurt and turned it into anger towards Penny. He slut shamed her, grew possessive over her even though they weren’t even in a relationship, told her she needed help, called her selfish and cruel, said he couldn’t love her because of it and that she was <i>broken</i>. No, no no. I couldn’t go back from that. There was only a quick mention of his apology long after the fact, saying he was embarrassed he’d said that. It wasn’t enough for me, because those were some really hurtful things to say.</spoiler>

So in the end, this book surprised me. I went into it worried that she was going to be dating three guys at the same time, breaking hearts and playing with emotions. But really this wasn’t about the guys at all — it was about Penny learning to trust in herself, in knowing what is best for her. I wasn’t Team Francesco, Thomas, or Priyesh. I was Team Penny.

This was the perfect lighthearted summer read. I fell in love with the lead character, Penny, and was rooting for her (and sometimes mad at her!) throughout the book. A great, light summer pick!

This was the absolutely perfect, lighthearted, and fun book to launch into my summer reading with. When Penny Bridges who has always been unlucky in love suddenly finds three remarkable men in a short amount of time, who is a girl to choose? Follow Penny on her hysterical journey to love.

Thoroughly enjoyed this rom-com. I found it honest and emotional with great characters and a neatly tied up conclusion. Quick read that I will definitely recommend for purchase

Thank you to the publisher, author and Netgalley for letting me read this lovely book in exchange for an honest review.
This is just the book you need if you are looking for a romance that is well written, funny, sad and poignant.
The characters are well rounded and likeable and there is a good balance of wit, humour and heartbreak.
Penny is unlucky in love and being a young cancer survivor makes her question her ability to find the one.
The book sees her meet and lose the gorgeous chef Francesco, music tour manager Thomas and older wine merchant Priyesh.
Moving from London to her childhood home to run her uncles pub/restaurant tests her and gives her the answers that she needs.
Great read especially during these uncertain times that I would highly recommend.

I enjoyed this book so much it was really good I am used to a love triangle but this book was actually like the title says it was a actual love square. This book will make you laugh and cry and swoon and all of the above, the authors writing is great and the characters are all good and they have a lot of build up and they are well rounded.

I read this book while on vacation, and it was the perfect addition for that adventure. It was fun and engrossing and great to read in the car in between stops on a road trip.

I loved Williams’ debut novel, Our Stop, so I could not wait to grab this one when I saw it on NetGalley. I had high hopes going into it, I was hoping the sophomore book was at the same standards as her debut and for the most part it was! I think I liked Our Stop a little better, but The Love Square was also a solid contemporary romance. And I’m saying this as a reader who normally does not like the love triangle trope. However, Williams does it in a really nice way. Each of the love interests were very well defined, had clear backstories and characteristics that made them very 3D characters and distinct from each other.

Like her debut, Williams is very inclusive with her characters. She has all different types of races, sexualities and genders. She includes some nodes to current pop culture which helps set the time and setting. Williams is a solid author who is probably now on my list of auto buys. I can’t wait to see what she does next!

I think that I just wasn’t the target audience for this, but I still really wanted to like this. I think that the story was all over the place and I was super confused at one point and considering DNFing the book but for the sake of the author I kept reading. I think honestly there was too much going on with the book and the plot. The characters were forgettable, I honestly didn’t care for them nor what happened to them.

I just finished this and oh my god I absolutely loved it. I will admit I struggled a tiny little bit to get in to it at first but once I got into it, wow. The characters weren't perfect people with perfect lives, and I think that made the story even better. Kudos for the LGBTQ+ aspect of the book also - fantastic representation, brilliant. It dealt with some really great things - infertility, non-monogamy, grief, and motherhood.

Brilliant, would recommend! 4 stars from me

I liked this book a lot and found the characters easy to udnerstand and relate to. The writing was great and I enjoyed the storyline and plot points. I would recommend this book for sure.

This writing style was just not for me. I couldn't get past the first few chapters. The main character was annoying me and I couldn't see why wanted to be with her boyfriend from the beginning of the book. I think this book has an audience, but I'm not it.

Having loved ‘Our Stop’, I was so looking forward to reading this book, and to begin with it was ok. However, after reading just 30%, I have slowed down to a halt, as has the storyline. I am so disappointed with this title. I did not warm to the character of Penny, she comes across as immature and self centred, and spends much of her time moaning about her life. Though she has admittedly been dealt a tough hand, the various aspects of her misfortunes and illness are referred to rather too frequently for comfort.
I found the storyline to be quite superficial, not at all the humorous narrative of the strong and feisty woman that I was expecting Penny to be from the pre-publishing blurb.
Penny comes across rather as a selfish user of people for her own purposes, and poor Francesco, whilst seeming almost too good to be true, did not deserve Penny’s cavalier treatment of him.
Sadly, I am unable to finish reading this title. There are too many good books out there to persevere with one which I cannot get immersed in.
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my advance copy of this book. I wish I could have liked it more.

Really enjoyed this book. Steady paced, great characters, I was absorbed throughout. Will be reading more books by the author in the future!