This is an entertaining, fast-paced, light and easy read even though the book deals with some darker topics (loss of a parent, cancer, infertility).

The book follows the story of Penny, a woman in her 30s managing her own little café in London, who has to move away for a year for family reasons. She is usually unlucky in love but manages to find herself in the middle of a love square.

I liked all the characters but I must say the love interests were my least favourite of all! I love the special relationship between Penny and her sister as well as with her uncle. I'm glad there was LGBT representation but I'd have loved to see more of them and have their characters a bit more developed.

I enjoyed reading this book but it didn't really seem to be a "love square" to me, rather one lover after the other and the square was only at the end of the book. It was pretty obvious who Penny would end up with according to the description of the three love interests and I thought her struggles to choose weren't very believable. The ending was okay although it was wrapped up a bit quickly and I thought Penny was quick to forgive some things that had been said.

All in all, I recommend this book as a light summer read.

Thank you to the publisher who provided me with an e-copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Love Square was an entertaining read, but I had some issues with it. Penny Bridge, usually unlucky in love, has to deal with a drastic change in plans when she has to leave her successful café to run her uncle’s pub while he recovers from a heart attack. Not only that, but amid all these changes in her life she also has to choose between three different men.

I really enjoyed how Williams dealt with really serious themes in the novel, namely the after effects of cancer and infertility. I thought these themes were discussed with great sensitivity and helped the reader understand Penny’s point of view and the decisions that she makes. It helped to see how much Penny grows during the whole novel and how she becomes much more confident and unapologetic. I also really liked Penny’s relationship with her sister and her friends and how supportive they were of each other.

However, I didn’t quite enjoy the character development of the love interests. There was a point in which one of them seemed to change into a totally different person, and that left me quite confused. Apart from that, Penny’s inability to choose one of them started to bother me by the end, because it seemed quite clear who she was in love with.

All in all, I find this novel a perfect read for the summer, fast-paced and light-hearted, but also with its touch of more serious and necessary discussions.

The Love Square by Laura Jane Williams is the story of Penelope Hermione Bridge aka Penny. She is a chef in her early 30s and is single. She survived breast cancer in her 20s which has made her incapable to carry a child because of early menopause. She doesn’t have much luck when it comes to dating until pastry chef Francesco, comes in her life she starts dating him. Things went well for the next 3 weeks.

Francesco and Penny were torn apart by circumstances. An unfortunate event in her life made her move to Derbyshire from London to look after her uncle’s restaurant. At Derbyshire, she meets not one, but two men who also want to date her. Thomas is from the music industry, while Priyesh is a wine merchant.

Now penny is stuck not in a love triangle but in a love square.

I did flip back and forth between the audio and the book so I can safely recommend both versions, basically you cannot go wrong here! Carrie Hope Fletcher has done justice to the narration.

I liked the book there's less comedy, but more emotion. I adore the bond Penny shares with her sister. I like the character of Penny, seeing so much in life still, she is optimistic and hopeful for life. It is a sweet and heart-warming read that packs an emotional punch.

I savored this book. Without giving any spoilers, I loved how it was real and showed strong female characters. Loved this.

A really sweet and entertaining romcom that I enjoyed living vicariously through (who wouldn't want three incredible love interests???) Penny has had a romance drought for the past five years. Since her ex left her in the midst of her cancer battle, her hope and optimism that she will ever meet someone again is now non-existent. Then a new man walks into her life, and another, and another...
Within the charming meet-cutes and stay-cutes, there's some handling of very important issues that don't get talked about enough - from struggles of sexual compatibility to hereditary battles with cancel, bereavement, non-monogamy and inclusive coupling.
This is a perfect summer read, escapist, hopeful and with great heart. After this and 'Our Stop', Laura Jane Williams has swiftly and firmly become a staple of the genre.

If you're a fan of Bridget Jones, The Love Square is for you. Adorable chick lit! What a charming read! Delightful beach reading.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

I'm not usually one for love triangles, let alone a love square so I didn't have my hopes up too high. It's a lighter read when you're not in the mood for anything dark but it also touches on some important topics such as death, losing parents, cancer, infertility etc. Penny wasn't very likable unfortunately. I did admire how strong she was given that she's a business owner and had went through some hardships. What ruined it for me was that she kept talking about how independent she was yet she complained about being single and how one would love her or be with her for far too long and it got on my nerves.. Then she just got a little bit more annoying as the love interests were introduced. This has some potential and definitely would have been better if Penny was different. I also do think this dragged on a bit too long, it should've been shorter rather than 400 pages.

Thanks very much to the publisher and to netgalley for the arc!

I liked Penny and how she overcame the cancer diagnosis she received in her 20s. It's something no one wants to go through, but she seems to have dealt with the news really well.

I felt Penny's suitors were not super fleshed out. We know a lot more of Francesco, but that's mainly because he's present since the first third of the book. I don't know who my favourite of the three men was, and I'm not sure I love who Penny ended up with.

I like the "moving home for family" trope a lot and this was done wonderfully here. I also loved the name of the pub, being a huge red panda fan.

There's also quite a lot of LGBT representation in the book, which I loved to see. However, at times it feels a little shoehorned in and underdeveloped.

The Love Square is Laura Jane William’s second fiction novel. Her first, Our Stop was a huge success last year and I suspect that The Love Square will follow suit.

It’s about the quite fantastic Penny Bridge, chef and owner of her own cafe in London. She’s single, utterly fed up of being on dating apps, of meeting men she feels a connection with only to find out that they have a girlfriend or are getting back with their ex and she can’t quite work out what exactly is going wrong. She just wants to live her life.

A breast cancer survivor, she has fought hard for the life she has. She’s appreciative of her family and friends, of the world she has created for herself, her business and reputation. She’d like to settle down and have a family using the eggs she had frozen before starting chemotherapy. She’d happily do this by herself using a surrogate but she’d quite like to do it with somebody alongside her. She’d like to be loved.

Enter Francesco, a sexy Italian chef who she forms a connection with, but then something happens and she has to return to her native Derbyshire. It is there she meets Thomas and then Priyesh. Based on Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy, Penny is a modern Bathsheba Everdene. She is tenacious, fun and braver than she thinks.

I really need to talk about the representation of illness in The Love Square. Penny has had a hard time, she lost her mother to breast cancer and as a young woman was diagnosed with the same disease. She is recovered but can get both physically and mentally tired and Laura Jane Williams writes so eloquently and sensitively about the struggle of balancing life and illness. I have a long term health condition and although I can look fine, the reality is I am likely to be in pain. It was so refreshing to read about somebody dealing with this sort of thing, somebody living her absolute best life but having to find the emotional and mental strength to deal with her body letting her down. It would be so easy for the breast cancer to define Penny, to be the thing which is associated with her, but it doesn’t all. And actually while I’m talking about this, bravo for the depiction of infertility and the complexities and nuance of it.

Penny is written so brilliantly and I fell in love with her. I loved her loyalty to those she loves, that she knows her worth, that she isn’t afraid to call out bad behaviour or disappointing actions. She is a great protagonist and her romances are sexy and fun to read about. Each man brings something different to Penny’s life and, without making her sound like an X Factor contestant, help her on her journey.

This is a great summer read filled with romance, fun relationships and friendships, humour and a lot of heart. I’d say that it would be perfect to read on a sun lounger but lets settle for the back garden on a sunny day eh?

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I loved that it wasn’t just your typical rom com book. Boy meets girl and falls in love, this book had lots of twists and turns and I was genuinely interested in who penny was going to fall for. I had my preference for an ending as soon as o started reading and although it was a bit predictable I got what I wanted! Each of the men were really likeable characters. Laura touched on some really modern day themes and that was so refreshing in a chick lit. I rated it ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This has to be one of my least favourite reads of the year. I think the key thing about my distaste for this book lies in the fact that I don't like short stories generally. This book feels like it's comprised of three, chronological short romance stories whereby the character has 3 different love interests in succession.

This book really wasn't to my tastes, because these individual romances felt like they just skimmed the surface. I never felt any angst or tension that I like from a good romance. This book could be more aptly described as chick lit or contemporary, I felt that those elements were a lot stronger than the romance.

Also as a 20 something year old, I just don't resonate with the struggles the main character has as she enters her 30s single. I appreciated these conversations about infertility and starting a family, but these discussions felt really important to the characters interpersonal life. The author generally explore these issues with a mix of sincerity and comicalness that I enjoyed to but ultimately just couldn't connect with.

I think the main thing I thrived off was that this book had a lot of charm to it. The character feels imperfect and human, she smokes, she swears and is generally aware of her own flaws. Honestly this is characterisation that feels somewhat rare to me in romance. This book is also charming because it felt intrinsically British and I enjoyed reading that too.

I loved Our Stop so was keen to get a copy of this one.

This is the story of Penny and the three guys she becomes involved with over the course of the book.

I really enjoyed Penny's character and found all the males had amusing qualities too, the story was easy to get into. I love the setting of café/pubs. I would say the first half of the book is based on Penny, her back story and her main love interest, it took a while for us to meet the other two characters that made up the square. There are some delicate subjects broached but I felt they were well handled, the only thing I would have like to have seen is the more diverse characters that were written about to be more of a main focus rather than just a supporting role.

Overall I thought this was an ok read but I felt like the end of this book missed the mark for me, it tried too hard to wrap everything in a neat bow when I didn't find it believable that her character would have forgiven him so easily for the nasty comments he made.

The narration was very good and easy to listen to.

I loved this!
Finally a simple, easy to read book regarding sleep and sleep hygiene.

Firstly, I have to mention the design! WOW! This book is one of the most beautifully designed books I have ever seen/read. I would love to put the artwork framed and up on my walls in my house if I could. It is incredibly beautiful!!! I know you're not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but if this cover alone does not make you instantly reach out for this book then there must be something wrong with you!

I have struggled with anxiety, for the majority of my life and in this time of the COVID-19 pandemic I have really struggled with my sleep. I have read a lot of books and podcasts etc regarding sleep, and a lot of these books are quite difficult to follow and go to 'in=depth' with the science of sleep.
This book however got straight to the point with ideas and tips to help improve sleep hygiene. if course, it did mention a little about the stages of sleep - but it didn't alienate me by the science-based language. I felt like I could follow everything mentioned. The only downside for me, is that i wish it was longer!!!

I particularly liked the section about aromatherapy as this is something I am really interested in, and use myself already.
I also have to mention the fact that the book mentions the musical Hairspray!!! (albeit briefly - but being a 'theatre-kid' this was very much appreciated haha)

I would love to get my hands on a physical copy of this to refer back to as and when I need it - also for the beautiful imagery within it!!

This book is straight to the point and very personable. It has some great ideas, and it also looks super pretty - what more could you want?! If you have struggled with 'sleep books' in the past, you will certainly enjoy and get a lot out of this!

I love that this book takes the love triangle trope up a notch and makes it a little more interesting. While I admit, this book isn't exactly what I expected - it was still a great read. I expected a little more humor and more of the rom-com element, but I got a lot more seriousness than I anticipated. Don't let that deter you though, it still made for a captivating read.

This is not my first book by the author. I had read One Stop and I liked that one. So naturally I was excited about it. It sounded like a fun book with an interesting plot and I glad to say that it was better than I expected. I could relate to penny and her dialogues made me laugh out loud more than one. If you looking for acute rom com / chick lit book with great characters and good plot then, by all means, give it a go. You are going to love this love square!

I really enjoyed Laura Jane Williams' debut novel, "Our Stop' so I was delighted to get a NetGalley ARC copy of this one in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted to enjoy this one as much, but it lacked some of the sweetness and pace of 'Our Stop'.

The plot sounded promising: after a long time on her own, cafe owner Penny Bridges meets a wonderful man. When her uncle is taken ill, Penny moves out of London to run his hotel for him. This is when she meets another man. And then another. She has to work out who is best for her, while also working out what she wants from life.

***positives***
• I really liked how the author treated the issue of infertility. I've read too many other novels where there is a quick fix of some kind and it was refreshing to read an account of infertility without a surprise pregnancy.
• Penny and her sister's relationship was lovely and a really enjoyable part of the novel. They were warm towards each other, but not unrealistically so.
• I liked Francesco immediately. However, I can't be the only one to think his personality changed (for the worse) as we nearer the end? He became quite unpleasant at points.

***negatives***
• It was too easy to predict who Penny would end up with, and so the length of time taken to get there was frustrating.
• Penny's friend Charlie was really underused. We were repeatedly told what good friends they were, but it wasn't -shown- and more on their friendship would have been a good balance to all the details of Penny's dates.

I'd recommend it as a light read, but

I read Laura Jane Williams's debut OUR STOP when we were in Australia last year. And it was like a breath of fresh air: the witty characters, classic British humour and evocative London setting were irresistable to me as I plodded through Aussie winter. I was missing home and it was the perfect antidote.

Williams's second outing, THE LOVE SQUARE is just as good. Set across both London and Derbyshire (not too far from my own hometown of Leicester), it is a tale of Penny, who has been down on her luck love wise... until like buses, three turn-up at once. It was a fun and enjoyable read, with Williams creating distinct and relatable characters as well as portraying an idea of romance that isn't the Hollywood glamour that we have come to expect, but something far more authentic.

Although, not my usual fare – you know that crime and thriller are more my thing – reading this during a very busy period at work has helped me switch off in the evenings. And made me very hungry with all the talk of delicious pasta.

Out now in ebook and out next week in paperback, but sure to pick up your copy.

The Love Square by Laura Jane Williams
Source: NetGalley and Avon
Rating: 4/5 stars

If there were ever going to be a poster child for unlucky in love, Penny Bridge would be the girl chosen! Relationship after relationship has fallen apart, often disastrously for Penny and she is just about ready to give up on love altogether. Just as Penny has determined to call it quits, the perfect man walks into her small café and everything changes.

For three glorious weeks, Penny indulges in a love affair she has come to believe can go the distance. Just as she is settling into her new romance, Penny is called away to her family restaurant that only she can run in her beloved uncle’s absence. To be leaving behind her own little café and her newfound romance is devastating; to see her lover kissing another woman thirty seconds after she leaves, even more devastating. This time, Penny is done and there will nothing but work for her in the future.

And then the universe started laughing . . . .

As Penny begins to settle into her uncle’s place in the restaurant’s kitchen, she discovers she can get through anything, even heartbreak. With her head down and her priorities straight, Penny begins to overhaul the restaurant and its menu and the locals love what she’s doing. Business is booming and Penny passionately believes she has no room for anything else in her life. She will get through her designated time away from her true home and then swiftly return to her little café, stronger and wiser.

First in through the door is the younger local who travels often for work and brings a no strings attached sense of freedom to Penny. Next up is the older, more mature wine seller who intrigues Penny in a way no other man ever has. Last but not least to the party is Penny’s ex, who can’t understand why Penny ghosted him. In all her ridiculous naivete, Penny believes she can date the two newcomers and she and her ex can just go back to being friends. Needless to say, the situation becomes incredibly complicated and though Penny enjoys the company of all three men, it simply isn’t reasonable or sane to try and maintain three relationships simultaneously. Choosing isn’t going to be easy and before Penny can make her final decision, it all blows up in her face.

The Bottom Line: I found The Love Square to be an easy breazy sort of read that is quite perfect for a rainy weekend. There’s no mystery here, no great, just a woman trying to work through her life, her limits, and her grasp on love. Truth be told, I found the men in Penny’s life to be more compelling than she, but I didn’t dislike Penny. All the types of moments – sad, happy, laugh out loud, frustrating, and maddening – can all be found between the covers. At its heart, this is as much about love as it is a book about self-discovery, facing some ugly truths, and owning what it is one wants and needs out of life. While that all sounds like heavy reading, it really isn’t.

This book is a slight change of pace for me. Usually, I can be found with a murder to solve or a kidnapper to track down, but this was a welcome detour in my reading journey.

The story is emotional and heart-warming, and I really felt like a part of Penny’s story. The main characters were strong women, and the men seemed like the type of friends we would all like to meet in our lifetime.

I loved the funny antics the characters got up to and the ending just really sealed the deal and made this a wonderful read.

My thoughts: this is the second book of Laura’s that I’ve read, after reading our stop last year and absolutely adoring it I knew I had to read The Love Square too and it definitely didn’t disappoint.

We follow Penny, who after fighting cancer and freezing her eggs after having them fertilised with some German sperm, she feels like she’s ready to find love and maybe take her eggs off ice!

After falling in ‘friendship’ with Francesco, something happens within the family and she needs to move away, she is desperate to ask him to come with her but she’s just not brave enough.

6 months pass and she’s settled into her new life, she meets Thomas, who she very quickly learns is not “the one” but is always down for a bit of fun.

And then as if things aren’t complicated enough along comes Priyesh at the Christmas party, she seems to have found herself stuck in a live square with no idea who she wants!

What follows is absolutely hilarious and I absolutely adored it.

I had both the ebook and the audiobook, I won’t lie most of the book was read via audiobook because it was narrated by Carrie Hope Fletcher and she is a force to be reckoned with!

Laura Jane Williams has now cemented herself as an autobuy author for me and I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next!