I finished this book yesterday and just can’t stop thinking about it!

I feel like this is so different to what Elle Kennedy has written before and I’m so here for it. This romance with elements of mystery will leave you not wanting to put this book down. The love triangle was done so open and honestly and I really liked it, and I usually hate love triangles. I was rooting for one man and one man only (I felt like throwing my kindle this book had me in so much of a choke hold!). I love how Abbey’s character was centred around finding herself and discovering new adventures rather than focusing on the boys and love aspect (even though there was a lot of that and even more spice). I just wish I could read this book again for the first time and relive this story.

*thank you to NetGalley for sending me this ARC in exchange for an honest review*

Oh my God does Elle Kennedy know how to write good romance novels and swoony fictional men!!

This book is so New Girl meets What A Girl Wants/all those great, fun, juicy early 2000's rom com movies.

Abbey finds herself halfway across the world moving in with what she thinks is a house of girls but in fact, they're all boys. There's a love triangle that travels from start to the very last page, only then do we find out who she chooses (and she makes the damn right choice!!)

Even though this book was 400 pages long, which in romance novels I find very difficult to keep interested, this was an absolute breeze to read. I read it in about a day because I literally couldn't stop. Although I feel as though some parts could've been cut out to make the book shorter and pull out all the repetitiveness, it was still very enjoyable.

Elle has this thing where she writes as though you're watching a detailed movie, or that's how it feels in my head and that's exactly what I want when I'm reading because it's also how I write. There's no gimmicks, or bizarre names for a pet or cringe. It's fictional but it's real, if that makes sense? And it can be hard to capture different accents and nationalities in writing form, especially British characters from authors who aren't British, but she does it so well.

Also bonus points for my name being one of the minor characters, and also for referring to Jack as Thor because all I could picture the entire time was Chris Hemsworth and I'm very grateful for that.

This one is interesting. I enjoyed the storyline, I enjoyed the Tully research and history and I loved the housemate situation. I would watch a series just about them and their shenanigans.

However, the love triangle in this read more like a Watpad fan fic than an adult romance. It also felt more YA at times than an adult romance. I also felt the author was trying a little to hard to replicate the Tully's love triangle to Abby's and it felt forced at times.

I felt the love triangle could have been done with more finesse. I love Jack and Nate but Abby treated the situation quite poorly. I understand being confused and having feelings for both but then market this as YA rather because that's the mindset I felt this character had when mulling over the two guys and deciding who she wanted to end up with.

Whilst reading this book I found myself feeling a variety of emotions throughout. I tend to read thriller books more than romance but I was so pleasantly surprised by this one. I will definitely be reading more by Elle Kennedy in the future.

I was soooo happy when I recieved this read. Amd then I started reading it...

I adore Elle Kennedys' books, but not this one. I just couldn't get into it. It was just diffretent then I expected it.

3 stars

I really really wanted to like this, but unfortunately I had to stop reading this at 20%.

While the plot with a mysterious painting is interesting, I could not get over the unrealistic and romanticised picture of London. On top of that every page brought a new cliche, such as overuse of English slang, or things that would just never happen in real life.

My favourite book of the year so far!

Fantastic character depth, really relatable and enjoyable characters, there's so many comedic moments within the roommate dynamic alone!

The research regarding the girl in the painting leads to so many interesting people and events, and had me enthralled with the puzzle!

It was swoonworthy, funny, a little bit spicy, emotional.

Elle Kennedy brought us yet another incredible book, infact it may be the best she's ever written

This was a fun and quick read. The added back story of the mystery to uncover was different to what I have read from Elle Kennedy before. Unfortunately, this was not my favourite from the author I was disappointed.

I just really was not invested in the romance at all. I felt like we got a half baked love triangle, where I didn’t really see any chemistry between either choice. It certainly didn’t have me swooning as I’d hoped. The romantic aspect felt rushed and took a back seat to the mystery. I feel it would’ve been better off having one love interest not too. As with it being more of a sub plot you didn’t get enough time to be invested in either love interest.

I read this book in one sitting, but it didn’t feel super fresh or unputdownable. I’d probably recommend reading one of the authors other series over this one. Elle Kennedy has some great books, this one is just okay.

Everyone knows I’m obsessed with Elle’s books. She introduced me to hockey romances, and Garrett Graham will forever be my favourite book boyfriend. I also loved the Avalon Bay series, so I had really high hopes for this book - but it fell so flat 😔

I was wary of the love triangle trope from the start. I’m not typically a fan of that trope, but if it’s done right, then I can enjoy reading an “emotional” love triangle. However, in this case it just felt like Abbey was trying to have her cake and eat it too. She was so selfish and tried to justify being a homewrecker, when that’s exactly what she was. Then poor Jack on the other hand was just being dragged along for the ride! She made me so angry! There was too much back and forth between them both, that it just felt so confusing and drawn out. Like literally until the last page?! JUST MAKE UP YOUR MIND ALREADY!!!

I really liked the housemates situation. It reminded me of the Briar U house and the bonds shared between Abbey and the boys. Lee was a delight and provided much needed humour. Jamie needs his own book because I would definitely eat that up! I loved him! And Jack, as they said, was besotted from the start. He was sweet and protective, yet still the reformed playboy that I love in Elle’s books.

I felt like the plot was a bit all over the place. I didn’t know that the Tulley research was going to be that integral to the story. And to be honest, it got a bit boring after a while. Not a whole lot happened with the rest of the plot, but then everything was squeezed into at the end. I wish there was more development and fun with the housemates, and develop the relationships more between Abbey, Jack and Nate. It felt like it was just purely physical friends with benefits and not much else.

I was so excited for this release but it let me down. I’m an avid re-reader, but I already know I have no desire to pick this one up again. It was okay to read once, but I’ve cancelled my pre-order of my physical copy, which is something I rarely do!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A great read another book by Elle Kennedy that I couldn’t put down! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book.

Queen Elle Kennedy has such a unique way of writing romance and I LOVE IT! This was very different to the other books I have read by her and I really enjoyed it. As a resident English girl I am always wary of books set in London (and just the UK in general) as they are often stereotypical, cringe and feel touristy but Elle took a broad-minded and almost indifferent approach to the setting of the story by not making it the focal point which honestly was what made this book for me as it made it feel incredibly realistic for myself as an English girl. The subtle nods to British slang and mannerisms made me chuckle. It was like a British person had written this book which is the highest compliment in my eyes.

As for the characters, I really enjoyed the interactions between the characters and especially enjoyed Abbey’s character. She was painfully relatable at times and was often a hopeless romantic. I don’t usually gravitate to the love triangle trope but I believe it was done well and both Nate and Jack were extremely likeable in a way that you were routing for both, so much so that the last few chapters were major page turners due to the suspense.

Overall, another strong book from the queen herself. Respectfully I will read anything Elle Kennedy publishes.

I love the Off Campus series by Elle Kennedy and its spin off Briar U, so I was so excited to receive a netgalley arc of her new book Girl Abroad (especially because it takes places in London).
I loved it: the friendship, the romance, the drama!
Abbeys is the daughter of a famous retired rock star who decides to leave for a year abroad in order to find herself and some freedom (escaping an overprotective dad).
But when she arrives the three roommates she assumed were girls, are in fact boys.
I thought it was such a fun sexy romance. People watch out for the love triangle (in case you don’t like, do not pick up this book), I admit I doubted who she would pick in the end!
My only complaint would be I felt like I didn’t get enough from the love interests. They were hot (I definitely got that) with commitment issues but beyond that… Especially because I love the men in the Off Campus series so I was a little disappointed here.
I loved the mystery weaved into the romance through Abbey’s uni project, I thought it was a good addition to the overall story and theme and kept us in suspense.

I absolutely devoured and simply couldn’t put down Ella Kennedy’s Girl Abroad. It’s the kind of book where you’re trying to sneak a little extra peak at times you’re not meant to be reading. I will say straight off that this is a love triangle book; but to all those of you who don’t normally vibe with this trope, don’t let it put you off, Kennedy makes it work so well.

Girl Abroad is Abbey Bly’s story; she’s 19 and is about to embark on a year’s study abroad in London. The daughter of a famous US rock star, Abbey is excited to finally flex her freedom and start making some stories of her own. She gets quite the surprise when arriving at her house share, to find out her roommates are not three girls as she’d expected but instead 3 charming, funny, insufferably attractive boys. Abbey soon finds herself caught in a love triangle with two guys who at first seem very off limits. On top of this her research for uni has gotten her tangled in a deeply hidden scandal of a high nobility family, surrounding her in secrets on all sides.

So let’s deal with the love triangle first. I’ll start by saying I’m not adverse to it as a trope when it’s done well and this one was done brilliantly. Abbey’s relationships with her two suitors, Jack and Nate was very modern; she wasn’t deceiving either of them and everyone has their eyes open to what was happening. I was pleased with who Abbey ended up with and appreciated that her decision was as much about her as it was about who she wanted to be with. In making her choice Abbey reflected on how she saw herself with each of these (very different) guys and the type of life she wanted as opposed to the one she thought she was supposed to desire.

I absolutely loved the historical mystery that ran through the story which formed the basis of Abbey’s research. I was as invested in who Josephine was as Abbey! I also liked the parallels between Abbey and Josephine in the choices they were faced with. I didn’t see the twist at the end of Josephine’s story coming and it worked so well.

I really enjoyed this one and would thoroughly recommend it.

I am not personally a fan of Love Triangles but Elle Kennedy may have been the author to change that!

I went into this book not knowing it was a love triangle and when I found out I didn’t quite know how to feel. Having now read the book I think this love triangle was written spectacularly, it captured so many emotions about not knowing which was the right path to take and all of the reasons one was better than the other.

This book also includes a great mystery starting with a painting and uncovering information that kept the book even more interesting with every page!

I have loved every single book by Elle Kennedy that I have read and this book was not different! It was without a doubt a 5 star read and I can’t wait to read more of her books!

As a big Elle Kennedy fan I was so excited to read this book, and it did not disappoint.

The daughter of a famous rockstar, Abbey moves to London so she can start making stories of her own, rather than living in her (over protective) dad’s shadow.

‘Girl Abroad’ is a new style for Elle Kennedy, with not only a romance plot but also a bit of a mystery thrown in too. However, there’s still plenty of loveable characters, spice and moments that will have you going wtf that you come to expect from Kennedy.

For some reason this book gave me ‘Anna and the French Kiss’ vibes, with it being equally charming and capturing that magic of being young and in a new city- but spicer!

Although I’m not a love triangle fan, I think this trope was done really well and I was genuinely rooting for both of them. All the relationships in the book were done extremely well. I’d also say, as a British person, the dialogue and stereotypical English bits were done well and only a few had me cringing.


Thank you NetGalley and Little Brown Book for the ARC.

I read ‘Girl Abroad’ by Elle Kennedy and decided to give it 4 stars. This book was fun and quick read. I’ve read from Elle Kennedy before and generally know what she’s about and this was really in her ballpark. Different but familiar.

I enjoyed Abbey’s friendships with Lee, Jamie and Celeste. I think they were fun and I personally have an affinity for books with big friend groups and a lot of drama (a guilt pleasure, haha) and this book brought so much of both. This book is definitely carried by the characters rather than the plot but it’s engaging and the personalities of certain characters (like Lee and Jamie, who are hilarious) are the book itself.

As for the big love triangle - Abbey is torn between her roommate Jack (Australian, athlete and super fit) and Nate (Rockstar, deep and not single). Personally I wasn’t one way or the other as there’s many romantic moments with boys so I was torn between them much like Abbey was. I think readers who are team Nate or team Jack will both have lots to look forward to regardless.

Abbey’s interest in the painting tied into her major which was also interesting and added to the plot. While she’s the daughter of a super famous rockstar, she keeps it humble which is always good. It wasn’t just about the romance, or her male roommates - she had a passion. I wish we would’ve got more about her student life and making more friends specifically from the uni rather than just one who appeared like twice. Overall, I liked Abbey enough, though EK definitely has stronger female characters.

In terms of settings I think Kennedy mostly gets it right. A little more detail about London would’ve been nice and I think she could’ve gotten away with having Abbey attend a real London uni rather than a fictional one. That being said I liked the touch about the countryside - I love the English countryside so that was a personal touch for me.

Thanks to Little Brown Book Group, Piatkus and NetGalley for the e-ARC.