From the get go this audio book was so easy to fall in love with and was such a gorgeous summer read. The Promise Of Summer starts off when a stranger sits next to Ruby on a train to London and explains his plan to pop the question to his girlfriend and then he accidentally leaves the ring behind! Ruby is determined to save the day and reunite the ring back up with the stranger but she hasn’t banked on fellow passenger Curtis who has other ideas on how best to save the day.
This adorable audio book is pure escapism and perfect for the summer and I loved the way that Laura Brydon narrated this story. She did a sterling job and made this audiobook so much fun! Thank you to Netgalley and to Harper Collins Audio Uk for my gifted copy.

I love Bella Osborne's books and this is one of my favourites so far. I really loved it and enjoyed it. It's the perfect book to read at this time of the year and it would be a great holiday book as it is easy to read and it is fun. The story is about a lovely woman called Ruby who finds great friendship in a unique and special man called Curtis. Ruby works in a florist with her friend Kim and they have a fun friendship and enjoy helping each other. Ruby and Kim have had their problems with love and romance in the past. Will they find their happily every afters? Read the book to find out! I thoroughly enjoyed this fun and uplifting summertime book and I highly recommend it.

The audiobook narrator was great and the Net Galley app worked great for me.

Many thanks to the author, publisher and Net Galley for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I don’t even remember when I last rated a “chick-lit” 5 stars! So today is indeed a rare day. This was an absolutely fabulous book to listen to and with some hilarious writing to boot!

Story:
Ruby, a florist in her day-time job, is a huge romantic who has not found anyone special yet. She dreams of the day when someone will swoop her off her feet with his grandiose romantic gestures. During one train ride to London, she discovers that the interesting stranger she was seated next to and who was going to propose to his girlfriend that day has left the engagement ring behind. Ruby takes it up as her personal agenda to return the ring. The problem? Another passenger on the train, a surly fellow named Curtis, doesn’t trust Ruby with it. So he creates his own personal agenda: accompany Ruby on her quest to ensure she completes it successfully.
A secondary love story comes to us from Ruby’s boss, Kim, who is living life trying not to allow the memories of her long-gone husband Vince to sully her present. One of her regular customers, Adrian, is someone she loves to interact with. The problem? Adrian is very much in love with his wife.
The story alternates between Ruby’s and Kim’s perspectives written in third person.


You don’t get brownie points for guessing that Ruby will end up with Curtis, and Kim with Adrian. It’s a chick-lit! It’s supposed to go in the good old predictable fashion. But where this book stands out is in its journey towards the happy ending. There are so many things that add a wonderful appeal to it.
❤ Curtis – Curtis is unlike any romantic hero you've seen. Think of the typical lead heroes in such books. Uber-rich, ultra-successful, charismatic, good-looking, hot, having women falling over them head over heels,…Not a single one of these attributes is applicable to Curtis. (Except maybe for the good-looking part, which isn’t dwelt up on much.) Curtis is a fellow who is more into statistics, and I mean actual mathematical statistics. He doesn’t get jokes because he takes everything literally. He loves making spreadsheets for every single decision. He doesn’t understand the common cues of dating such as ‘Do you want to come over for a cup of coffee?’ He’s a guy who prefers logic over love. And yet he tries his best to figure out what Ruby wants and to help her in achieving her goals. For me, all this makes Curtis rank much higher than typical male leads in such novels.

❤ Ruby – She’s thirty five but acts like she’s twenty five. Chirpy, sweet, loyal, and optimistic, Ruby is the quintessential girl with a heart of gold. But, unlike such characters who are usually bubbleheads, Ruby is also intelligent and a quick learner. There’s no way you won’t adore this character for her straightforwardness and helpfulness.

(Let me add that the Kim and Adrian track is also very nice and both of them are quite loveable too; just that their storyline went a little more typical way.)

❤ The Romance: If you want a more-or-less clean romance (just a couple of kisses mentioned), this is your book. I enjoyed the rare chance of reading a romcom without any lust or sex mentioned.

❤ The Humour: I don’t think I have laughed so much while reading a book in ages. The humour is corny at times but it works well for the characters. While you won’t get the following two examples unless you read the book, I still want to mention that Curtis’ double-door “Ta-da” and the turkey baster scene had me going lol and ewwww at the same time. The book has many silly, farfetched scenes that are cringe-worthy and hilarious at the same time.

❤ The Emotions: Sometimes, when such books try hard to be funny, they forget that there are many other emotions that appeal to their readers. (Well, women readers because most men are biased against this genre!) In tickling the funny bone, they forget everything else. Not here though. ‘The Promise of Summer’ ticks all the right checkboxes for bringing a lump in your throat. Beneath Ruby’s funny demeanour, you will feel for her desperation at not finding “her one true love”. Underneath Curtis’ rough manners lies a little boy who is afraid to commit to anyone because of his family background.

❤ There’s an adorable dog in the story too! And his name is “Boomerang”! Icing on the cake, if you ask me.

All in all, this is a heart-warming story of a woman with a strong heart and a man with a strong brain, and how opposites can still encourage each other towards betterment and balance.

Do I have any complaints? Well, yeah. Only two really minor ones. Firstly, Ruby is almost 35 but she seems to behave like a newly-minted adult. At one point, she seems more concerned about someone’s lost chance at romance than her own lost phone. I would have been panic-stricken had my phone disappeared, to hell with romance. The second issue is that the title (and the cover page) has nothing to do with the book. But these are trivial issues for a book that gave me so much of enjoyment. I simply adored this story and will look for more books by this author whenever I need something light-hearted and quick.

Recommended with all my heart.

Can’t let this review go by without mentioning the special lady who enhanced my experience with her spirited performance: Narrator Laura Brydon. This is, by far, one of the best audiobooks I’ve heard this year. I usually hear audiobooks at 1.25-1.75x speed. But I heard this one at 1x, just because I didn’t want it to end! 11.5 hours at 1 x, and not a single minute of boredom, Gawd! Her accents, her voice effects, her enunciation… everything was awesome! 10 stars for her narration. 😍😍😍

Thank you, NetGalley and HarperCollins UK Audio, for the audio ARC of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Beautiful book and beautifully read. This works great as an audiobook. I liked the characters and thoroughly enjoyed the story.

The story of Ruby and Kim, who work together in Kim’s florist shop. What a refreshing change, to have a book based in Sheffield. I took an immediate liking to both of these strong female characters straight away; I loved the honest way that they were portrayed. Ruby is eager to please and desperate to have a baby – by any means. Kim on the other hand still desperately misses her ‘late’Husband – but there is an element of mystery in the letters she has been receiving from ‘him’.

Ruby meets the grumpy Curtis on a train to London, they end up spending the day together and as the day progresses, so Curtis’ grumpiness thaws. Whilst Ruby is in London, Kim makes a shocking, but endearingly romantic discovery about their regular customer, Adrian. The pair of them seem destined to be close.

Ruby on the other hand is desperately showing Curtis how to have fun, while he is ostensibly trying to find her a partner, through the conduit of giving her a part time job. What could possibly go wrong!

This is a book full of mystery, of laughs and of love. Ruby has a history of poor choices in men; after all – who on earth pees in someone’s kettle! Kim is hiding a secret. Together, the pair have a wonderful friendship and love working together. If I had to choose be word to describe Ruby, it would be ‘joyous’. She takes great delight in taking Curtis on cheap/free days out and always lives life to the max. She is the kind of person who would make the ideal best friend. She is completely selfless, for example encouraging Curtis to date other women, when it is obvious to anyone else that her and Curtis are very keen on each other. Saying that however, she really deserves some love in her life. It was my sincere hope that The gorgeous Curtis would provide this love. Kim is equally unlucky in love and it was easy to see how the Husband ‘confusion’ came about. I adored Kim’s relationship with Boomer the rescue dog – and it was heart-warming that she gave an animal with no hope, a new home and future. I did fear for her on the ‘Husband’ front however!

In all I thoroughly enjoyed this heartwarming tale of friendship, love and overcoming past demons and I would recommend it as your next summer read.

I had already read and loved this one as an actual book when i started listening to it as an audiobook, and oh my, the narrator is just GREAT! I thought it wouldn't be possible to enjoy it more than the actual book, but I did!

A fun, quick, easy read, perfect for every season!
The dual storyline is engaging, the writing is beautiful and the characters are superb! You can't not love Ruby and Curtis, their witty, humorous banter had me in stitches: so funny and well written.
I can't wait to read the next Bella Osborne's!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an audiobook in exchange for an honest review.