Lily Joseph’s “The Near Miss” has an interesting premise to me. The reader knows from the start that Nick and Wren are “meant to be,” but they have not met each other yet.

The book was a little uneven to me in the beginning. I also eventually found some of the near misses to be unrealistic or unnecessary. Luckily, the book hit its stride for me about a third of the way in and I enjoyed the way Nick and Wren met.

I will admit to being hesitant to read this book based on some of the reviews I saw when I was deciding which book to read next from my TBR list. I’m glad I decided to give the book a chance because I found it enjoyable.

Overall, I recommend this book. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my ARC.

Can two people meant to be together but at the same time skip meeting and finding themselves in dangerous situations? While you read Wren and Nick’s sweet and chaotic story you can help but be rotting for them to meet and fall in love, even if it seems dangerous.

Thank you Bookouture and NetGalley for this amazing ARC!

The Near Miss is a very sweet book about taking risks, fate and family.
Enjoyed Wren's and Nick's POV so much, especially after they'd finally met. I was a bit afraid that their meeting each other would happen in the last few pages, but thankfully, it happened earlier (btw it was very cute! and eventful hehe) :)

I loved how this book, while being a funny summery romance, still had some very important topics in it. The sense of community throughout the book is great!

Wren and Nick keep almost - almost- meeting one another but it's not until they both get to Capri that.....They're both dealing with romantic issues, both are thoughtful, both just miss being seriously injured at each of their near misses. It's a little disconcerting at first, and perhaps unrealistic, but I found myself rolling with the plot because I became fond of the characters. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

Well, this story certainly took us on a wild ride!
It took me awhile to get into the plot. Once I got to the Italy part of the story, I was hooked.
How many near misses can one have before something changes?????
I really enjoyed the humor throughout the story.
I could have used a bit more romance between the two main characters, Wren and Nick.
A fun, fast read that I thoroughly enjoyed.
Thank you NetGalley, Bookouture and the author for the opportunity to read this book for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

hank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this book for free in exchange for my review! All opinions are my own.

This book is a delightful romance and I recommend to anyone who enjoys Sophie Cousens or Sophia Kinsella. This book is seriously adorable and fun and just made me so happy to read. It was like being wrapped up in a big hug and it gave me all the feels. This is the ultimate summer romance!

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Many Thanks again to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this book in exchange for my honest review.

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Wren and Nick have these near misses that continuously put them in each other's paths...the near misses that nearly kill them both at multiple times. I found this book to be a bit unrealistic in how their paths kept crossing but they didn't meet until they were in Italy.

I have a hard time to get into this book and find myself to almost dnf it. The concept was cool, but I feel like the story is all over the place to the point it got me confused. Also, it takes way too long for them to meet and when they did, we didn't get more of their 'romance' scene.

Overall, I would still recommend it if you want a short summer kind of read.

This funny British romcom is a closed door slowburn with a whole lot of coincidental moments and mishaps between Nick and Wren, two lovely people who (eventually) find each other .

Both are grown-ups and have been in relationships (Wren is working through one) and it’s great to read about adults, who largely have their stuff together, connecting. The near-misses are great fun and there’s a thoughtfulness about fate.

It’s dual point of view in third person and we can see all the interlinking ties between these two over the weeks before they meet in Italy and then afterwards. There’s no real darkness here, it’s more texture and frustration so it’s an easy light read. Nick’s family situation includes some negotiating and Wren is also disentangling herself. There’s a bookshop, a bestie, a birth, a death, a holiday in Italy, plus extended and found family so there’s lots to enjoy...

It’s charming fun, and doesn’t feel as messy as some British romcoms. What a great debut for Lily Joseph!

Rounded up to four stars ✨ Thank you NetGalley, Lily and Bookouture for the ARC. Opinions on my own.

Now hear me out… I'm gonna be brutally honest. So please don't come run for me, cause we can't like everything the world offers us.

Two stars for effort. Because the end was okay-ish. I was looking forward to this one cause the description and cover intrigued me. But no… I just couldn't.
This book left me really confused throughout the entire thing. I had quite a hard time wrapping my finger around the story cause it is quite literally all over the place. So engaging with it was hard.

I had multiple occasions while reading the book where I was desperate to just close it and never open it again.. but I kept going just because I wanted to know if the story was going to be interesting or if it was going to tickle my fancy at any point.

It was towards the end of the book where I was like: "Okay! This is it! It's happening." And the ending was fine. I was just missing the engagement of it all.

The Near Miss is a slow burn romance which may not be everyone's cup of tea but I have to say I did enjoy it. It was a very pleasant story and the characters were so cute, however there was a lot of accidents which did become too repetitive and unrealistic. The accidents although described well did start to get a little boring as they went on and some were truly unnecessary. But I have to say it was exciting to read how the two characters Wren and Nick were going to interact without knowing anything about one another at the start.

I really enjoyed where the story lead to in Capri and Lily Josephs ability to set the scenes were so detailed I could imagine being in the sun myself. This book does help solidify my beliefs in fate.

Although I liked the story, I felt that there was a lot going on and at times not enough to tie it all back together. I would have really liked a bit more content on Wren and Nick getting together, as the ending was rather rushed in my opinion.

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

2.5/5 stars for me. I really wanted to like this book but it was a miss for me. I felt like the story was over complicated. There were to many mini stories going on, it took forever for the two to actually meet. The title really did match the story but it just felt like it dragged on.

I loved this book!! It took a long time to get the characters together, and I loved every bit of the build up. I almost enjoyed it more than when they finally met!! It was a quick, captivating read that kept me on the edge throughout. I loved the ride.

A slow burn look into how 'fate' can bring two people together eventually, after almost bumping into each other several times. The book entwines the lives of Nick and Wren; a handyman recovering from a breakup, and a local reporter who craves normalcy. I think that this a feel-good romantic comedy, more for the lovers of slow burn and fun getaway plots.

Thank you for the advance reader copy, all opinions are my own!

This book was so freaking cute and just warmed my whole heart! This was such a great summer read, and I found it really inspiring too.

Firstly , Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy of "The Near Miss" by Lily Joseph, in exchange for my honest review.

I would first like to say I was really looking forward to this book. The entire concept of it had such great potential. However, it just wasn’t for me. It is very much a slow burn ( which I am not a huge fan of) and it’s a little boring until way later in the book. I feel with a little more editing this book could be a an easy 4 or 5 star. I do still recommend for anyone looking for a short beach read who also enjoys a good slow burn . Overall an enjoyable book just not my cup of tea ❤️

The story starts with following Wren and Nick - who keep having dangerous “near misses” to finally meeting. When they meet, the outrageous circumstances continue as they lose track of and finally find each other once again.
Overall, it was an interesting concept that looks into how fate can bring people together, but it became almost boring in the in-between and only really picked up once the main characters met. The thing that kept me coming back to the book was the crazy situations that each person ended up in and seeing how everything interconnected.
I did enjoy the story, and it was a good summer read. I'd recommend the book to others, with a quick note of a slow start.

this was a tough one for me—I really tried to like it, but it just didn't click. The story felt way too over-the-top with all these crazy disasters happening left and right. I get the idea of fate and how people meet at the right moment, but the way it played out felt forced. Plus, some of the dialogue, like Nick's brother dropping a random "trigger warning," was just plain cringey. And let's talk about Nick and Wren—I didn't feel any sparks there at all. Nick kinda gave me the creeps, to be honest. It took forever for them to even meet, and when they finally did, it felt rushed and lacking in real connection.

The plot follows Wren and Nick, who keep almost bumping into each other until they finally cross paths in Capri. The setting was beautifully described—I could practically feel the sun on my skin and see those whitewashed buildings. But despite that, the book left me disappointed. There were too many characters, too many side stories, and the main thread of their romance felt thin and disjointed. I almost gave up on it, which is why I ended up giving it a lukewarm 2.5 stars.

Despite my gripes, I did like the concept of invisible strings pulling people together, even if it felt a bit overdone at times. When Wren and Nick finally did meet, it was a relief, and things started to make sense. I enjoyed how Lily Joseph crafted their journey and the intricate connections between their lives.

Thank you for the ARC! I loved this story, it was extremely well written. Will definitely be on the lookout for more books by this author!

A lovely, easy to read summer romance story. Even though it was slow to get going, I enjoyed it, but I do wish there had been more once the characters finally met.