Thank you NetGalley, Annie Darling and Hodder & Stoughton
The Vintage Dress Shop in Primrose Hill. This is my personal review.
I really enjoyed this book. It had a great beginning of the four-part serial.
The author has given us the characters and the beginning of what the book is going to be about. I am looking forward to watching how this story unfolds.

I thoroughly enjoyed the first instalment of what will be four novellas and ultimately combined together into one novel. The characters are quirky and no doubt each with their own back stories that will be revealed as the story progresses. In this first instalment there was enough interest to make me keen to read the subsequent installments.

Thirty year old Sophy loses both her job and her live-in boyfriend all on the same day. She has had to move back in with her mother and step father. She has the indignity of having to sleep on the sofa as her childhood bedroom has been converted into her mother's spa room. She has a loose relationship with her biological father who has flitted in and out of her life. He offers her a job in his shop. The only shop that Sophy was aware of him owning was a ratty second hand clothes shop, so obviously she isn't keen but beggars cannot be choosers. Especially if they have a harebrained plan to emigrate to Australia. The first instalment introduces the various characters who work in the shop. However, the shop is not what she is expecting.

I was given a free review copy of the first instalment of the book by Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

Sophy Stevens, 30, dad is Johnny Australia 'he could charm the birds out of the trees' but they 'never argue'.
But she tells them she's emigrating to Australia 🇦🇺 to explore that side of her heritage.
Lost her job in retail, as her compony went into administration and loses boyfriend and home all in one day, so has to work in her dad's shop to save up anooughtmoney to get her to Australi..

Bob and Jean, her grandparents, live in Queen vill and its their 50th wedding anniversary on August 15th, and they live on a sheep station, in then Australia, so is planning to stay with them to start with.

Meets Freedy and Phoebe Beatrice, Charles Chloe and Anita at a very upmarket dress shop, we're she 'feels she doesn't belong... and was miles out of her comfort zone'.

Their Alteration person, their Atelier, walks out on tthem.sohpy finds Cressida from the museum who is used to restoring old artcive. And has a degree in clothing restoration. Surprisingly Cress gets on really well with "prickly Phoebe' the manager.

Can things ever change, will her relationship with Charles grow and will she ever save another to get herself to Australia? A lot of questions are left unanswered after the first part of this book but it is a nice well rounded read with not to much romance more vivid descriptions of the shop and builfing up pictures of all the other characters.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for giving me a complementary digital copy of this ebook in exchange for a full, frank and honest review. All opinions expressed are completely my own.

This is the first novel I've read by Annie Darling and I loved it!
30 year old Sophy Stevens has lost her job in retail, is recently single and living back at home with her mum and step dad when her absent father Johnno offers her a job in his Primrose Hill vintage dress shop so she can save up to move to Australia.
This is a beautifully written, upbeat novel, the characterisation, setting and dialogue are excellent and it flowed so well. As this is part 1 of a 4 part ebook series it's a short read that I raced through in one setting and can't wait to return to Sophy and the other characters.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC.

The Vintage Dress Shop in Primrose Hill - Annie Darling

I adore fashion and used to own my own shops so was super excited to get started on this book, and it did not disappoint, I flew though it and devoured it in one sitting! I thought it was really well written and flowed so easily, with great characters and romance. I am so pleased there is going to be more in this series and cannot wait to get my hands on the next copy - I will need to learn to be patient. Thank you Netgalley, Hodder & Stoughton and Annie Darling for this e-arc in return for my honest thoughts and opinions.

I found this first chapter really engaging and enchanting.
Characters clearly drawn and the plot ready to go.
A great start to read on

Thank you to the author, publisher and netgalley for the chance to read this ebook in exchange for a review.

A few years ago I devoured all of Annie Darling’s bookshop books and I’ve been missing her writing ever since! Constantly looking her up on goodreads and Google to see if she’s written anything new and finally… she’s back!

Not books this time - oh calamity! But gorgeous clothing - nearly as good! And this is only the first part, so it’s mainly just the introduction and the setting of the story. We meet the hero - who is very handsome indeed and our heroine, Sophy who is looking to change her life by heading off to Australia.

As with her previous books, it’s clear that Ms Darling has a brilliant ear for dialogue and Sophy’s dad who is Australian sounds like he’s fallen out of an episode of ‘Bluey’ - I heard his voice so vividly! And there is a range of interesting characters who we need to know about. Freddy and Phoebe, I’m talking to you! Sophy herself is a little bit bland but in a way that’s kinda the point of her. She is every woman.

Sparkling and enjoyable - but quite frustrating that it’s only one part when clearly everyone will want to rush through the whole book. I certainly would have stayed up to finish it. I’m not sure there’s much of a benefit to the reader for having it in several parts when really it’s just one book. I’ll stick with it but that’s because I feel quite a loyalty to the author, but her last published work was 5 years ago and new readers may not have the patience for a four parter. And maybe this part of the novel doesn’t have quite the originally to pull off such a stunt?

So wonderful to have another book by this lovely writer but the publishing it in parts is not fun and rather gimmicky.

Heartwarming and compelling. A wonderful read which was difficult to put down. Sophie working in a vintage clothes shop to help pay her fare to Australia was a wonderful read. Great characters and a lovely romantic story which touches the heart. I loved reading how Sophie gradually fell in love with the pre loved vintage clothes. A truly wonderful read which I enjoyed immensely.

I didn't actually know this was a four-part serial when I started reading - I thought it was a whole book, Luckily, it's not and I get to read more!!!!

This definiely has potential.

I think it's really intersting the whole shop and I like the descriptions of the dresses and the character's relationship are strange but also so intersting.

Like the whole Sophy-Charles-Pheobe relationship definitely seems like interesting. I'm glad that Pheone isn't a one-dimensional villian however she isn't exactly someone whose motivation you can understand and root for because Sophy hasn't done anything to her so it's hard to understand where her hatered comes from. I think that it's nice to see her interest in vitage fashion that definiteky makes her somewhat two-dimensional.

I would love to see Sophy and her father Johnno heal their relationship and have a nice normal father-daugghter rekationship or have a healthy wacky one (key word being healthy!).

The names (sophy, johno) are a bit weird. I can't lie, they're a bit strange and I don't really know how someone comes up with Sophie spelt "S-O-P-H-Y". Like, I have never ever seen that in my life.

I love fashion and anything to do with vintage and boutique shops! I always love a good story based around one and this was an absolute delight! I also loved the debonair love interest as well, you don’t find that in too many books these days. It was so nice to see someone pick themselves up and rise from the ashes in such beautiful surroundings surrounded by all these amazing clothes, I loved it!

This was a great short read and I can’t wait for the next part.

I loved the way it was written and the humour throughout was great. I mainly enjoyed the way it was laying the foundations for Sophy’s future relationships. Her relationship with her father seems complex and I can’t wait to see how it develops, as well as us hopefully getting more insight into him. I loved the fashion focus as well as how it focuses on Sophy trying to figure out how to move forward when life doesn’t go as planned. I only wish it had been longer!

Can’t wait for the next one!

Lovely light hearted first instalment in the series. Interesting characters and a really lovely cover that will sing off the shelf. Thank you netgalley for the advanced copy

An enjoyable first part to the series, light hearted and funny. Left anticipating the next book in the series....

First part of a darling new series by Annie Darling.

In this book we meet Sophie who is moving to Australia. She needs a change of scene after she finds herself without a job, her relationship breaks down and life just really isn't going how she wants it to be, and so in need of something different and a switch up Sophy decides to move to Australia where after 30 years she is finally going to meeting her grandparents. While actually surprising them for their wedding anniversary.

However all best laid plans don't ever really go to plan do them. Sophy needs to save money for her impending move and so when her mostly absent dad Johnno actually steps in to save the day with a job offer of working in his vintage clothes shop in Primrose Hill she simply cannot turn it down. She figures that it will only be a few months so that she can save the money for the one way ticket. But as soon as Sophy arrives she falls in love with the vintage dress shop, which is filled to the brim with stunning Preloved clothes from the 1930s forward. However the snooty manager Phoebe is.really not best pleased with the new arrival with Sophy but Sophy is determined to not let anyone get in her way or dampen her spirits.

Then charming Charles walks into her life. Charles is a gemstone specialist, who Sophy finds irresistible and all of a sudden all of her plans for the future are thrown way off course.

This is a really lovely, romantic book. That will make your heart soar and fill full of love and romance

I really enjoyed the first instalment in this series and will definitely buy the others. It is funny and heartwarming with great characters who you want to learn more about. I suspect some interesting secrets will be revealed as the series unfolds!

This is a lovely beginning book in a series of four. I always wish they would just publish books in one go! I enjoyed the story, it is admittedly a very quick read, and I look forward to seeing where the next chapter leads us.

I enjoyed this read, looking forward to the next one. The characters were interesting and I would to see how all the relationships pan out.

This was a fabulous novella and looking forward to the next instalment . Having loved the bookshop series by this author I was intrigued where the dress shop series was going to take me. This was a fabulous escapism read with engaging characters and had me hooked from start to finish and wanting to go and have a rummage in the vintage dress shop

The Vintage Dress Shop in Primrose Hill (Part One) by Annie Darling

I received an advance review copy for free thanks to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Blurb

Second chances never go out of style . . .

Sophy Stevens has just turned thirty and found herself unexpectedly out of a job and out of a relationship. Now she's desperate for Something Different, and Australia where she can connect with the grandparents she's never met and maybe fall in love with a sexy surfer is the perfect answer . . . if she can save up the money for the plane ticket.

So when her feckless, absent dad Johnno offers her a job at his vintage clothes shop in Primrose Hill, she can't turn it down, even though she doesn't want to be surrounded by clothes that people have probably died in. At least it will only be for a few months, which is just as well because Sophy and Phoebe, the shop's snooty manager, aren't destined to be best friends.

But while Sophy might not see the attraction of a 1930's evening gown, gorgeous jewellery dealer, Charles Radley has certainly caught her eye...

My Opinion

The Vintage Dress Shop in Primrose Hill is being released in four parts. This is the first part. As this is only the first part of the book it is a very quick read, but it is a great introduction of what is to come in the upcoming parts. Sophy has been having a bad time recently as she is recently single and has lost her job with no warning. Her father offers her a job working at his vintage dress shop in Primrose Hill - even though she doesn't know a lot about vintage dresses.

This was a lovely book to read and I cannot wait to read the second part.

Rating 4/5

loved the writing style, it was so fun and interesting!!! sophy is so relatable and such an easy protagonist to root for, i really cant wait to see her journey <3. her relationship with her father is so complicated and interesting, im really keen to see how it unfolds! also really excited for the development of her relationship with charles, he is so charming and such a great love interest!!!! i love how vintage fashion is so prominent in the story, it’s so unique, very cute and also a learning experience for me :) overall, a really great romcom with really great and complex characters! will definitely be tuning in to the second part.