This was such an entertaining read.
We have three different characters, all with their flaws who come together in the most unexpected way to form a friendship that makes them realize what the meaning of a true friendship is!
Very funny, very relatable. A slightly entertaining way to talk about heavy topics such as toxic people and toxic relations.
The characters are raw and realistic and the plot is intricate in the best way possibl

This book had drama in all the right and wrong places - a lot of real life drama. While the premise promised a juicy, emotional read, it took far too long to get to the main reason we were all here. The main characters, particularly Kayleigh— was not my fave but she could have been worse. The final 100 pages ish did pick up, but overall, this one wasn’t my fave but I could see why people may enjoy it

The Layover is a fun and quirky take on the enemies to lovers trope. However it definitely ends up enemies to friends and friends to enemies!

⭐️⭐️⭐️

In the Layover we have:
Gemma - the brides best friend and maid of honour
Leon - the brides brother
Francesca - the grooms work wife
When they all find themselves stuck in an airport together, with their flight delayed and desperately needing to get to the wedding, they develop an unlikely sense of kinship.

Because all three of them have a secret. And all three of them need to get to the wedding to stop it from happening. But the only question is, will they make it in time?

I did enjoy The Layover, although it definitely wasn’t what I was expecting! I just found it a little slow at times.

Thank you Beth Reekles, Little Brown Book Group and Netgalley for this advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review. The Layover comes out on June 26th!

I really enjoyed this book. I love books with unreliable/unlikeable characters where your opinion of them completely change throughout the book. I started off the book really disliking the female characters, their reasons for wanting to sabotage the wedding seemed really self-centred and delusional, but as the book went on I found myself understanding their frustrations more and more, until I was rooting for them by the end of the book!

This was a really fun premise for a novel. With 80% of the book being set in an airport, there was a chance that it could quickly become dull, but that never happened with The Layover, there were so many funny situations the characters found themselves in, mixed with more serious and emotional revelations, I ended up racing through the book because I couldn’t put it down.

I also really enjoyed how we got Gemma, Francesca and Leon’s narrative voice in the chapters. It really helped give a deeper insight into why they didn’t want the wedding to go ahead. And it was really interesting to see how the bride and groom acted differently around each of the central characters, it added a layer of depth to their characters and really helped me want to see the downfall of the wedding as well!

Overall I really enjoyed this book. It’s a really fun summer read that will have you questioning your friendships and self-worth while still having a great time.

This book had drama in all the right (and wrong) places—escalated crushes, toxic friendships, broken family dynamics, and one chaotic wedding. While the premise promised a juicy, emotional read, it took far too long to get to the heart of the story. The main characters, particularly Kayleigh—off page, were hard to root for, and a large chunk of the book felt frustrating rather than fun. The final act did pick up, but overall, this one didn’t land for me the way Reekles’ previous books have.

Wow! I love Beth Reekles and this proves why. Beth is my auto buy author given the beautiful stories. This one strikes all the right chords. It brought a smile to my face and completely pulled me in. I literally read this in a day as I couldn't stay away.

The dialogues and banter is very well written. I love the themes of love, friendship, family, loss, self love/worth and dysfunction. While a rom-com, it brilliantly incorporates deeper themes naturally into the storyline. That made this book extra special for me.

I also love the premise of unlikely characters coming together and the airport layover which comes out amazingly well. Also loved some of the pop referencing and friendships that make it oh so relatable. My first five star read for the year! Absolutely pick this one up!

Thank you Little, Brown Book Group UK and NetGalley for this e-arc in exchange of my unbiased review.

This was such a fun and easy read, an ideal summer book.

Written from 3 pov’s we have Gemma the maid of honour, Leon brother of the bride and Francesca friend of the groom/madly in love with him. All three of them are forced together at the airport and spend the night trying to justify why they want to break up the wedding.

I was a little worried at the start that I wasn’t going to like the characters, I especially worried gemma wouldn’t have enough redeeming qualities, glad to say I was wrong!

The romance felt like more of the background story as we watched these three face some home truths about themselves and their choices. I loved the growing friendship between Gemma and Francesca, it felt natural and made me glad to see Gemma realise what a toxic person she was with the wrong people. I was a little gutted not to get a little epilogue at the end just to show us where she ended up after it all.

Francesca and Leon were just cute.

I really did like this more than I thought I would, oh and don’t forget about the cowboy stripper, poor guy!

This is my first book of Beth's and I loved the outline of the book from the moment I picked it up. This is a quick, easy read from Beth with characters that I wanted to keep reading about, The writing is in such a fun, entertaining way that keeps you hooked and wanting to keep reading about the schemes of the three.

Looking forward to more books by Beth. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an advance reader copy.

This is such a fun and relatable read.
It’s a romance book but it’s also about friendship and family relationships too.

Three people, all bound for the same wedding, find themselves stranded at an airport, unaware that they each have their own secret plan to stop the ceremony.

I really enjoyed reading all three different POV and the references to films (Harry Potter), TV shows (hello the Vulture from Brooklyn 99) and even MSN made the millennial in me feel more connected to the characters.

Overall, I really enjoyed the story and I felt invested in the characters. It seems to be an odd choice to have the maid of honour, brother of the bride and the groom’s work wife all stuck together but it worked and just showed how we can often misjudge people.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this early.

I had a good time with this one! The triple POV worked well overall—it gave the story some nice depth and allowed space for each character’s backstory and perspective to unfold. That said, I did find all three main characters a bit irritating at times (Kayleigh in particular is a lot, and Marcus definitely gave me the ick), but somehow I was still rooting for them to figure things out. Maybe not happily-ever-after exactly… but something.

The writing style is accessible and easy to get into, even if some of the dialogue felt a little stiff here and there. The pacing dipped in spots, but not enough to throw me off.

It’s worth noting that although this is marketed as a romance, the romantic plot is definitely more of a slow build and takes a backseat for much of the book. That didn’t bother me too much, but it’s something to be aware of going in.

Overall, a fun, readable story with some great character connections and layered perspectives. I’d recommend it if you enjoy contemporary fiction with a light romantic thread.

This was a fun read. I enjoyed the triple POV and while I found all three characters slightly irritating at times, I was generally rooting for them. Kayleigh is an absolute piece of work, and Marcus made my skin crawl, so I’m a bit gutted that more didn’t go wrong for them in the end.
The writing style was good and, although at points I felt the pacing was a bit slow and some dialogue was a bit stilted, I found this easy to read.
My main issue was that the romance felt a little rushed at the end, it was built up well but Fran’s seemed to get over Marcus quite abruptly in the end.
I also would have liked an epilogue to see how the three characters ended up a few months to a year after the wedding.

Thanks to Little Brown Book Company and Netgalley for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Layover is a quick, fairly easy read where three individuals heading to the same wedding get stranded overnight in France. There is a bit of romance and a lot of introspection, and a satisfying amount of character development. Not a book I'd go back to, but I did really enjoy it while I was reading!

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

While I liked the idea of the story, I don't think the execution of it was the best.
The ending was very anticlimactic and at points the wiring style of this author was not enjoyable, although I can see growth from it,
The book also makes several pop culture references which I did not find funny and will date the book by the end of this year.

Imagine three people, not perfect, right? They're kinda messed up. But, get this, they become friends! Like, real friends. They learn what it means to actually be friends.

It was funny! And I could see myself in them. Also, they talked about hard stuff, like people who are bad for you, but in a light way.

The people in the story felt real, like people you know. And the story itself? It was like a puzzle, but a good one!

I thought the premise of this sounded really fun, but although I enjoyed part of this book - it ultimately just didn’t work for me.

I liked the airport setting, and I liked how we kind of got snippets of each of the three main characters and their plans to sabotage the wedding - I think it was paced well and I was definitely intrigued to see how it all panned out. There were some really fun parts of their layover at the airport that had me giggling: the picnic, the obstacle course especially.

My main issue with the story was that there was no action taken for the bride and groom in the end? I just felt like there was so much build up about how terrible they were and then they just…lived happily ever after I guess? Bit anticlimactic?

I also felt like there story ended at a weird point, it would’ve been nice to have an epilogue showing where all the characters ended up.

The pop culture references really gave me the ick too, there was SO MANY (Brooklyn 99, Taylor Swift, TikTok, Vines, ACOTAR, Harry Potter, Dua Lipa).

This was an entertaining read overall, and I did devour it pretty quickly.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Little Brown Book Group for the advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

a big thank you for the opportunity to read this book!
unfortunately, this story was not for me… I didn’t really connect with the characters and the plot line didn’t really effect me.

Ah I loved this book! It might be my favourite Beth Reekles book so far!

I’m a sucker for a dual PoV so having three was even better 🤣

Grumpy x sunshine is one of my favourite tropes and this was executed brilliantly, making me laugh out loud too.

Perfect holiday read!!

This was such an entertaining read.
We have three different characters, all with their flaws who come together in the most unexpected way to form a friendship that makes them realize what the meaning of a true friendship is!
Very funny, very relatable. A slightly entertaining way to talk about heavy topics such as toxic people and toxic relations.
The characters are raw and realistic and the plot is intricate in the best way possible.

Okay, I loved this book! Seriously, I could not put it down. It was fun, chaotic, and full of drama in the best way possible.

The premise is so entertaining—three strangers, all on a mission to crash the same wedding for completely different reasons, get stuck together during a ten-hour layover. Gemma, Leon, and Francesca don’t seem like they’d click at all at first. Honestly, they’re all a bit unlikeable in their own ways. But as their stories unfold, their shared goal bonds them, and suddenly, they make the perfect (if slightly dysfunctional) little team. Their dynamic was one of the best parts of the book!

At first, this seems like your typical lighthearted romcom, but there’s actually way more emotional depth than I expected. Each character brings something personal to the table—self-worth, complicated family relationships, regrets. It makes you root for all of them, even though technically, they’re all trying to sabotage a wedding! Seeing everything from their POVs really added to the story, making each of their motivations feel real and justified.

The pacing? Perfect. This book flies by (pun intended). But the ending… I have thoughts. Leon and Francesca’s stories wrapped up nicely, but what about Gemma? What happened between her and Kayleigh?! Did Kayleigh get what she deserved?? I need answers!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Little, Brown Book Group and Beth Reekles for this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

‘The Layover’ is a well paced, light hearted read that I had a great time reading. I really enjoyed the unique setting, which is what initially drew me to the book. We all have such a love/hate relationship with airports, and it was a great place to produce a twist on the forced proximity trope, and to nurture the relationships between our three main characters.

Gemma, Leon and Francesca all happen to be travelling to Barcelona for a wedding that they want to stop for different reasons. Unfortunately, they get stuck at Orly airport in France due to bad weather conditions.

The reader is able to experience this page turner through their three POV’s, as events tick steadily on in a countdown to the ceremony time. We are here to find out more about why all three of them want to stop this wedding - and during this process we learn more about the lives of each character in relation to the bride, Kayleigh.

I was pleasantly surprised to read a nice mix of laughable, sad and relatable moments in this book. It flowed very nicely from start to finish and although I was personally a tad disappointed at the conclusion of the ‘event that we were waiting for’, it was a somewhat satisfying conclusion. Gemma, Leon and Francesca are characters which are multilayered and ‘real’. What I mean by this is that there are moments where you don’t like them, and over time you change your mind. It makes for a very ‘human’ story, which made it all the more enjoyable.

If you like character development, pop culture references, a sprinkle of romance and an all-round fun journey then this is the book for you! Definitely recommend.

Just a little positive note about the ARC cover too, which I adore! The little references to each character on it are wonderful!