An interesting concept, taking the place of an experienced sommelier at a hotel in Scotland only to be caught out when it doesn't turn out to be the run down place that was expected.
Some reviewers didn't warm to the main character, Elizabeth "Birdy" Finch, however I found that I understood her better as the story unfolded. The rest of the hotel staff varied from a young, inexperienced waitress hoping to become a sommelier through a grumpy chef to a mothering maitre, all in a beautiful sounding surroundings. In the meantime the real sommelier, Heather, is on holiday in Italy with her boyfriend, unaware of what is going on. Birdy comes across as someone out of their depth who then tries her best to bring herself up to speed, with mixed success. There are moments of humour along with the romance giving an overall enjoyable read.
One thing to note is that there are some (mild) sex scenes but the language is quite strong at times, so not for those who don't like these, although they didn't offend me.
I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher through Netgalley, however this did not influence my review of the book.

I requested and received a temporary digital Advance Reader Copy of this book from #NetGalley, the publisher and the author in exchange for an honest review.

A lovely summer read, funny, tender and, at times, sad.

All in all a very satisfying read

Okay I have to admit I absolutely loved this book. Even though during the book I knew where it was going the book was the perfect escapism I needed. It was funny, light and realistic. I could imagine someone pretending to be someone else for a job but a job about wine erm no thanks.

I really enjoyed the story and all the characters except Elizabeth "Birdy" Finch. Towards the end I warmed to her but her directionless attitude and using her best friend the way she does really really annoyed me!

I found it an amusing read which was perfect for a wet and rainy day sat beside the fire.

Heather a Sommelier and Elizabeth Finch (Birdy) have been friends since school. Heather is offered a summer job in the north of Scotland but decides to follow a boyfriend to Italy instead. She asks Birdy to make her excuses to the hotel in Scotland.
Birdy is between jobs and is technically homeless as Heather has advertised her flat which she shares with Birdy on Airbnb. Heather had said that the hotel was quite rundown, so Birdy decides to impersonate Heather and go to Scotland.
A good read, I found myself willing Birdy to succeed.

The subject of this book was a bit weird but the book was fun and quite light-hearted. Birdy assumed the identity of her best friend (Heather) and took a job that was offered to Heather even though she didn’t have the knowledge to do the work. The scene was set beautifully and all the characters came to life. As you can imagine, there were several challenges that Birdy had to get through as well as personal challenges for several of the main characters that made the book believable and kept the book interesting. Would recommend.

Comedy Of Far Fetched Proportions....
When Birdy Finch decides to take over her best friends’ life chaos ensues. Not only does Birdy not tell her but she will undoubtedly discover that pulling it off will be more difficult than she first thought. Mildly amusing comedy of far fetched proportions with a protagonist who is, unfortunately, rather unlikeable in many ways.

I didn't really enjoy this book. The main character annoyed me from the start with her subterfuge and self interest. I think maybe I'm too old to appreciate it but the story seemed too far fetched and I didn't find any humour in it unlike Flatshare which the book was compared to. The book just seems to centre on an extremely naive and immature girl more interested in behaving inappropriately.

There was some interest in a subplot but on the whole this book just didn't resonate with me. However, it is reasonably well written so I can see it would appeal to some people so I haven't completely dismissed it but I struggled to finish it.

A light hearted story about a somewhat chaotic character.
Our heroine, Birdy, has never managed to keep herself in their job - or any kind of training for enough length of time to become skilled at it. She had a chaotic upbringing with an alcoholic father and a mother who was his facilitator - so much so that when he sold items eg her clarinet when she was seven years old, her mother told Birdy she had lost it herself, rather than admitting that her father had sold it to pay off a debt. As a result she found it difficult to maintain any emotional attachment to people except for her best friend Heather.
Heather had also had a difficult upbringing but in a very different way. Heather’s father had been a successful wine merchant and when he died and left her a small amount of money she used it to train as a sommelier and had become very well known in her particular field, and very experienced, but because her relationship with her father again was difficult she sought out love from men who were unsuitable in different ways .
This story begins late spring when Birdy is unemployed (again) and Heather decides to go to Italy with her current boyfriend. There is a problem with Heather’s current boyfriend in that he already has another girlfriend, but he promises to break up with her. Birdy has her own problems in being not only being unemployed but having nowhere to live. She had been sharing Heather’s flat but Heather had leased it out for the summer. Birdy then wonders what she's going to do.. .What she does do is to pretend, as she has often pretended, to be Heather - but before for small occasions but this time she was attending a an event for British wines. And she meets a delightful lady called Irene there, who says oh you are Heather and chats to her, and they have a very nice time whilst Birdy’s very unreliable boyfriend Tim gets very drunk .What Birdy doesn't know about Irene comes back to bite her later .
I enjoyed this book. I enjoyed Birdy trying for the first time in her life to learn a skill and failing miserably initially. I enjoyed her character arc and how she developed and learned to be more than she had been before. I recommend that if you are having a struggle learning who you are meant to be, what your job should be, what your place in life is, what you could become, that you read this book and see what Birdy's trajectory was and ponder.

I really enjoyed this book. Birdy's best friend Heather is a sommelier. When Heather decides not to take a summer job at a Scottish hotel, Birdy decides to go in her place, The trouble is, she knows nothing about wine!! Can she pull it off? This is a funny, enjoyable read and I oved the variety of characters. Thanks to NetGalley for a preview copy.
Copied to Goodreads.

Birdy fakes her way into a job as a sommelier at a posh restaurant in the Scottish wilderness, pretending to be her best friend Heather while she's there. She can just about tell the difference between a red and a white. If the basic premise alone hasn't made you grab a copy of this book already, then let me reassure you it is a five star read.

This book was an utter delight. It was wonderfully funny, well observed and had a pretty shocking twist at the end which I 100% did not see coming. Yes, there are romantic undertones but this book is so much more than a romance, it's about finding ourselves and becoming happy with who we are. With lots of brilliant wine and food references along the way, it is a book perfect for foodies who love to read, which I most definitely am. I was also excited to see a reference to a certain vineyard in New Zealand within the pages which I have visited!!

I will be recommending this to anyone and everyone for their feel-good read for next year.

Great read, loved the characters and a great story line. Light hearted and an easy fun read. Liked the way the story progressed with all the twists and turns, quite a page turner.

I love the premise of this book, and the style of writing is great BUT I just find the lead character really infuriating! The supporting characters are brilliant but it’s a strange one for me. Great story line and others will love her but not someone I’m ready to read about again in a hurry unfortunately.

This was a different, really enjoyable book and, I have to say, I found it so stressful! So much lying Birdy! But it was a zippy, engaging read and had a lovely ending.

I was intrigued by this book’s cover and wanted to read what all this book was about.!! I must say I was pleasantly surprised with how this light hearted story slowly started getting more in depth and heavier!! It was startling to see how, our main character, Birdy Finch disguises herself as her best friend, Heather who is a sommelier. Birdy takes on the job of a sommelier for the summer at a newly renovated boutique hotel in Scotland, that her friend Heather wanted to skip to spend time with her boyfriend. Birdy literally blunders her way doing the sommelier job but she does it with such a grace and confidence that you cannot help but admire her courage and confidence!

Birdy has a longtime boyfriend named Tim and while being a pseudo sommelier, she cannot help but grow fonder of James who is one of the Chefs at the newly renovated restaurant. Will she break up with Tim to be with James or will she decide to end this life of deceit and go back to her real world??

The book gets very interesting as you read further and despite of all her web of lies, Birdy finds a sense of belonging and purpose in her new role!!!

This was a 5 star read for me and I highly recommend getting a copy as soon as it’s out!!!

Thank you @netgalley, @vikingsbooksuk #penguinrandomhouseuk, @lizzy.dent for the copy of 'The Summer Job e-ARC' in exchange for my honest review!!

Disclaimer - I received a free digital download of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved reading the Summer Job by Lizzy Dent. Elizabeth ‘Birdy’ Finch was such a wonderfully built and dynamic character who you couldn’t help empathising with. I found that the story progressed and was written so well that my anxieties grew alongside Birdy’s. I always appreciate a book that has the ability to make you feel the emotional adventure of its characters and this book certainly did that.

I found the level of information in the book astounding. Having never drank wine of any sort and all of a sudden getting a look into the life of a sommelier and the differences in wine selections had my interest piqued. I enjoyed the story as much as I enjoyed learning about wine. Not to mention the witty narrative that was Birdy.

A tale of two best friends who make it through life’s struggles dependent solely on each other. I wonderful pick me up read.

The Summer Job by Lizzy Dent. Oh dear, I think in my mid 30s I was too old for this book, perhaps it is better suited to the New Adult crowd. It was now the 'snort-out-loud' story I was expecting, I don't think I chuckled at all.
The premise of the story was far fetched to think that someone could just walk in to a sommelier job and fake it was an insult to those people who study and work hard in that industry. I think that premise is what put me off and threw the story for me.
I also didn't endear to the main character. I found her selfish and didn't even want her to succeed of fall in love.
All in all I, personally, wouldn't recommend this book.

Thanks to Netgalley for the chance to read and review.

This is another book about a catastrophic disaster area of a young woman in her twenties who slowly finds herself, finds a purpose and finds true love. Along the way, she appears to have bankrupted a trendy Scottish boutique hotel, betrayed her best friend, impersonated somebody she isn’t, and been regularly drunk and hungover at work. But we can forgive all that, or can we, because she is sort of funny and charming. You decide!

Elizabeth Finch, known for fairly obvious reasons as Birdy, takes a summer job offer which was made to her friend Heather who is a trained sommelier. Heather has gone off to Rome in the pursuit of love, Birdy has nowhere to live so the impersonation seems like a good idea although she knows nothing about wine. The job is at the aforementioned hotel in Scotland – somewhere near Skye – and has been completely refurbished before reopening to appeal to a sophisticated clientele. That is the start of the story which then involves lots of misunderstandings, cock ups and panics, a wine book for amateurs and encounters with the hotel staff who are mostly Scottish in an obvious sort of redheaded and kilted way and they all drink too much as well. Just when Birdy starts to think that she has the job sorted, an unpleasant restaurant critic takes her apart, writes a dire review and precipitates the end of the hotel. Of course, I forgot to mention that she is falling in love with James, one of the staff, which is another problem as she has a kind of useless boyfriend in London and then he, the boyfriend, turns up in Scotland for more predictable confusion.

The ending of the story verges on the absurd but it all turns out for the best. I didn’t really enjoy the book but there does seem to be an appetite for stories where women with chaotic lives somehow find themselves. It seems odd that when society is all for empowering women publishing continues to follow this pathway but there is clearly a market. I should probably mention that Birdy’s behaviour is partly accounted for by dreadful things which have happened in the past but it wasn’t enough to elicit my sympathies and finishing the book was a bit of an effort.

Such a lovely read!

The Summer Job was funny, romantic, emotional and perfect to take with you to a sunny beach!

Light-hearted and funny, Lizzy Dent's "The Summer Job" filled me with nostalgia for my own time in the hospitality industry. Elizabeth "Birdy" Finch is not your usual romcom heroine. Instead she carries real vulnerability owing to a troubled upbringing. Taking on the summer job frees her up to explore who she really is and where she belongs. Birdy's Scottish adventure is inspiring whilst oftentimes hilarious. Dent has given us a protagonist to really root for and Birdy is a breath of fresh air. Both Lizzy Dent's writing style and tone are instantly engaging and I look forward to hearing more from her. The premise is great and I found the book to be the perfect weekend binge-read. Thoroughly enjoyable. Also worth noting that I've struggled to concentrate on every book I've read for months - except this one.