BLOG TOUR REVIEW

Review for 'We Were On A Break' by Jo Lovett.

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!!! Absolutely LOVED this book. Yet another stunner by the very talented Jo!!!

Awww!!! Absolutely perfect!!! Another absolutely gorgeous book from the amazing Jo Lovett!!! Absolutely stunningly romcom heart warmer!!!

The storyline is authentic and realistic as well as easy to read and heart-warming. I loved it straight away and was hooked immediately!!! A true heart warning, addictive page turner!! It was fast paced with plenty of events going on throughout and it kept me hooked from start to end, I read it in one sitting. It really made me feel like I was with Emma and Callum throughout the storyline going through all the emotions with them while travelling through Europe and seeing all the stunning Italian and French sites. It is an absolutely gorgeous escapism read that I got so lost in that on the very odd occasion I managed to peel my eyes away from the storyline and look up it took me a few moments to adjust to the fact that I was actually in my living room or garden in Wales and not driving through Italy or France!! An absolutely stunning holiday and I was devastated when I came to the end and had to "unpack" my case and return to reality! The storyline was filled with a range of emotions and was heart-warming, humorous and had lost and second chances, relationships, friendship and stunning settings all going on in this beautiful book. It felt like a lovely break away from a rainy Wales!! It made me laugh, smile and filled me with a warm fuzzy feeling all at different times. I loved how the story ended!!! If you are planning to read this I would definitely recommend clearing your schedules as I absolutely devoured it in one sitting being unable to put it down. It is perfect to read curled up on the sofa in front of the fire with a nice hot chocolate or cup of tea or laid out on a sunbed under the sun with a glass of wine or a cocktail. I was completely absorbed in the realistic storyline and although it was filled with love, second chances, romance and happiness there was definitely some suspense, tension but also loads of laughter in the air!! It is one of those books that once I became absorbed in the gorgeous storyline there was no chance I was putting it down and I devoured it in several hours!!! This would make an absolutely stunning movie which I would love to see come to the big screen!!!

Clear your schedules as you won't be able to put this stunner down once your hooked!!

The characters were all unique with their own realistic traits, strengths and weaknesses. It was intriguing to watch Emma and Callum's friendship and relationship grow, develop and change throughout the the storyline. I loved the multiple perspectives that we get to see from both of the main characters so we can see how each of them feel and what they are doing. It made me feel like I got to know them more individually and Jo weaves the chapters together perfectly! Each of the main and "background" characters had their own unique personalities and each left their own impressions on me. I became completely invested in both Callum and Emma and was quite sad to come to the end and say goodbye to them. Jo's fantastic evocative writing skills really brought them all to life along with the storyline. All characters worked perfectly with the storyline and I would love to meet them again and hope to see this made into a series or even a movie!!!

Congratulations Jo on yet another absolutely fantastic rom com heart warmer. There's a good reason you are one of my favourite authors and this amazing page turner is just one of them!!! Here's to yet another success 🥂!!!

Overall a heart warming page turner filled love, comedy, friendship and everything you could want in an epic rom com!!

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This is an entertaining road trip story which takes you along as Callum and Emma become reacquainted. They both have unresolved feelings from their relationship but try very hard at first, to cover them up. The dialogue between the two is so amusing and gives you an insight into their relationship. They know each other so well, despite not having seen each other for tears and they still share a shorthand.

You follow the story through the eyes of both Callum and Emma and although there are some surprises, it does mean that you keep up with what they are thinking. Both of them have developed since they parted but being together also brings back all the old feelings. This is an ideal holiday read. You will find yourself rooting for both of them and understand both points of view.

zin short: Second chances and taking a risk

A cute enemies to lovers, forced proximity romance read great for losing yourself in on the beach or by the pool.

The cover initially drew me in to this book - isn’t it pretty! Then when I read the blurb I knew I wanted to read it.

I enjoyed getting to know the two main characters Emma and Callum. From their relationship 12 years ago they were shocked to end up travelling across Europe together, they both seemed to have changed but have their feelings for each other?

We Were On A Break is the third book I've been delighted with from Lovett. It's a gorgeous second chance romance that slow burns and simmers, that takes us into Europe where we join Emma and Callum on the road trip from hell.

With twelve years having passed since they split up will the forced proximity of their journey home rekindle old flames?

I loved the two main characters Emma and Callum, they had so much history and hurt between them that needed healing. They were real, relatable and I loved the interaction between them.

The perfect summer escapism.

Definitely a book and author to recommend.

DNF at 25%. I make it a habit to rarely DNF a book and to only do so when completely necessary. I was unfortunately unable to handle the childish writing style and immaturity of the characters presented in We Were on a Break. There were delicate topics that should have been tackled better and I was bummed to be disappointed by a book I had been looking forward to.

Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for an Advance Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review.

I love a good second chance romance so I couldn't wait to start this one.
This is an easy summer read in my opinion. I loved the two main characters and was rooting for them to get out of their heads and back together.

Because the miscommunication troupe is my least favorite one, I found myself annoyed half of the time and going awwww the rest. LOL.

Anyway. It was a cute quick read.

thanks to net gallery for the arc. All opinions are my own

I was immediately drawn in by the concept and title of this book, and I truly wanted to enjoy it! It starts off really well, but after a number of unbelievable twists and turns, it lost all direction. This plot just kept going in circles without any resolution.

The story has a few really adorable moments, however the really important issues were dismissed by the author. When it seemed like the author was taking you into a really significant story about alcoholism and other substance misuse, only to retract it and make it seem insignificant, that's when things started to go wrong for me. The book just grew worse, and neither breakup made sense.

I found the writing style to be a little strange, and I found the characters to be a little too juvenile and undeveloped, which was kind of bothersome.

The Blurb :
Stranded in Rome, with all planes grounded due to volcanic ash, Callum gratefully accepts a lift back to London with a friend-of-a-friend who's on her way home after a European road trip in a campervan.
But when he meets her, his heart plummets - she's Emma, his ex, The ex, and he can't be stuck in a van with her.
When Emma sees Callum again, she's horrified. It's taken so many years to heal her heart - she really doesn't want to spend the next few days in close quarters with him.
As they embark on the drive of a lifetime, it begins to feel as though fate might have had a hand in reuniting them. But understanding what happened in the past and coming to terms with the present isn't easy. Can the gift of time - and forced proximity – bring them back together again?

My Thoughts:
We meet Emma, on her way back to England with her friend in her beloved Camper van named Miranda. When they agree to give a lift to a friend of a friend who has had his flight cancelled due to the Volcanic ash. It turns out to be none other than her first love, Callum, she gave him an ultimatum to 12 years ago and hasnt seen him since.
As the couple spend a week together travelling through Italy and France, we learn more about what happened and how they got to where they are now.
I loved how the couple were none too happy to see each other at first but as the story develops we can see that there is unfinished business, told from both points of view, there is clearly still some chemisty between them.
Jo Lovett delivers a refreshing read about second chances. She has a love for the characters and grips the reader into the storyline, its a summer read of fun and romance all rolled into one.
Looking forward to the next book from Jo Lovett.

Emma and Callum hadn't seen each other since twelve years before when they had a messy breakup of sorts. All flights in Europe were grounded due to volcanic ash and Callum needed to get back to London from Rome immediately. Emma was doing a road trip in her van and was roped into helping Callum get back home. They just didn't know that they knew each other until the day they met again.

That day was awkward and they had to decide whether they'd be able to bear close quarters for over a week until they got home. Emma never got closure from their past relationship so that conversation had to happen.

They soon got into a fling of sorts which Callum insisted would be temporary but as expected, past feelings were resurrected and that made for a messy goodbye when they parted ways. When they did get back together it was months later and I loved the ending.

The highlight of this book for me was the road trip itself. I loved coming along as they toured the Italian countryside, met up with all sorts of characters, and even faked marriage at some point to get into a hotel 😂

Thank you to Netgalley and Publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I wanted to love but but it is just not for me - i ended up DNF-in about 35% in - just not the book for me

This is definitely a does as it says-on-the-tin romance, we've got a second chance romance with vibes of friends from the title (a la Ross and Rachel) and definitely vibes of it in the story, it's very fun.
I loved it from page one, it was such an easy-to-read book with a friendly writing style and I pretty much devoured it in a day because it was so fun to follow Callum and Emma's story. I loved how we gradually got the story of how they ended up on a break and then we got their relationship history through them talking or thinking it over rather than through flashbacks, it was refreshing because normally flashbacks are used a heck of a lot for this. I found both Emma and Callum very likeable and relatable characters, everyone has their first love that sits fondly in their mind no matter how the relationship ended. I quite liked the forced proximity aspect to their growing relationship, the need to travel across France and Italy in just a campervan did just what any long car journey does, made difficult conversations happen. And the banter! I so loved the banter between the two of them and how easily they slipped back into the easy back and forth that they had as a couple.
It's brilliantly written and I definitely want to pick up more by Jo Lovett, also how cute is the cover!

We Were On A Break by Jo Lovett

I received an advance review copy for free thanks to Rachel's Random Resources and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Blurb

A summer to remember...

A love to last a lifetime...

Stranded in Rome, with all planes grounded due to volcanic ash, Callum gratefully accepts a lift back to London with a friend-of-a-friend who's on her way home after a European road trip in a campervan.

But when he meets her, his heart plummets - she's Emma, his ex, The ex, and he can't be stuck in a van with her.

When Emma sees Callum again, she's horrified. It's taken so many years to heal her heart - she really doesn't want to spend the next few days in close quarters with him.

As they embark on the drive of a lifetime, it begins to feel as though fate might have had a hand in reuniting them. But understanding what happened in the past and coming to terms with the present isn't easy. Can the gift of time - and forced proximity – bring them back together again?

My Opinion

We Were on a Break was a sweet, second chance romance. Callum and Emma are forced to spend a couple of days in close proximity when all flights back home are cancelled. The title really appealed to me and the plot was just as interesting. Jo Lovett has written a relatively short book that will take you on a journey from Rome to London. Overall this was a very enjoyable book that I finished in an afternoon.

Rating 4/5

Emma is traveling through Italy on her way back to England in her camper van when her friend asks her to give another friend a ride as all the flights and trains are canceled. Emma agrees, not realizing that it's her first love, Callum, who she gave an ultimatum to 12 years ago to get his act together so they can be together or they were through and that was the last time she saw him. Now they are stuck together for a few days, will their feelings start again?

Cross country travel, forced proximity and a not so fantastic shared history all lend to making this cute rom com a very fun, easy read.

Callum and Emma didn’t think would ever see each other again, but a pesky Volcano spewing ash leads to planes being cancelled and the only way for Callum to get home is to hitch a ride.. with his ex!

It was clear they had chemistry from the start; I found Callum a bit rude and stand offish and Emma was fun and interesting. As the journey gets underway, we discover more about each of them but also what happened in their past.

As the days pass the spark between to two ignites, but is it just because of being so close?

Both characters have things they have overcome, they are very different to the people they once were. I wished we could have delved more into Callum’s history, it was such a big thing for his story.

Well written and full of fun, laughs and entertaining moments; a must read for rom com lovers, a great summer read!

A cute second chance romance from Jo Lovett. Emma and Callum have history but never really had the Oporto come to terms with their break up. So when I saw that they’d unwittingly been put together in a journey home to London from
Europe, I knew we were in for a treat.
Their journey through Italy and France sounded great if not a little tense and I loved seeing their new relationship develop over the miles. You could see both of them had changed over the years and Jo Lovett managed to capture the humour and emotion of their journey in Miranda completely.
With a lot of laughter and tears at times, this is an entertaining light romance read.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for an advanced copy of this book in return for my opinion. The story of two people that were once a couple until an ultimatum caused one of them to disappear, to then be brought back together some years later through a mutual friend. We read each of their thoughts and feelings and hopefully find out why they split & what happened in those years they were apart. A funny fairly fast paced story. Definitely one to add to your tbr pile.

Read and reviewed in exchange for a free copy from NetGalley. This was an enjoyable read. I liked the protagonists and was invested in the story. Lovett used the dual narrative well and created authentic, engaging characters.

I enjoyed reading We Were on a Break by Jo Lovett. You will fall in love with all the characters. I received an ARC of this book courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and given freely. Happy Reading!

I'm reviewing this via NetGalley, as part of a tour with Rachel's Random Resources.

This was a delightful romantic comedy. The two main characters are Callum and Emma, a former couple who find themselves in each other's company again, by an unfortunate coincidence.

Throughout the book, the perspective switches between Callum and Emma. I enjoyed the fact that as a reader, I was given both perspectives on the situation, as it was an opportunity to connect with both characters equally. From the beginning, I found both of them quite humorous, and related to both of them in different ways. Their interactions and behaviour made me chuckle.

While this was a very funny book, I found that as the story progressed, there were also some deeper moments that tugged at my heartstrings, and some heartwarming moments that made me smile. This was a very light read too; I finished it in a couple of hours.

If you are a romance reader, this could put a smile on your face. Thank you to NetGalley, Rachel's Random Resources, Boldwood Books, and to the author, for the opportunity to read and review this.

I really was looking forward to the book for the concept of it. Second chance romance, forced proximity, etc. All things I love. Except that this book unfortunately didn't deliver for me. It sure was more on the down to earth realistic side of romance (if you skip the huge coincidences in this story that maybe were a bit too much at times), but it left me quite frustrated and not fully sure what to think of it.

The characters. At first, I really loved Emma. A free spirit who decided to do something daring, got herself a beat up van and traveled across Europe. But you don't really learn more about her except from that, and her fear of driving faster than 50 km/h. Overall, I felt like the personalities of the characters simply weren't developed, and they both could have been anyone because of it. It is said that Callum, the other main character, has great humor, but at no point in the book was it proven or showed to me. There was a lot of tell, and not enough show to my taste.
I do love a closed door romance, maybe more than I like other kinds, but here the romantic tension also wasn't present enough, which left me not caring for the characters or their relationship.

The dialogues honestly didn't work for me. I couldn't take them seriously, nor believe in them. Most of the things the characters said was polished, hyper polite and unrealistic to my opinion. I do love a thoughtful character, but not if they are going to stay this way the whole book. I also think that, once again, a lot of things were told in the dialogues but not shown enough.

Finally, I found the story a bit too "easy". Meaning that besides the big coincidence that starts the story, there were others just as big and it made me lose the belief I had in the plot line altogether. I kind of wish some aspects were more developed if the story line was going to be so easy, because it could have made a very good emotional romance.

On a side note, since it's something that isn't influencing my rating and review: with the title, I would have expected the characters to have some kind of connection to Friends. Maybe one of them really loves it and always quotes the show, maybe one of them was called like Ross or Rachel, etc. Because this line is so anchored in our entertainment culture that it simply made sense.