Member Reviews

Thank you for letting me read this fun summer rom-com. It was unique to have the breakup so soon - they seemed like such a great pair. I adored the main character, and every chapter made me want to eat, drink, travel. This is a cute story and a wonderful beach read! Thank you for this book & I look forward to more from this author.

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Holly found her dream job after losing everything. Her business fails and she gets broken up with her boyfriend of 16 years. She moves to London hoping to start new with this new job, finding the love she really needed along the way.
I give this book 3.5 stars. This book is not a romance, but really a story about love. Love lost, healing from love, and love of oneself. The book was well written but I felt like Jack and Holly ending up together was super rushed. There was not much leading up to them getting together besides one kiss and all of a sudden confessing their love to each other in the last chapter.

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This book is a little bit love story a little bit mystery all while living in London. A new home in a new place. It's a book about finding ourselves and finding people who will help us achieve our goals and our dreams. I received an advanced copy of this book for my honest review.

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First thought: I loved the characters and overall storyline but the writing style just wasn’t for me.

Meet Holly she is a travel writer who fell in love with her first BF and took a chance on love and it didn’t work out. Now she’s picking up the pieces and learning to move on. She got her dream job helping save a travel book company that inspired her career.

The story takes place in London and the descriptions of the city make you feel like you are traveling right beside her as she adventures through the city. Holly stumbles across an old building tied to a famous 80s rock band with an air of mystery and if she can solve it then she can help both her career and the people in the local town square she has befriended.

Then you have Jack the charming boss who keeps tripping everywhere he goes. He and Holly seem to have an instant connection but neither want to cross their working relationship.

For me this book lacked the romance and seemed to wrap up very fast and left me a bit confused. Not my favorite but it could be yours so if you love travel, London and a lead female character give it a try.

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This was a quick read for me. The main characters grew together throughout the story so well and the chemistry was THERE. Cute, fun cozy and romantic read.

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A love letter to London, travel writing and 80s music.

It was quintessentially British and full of quirky characters. A bit of mystery and a bit of romance made things interesting. I liked discovering London with Holly and discovering her dreams as well. She deserved happiness both career-wise and in her personal life. She and most of the characters were stuck in some ways and they needed to get to move on. In order to do that, they needed each other and their community to lean on. We are not alone and we shouldn’t be afraid to be who we are and to act on our dreams.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me a copy of the book.

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Summer In Your Eyes by Chris Penhall

This book was marketed as a romance, which is why I requested it. I was looking for a light hearted read to enjoy whilst travelling but, unfortunately, I didn't end up liking this as much as I'd hoped.

There was very little of a romance aspect throughout the book which I found disappointing. The only real romance in this began appearing at about 70% of the way through. The rest of the book was all focused on Holly and her travels through London. This may be interesting for some who enjoy travel writing, but I found myself getting a bit bored for most of this book, which was a real shame.

Holly as a character I found to be a bit frustrating as well. The way she constantly talked out loud to herself made me feel irrationally annoyed and I can't count how many times I rolled my eyes at the repeated "She said aloud to herself". Isabella the cat was undoubtedly my favourite character but I also enjoyed Claudettes character.

With regards to the plot, I found the reveal regarding The Lights band to be rather predictable. The underlying mystery regarding the Bollington was a nice addition, but the resolution regarding this felt slightly anti-climatic

Don't get me wrong, there were parts of this I did like, but I definitely didn't enjoy it as much as I'd originally expected. I don't know if this should be marketed as a romance novel, as it did not seem to fit that genre, in my opinion.

Overall I rated this book 3 out of 5 stars.

Thank you to Netgalley and Chris Penhall for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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I was really looking forward to reading this story, but I ended up not finishing. I had a really hard time with the writing. Holly, the FMC, talks to herself, a lot and I found myself asking if someone else was around. The pacing was quick, but also some things felt very repetitive. I was excited for this one, but it was a miss from me.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

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This had a lovely plot and a great premise for a romance. Unfortunately I didn't feel the chemistry between the characters and often found myself skimming pages as things became quite repetitive.

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This one wasn’t for me. The story line was pretty good, what you would expect. But the dialogue was not great. It was awkward, even when the main character was only talking to herself. Which she did, a lot. A lot of things were repetitive as well. The pacing was good and the side characters were pretty good as well.

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