This one ultimately fell flat for me. I wasn’t really taken with any of the romantic prospects and didn’t appreciate how the men treated Penny at all. The ending annoyed me, like she settled.

I found this book a little slow to get into it then flowed fairly well but galloped rather at the end. I think I had a problem with the main character Penny, who on the surface seems to please everyone but in fact is rather needy and whingy with half of her problems of her own making being unable to make up her mind let alone communicate and sorting things out. A few serious issues covered, cancer, infertility, and mental healthwhich were addressed but otherwise a light humourous read which many would find entertaining but for me it was let down by the main character who irritated me.

Review and digital copy supplied by NetGalley.

Ever since I read OurStop I’ve wanted to read something by Laura Jane Williams and this book didn’t disappoint. A quick and easy summer read with a cute premise.

Penny Bridge has always been unlucky in love and things she will be single for the foreseeable future until a man changes all that...... and then another..... and another. Penny finds herself in a lovesquare but are any of her options THE ONE!

I really enjoy Williams’ style of writing and it is a good fluffy Rom com which also highlights some important topics of cancer, infertility and sexuality.

Having read and enjoyed Lauras debut novel "our stop", I was very excited to hear she had a second novel out.

I devoured the love square in one sitting. The characters felt incredibly real and flawed. I love a good flawed protagonist. This is a book about being scared to love and then doing it anyway...with multiple men.
It was both heartwarming and heartbreaking. I found myself rooting for a different character on every page but somehow being happy with the end outcome.
Wonderfully, proactively written. Easy and fast to read in a great way.

Penny is a 30 year old restaurant owner/chef who believes she will never meet "The One" and just as she has given up on love not one, not two but three men come along.
Does Penny choose romantic Italian Francesco, wild child Thomas, who doesnt believe in monogamy or older, experienced Priyesh.
This book is much more than romantic Chick-lit, easy to read mush. Its relatable, it features important LGBTQ relationships and dealing with surviving cancer. It's a hug of a book that tugs at your heartstrings. I loved it.
I would recommend this to fans of The Flat Share and One Day In December.

Wow. Wow. I loved this book. It covered a delicate subject, breast cancer so well, well how it feels afterwards. Brilliant. I loved the food descriptions. The ending was perfect. It was one of thos books that you thought about when you were not reading it. Perfect

I've never read this author before and I couldn't put the book down it was a page turner and I think who ever reads it will think the same.

This has been one of my favourite books of 2020 so far.

The Love Square follows Penny, the owner of a small-but-popular café that is *very* unlucky in love. That is, until Francesco walks through the door of her café one morning - and everything changes.

Their relationship goes from strength to strength, until Penny unexpectedly has to leave London to help her unwell uncle with his restaurant. As she settles into her new life, Penny finds herself caught in a love triangle...and then, as the title would suggest, a love square, as she tries to figure out what she really wants out of life and love.

The writing style flows easily and will draw you in from the first pages, which picks up in the middle of Penny's story. The characters are all perfectly imperfect, which makes them more relatable and impossible not to root for.

This book is the perfect kind of comfort read, kind of like a hug-in-a-book.

I adored Our Stop so was eagerly awaiting Laura's second novel. This is a tricky one to review because by the end I had really enjoyed it but I didn't feel like it really got going until about halfway through. The first half took me a while to get through and it wasn't until about 70% in that I found I started to enjoy it. I liked the concept very much and the characters were a well thought out bunch but, for me, the pace wasn't right from the start. I will definitely pick up anything else Laura writes because I really like her characters, style and plots.
Thanks for the opportunity to read!

This review is going live on the below-mentioned blog and on Instagram on the 8th of May 2020.

Book Title: Love Square

Author: Laura Jane Williams

Genre: Romance

My Rating: 3 star/ 5 :star:

Synopsis:

She’s single. But that doesn’t mean it’s not complicated. Penny Bridge has, historically, been very unlucky in love. She’s pledged to focus on other things – her friends, her career – making the most of what busy London life has to offer. But when difficult circumstances mean that Penny’s uncle must hand over the kitchen of his beloved restaurant in Derbyshire, she finds herself stepping into a new life in a new town.

And as luck would have it, she’s suddenly confronted with one remarkable man who wants to date her, followed by another. And then another. So begins a hilarious love-square with Penny firmly in the middle. Penny has to choose between three. But are any of them The One?

My review :

The first thing caught my attention was the deep sensitive emotions captured in the very careful selection of words! The narration is fantastic! And the characters are very good and memorable! Each character felt more natural we can see them in our day to day life. The plot is a very simple love story, family drama, and the problems tangled in between them. But it felt different than other usual stories. But it’s not humorous in any way as in the description. It is a very deep emotional story! I didn’t smile ( let alone laugh ) at any place. The love square between  Penny and other men is my least favorite part, it seems kind of forced in a very lenient story. Otherwise, I enjoyed the reading! It’s a good emotional love story!

Thoughts While Reading :

This section has some subtle spoilers,

The initial chapters were boring with too many dialogues. But then after 25% of the book, the storyline picked up!
The way the author handled the sensitive subjects of cancer survivor and infertility is admirable! not portrayed as a sympathetic tragedy but made the reader realize its pain.
And the diversification of characters (LGBTQ, bigender, and monogamy ) is also appreciatable!
Just a minute after penny left, Francesco kissed another lady is a really unbelievable twist!
And I got mad at uncle David's character for being selfish about his bar! There is no enough justice given for that.
Love the sister character Clementine, the friend characters Sharon and Charlie! Each of their parts felt genuine and natural!
My least favorite part is Preyesh and Thomas, which doesn’t make any sense! At least I could understand Thomas as a rebound after Francesco, but Preyesh is too much to get into the idea. It didn’t feel right even in the story! And it totally destroys the penny character which was wonderfully developed up to that point! I couldn’t get around the concept of love square however I tried to! Simply not for me!
But the love, conversations, even the fight between Penny and Francesco feels deep! Their part of the story is magical and more natural!
The part penny thought about her mom and felt  "one speaking with their own mom is a  luxury" describes the deep pain of motherless girls! It makes my heart weep! This kind of small deep emotion wonderfully ported from the book to the reader's heart is the best thing about this book! should read it for that!

Thanks to #netgalley and the publisher #AvonBooksUK for this ARC. This review is straight from my heart not biased in any way!

When Jenny and Francesco meet, it is love at first sight but when her uncle becomes ill she feels obligated to leave London to go and run his pub.
Jenny thinks she's is destined to be forever single and unlucky in all things romantic, until she meets two very different men from the village. When Francesco comes back on the scene, life for Jenny becomes a very complicated love square!

This was a super cute light read — about love, friendship and finding your true happiness. When I saw Laura had a new book being released I was excited to pick it up, since I enjoyed her latest book, Our Stop. ⁣

The Love Square follows Penny, a 31 year old woman who has been unlucky with love since her long-term boyfriend left her 5 years ago. After countless failed dates she finally finds the one, and then another one, and another one. Before she knows it, Penny has got herself stuck in a love square.

I really liked this, almost more than I expected I would. I won't lie though, I was expecting a light-hearted romance based on the cover and description, but in reality this was quite a heavy and emotional read too. Penny survived cancer, and lost her mum to cancer when she was younger. Her cancer has left her infertile, and this is a running theme throughout the book, her desire to have a child of her own while being unable to carry her own children. I think the infertility storyline was handled very well and with a lot of respect, although I don't have any personal experience with infertility or anyone in my life who has struggled with infertility so this could be different if you have personal experience.
I actually really disliked Francesco. At first he seemed like the perfect guy, but after a while I could no longer stand his possessiveness, his judgement about Penny moving on when they had been dating for only a few weeks. The other two love interests were fine, Priyesh was probably my favourite of the two, but Thomas was a fun guy.

Pros:
I loved the LGBT representation in this, a happily married lesbian couple, a happily married gay couple, a gender non-binary character, with none of them turned into a big deal. This was a pleasant, unexpected surprise.
I loved that Penny was her own person, she decided when she wanted a child, regardless of how her romantic life was going, and this didn't change at the end.
The writing style was very easy to read, even through difficult topics.
I loved all of Penny's people: Charlie, Sharon, Clementine, David, they all added so much fun and wisdom to the book and were who Penny should have been focussing on, rather than the three average men in her life.

Cons:
As I mentioned, I started to despise Francesco. I don't think I could have got back together with him if I were Penny after he called her a slut.
The constant references to Lizzo, while fun at first, felt a little forced and as if the author was trying to appeal to a younger audience. However, many repeated cultural references like this might not have the same impact in 5/10 years, and reduces the longevity of a book, in my opinion.

Overall, I still really enjoyed this and am glad I got to read it, and it is a solid 4 star read for me.

Penny is a lovely young girl who just doesn’t know what’s wrong with her, why can’t she find lasting love like her friends and the family she so desires? She has pledged to work on her career and has a very successful café in London. After her Uncle becomes unwell, she moves to manage his restaurant in Derbyshire for a year to give him the chance to recover.

With her new life underway, Penny finds herself with not one but three lovers, all very different and each with their own unique qualities, but Penny can’t choose, and all seems to go wrong until the lovely fairy tale ending.

Throughout the book you learn of Penny’s struggles through her life, a young cancer victim, she undergoes IVF with the help of a surrogate. She has chosen to have her eggs harvested and fertilised by a sperm donor to create embryos for her future family. This looked at how this could be difficult in future relationships, any baby would be hers but not her partners and examined her concerns over this. Ultimately Penny is a strong independent woman and had already chosen to take the path to have her own family (using her embryos) which is delayed by helping her Uncle.

I really liked that Penny isn’t a superhero, she has had cancer and still suffers some aftereffects and the effects of her medications. Penny needs to rest and nap to ensure that she doesn’t become too exhausted and this felt much more real than in a lot of other books where suddenly the sufferer is better than ever and has no ill effects. She is realistic and a great, strong character who is easy to like.

I really liked the diversity of characters throughout the book, it’s a quick and fun read, perfect for beside the pool in summer. While I really enjoyed this book but felt like the ending was a little rushed and needed a bit more filling, but it didn’t ruin the enjoyment at all.

A great heartfelt story about a woman who has had a tough start the adulthood and how she can then move onto happiness... Eventually!

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books for the ARC.

The Love Square follows the story of Penny, a bubbly and cheerful woman who runs a successful café in London, is an incredible chef, and seems to have everything going for her; after a harrowing battle with cancer in her 20s, Penny opted to freeze her eggs in the hope of becoming a mother someday, as due to her treatment etc she would not be able to carry a child herself. However, the sense of direction and focus that Penny initially has is entirely thrown off-track when she, by chance, stumbles across Francesco, a charming Italian cook, who completely steals her heart. However, this romance is abruptly shaken-up, after Penny takes on the responsibility of her uncle’s pub in Havingley, which is a world away from the life she knows and loves in London; Francesco and Penny are torn apart by circumstances, but Penny’s loyalties to her uncle outweigh anything else.

And thus, the main plot of The Love Square begins; Penny meets and spends time with two new men, Thomas, a young and care-free Tour Manager for Lizzo, and Priyesh, and older Wine Merchant, though Francesco is still firmly on her mind. We see Penny change, progress, and develop in character, as she finds herself deeper and deeper in the thick of an incredibly awkward ‘Love Square’. This amazing book explores all types of relationships: platonic, familial, sexual and romantic, and each character that is featured brings something unique and interesting to the story, and is fundamental to Penny’s character-development. Though on the surface, The Love Square seems to document the reality of contemporary love and relationships, in all of its messy and relatable ways, it is in fact a lot deeper than that, as all of these relationships and mishaps appear to serve the purpose of fuelling personal growth, introspection, and realigning focus and aspirations.

At times this book is incredibly funny and light-hearted, though it is simultaneously moving and emotional, and I found myself really rooting for Penny; The Love Square is a really enjoyable and heart-warming read that will certainly lift your spirits.

Laura Jane Williams’ second novel The Love Square was just the read I needed. I was able to cosy up in my reading chair and just escape. Having thoroughly enjoyed “Our Stop” I was excited to read “The Love Square” and it certainly didn’t disappoint.

The book is about Penny, Penny up until now had been pretty unlucky in love and at one point even sought out advice from a previous date as to what it was about her that lead to things not working out.

Her life takes a change when she moves to take over her Uncles kitchen, leaving London for Derbyshire. This is when things get interesting… her love life also takes a change in direction when she meets a remarkable new man… followed by another and then another.

I love the characters, and their interaction with one another.

Laura Jane Williams’ writing is infectious and entertaining, and would happily read more of her work, I wouldn’t hesitate in recommending this book to anyone!

Thank you to Netgalley and Avon Books UK for providing a ecopy of this book to read and review.

Penny was such a fun character! I loved watching her grapple with different relationships throughout this story. A great portrayal of dating in the modern world.

Thank you to Netgalley and Avon for the advance copy of #TheLoveSquare by Laura Jane Williams

***
Penny Bridge has always been unlucky in love.

So she can’t believe it when she meets a remarkable new man.

Followed by another.

And then another…

And all of them want to date her.

Penny has to choose between three. But are any of them The One?
****
I loved Our Stop but this was even better. The characters were so relatable and I even felt It was such an honest account of every possible kind of love: romantic, familial, platonic, sexual and self - all without being too clichéd/cheesy. This was a great distraction from the outside world and hopefully, when this is released in August, this will be someone's beach read.

Penny has decided she's doomed when it comes to love but is otherwise happy with her London life, owning a small cafe and considering whether or not to become a solo parent. So fo course, just as she's made this decision she meets and becomes involved with three different men who each, in their own way, bring out something great in her. But does she love any of them? And do they love her?
This is a nice light read for these socially-distant coronavirous times (I read this in April/May 2020) and would also be good for a plane ride or a trip to the beach. I like that each of the men is not what they appear to be at first sight, but have more to offer as Penny gives them each a chance. Add in a few good friends, a loving sister and a doting uncle/father-figure this makes for an enjoyable read.