Even though the title says it all this book still managed to take me by surprise. Maybe it is all the pastel colors cover's fault. This turned out to be a more emotional book than I expected. Penny is single and dating. One, two, three... One day you have no choice and suddenly there are too many.

I liked that the characters were imperfect. That fact made them more realistic. There is a great LGBTQ rep. So kudos to the author for diversity. I also liked how the author dealt with the infertility storyline. It is a complex and beautifully represented world we are living in.

I liked the side characters and their stories. There is an amazing relationship between Penny and her sister. Sadly the romance part of this book didn't hold my interest at all. Even with three choices, it felt kind of flat and predictable.

Overall, It an okay read.


Thank you NetGalley and publisher for the copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Penny is an independent woman, running her own successful business, she's got good friends, she's got life plans, but she's been unlucky in love. Then she meets Francesco and within weeks everything in her life turns upside down.

I loved the way this book spent as much time building the relationships Penny had with her friends and family, especially her sister, as it did on the romantic relationships. And I really fell for Penny as a character, as strong and brave and funny as she was frightened and flawed and vulnerable.

It's rare to read a book with a central romance that makes every decision, bad or good, feel so very earned and relatable. Even when the characters made mistakes, even while I was desperately begging them not to, I understood why they were making them and that depth of understanding adds a layer of connection to the characters that really engaged me in their lives.

All in all I really enjoyed it, a surprisingly deep and satisfying journey of love and friendship, and taking ownership of the (love) life you deserve.

Thanks to Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review

LJW does it again - clever, witty, insightful and full of heart. I felt so privileged to have the chance to read THE LOVE SQUARE in advance. Definitely for any fans of intelligent, feel-good romcoms!

Penny Bridge is happy running her cafe but feeling unlucky in love until a handsome Italian comes in. She starts up a whirlwind romance with Francesco that is interrupted when her uncle has a heart attack and asks her to take over his restaurant in the countryside. It’s not long before Penny finds herself stuck between three men, trying to figure out what she really wants after all.

There are lots of positives with this book. There is one side to the novel that’s a fluffy, fun romance and then there’s the more serious, emotional side that really allows you to connect with Penny as a character. We learn that at 25 years old Penny discovered she had Stage 2 Breast Cancer and as a result had her eggs frozen with the help of a sperm donor. Her struggles with infertility and longing to be a mother whilst worrying that these revelations could scare off a potential boyfriend are emotional. Her relationship with her sister Clementine is really heartwarming, it’s nice to see such a positive connection. There’s also various LGBTQ+ representation throughout the novel as well as ethnic diversity.
In all honesty, I didn’t need this to become a love square - I could have quite happily explored the ups and downs of a long distance relationship with Francesco or even a love triangle but the storyline with Priyesh didn’t enhance the plot at all for me. It really just created a lot of unnecessary drama which was frustrating because there were so many other interesting themes and plot points being explored that felt more important.
Despite this, I did really enjoy the book and loved watching Penny discover who she wanted to be. It was such a fast, easy read and think fans of Mhairi McFarlane would appreciate the humour and story here.

I simply could not put this down, I loved it. This book stirred every emotion in me, it was one of those books you can't wait to finish to see what happens to everyone but at the same time you don't want it to end.
Laura Jane Williams is one heck of a writer.
Thank you netgalley

I loved Laura Jane Williams’ first novel, Our Stop, and have been looking forward to reading more from her. The Love Square is another enjoyable modern romance, following unlucky in love Penny, who ends up in relationships with three very different men, offering three very different things. She has to learn how to put herself first and decide what she really wants from life. A fun, if somewhat predictable read.

I really loved Laura’s first book, Our Stop, but didn’t warm to this book quite so much.

This book certainly had an interesting premise, with the main character caught between three men, therefore part of the Love Square of the title.

I was engaged with Penny and her woes, and really liked her friendships with Sharon and Charlie, and especially her sister Clemmie (love the Personal Podcasts!) and enjoyed the descriptions of London too. I also enjoyed going on her journey with her, and seeing her decide what she really wanted.

What I struggled with was engaging with two of the three love interests - Priyesh and Thomas. It took me a while to see Priyesh as attractive, and while Thomas gave Penny a lot in his own way, I just couldn’t see her having strong feelings for either of them. Francesco was much more three-dimensional and attractive, and I could see the friendship and love between them, however there were a couple of times when he acted so badly that I couldn’t quite understand why Penny would still want him.

Saying that, I loved the universal themes of love, and what it means to be human, and it was a very universal book in terms of diversity, with LGBTQ+ characters and relationships, which I thought was very topical and open.

Penny Bridges is working hard in her cafe in London when she meets Francesco. Their relationship burns hot and fast. Then Penny is obligated to move and take over her uncle’s restaurant in her hometown. Then everything in Penny’s life goes haywire.

In this new life, Penny meets some new men, Thomas and Priyesh. As she becomes part of the life of the village, and brings the restaurant back to life, Penny seems to lose who she is. Francesco reappears in her life, then everything seems to explode again.

Penny is a complicated character. On the one hand, she seems to know what she wants and is happy to go after it. On the other, she is needy and whiny and in need of constant validation from others. I wanted to like her, but it was hard. I think a lot of readers will connect with her situation: you know what you want, but get thrown off track by life.

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my review.

The Love Square by Laura Jane Williams a five-star read that will entangle you. This one had me all of a twist, I liked Penny then I didn’t then I did and didn’t and on and on it went, until I really liked her, her struggle and past made her a real character and in the end I got why she behaved the way she did and it made me like her even more, to face one life challenge is difficult, but to then have to uproot life again just as you are finally getting back to your normal, well it would drive any of us a little crazy. I loved that this was a Love square and not a love triangle, it just added to the drama and the humour in some ways, I adored Our Stop so I had high hopes for this one and I am so glad that Laura Jane Williams didn’t disappoint, she kept up with the amazing writing and creates a wonderful story once again.

This book was provided to me by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I liked this book but I didn't love it. All the ingredients were there: a well rounded heroine, an interesting plot and loveable side characters. Where did the book fall flat for me? The love interests. I just didn't think any of the three men were worthy of our heroine's time! They came across as selfish and none of them seemed to understand Penny or her needs.

Would I recommend this book? Yes. But read it for Penny's relationship with her wonderful sister and not for the romances.

(Content warning: cancer; infertility issues)

The Love Square is Laura Jane Williams 2nd fiction book after releasing her first Our Stop last year. As a writer Laura has a talent for creating characters you either like or you don't. Penny the protagonist in The Love Square is an entirely likeable and relatable character whereas some of the love interests are not. Whether that was an intentional plot device on Laura's part or it's just that as a reader there wasn't the connection, who knows?

While being a humorous read and quite light hearted, The Love Square is about self love. Having read all Laura's previous releases this is a theme she often weaves in to her stories and clearly a subject she's very passionate about.

This is a book that when you read it, you will either engage with it fully or not at all. It was more led by emotion than plot which at times made it feel like an unnecessarily heavy read in certain parts.

If you want a (mostly) light hearted read full of self love, humour, romance and fully diverse and inclusive cast of characters then you cannot go wrong with The Love Square.

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon Books for an advanced copy in exchange for my review.

I wanted to like THE LOVE SQUARE, but I was just underwhelmed with it. I loved Our Stop and was excited to revieve an advanced copy. The writing was super and that's what kept me going but overall it fell short for me.

I didn't love Penny, the main character and thought she brough her drama upon herself with all of a sudden finding 3 men who wanted to be with her. But I did like the other cast of characters and that the book does hit on some real issues of grief, cancer, IVF and I thought that was all done extremely well. There were some funny bit and it is a cute rom-com, but it was just an ok book.

I hadn’t read Laura Jane Williams’ previous acclaimed novel, Our Stop, so was really excited to dive into this read! It’s an easy book to get your teeth into, and I read it fairly quickly. The plot concerns Penny, a thirty-year old living in London with her own café. She believes she finds love in Francesco, but family circumstances lead her back to her hometown, and without Francesco. Instead, she has romances with two other men, and Penny has to choose what she wants; not just between three men, but what she wants to do with her life.

It’s a fun book, and despite the quite hetero premise has plenty of supporting characters of different sexualities: her uncle and sister have same-sex partners, and there is a colleague who is non-binary. It is these choices, and the discussion about non-monogamy, which place the book squarely in the 21st century. Though there are funny parts, the book is a lot more emotionally charge than you’d initially think, and tackles some pretty tough subjects including parental death and infertility which are handled with delicately and realistically.
I guess my only gripe would be [spoiler] that the final portion of the book feels rushed, and a little hodge-podged together to tie it up in a neat happy ever after. I don’t think in real life a man could be forgiven so easily for some of the things he says (or implies) to Penny.
Overall, a really fun story – perfect to read while lounging in the sun!

Penny Bridges is the owner of a small café in London and taking the big step toward IVF treatment to have a baby on her own. Then comes along Francesco. Then she has to help out a sickly uncle in Derbyshire. Then comes along Thomas and Priyesh. And Francesco is back. And suddenly, it's all a bit much for Penny who has lost sight of what she really wanted all a long.

This book wasn't really for me, despite it having a really good message of doing what you want and what makes you happy.

The main character really annoyed me, so I never felt much connected to her or to her problems (some of which were entirely her own fault).

There were some good bits though! I liked the representation of LGBT couples and characters, I liked Francesco who was really well written and seemed very much a real and rounded character.

So yeah, I didn't really enjoy this book as much as I had hoped.

ARC provided by #netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a very fast-paced read with a lot of cute moments. Highly entertaining, I devoured it in one sitting.

I'm sure that 'The Love Square' wanted to convey the message of finding your true self, loving yourself unconditionally and allowing yourself to believe that you deserve good things happening to you. And I wholeheartedly love that message. It's hard to see your worth when life is tough, and just like a normal person, Penny had trouble perceiving herself as ""enough ".

Penny is such a strong woman and I loved reading her story. She lost both of her parents and she had to fight the battle against breast cancer. On top of that, she has to go through every issue that society issues on women in general. To see her finally stand up for herself and for her own happiness was liberating.

Now we know from the premise that 3 men,-not only 1 , were interested in Penny. And she handled them well, but when it all blew up on Penny, and all 3 confronted her all at once, I absolutely HATED the way she was treated. Especially the words that were thrown at her head from Francesco. It left a bitter taste in my mouth.

All in all, I enjoyed the book. I loved the message at it's core and I liked Penny a lot. It's a witty and fast-paced read. I would recommend this to readers who like their reads with a lot of emotional depth.

Oh my! That was an adventure! I never thought I would read a book in 3 days with my baby trying to sit on my head (yes he literally does that). And I'm so happy I had the opportunity to read it because it was a delicious story! (see what I did? Delicious... The main character is a chef.. No? OK. I will stop).

I enjoyed reading about Penny's adventures with men. Mostly because I never read a book about a love square. And this one was really fun. I'm glad that the author includes every type of person. You can find non-binary, gay, lesbian, even polygamist. This book is for everyone!

Thank you NetGalley for this eArc in exchange for an honest review. It was an easy read, perfect for a boring day.

Penny Lane is a baker who is unlucky in love. Her personal and professional lives, on the other hand, are perfect. As a new professional opportunity begins for her, multiple new romantic possibilities appear - including a face from the not-so-distant past. I was really looking forward to reading this book, as the main character seemed relatable and the idea of a love square seemed intriguing. And the book really paid off, and I loved it........for about the first ¾ of it.

I didn't mind the 3 different men, though none of them seemed particularly *great*. And I thought that Penny handled them very well; she didn't lead anyone on and for the most part the men knew what they signed up for (a fling, or friendship). But when it all blew up on Penny, and all 3 men confronted her all at once, I absolutely HATED the way she was treated. Francesco, who we are led to believe is her true love, treated Penny terribly; he was hurtful to her and blamed a lot of things on her that, to me, did not make sense. It felt like the Penny he was seeing was not the Penny that was presented as a character - which would have been fine if the entire book was presented from Penny as an unreliable narrator. But that's not the case; perspective shifted between characters and the book was written in third person.

Because of the way Penny was treated by her "true love", the happy-ever-after that we get at the end of the book seemed false. Unfortunately, this left a bad taste in my mouth regarding this book - I really loved the author's writing style, and the first ¾ of the book was great, but because of the ending of it I feel I need to rate it lower than I was planning to in earlier chapters of the book.

Laura Jane WIlliams' last book Our Stop was one of my favourite summer reads of last year so I had high expectations of this one.

This is a fun read about finding yourself and the need to know who you are and want you want before you find someone else. This is full of life-affirming brilliant female friendships and male characters who completely go against the stereotypes. I loved that.

For me, Our Stop just about still holds the title of my favourite read by Laura Jane Williams' but if you want an enjoyable, touching read that will thoroughly take your mind off everything that's currently happening, this is one to pick up!

This romantic novel was pretty good, with an interesting premise of a protagonist who has to decide whether to follow her heart or support her family. I did find some of the characters’ motivations to be a bit questionable, but I wasn’t going into this looking for a believable storyline, just some light and heartwarming entertainment, which it provided.

The Love Square follows the story of Penny, a thirty year old cafe owner who can't seem to find a relationship since her boyfriend, Mo, left her 5yrs ago. The story starts as Penny is leaving her lovely behind to go to the countryside to run her uncles restaurant, leaving her very new relationship in tatters - flashback to three months before when a chance bread delivery brings about the gorgeous Francesco who leaves Penny his number, but Penny is convinced that she is unloveable and decides to put him out of her mind, until a month later when she meets him again. We follow Penny's relationship with Francesco developing, but its stopped in it's tracks by Penny's uncle taking ill, and Penny stepping up to help with the family business, So, breaking up with Francesco, Penny drives into the sunset, but not before seeing something that crushes her fragile heart even more...

I absolitely adored The Love Square, it was refreshing and funny and didn't shy away from the often funny sights of sexual relationships - I loved how Penny went about her life, she was great and the love square was fantastically done - though I could see the very inevitable car crash tv part coming head on.

Perfect summer read; read it in one sitting!