Review: The Love Square, Laura Jane Williams.

Penny thinks she's unlucky in love and unlovable, but wants to start a family and doesn't need a man to do that. She finds herself in a Love Square, with three men with different intentions and relationships with her. What man will she choose? Penny is an incredible character that any gal in her 20s can relate to in some way. She's a chef and owner of a London cafe, brilliant family and friends around her and is a Lizzo fan and High-Low listener. Highly recommend this to fans of Our Stop by Laura Jane Williams, really nice to read more of her writing.

⭐⭐⭐

Some of the relationships I thought were different to other romance books I'd read before, but it does come round to the familiar predicted happy ending. I did find parts frustrating as I felt like it was building up to her being happy on her own with what she already had and not that a man has to be part of that or needed, and hoped that would have been the direction.

I didn’t enjoy this as much as I was hoping to.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me an arc of this book in exchange for my review.

An enjoyable modern romantic comedy. They're not usually my choice of books, but I like the way Laura writes.

I have adored this book, it’s been such an easy and enjoyable read which I haven’t been able to put down.
The characters are likeable and the plot is interesting.

More like 3.5 stars
Same great writing style and interesting characters but somehow the overall story wasn’t exactly what I thought I’ll get.
It was interesting to see how much love plays a part in this book and how much people are willing to forgive and get over to make something out of their own life.
Although it’s not one of my favourites, it will be a loved book.

Laura Jane Williams' The Love Square presents a dilemma that many seekers of love would love to have - not one, not two, but three potential suitors! But, good problems are still problems, and Penny finds her heart pulled in three directions, and this is ultimately a book about female empowerment and what it means to discover what you really want.

Great for lovers of books like The Flatshare! This is a compulsively readable tale that packs an emotional punch.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

I enjoyed this book. I immediately connected to the main character, Penny, and appreciated her journey to following her own path to fulfil her needs. On the surface, it is a love story between Penny and three lovers - each special in his own right. At its core, this is a book about self love and the powerful effect that healthy friendships and family have in one's life.

There is also a nod to feminism in this book. Penny has power in choosing between her three lovers, in building a business, and in stepping up for family, both biological and chosen. It is a modern take on female empowerment that a woman should want it all for as long as it serves her.

I recommend this book for people who like a fast paced contemporary love story with lots of drama and a modern take on HEA.

#NetGalley provided an advaced copy in exchange for an honest review.

‘The Love Square’ is the story of Penny, a chef who survived cancer at the age of 25 and, now 30, is struggling to find ‘the one.’ Her luck seems to be changing when she meets gorgeous, charming Francesco, until a family emergency sees her moving halfway across the country and into the lives of two more possible ‘ones.’
First things first, I must admit I really didn’t enjoy Laura Jane William’s debut novel, ‘One Stop.’ It just really wasn’t for me- I couldn’t get on board with the premise and never really warmed to the characters. Happily, ‘The Love Square’ hooked me in a way it’s predecessor just didn’t.
Penny is a lovely main character, and her history with cancer is depicted really effectively. Cancer related infertility is not something we talk about much, and I was pleased that LJW dealt with it so sensitively. I was pleased to read a story where cancer is in the past, and is not a tragic plot device. Her sister Clemmie is not nearly as fully fleshed out as Penny, but their relationship provides a beautiful constant throughout the story, as does Penny’s friendship with the very funny Sharon.
The story contains a number of LGBTQ+ characters (including a non-binary character) as well as several non white characters, which I was very pleased to see.
This was just the book I needed in these uncertain times- funny, poignant, warm and cheeky. I look forward to LJW’s next offering!
Thank you to Avon and Netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you so much NetGalley for an advance copy of The Love Square in exchange for my honest opinion.

I am not sure about how to start this review, to be honest!

The things I liked:

- The family relationship. I thought it was very strong and supportive and cute. Despite everything that goes on, I liked how close Penny (the main character) and Clementine (her sister) are. It was a healthy, true and very beautiful relationship.

- Penny's independence. She is a young woman with a difficult and hard past but very strong and focused on what she doesn't want.

What I didn't like:

- Penny's friends. We all know friends are supposed to listen to you, give you advice, being supportive and stand by you. We also know that true friends should say if something you are doing is wrong or unethical. I felt like all of Penny's friends only told her how well she was doing everything and not to worry about anything, when she was actually hurting people and playing with people's feelings! I was like: No one is really gonna tell her that she isn't right? That she could have been more careful? That upset me.

- Penny's incoherences. Another thing I didn't understand was why she got upset and all dramatic when one of the guys she is dating, is also seeing another person, when she is doing just that. I don't know how she could be so hypocritical.

- Cliches. I am not gonna get too deep in this matter as I think it will spoil some parts of the story but, from chapter 1 I knew who she was gonna end up with. Why did I have to read 350 for her to realise it? Everyone knew it!

I really don't like giving bad ratings and writing bad reviews but it took me a lot of effort to finish this book. I wanted to DNF it half way through but, out of stubbornness, I finally finished it!

I love this, I love this, I love this!

After loving Our Stop last year I was eagerly awaiting another novel from Laura Jane Williams.
This is full of fun, humour laughs and gasp moments. You will not be disappointed.

The Love Square is a romance but not as you know it....

I have a weird relationship with romance books. It is a fabulous genre for a bit of escapism, but, often, I find the characters two dimensional or the story falling flat.

The Love Square, however, is a book which has a lot of heart and is anything but flat. One of the standout aspects for me was that I found myself really captivated by the cast of characters. They are fully formed and messy and, above all else, human. Our main character Penny is interesting and engaging, and I found her extremely likeable even when I wanted to give her a strong talking to! 😂 The cast has fabulous diversity in every way: race, gender, sexuality, age. I am finding myself increasingly drawn to stories which normalise diversity and just let characters be themselves and I certainly found that here.

Fundamentally, this is a book about love. Yes romantic love forms a big part of that, and Laura sure does know how to write a steamy encounter, but it also deals with much weightier topics as well. It explores themes such as familial love and bonds, loss and grief, and hopes and dreams. This richness means it packs a powerful emotional punch, and it really resonated with me as a reader.

I adored reading The Love Square and heartily recommend it to top your summer reading list when it comes out in July 💕

First of all I would like to say that this isn't my usual type of book.
I did enjoy it but I found some of the storyline dragged out quite a bit.
Penny is the main character and this is a story of a part of her life.
She has her own cafe in London which she adores and although she has no family close by she is very close with them. She meets a man, starts a relationship with him then as a family member becomes poorly she has to change her plans. Some of the book I did really enjoy but I found the author felt she had to get every type of person in her book from lesbians to gays to gender none binary and although I have absolutely no problem with this I found reading about none binary to be very confusing. It could have been worded a lot better as the character was called Charlie. So where this could have read Charlie said or Charlie did, it got confusing when it says they said or did because of the previous sentence I wasn't sure if it was Charlie or Charlie and someone else together etc.
Over all I did enjoy the book.
Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this for my honest review

Penny Bridge hasn't been lucky in love. After a cancer diagnosis in her early 20's her long term boyfriend split, ever since then she's been focusing on her career and running her very popular cafe. When there's a fill-in for her usual bread delivery, she feels her luck changing, but maybe it's a bit too much.

The Love Square had so much more depth than I was expecting, while it does have funny moments, I wouldn't call it a rom-com. The way the tough issues were handled was well done, from the lingering side effects of cancer and treatment to infertility, it made my heart ache a little. I loved Penny's strength and courage, and her relationship with her family. Her love interests are very different from each other and I really liked what they each brought to the story. I really really enjoyed this book, while it's not as light as the synopsis suggests, it's not super heavy and dark either. It's sweet, with good characters, and at its core is really about not letting your life circumstances control the outcome, it's about taking charge and making your own happiness.

The Love Square is the perfect fictional escape! The characters were so loveable (Penny especially), the backstories were rich, and the plot was well paced enough to keep me hooked throughout. Reading it felt like being enveloped in a warm bubble, complete with crackling fires, delicious food, and the unconditional love of family members. Would thoroughly recommend for a bit of optimistic escapism!

Story 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Running a little, but popular cafe and being an amazing cook should make Penny an adult who has her life together.
But whereas she loves what she does job-like, she has really bad luck in her dating life.
Until she meets Francesco.
He’s perfect for her in every way. Until she needs to leave London and help her uncle with his restaurant.
There she realizes that even though she had the worst luck with men before Francesco, now she has several options on hand:
three, to be honest.
Three perfect, handsome man, who couldn’t be any more different.
And so chaos begins and Penny learns what it is that she <i>really wants</i> in life.

That was really, really cute and kind of a funny book.
I enjoyed it a lot and read it in just 24 hours.
It had a good pacing with some bits of drama, friendship, love, sex etc etc and all in all was really entertaining to read.

Character 🌟🌟🌟
First of all: no one in this book is perfect.
That would be weird.
But they’re perfect in their own kind of way.
Penny was strong, independent and loved her family really much. And she stayed realistic even though she could’ve dreamed a bit.
When she needed to move away, she broke things apart with Francesco, because she didn’t think a relationship with so many kilometers between them couldn’t last long. In the end they would hurt each other even more.
She paused her life plans for the sake of her family, her uncle. And even though she could’ve been sad, depressed and moody about the forced change, she learned to love it.
She grew as a person, as a cook, as a friend.
And even though she didn’t always act in the right way, she said sorry when it needed to be said.

There were many side characters that appeared in this novel and even though I’m not so sure if he’s a main or a side character, I Iiked Francesco the most.
I liked him because he treated Penny in a respectful way and told her that before he wanted to fall in love with her he wanted to fall in <i>friendship</i> with her.
And that was the cutest thing to say.
Also pretty wise.
He explained it in such a wonderful way that I couldn’t help but fall in love.
And ship them so hard.
I know he didn’t always acted gentleman-like, but like Penny he said sorry if it needed to be said.
All in all I liked the characters a lot and I think they pushed the story forward in their own kind of way.

Relationships 🌟🌟🌟
Penny is a grown independent woman who does not need a man.
Or three.
Or maybe she wants a man? But which one?
They’re all so perfect in their own kind of way...
Whereas everything is relaxed and funny with Thomas, Penny has the best sex of her life with Priyesh, but then there is also Francesco.
He respects her, is loyal and supportive and probably her best friend. Even though they needed to break things up, because Penny moved away, he still wanted to stay in contact with her. He talked to her on the phone, cooked for her, talked to her about their problems...(Can you see which one was my favorite? Haha)
All in all I really felt a connection between Penny and Francesco and I shipped them so hard. They didn’t have this easypeasy relationship, it was the exact opposite in some way. The relationship felt real filled with real life problems and emotions, anger, confusion, embarrassment.

Writing style 🌟🌟🌟🌟
The writing was definitely catching, flowing and made the book easy and fun to read.
It was written in Penny’s POV even though sometimes it changed to Francesco.
But without a note or something. It just changed in the middle and then switched back to Penny. It could’ve been confusing, but I didn’t have any problems changing my focus and the POV in my head.

All in all definitely a good book.

Penny Bridge has been single for 5 years. She has given up on love and thrown herself into running her little cafe in London. Enter Francesco. And Thomas. And Priyesh! All of them are very different, but it's an embarrassment of riches for Penny. Who will she choose? Is she ready to choose just one?

Although the outcome is rather predictable, each of her suitors was vey different and that was interesting. I also liked how current this book was. I mean, there's mentions of Brexit and Lizzo! You can't get more current than that! But that also will date this quite quickly. I also liked how the suitors were not all white. That was nice to see. Overall, not a bad way to spend a weekend when you're stuck in isolation.

At the core, this book was entertaining. It made me laugh. The author did a tremendous job of developing her characters, especially the main character. They are so real and raw and lifelike. It made the book so much easier to read. The beginning 40% or so was a bit slow for me, but it picked up a lot after that. My only other critique would be that I thought some of the British language in the beginning was a bit forced, like they needed to use British lingo in every sentence. Other than that, quick cute read. Ending was 10/10!!

Love Square focuses on the story of Penny, a chef and breast cancer survivor, and the men in her life. Penny is well drawn out and relatable, and I liked that the plot explored how her trauma affected her approach to relationships. I was originally drawn to the book because of the three love interests, but felt that apart from Francesco, none of the others had that much depth. This was disappointing as the story would have been much more intriguing if it wasn't obvious who Penny would choose. A good read overall though.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

3.9🌟 actually! A really fun, easy breezy read. Deeply rooted in reality with characters we all know in real life, this book is the perfect bit of escapism to take us *back* to reality and out of self-isolation.

Penny Bridge gets herself into a love square, completely unintentionally. She has a love interest that has to end as her life is abruptly uprooted away from London. So she’s free to move on, and meets two other men... ⁣
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In my opinion, this book was so much better than Our Stop. It wasn’t as frustrating (if she wanted to meet him so badly, she easily could have), and it wasn’t a conventional romance either. I loved that there wasn’t just one, predictable love interest. I appreciated how it highlights how women can enjoy no-strings attached relationships, just as much as men - I’m all for female empowerment!
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Penny was a complex character, and so was her life. Everything that happened was believable, and not predictable like most romance books. It was very refreshing to read!