An awkward scenario indeed, stuck with your ex, traveling across Europe in a camper van. It made for interesting reading researching the reasons for the break up between Callum and Emma.
My sympathy was completely with Emma. I felt bad that she was left hanging for so long and still carrying a torch for Callum.
Callum, honestly, was annoying. He kept saying I don’t want to hurt you yet was driving the knife into Emma while he was saying the insipid phrase repeatedly. He also kept a huge secret from Emma.
Still the heart wants what it wants and the ending was decent.

📚 PRE-PUBLICATION BOOK REVIEW 📚

We Were On A Break By Jo Lovett
Publication Date: July 29, 2024
Publisher: Boldwood Books

📚MY RATING: ⭐⭐⭐✨
(Rounded up to 4⭐)

📚MY REVIEW:

This second chance rom-com from Jo Lovett features the classic will-they-won't-they trope with a fun twist: the main characters, Emma and Callum, are exes who are unexpectedly thrown together twelve years after their relationship ended.

This story has so many cute moments as Emma and Callum traverse across Europe together on a road trip, after all Europe flights are grounded. In their attempt to get back home to London, they find themselves in so many beautiful places and participating in so many fun adventures.

While this story was endearing overall, I found myself getting a little annoyed by the main characters' refusal to communicate well with one another. Maybe this is also a miscommunication trope? If it is, maybe that trope just isn't my favorite. 😉 I just wanted to reach into the book and shake both Emma and Callum, yelling at them to "just say it!" There may have been so much focus on them miscommunicating that there were missed chances for the story to take cuter twists and turns sometimes.

If your favorite tropes include will-they-won't-they, miscommunication, or second chances, or if you love an HEA rom-com involving a European holiday, I think you'll really enjoy this book. While it wasn't my favorite rom-com ever, it WAS really cute and a quick read. Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

#WeWereOnABreak #JoLovett #NetGalley #ARC #BoldwoodVIPs #boldwoodbookclub #bookreviews #bookrecommendations #romcomreads #romcoms #bookcommunity #booklover

I had such a lovely time with this story and these characters. This was a lighthearted romance that had lots of comedy in it as well as some emotional parts.

I am a bit of a sucker for a second chance romance, so these characters finding themselves in each other's company after twelve years apart, played right into my weak spot. I liked both Callum and Emma a lot and I wanted the very best for both of them (of course I believed that this involved them being together). I thought that as characters they complemented each other well and they were very much the ying to each other's yang.

This was a fast read, even though the chapters were a little lengthy. I loved the alternating perspectives and learning what each character was feeling. A great little rom-com book that was entertaining and heart warming.

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’re stuck together in the camper for a few days with no option but to face the past and their feelings and whether or not things could be different this time around or if this is just a vacation fling.
This was a slow burn, closed door, second chance romance that will make you believe in love.
Thanks to Boldwood Books and NetGalley for this eArc in exchange for my review.

This story just didn't go anywhere except round and round. Shame as I was very interested in reading it. Just disappointing. My thanks to netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

The blurb intrigued me and the beginning was fun but the longer that I was reading, how more I got bored? The story was repetitive and it was just annoying. The point of the story had much potential but it wasn't for me. After all it was a quick read, but just not for me.

Thank you Netgalley and Boldwood Books for this arc.

Thank you to Boldwood books and NetGalley for the Advanced copy of this title.
This is a second chance romance set in Rome. The main characters are forced together as they are left no other options than to travel via van to their separate destinations. The problem is they haven't seen each other since they broke up. Their break up was less than amicable with a lot of unresolved feelings, so the dynamics between the two are less than desirable.

I found this book to be a little slow with a lot of miscommunication. It is my least favorite book trope and this book had a lot of it. Callum's entire reasoning for never reaching out to Emma following their breakup was lackluster and only added to the leaning tower of miscommunication.

If you are a fan of road trips and second chances, you would likely enjoy this novel.

Due to volcanic ash, Callum is stranded in Rome. His friend Azim said that he has a friend who is driving from Rome to London and he can get a ride with her. Callum agreed. What he didn’t expect when he showed up at the van for the ride back to London was Emma, his ex girlfriend. The ex girlfriend that he proposed to the night he got his driver’s license and try to drive drunk. When Emma sees Callum she’s stunned. She’s spent years getting over him, and she doesn’t want to be stuck in a van with him for days. She always expected him to come back to her, but he never did. Will she finally learn the truth? Will they find their way back to each other?

This was a cute rom-com book. It’s a light, fun read. I love second chance romances, and forced proximity. There’s nothing more forced then being stuck in a van together! I enjoyed the chemistry between Callum and Emma. Their history made it easy to fall back into each other.

It was a little drawn out for me, and a little repetitive. Callum had a “wild” side when he was younger, drinking a lot. But he claims it wasn’t an addiction and just “stopped.” That felt like a lost opportunity.

When you pick a title like this, which is a pretty famous line from a TV show for some, you expect more discussion about what was happening when one thought they were on a break. The line is said, and then thrown away. Again, another missed opportunity.

This wasn’t a bad book by any means, and I think a lot of people who love a slow burn, second change romance will like this. It just didn’t wow me.

3.5 stars. While the concept was fun, it got very repetitive very quickly. They wanted to be together, then they didn’t, then they did…. The back and forth didn’t make sense for such a short time frame? Emma & Callum’s inner monologues ended up turning me off from the characters, I almost wanted to read the dialogue only.

This Second chance romance with Emma and Callum was a slow burn but takes you on a lovely road trip. The will they won't they of it all is a little slow at times but the initial blurb of the book drew me to these characters and I loved taking this journey with them from Italy back to London. I will definitely recommend this book to my girlfriends who need a beach read on vacation or who need a fun book to curl up with on a nice day in.

I really wanted to love this book - I read the blurb for the book and immediately requested early access to the book. Unfortunately I have struggled to make it through the entire book. I keep having to stop because the scenarios keep repeating themselves. They both start out appalled they they’re in a situation where they have to spend so much time together, then they warm up to it to the point the male POV starts freaking out about his feelings and the female POV is falling head over heels. Every chapter is told from the alternating POV and hers felt very saccharine and his felt like I wanted to roll my eyes because of his hang ups.

Overall it was a cute book, it just felt long and I predicted half of it. If you need a cute, easy book where you don’t have to pay a lot of attention to it this is the book for you!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Boldwood Books for the chance to read an early copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for an advanced e-copy of We Were on a Break, in exchange for an honest review.

Imagine being stuck in a van with your ex-boyfriend for days while traveling through Italy. That's exactly what happens in Jo Lovett's new novel, 'We Were on a Break.'
The premise is intriguing, but unfortunately, the execution falls short. The characters and plot have a lot of potential, but they're not fully developed.
Callum, Emma's ex-boyfriend, is an alcoholic. His addiction is supposed to be a major obstacle to their relationship, but it's resolved too easily. He just decides to quit drinking and that's it. It's anticlimactic and makes the whole plot of them not getting back together because of his addiction seem silly.
The story also becomes repetitive. Emma and Callum break up and get back together over and over again. It gets tiresome after a while. Plus, reading both of their internal monologues listing all the reasons why they can't be together gets old fast.

Overall, 'We Were on a Break' is an easy, quick read. If you're looking for a slow-burn, closed-door, second-chance romance, this might be the book for you.
3.5 Stars!

Thanks to the Publisher and Netgalley for an early review copy.

I enjoyed reading this book.

Callum and Emma break up and never speak again.

It’s been 12 years and now, they meet again when Callum needs to get back home and Emma is the person who is taking him in her van. There is a lot of stuff that they’ve not talked about when they ended the relationship. Now, they look back at where they were then to where they are now, and reasons why they aren’t together.

We read their own viewpoints on the past.

They eventually get together, but not before the bumps are overcome.

I recommend this book.

I just loved this book! It was so good and I just couldn’t put it down.. It was just such a heartbreaking and heartwarming read about a former boyfriend and girlfriend who’s relationship ended in a weird way.. Callum needs a lift and little does he know that his lift is going to be with his former girlfriend Emma much to the surprise of both of them. This then ensues a wonderful trip home with up and down’s for both of them and I just loved it.

I would highly recommend reading this book if you love a book that has a good story with up’s and down’s but essentially is just beautiful.

I would like to thank Boldwood Books and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book early.

Thank you to @rachelsrandomresources for my copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Callum is an idiot, Emma is just crazy - and both are hopelessly in love with the other. Neither knows the other is their first love when they agree to travel together from Italy to London and what might happen on the way.

You hope for the happy ever after but are unsure if it’s ever going to happen. I love the pair of them and their dynamic together, but they are so different too. He’s eager to get back, she’s continuing her sightseeing trip at her own pace no matter what and this does cause some friction to begin with.

This story is your typical long lost love, cutesy, “will they won’t they” story that is just lovely and easy to read, and has everything you want too - fun, laughter, sarcasm and serious bits. Perfect summer cosy read that will give you all the feels.

The cover and the blurb is what originally drew me to this book. But it was a little slow in places. The story was ok but the characters felt a bit flat. It just wasn't for me, other readers might like it though.
💖 Thank you to netgalley, the publisher and the author for my arc ebook copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

This was so good! I love a good second-chance romance and one full of tension is even better - this fit that bill perfectly! Loved!

Twelve years ago, Emma and Callum decided to take a break... and then never spoke again. Until Callum arranges a ride from Italy to London with a friend of a friend, and shows up to discover the woman taking him home is the ex he never fully got over.

I loved the tension between Emma and Callum, and how it ebbed and flowed throughout--both the conflict and the feelings were great. I sometimes have a hard time with second-chance romances, but this one felt very real and authentic to me, and I was actively rooting for them. There were a couple moments it got a bit overly internal or repetitive, but overall it was a very lovely read.

3.75
A second chance romance between two exes that never quite had closure. We meet Emma and Callum while they’re driving back to London from Italy. They don’t want to be interacting after 12 years of not seeing each other but they’re stuck together. They seemed to have changed a lot on the outside but they still have a lot of the same doubts and insecurities they’re still growing from.

It was a fast and quick read. Enjoyable

This was told between the two main characters in chapters . Took a while to get into . A clever story as two x’s meet while you can’t fly . One has a camper van. There are some laugh out moments. I liked the monastery chapter. You kind of guessed the secret. A clever good neat ending .