‘In this country, you can plan and plan all you like, but things will happen as and when they want to. All we can do is relax and go with it.’

Olivia Jackson is a meticulous planner who prefers to leave nothing to chance. After her sister Leah died, Olivia avoided opening the letter she left. When she finally does, she discovers that Leah has left her an open ticket to India. With some reluctance, Olivia (who needs a break from work) plans a detailed itinerary.

Jacob Green has been travelling the world for five years. He relies on the roll of the dice to determine when he travels, and where to. A throw of the dice on his 30th birthday sees him headed to India.

Jacob and Olivia run into each other (literally) in Delhi while Olivia is attempting to find a phone shop. Olivia cannot believe how laid-back Jacob is, while Jacob finds Olivia’s approach to life constricting. And yet, there is a spark of attraction between them, and when Olivia leaves Delhi for the next stage of her travel, she has Jacob’s email address.

We travel with Olivia as she discovers that meticulous planning does not always work in India. And we wonder why Jacob is so reluctant to return home, to have contact with his family.

Gradually, Jacob’s story unfolds. Gradually, Olivia discovers there are people she can trust, that life can be lived (and enjoyed) without every aspect being controlled. Along the way, we meet some other interesting characters as well as seeing glimpses of both the beauty and chaos of India.

And the ending? You will need to read it for yourself. Romance with a twist.

Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

My thanks to Random House UK, Transworld Publishers and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘Take A Chance On Me’ written by Emily Houghton in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Olivia Jackson is a business consultant and hates it when she’s not in control. Jacob Green is laid-back and completely different to Olivia and has been travelling for five years using two dice to decide whether to stay where he is or move on to somewhere else in his notebook. Olivia’s sister has left her a plane ticket to travel to Delhi to have fun, something not on Olivia’s to-do list, but she’s persuaded to go and on her first morning she collides with Jacob landing on her hands and knees in the street.

‘Take A Chance On Me’ is a beautifully-written story about two people who are complete opposites in character and personality who accidentally meet and form an unlikely friendship, keeping in contact by sending each other emails. This is the third novel I’ve read by Emily Houghton and I didn’t think she could improve on the first two, but this latest novel has grabbed me with its wonderful characters who’ve given me a such a feeling of warmth and affection that I was enthralled from the first page to the last and unable to stop reading. It’s a slow but gentle story that’s tugged at my heartstrings and had me in tears at times especially the final chapter, and I’m so grateful I’ve been allowed to share the lives of Jacob and Olivia.

I initially struggled to connect with Olivia’s character, however I did warm to her once she met Jacob in India.
Olivia’s sister passed away following her long battle with cancer, her last gift was a trip to India, Olivia’s life was mapped out, she a planner and travelling didn’t form part of her plan but she couldn’t refuse. Delhi was everything she feared and more, Emily did a fantastic job of making you feel like you were experiencing it with her.
I loved Jacob’s free spirit and guessed his reasons for this straight away but it didn’t detract from the enjoyment of the story.
There was heartbreak and hope, my only wish was that the ending was longer, it felt quite rushed in comparison to the rest of the book.
Thank you NetGalley, Emily Houghton and Random House for this ARC, all opinions expressed are my own.

Things I liked:
- How different Olivia and Jacob’s characters were
- The India setting - would be a great holiday read
- The secondary characters
- The ending

Things I didn’t like:
- Olivia’s character - she felt irritating and as the reader, there was no part of me that wanted her to end up with Jacob
- It didn’t feel particularly realistic to me

I almost gave up on this book half way through as it started off slow and I didn’t like Olivia’s character, however I’m glad I continued. I found the final 10% of the book best.

Wonderfully uplifting and heartbreaking, this book will transplant you to India and fill your imagination with smells and colours. I really loved the idea of throwing dice to determine your future and let fate decide. I honestly couldn’t put this book down, staying up very late to finish it. This author has once more written a book that is outstanding.

Having enjoyed Emily Houghton’s previous book, Before I Saw you, I was pleased to receive an ARC from NetGalley of her new novel.
Olivia’s sister has died and has left Olivia a ticket for a trip to India. Olivia hates to feel out of control, planning everything to the minute, so this is way out of her comfort zone. On her arrival in Delhi she meets Jacob. For his own reasons, Jacob never plans anything and is travelling the world using dice to stay in one place or leave. The universe seems intent on throwing Olivia and Jacob together. Olivia starts to relax, make some friends and open herself up to the possibility of romance, until something happens which might mean the end of their budding relationship.
This is a good book but probably needs some trigger warnings for anyone with a loved one with cancer, some of this is hard to read, but it is ultimately uplifting.

I loved the characters in this book and how wonderful to be set in India which really makes a nice change from the usual romance settings. A thoroughly good read at a great pace which kept me turning the pages.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in return for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this story. It found a balance between the daily toil and expectations placed on us by society and the freedom to live as if each day is your last. There was a stark contrast between to two main characters and it makes you wonder how they could possibly have a connection. India brought to life through vivid descriptions of bustling and beautiful scenery. The ending was brilliant and I was in floods of tears with the weight of expectation of what I assumed was going to happen. It left me with a sense of making the most of chances and living life to the fullest.

The two main characters have their own reasons for keeping their secrets even when they finally overcome all obstacles and allow themselves to cement their relationship.. An enjoyable read of these two opposites, their mutual attraction and their sad but fulfilling relationship.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book..

A lovely piece of chick lit, girl meets boy. Didn't really bond with the girls character -came across totally miserable throughout the whole book until she softened at the end.
Based in India, it gives a lovely insight into travelling alone as a female.

Thank you to netgalley for allowing me to read this book!! I really enjoyed reading this book. It was a little different to the usual romance. Set in a different place to what I usually read about making it really interesting. The main female character irked me a little with her obsessiveness to be organized I felt it was a little ott but I guess I understood why she was how she was. The ending kinda upset me. Yes it was a HEA (I thought for a minute it wasn’t going to be so I was sadly disappointed!!) but it kinda just finished. Would have been nice to know if he lasted until he died of old age or only lived another couple of years. But i really did enjoy this read!!

This features Olivia who was gifted a holiday to India by her late sister. As she embarks on this journey she meets Jacob, a more experienced traveller who lets dice decide his destinations. An enjoyable read that is ideal for holidays.

I was unsure about this book to begin with. Olivia and Jacob were SO different. Yes, the summary said that she was a planner and he was carefree but I feel like it didn't fully explain their vastly different personalities. Olivia had a spreadsheet for everything whereas Jacob just ignored anything of consequence.

I was very touched by the parts about Olivia's sister, Leah, and found thes were very sad but, haing read Emily Houghton before, I felt prepared for the fact that this wasn't going to make me cry.

Olivia's job was meant to sound super important and everything but it just sounded so boring that I lost interest in anything she was worrying about in regards to work. It was just so dull.

India was so well written. I sometimes let my autistic brain decide that certain places will be too hot/too crowded/too much to visit but reading about it in this story really made me want to visit! I googled a lot to see what places were mentioned so that I could see the beauty for myself and it made me wish I was there.

I really did like the connection between Jacob and Olivia. OK, it was awkward at first but I enjoyed seeing them grow closer and I always enjoy a book that includes a bit of epistolary, even via email.

The supporting characters were quirky, kind and interesting, which also made this bok enjoyable.

Although it was obvious that there was going to be a twist, it was still a lot more unexpected and much sadder than I was expecting and I was sobbing by the end.

I felt that the ending and epilogue were very short and sudden but it was a change to read something that didn't end with a HEA but with hope.

I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a touching and poignant read.

TRIGGER WARNING: Terminal illness

TROPES:
- Mild annoyances to lovers (if that's not a trope, I'm making it one)
- Poignant
- Self-discovery
- Brit abroad

It is another excellent read for Emily Houghton fans and others, too.
Emily Jackson loves a plan. Everything she does is planned to the last detail—well, everything is in her control.
Suddenly, she is sent off on a trip she hasn't accounted for—a trip planned by her little sister, who passed away, to India of all places.
There, she encounters Jacob Green, a man opposite her. He appears to live on the whim of a roll of a dice and has been travelling the world for the past few years, apparently with no cares in this world and no inclination to settle anywhere.
Now, I'll start by saying that India is a place that is dear to me. I loved Houghton's descriptions of different places in Delhi, Jaipur, Udaipur, and Goa. India assaults your senses in many ways, and you feel it in the writing.
Back to the two main characters, since the story is told from two POVs.
Emily is a grieving woman. Her loss is fresh. And you can feel it in every decision she makes, sometimes ones she doesn't feel comfortable with.
Jacob is a breath of fresh air, but despite his carefree attitude, I could feel an undercurrent of him hiding from or running from something.
She makes him question some of his laissez-faire decisions. He makes her reconsider how she's been living without thinking about what she wants rather than what she should be doing.
Beautifully told and gripping. I don't want to write too much about the story, but it is not quite friends to lovers or enemies to lovers. Neither is it forced proximity. To me, this is a story about fate…
Many thanks to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for an ARC.

The meeting of opposites in Olivia, a driven workaholic who obsessively plans to the nth degree and Jacob a laid back traveller who quite literally depends on the roll of a dice. Their different approaches are both reactions to and coping strategies for overwhelming grief. Their developing love is set against the vibrant and colourful culture of India; The descriptions of which are so well written it’s almost another character itself. Great summer read.

This was a lovely romance of two people trying to heal and finding security in one another. Although it did take me a while to get in to this book, I found myself feeling enjoying it eventually and it was a beautiful story overall.

Loved this story and how the heartache of 2 characters can keep driving them together. There is so much love but emotion in this story, be prepared to go on the ride.

I felt that this title had a lot of potential that it didn't reach. The concept of love overcoming different types of grief and transcending physical restraints such as distance or illness could have worked really well. On the whole though, I felt that the characters lacked internal development, so as a reader it was difficult to understand what exactly drove them or why they were falling for each other (and I didn't really care when they did). The protagonist was unlikeable: the author clearly tried to illustrate her anxiety, but this was told more than it was felt and Olivia was frequently rude and often unkind to those around her so again, it was difficult to empathise with her and it was frustrating to see that the people she met seemed so willing to overlook, or even humour, her antagonism. It took too long for character arcs to develop and I didn't feel that this was fully achieved: neither character became more likeable by the end. The Indiana setting was also somewhat problematic for me, as it felt rather tokenistic and not genuine. I had higher hopes for this and it is normally the type of novel I love, but I just couldn't overlook these issues.

I tried to get into this book but it just wasn't for me. Wrong time? Wrong mood? I am not sure as I have previously enjoyed Emily Houghton's stories.and her writing. Sorry.

So much more than a holiday romance. Jacob and Olivia meet in India. She's been forced to travel, following her deceased sister's wishes. Jacob is more spontaneous, deciding where to go next on the roll of his trusty dice. Olivia plans in detail, Jacob takes life as it comes. Gradually they grow closer. but life has surprises for them. A moving love story with a twist at the end.