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The Love Square
She’s single. But it can still be complicated…
Penny Bridge has always been unlucky in love.
So she can’t believe it when she meets a remarkable new man.
Followed by another.
And then another…
And all of them want to date her.
Penny has to choose between three. But are any of them The One?
The bestselling author of Our Stop will have you laughing, crying and cheering Penny on in this funny and feel-good exploration of hope, romance and the trust it takes to finally fall in love. Perfect for fans of Mhairi McFarlane’s If I Never Met You and Beth O’Leary’s The Flatshare.
352 pages, Paperback
First published June 29, 2020
About the author
Laura Jane Williams
16 books627 followersLaura Jane Williams (she/her) is known as the queen of the meet-cute. She is the author of six rom-coms, as well as the forthcoming Lovestruck (June 2023). She is also the author of three works of non-fiction.
The rights to Laura's international bestseller Our Stop have been sold for television, and her books have been translated into languages all over the world. She loves romance, being a parent, and lifting very heavy weights.
Find out more about Laura on www.laurajaneauthor.com
The rights to Laura's international bestseller Our Stop have been sold for television, and her books have been translated into languages all over the world. She loves romance, being a parent, and lifting very heavy weights.
Find out more about Laura on www.laurajaneauthor.com
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,020 reviews
November 6, 2020
Another entertaining, fast pacing, feel-good, swoony, cute reading makes you smile, gives you positive energy. Even though I decided to give three stars, (mostly I gave those stars to Switzerland-let’s meet in the middle books) I have to admit, it was fun and it relaxed my mood, cleared my mind. These days we need softer, lighter, comfort zone reads for brightening our darker moods!
Let’s move to the plot to get a closer look to the story: We’re introduced to Penny, unlucky in love, suffering from numerous disastrous dates. And till one day, she meets with an amazing man, next day she meets with another amazing man and then she meets with one more amazing man. See!
Third time is the charm. Nope, I’m correcting, she already found three charming men and she needs to choose wisely. ( don’t say that she has to keep all of them and enjoy foursome polygamous lifestyle. We are reading a decent, cute, entertaining romcom, not a mischievous erotic romance!)
The heartbreaking and emotional parts about Penny, losing her parents and surviving against the big battle with cancer are the most realistic and well-written parts help me to connect with heroine.
But maybe I’m old school when it comes to love because Penny’s indecisiveness till the end about her choice and flirting with three men at the same time just a little irritated me and damaged my ideal romcom idea. At least two of them would be assholes or if she could find out with whom she wanted to be a little bit earlier which worked better for me. Her confusing mood made me lose my connection with her. (Come on! When your heart knows something it always whispers to your brain. What are you still thinking?)
By the way Sharon is my favorite supporting character (At some parts, I loved her more than heroine and I root for her to have her own sequel.)
Overall: My only problem was idea not to choose between three men till the end of the book a little destroyed between Penny and my favorite candidate’s HEA (That’s my opinion. I’m keeping my favorite hero to myself not to ruin your reading!) and made me annoy the heroine, lowering my points. But the writing style and pacing is good and of course Penny made a great choice at the end. (At least I truly agree with the author.) If you want to read a feel-good, enjoyable and soft rom-com, this is a great fit for you to put your mind at ease and get rid of your stressful days.
Special thanks to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for sharing this sweet ARC with me in exchange my honest review.
Let’s move to the plot to get a closer look to the story: We’re introduced to Penny, unlucky in love, suffering from numerous disastrous dates. And till one day, she meets with an amazing man, next day she meets with another amazing man and then she meets with one more amazing man. See!
Third time is the charm. Nope, I’m correcting, she already found three charming men and she needs to choose wisely. ( don’t say that she has to keep all of them and enjoy foursome polygamous lifestyle. We are reading a decent, cute, entertaining romcom, not a mischievous erotic romance!)
The heartbreaking and emotional parts about Penny, losing her parents and surviving against the big battle with cancer are the most realistic and well-written parts help me to connect with heroine.
But maybe I’m old school when it comes to love because Penny’s indecisiveness till the end about her choice and flirting with three men at the same time just a little irritated me and damaged my ideal romcom idea. At least two of them would be assholes or if she could find out with whom she wanted to be a little bit earlier which worked better for me. Her confusing mood made me lose my connection with her. (Come on! When your heart knows something it always whispers to your brain. What are you still thinking?)
By the way Sharon is my favorite supporting character (At some parts, I loved her more than heroine and I root for her to have her own sequel.)
Overall: My only problem was idea not to choose between three men till the end of the book a little destroyed between Penny and my favorite candidate’s HEA (That’s my opinion. I’m keeping my favorite hero to myself not to ruin your reading!) and made me annoy the heroine, lowering my points. But the writing style and pacing is good and of course Penny made a great choice at the end. (At least I truly agree with the author.) If you want to read a feel-good, enjoyable and soft rom-com, this is a great fit for you to put your mind at ease and get rid of your stressful days.
Special thanks to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for sharing this sweet ARC with me in exchange my honest review.
July 19, 2020
I have to be honest with you all, this book made me MAD. Not necessarily because it was bad, but because it started off SO! STRONG!, only to run on for way too long, dragging everything out and making an already messy situation way messier than it needed to be. I started off rooting so hard for Penny and all of her love interests, but ended up pretty much loathing every single character by the end. Based on the first half of this book, it could have been a new favorite, but between a handful of tasteless jokes and all hell breaking loose in the worst way during the second half, this left a really bad taste in my mouth. Also, I found it really weird that the author chose to write Lizzo (like, actual real life Lizzo) into the story as a sort of love interest for another character???? It felt weirdly icky to me. Overall, this one was pretty much an all around miss for me and I am big sad about it.
TW: cancer, death of a parent, hospitals, IVF treatments, cheating, slut shaming
TW: cancer, death of a parent, hospitals, IVF treatments, cheating, slut shaming
May 29, 2020
Thank you for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review - apologies for it being so negative.
-
good grief, okay. Let me just collect my thoughts on why this was such a disappointment.
First off, let me start by saying that this story had real potential. I just wish it was...more. Right, that's the positives, let's move onto the negatives.
The writing style. The POV was all over the place. One minute it's from Penny's perspective and randomly another character had thoughts thrown in there and it threw me off. The writing just didn't flow, it was hard to read if I'm honest and didn't connect with me.
And I know the ebook was an odd format because it's an ARC but that also didn't help my reading experience at all because it was all over the place. I couldn't tell when one scene ended and another began. You're reading about Penny being in one place and suddenly she's somewhere else talking about something completely different and you're like
Just...wait a minute. You're confusing me.
The pacing. Slow parts that are irrelevant, fast parts that you'd rather read about. I grew bored with this by about 30% and stopped caring who she was going to end up with.
Penny So our protagonist is Penny Bridges who is, well, not that great. I didn't like her. Considering literally everything you can imagine has happened to her in her backstory, you'd think she'd be a little nicer and a bit more humble than she is. I just lost interest in her very quickly. She kept repeating herself about so many things i.e. her backstory, her love life, herself and ugh. If she was a decent person and was a little less selfish, I'd probably like her more. There was just too much going on with her character in terms of her backstory and none of it really changed her as a person. She didn't even seem interested in anyone else's life, it was all about her. Have a little compassion for other people, Pen, and not just your vagina.
Penny was adamant that she was an ~independant woman who don't need no man~ (considering she complains during most of this book that she is single and wants a man) . And let me tell you, someone kept saying it to her constantly. She said she was a 'bad feminist' for missing someone. I recall her saying she misses love interest #1 and she's like 'I shouldn't, then I'm a bad feminist' because apparently feminists aren't supposed to have feelings? You're allowed to miss someone you care for, dumbass.
Side characters & LGBTQ+ rep. So, I love it when a book has representation but I hate it when an author just throws it in there just to tick off the boxes and say they're repping, and it's very evident in this book. It all felt very forced to me. I was glad to see that Williams included a non-binary character however I felt like there wasn't much to them at all which was disappointing. They're mostly there to, yep, talk about Penny. I couldn't say one fact about any character that isn't Penny or her fuckboys.
Some of the minor characters just melded into one and didn't stand out at all, they all just felt like the same character with a different name. None of the minor characters did anything for the plot except getting Penny to talk more about her woeful love life and convince her to sleep with everyone because lol you're an independent woman
The love interests.
I didn't care for them. None of them. I think Francesco was the most appealing but that's mostly because he was the only love interest for the first half of the book, the others were rushed and randomly peppered through and they weren't anything outstanding. Two dimensional and boring to read about.
Phew! We made it to the end of the review everyone. I haven't ranted this much in quite a while and, honestly, I've missed it.
So in conclusion, this just fell flat for me and wasn't my cup of tea. It was predictable, sometimes odd and tried to be humourous but just didn't tickle me. I tried so hard to like this because I was eager to read this one but, alas, it wasn't what I was hoping for and left me disappointed.
March 8, 2021
A heart to heart trouble of being single and looking for mister right, but also figuring out what makes us most happy. I loved reading the getting to know stage where there's a lot of flirting and bantering. Midnight came and went but the read was so cute I didn't want to put down. This is what I love reading chick lit books for! Francesco was definitely a swoon worthy guy who knew all the right things to say. I like the sisters relationship with their personal podcasts. I'm glad this book explained about gender non-binary. I have seen it on email signatures and Twitter/Instagram profiles but haven't a clue on it. I love learning stuffs through fiction novels.
This book started with a prologue, where Penny and Francesco split up against each other's will because Penny is moving to the country and long distance just doesn't work. Then the story began, following Penny, 30, a cook and an owner of a cafe, told in the third person point of view. Survivor of breast cancer at 25, she's feeling low that she hadn't had a real relationship in 5 years. Her last serious boyfriend left when she was diagnosed with cancer just like her father bailed out on her mother. Finding love and trusting someone could love her was a big issue. She also has plans for herself, something she really wanted but she had to put it aside when her uncle took ill. Life was full of challenges and choices. Readers will get the alternative view from Francesco, but not every other chapter. The story concluded with an epilogue.
The Love Square was well written and a fast paced read. It's sexy so mature readers only. The genre indicated as LGBT, but it was not with the main character as I thought, but with supporting characters. The non-traditional family situation was interesting. This book has good diversity on characters' backgrounds and modern ways of life. I love reading British literature on account of learning about life in a foreign country. I enjoyed the author's informative acknowledgment about how much work went into publishing a book. I highly recommend everyone to read this book!
xoxo, Jasmine at www.howusefulitis.wordpress.com for more details
Many thanks to HarperCollins 360 for the opportunity to read and review. Please be assured that my opinions are honest.
This book started with a prologue, where Penny and Francesco split up against each other's will because Penny is moving to the country and long distance just doesn't work. Then the story began, following Penny, 30, a cook and an owner of a cafe, told in the third person point of view. Survivor of breast cancer at 25, she's feeling low that she hadn't had a real relationship in 5 years. Her last serious boyfriend left when she was diagnosed with cancer just like her father bailed out on her mother. Finding love and trusting someone could love her was a big issue. She also has plans for herself, something she really wanted but she had to put it aside when her uncle took ill. Life was full of challenges and choices. Readers will get the alternative view from Francesco, but not every other chapter. The story concluded with an epilogue.
The Love Square was well written and a fast paced read. It's sexy so mature readers only. The genre indicated as LGBT, but it was not with the main character as I thought, but with supporting characters. The non-traditional family situation was interesting. This book has good diversity on characters' backgrounds and modern ways of life. I love reading British literature on account of learning about life in a foreign country. I enjoyed the author's informative acknowledgment about how much work went into publishing a book. I highly recommend everyone to read this book!
xoxo, Jasmine at www.howusefulitis.wordpress.com for more details
Many thanks to HarperCollins 360 for the opportunity to read and review. Please be assured that my opinions are honest.
September 2, 2021
Hi, my name is Kelly and I have a tendency to never review books that I read an eternity ago and only get reminded of said outstanding reviews when I am looking at my embarrassingly large NetGalley backlog and see that this is the second book with this title that I apparently had on my TBR at some point. Double fail!
Okay so I read this in the last eon or so and never reviewed it because – well, probably simply because it just wasn’t that great. The premise was sooooooo good. It was totally a romantic comedy I would freak out about if it were to appear as a recommendation on my Netflix account. The story here is about Penny, a woman who has been unlucky in love. Obviously the title explains it all that at some point Penny finds herself with not only one but three suitors.
I was fully expecting this to be funny and find myself smitten with a new book boyfriend, but that was not to be. Penny was not likeable at all and sadly none of the suitors were either. One relationship was covered in great detail while the other two were glossed over. The Lizzo (yes, you read that right – the actual @lizzobeeating) as a character was nothing but cringe. The idea of being berated for cheating while never having defined the relationship was cringe. However, the idea of NOT disclosing you have multiple sex partners was also cringe because while people can do with their bodies as they wish, the people they are doing those things with also should have their comfort levels regarding such respected. Babies fixing everything is the cringiest. Spoiler alert: They don’t. But maybe a serious dose of therapy and perhaps some prescription pharmaceuticals would help Penny out.
The end.
Okay so I read this in the last eon or so and never reviewed it because – well, probably simply because it just wasn’t that great. The premise was sooooooo good. It was totally a romantic comedy I would freak out about if it were to appear as a recommendation on my Netflix account. The story here is about Penny, a woman who has been unlucky in love. Obviously the title explains it all that at some point Penny finds herself with not only one but three suitors.
I was fully expecting this to be funny and find myself smitten with a new book boyfriend, but that was not to be. Penny was not likeable at all and sadly none of the suitors were either. One relationship was covered in great detail while the other two were glossed over. The Lizzo (yes, you read that right – the actual @lizzobeeating) as a character was nothing but cringe. The idea of being berated for cheating while never having defined the relationship was cringe. However, the idea of NOT disclosing you have multiple sex partners was also cringe because while people can do with their bodies as they wish, the people they are doing those things with also should have their comfort levels regarding such respected. Babies fixing everything is the cringiest. Spoiler alert: They don’t. But maybe a serious dose of therapy and perhaps some prescription pharmaceuticals would help Penny out.
The end.
May 2, 2020
Even though the title says it all this book still managed to take me by surprise. Maybe it is all the pastel colors cover's fault. This turned out to be a more emotional book than I expected. Penny is single and dating. One, two, three... One day you have no choice and suddenly there are too many.
I liked that the characters were imperfect. That fact made them more realistic. There is a great LGBTQ rep. So kudos to the author for diversity. I also liked how the author dealt with the infertility storyline. It is a complex and beautifully represented world we are living in.
I liked the side characters and their stories. There is an amazing relationship between Penny and her sister. Sadly the romance part of this book didn't hold my interest at all. Even with three choices, it felt kind of flat and predictable.
Overall, It an okay read.
Thank you NetGalley and publisher for the copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I liked that the characters were imperfect. That fact made them more realistic. There is a great LGBTQ rep. So kudos to the author for diversity. I also liked how the author dealt with the infertility storyline. It is a complex and beautifully represented world we are living in.
I liked the side characters and their stories. There is an amazing relationship between Penny and her sister. Sadly the romance part of this book didn't hold my interest at all. Even with three choices, it felt kind of flat and predictable.
Overall, It an okay read.
Thank you NetGalley and publisher for the copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
January 30, 2021
I quite enjoyed this. It was good fun and a quick read, and I did really like some aspects of the ending. I did find the plot a bit predictable – which I don't mind in a romcom generally, but in a love triangle/square I think I like a bit more tension and who the main character might end up with! Regardless, a fun read.
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March 30, 2020
Story 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Running a little, but popular cafe and being an amazing cook should make Penny an adult who has her life together.
But whereas she loves what she does job-like, she has really bad luck in her dating life.
Until she meets Francesco.
He’s perfect for her in every way. Until she needs to leave London and help her uncle with his restaurant.
There she realizes that even though she had the worst luck with men before Francesco, now she has several options on hand:
three, to be honest.
Three perfect, handsome man, who couldn’t be any more different.
And so chaos begins and Penny learns what it is that she really wants in life.
That was really, really cute and kind of a funny book.
I enjoyed it a lot and read it in just 24 hours.
It had a good pacing with some bits of drama, friendship, love, sex etc etc and all in all was really entertaining to read.
Character 🌟🌟🌟
First of all: no one in this book is perfect.
That would be weird.
But they’re perfect in their own kind of way.
Penny was strong, independent and loved her family really much. And she stayed realistic even though she could’ve dreamed a bit.
When she needed to move away, she broke things apart with Francesco, because she didn’t think a relationship with so many kilometers between them couldn’t last long. In the end they would hurt each other even more.
She paused her life plans for the sake of her family, her uncle. And even though she could’ve been sad, depressed and moody about the forced change, she learned to love it.
She grew as a person, as a cook, as a friend.
And even though she didn’t always act in the right way, she said sorry when it needed to be said.
There were many side characters that appeared in this novel and even though I’m not so sure if he’s a main or a side character, I Iiked Francesco the most.
I liked him because he treated Penny in a respectful way and told her that before he wanted to fall in love with her he wanted to fall in friendship with her.
And that was the cutest thing to say.
Also pretty wise.
He explained it in such a wonderful way that I couldn’t help but fall in love.
And ship them so hard.
I know he didn’t always acted gentleman-like, but like Penny he said sorry if it needed to be said.
All in all I liked the characters a lot and I think they pushed the story forward in their own kind of way.
Relationships 🌟🌟🌟
Penny is a grown independent woman who does not need a man.
Or three.
Or maybe she wants a man? But which one?
They’re all so perfect in their own kind of way...
Whereas everything is relaxed and funny with Thomas, Penny has the best sex of her life with Priyesh, but then there is also Francesco.
He respects her, is loyal and supportive and probably her best friend. Even though they needed to break things up, because Penny moved away, he still wanted to stay in contact with her. He talked to her on the phone, cooked for her, talked to her about their problems...(Can you see which one was my favorite? Haha)
All in all I really felt a connection between Penny and Francesco and I shipped them so hard. They didn’t have this easypeasy relationship, it was the exact opposite in some way. The relationship felt real filled with real life problems and emotions, anger, confusion, embarrassment.
Writing style 🌟🌟🌟🌟
The writing was definitely catching, flowing and made the book easy and fun to read.
It was written in Penny’s POV even though sometimes it changed to Francesco.
But without a note or something. It just changed in the middle and then switched back to Penny. It could’ve been confusing, but I didn’t have any problems changing my focus and the POV in my head.
All in all definitely a good book.
May 21, 2020
you are selfish and uncomprehending of the games you play with grown men's emotions. (...) this victim routine you have is mind-numbing. it's time to grow up.
i would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for an arc and i would like to thank my heart for staying away from anyone who would qualify as the male version of penny bridges. because penny bridges is an asshole and a fuckboy, even though she's a woman.
don't get me wrong. i fully respect women's (and men's) right to sleep with however many different people they want, and all at the same time, for all i care. but i do not respect women (or men) who do so with complete disregard for the feelings of others. if you are enough of an adult to sleep with people, you have to be just as much of an adult about how you do it. that means being respectful and honest (like thomas, a character i didn't particularly enjoy, but the only one who made any sort of sense in this book, in his own way). it is not to say that, even if you are being respectful and honest, that you will not hurt people. you might. but, at least, you will have done all in your power not to. unlike penny bridges, who has "such good intentions" and "doesn't mean to hurt anyone" but has no accountability, no responsibility and never considers anyone's interests or feelings but her own.
penny hasn't been dealt an incredible hand, i'll give her that. her father walked out on their family. her mother died. penny had cancer. her boyfriend left her when she was diagnosed. you'd figure all of this would've made her a little more humble. after all, she doesn't seem like someone who you would exactly describe as privileged. and yet, the first time in her life penny has to put someone else's interests abover her own (when she has to take over her uncle's pub), she does nothing but complain about how she had to put someone else's interests above her own. and this is her uncle who raised her, who stepped in when she was parentless. who supported her. imagine if it wasn't!
i am just profoundly annoyed that williams would write a book about one of the most self-centered, selfish and immature characters ever and then dare to camouflage that as being a strong, independent woman, who gets "rewarded", in the end .
penny is, ultimately, a character based on the type of people i try my hardest to stay away from.
i was also really disappointed in how charlie's character was used in this book. they were a non-binary character that was introduced for the sake of representation. their character was just that. someone who was non-binary. period. there was nothing more to them. if that's what williams is going to do with a non-binary character, then it's better to not do anything at all, in my opinion. it was just so.. reductive.
and just so it doens't go unmentioned: the lizzo references? i cringed.
lastly, i just wanted to say i didn't appreciate how it came across like williams was trying to teach me about technology. not that i think some people wouldn't appreciate help, as i'm a bit technologically challenged myself but, let's just say that, if i need help with my phone or an app, i'm not looking for it in a romance novel. and if you think i'm being too harsh, please consider this quote:
she simultaneously fished her phone out of her apron, pulling up whatsapp to send a voice note to her sister clementine. she held down the record button and slide it up so that it locked, meaning she could talk at length without needing to keep her finger pressed down.
or this one:
she went to contacts and hit 'i' by cristian's name, scrolling down to block his number.
honestly, no wonder this took me so long to finish.
i would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for an arc and i would like to thank my heart for staying away from anyone who would qualify as the male version of penny bridges. because penny bridges is an asshole and a fuckboy, even though she's a woman.
don't get me wrong. i fully respect women's (and men's) right to sleep with however many different people they want, and all at the same time, for all i care. but i do not respect women (or men) who do so with complete disregard for the feelings of others. if you are enough of an adult to sleep with people, you have to be just as much of an adult about how you do it. that means being respectful and honest (like thomas, a character i didn't particularly enjoy, but the only one who made any sort of sense in this book, in his own way). it is not to say that, even if you are being respectful and honest, that you will not hurt people. you might. but, at least, you will have done all in your power not to. unlike penny bridges, who has "such good intentions" and "doesn't mean to hurt anyone" but has no accountability, no responsibility and never considers anyone's interests or feelings but her own.
penny hasn't been dealt an incredible hand, i'll give her that. her father walked out on their family. her mother died. penny had cancer. her boyfriend left her when she was diagnosed. you'd figure all of this would've made her a little more humble. after all, she doesn't seem like someone who you would exactly describe as privileged. and yet, the first time in her life penny has to put someone else's interests abover her own (when she has to take over her uncle's pub), she does nothing but complain about how she had to put someone else's interests above her own. and this is her uncle who raised her, who stepped in when she was parentless. who supported her. imagine if it wasn't!
i am just profoundly annoyed that williams would write a book about one of the most self-centered, selfish and immature characters ever and then dare to camouflage that as being a strong, independent woman, who gets "rewarded", in the end .
penny is, ultimately, a character based on the type of people i try my hardest to stay away from.
i was also really disappointed in how charlie's character was used in this book. they were a non-binary character that was introduced for the sake of representation. their character was just that. someone who was non-binary. period. there was nothing more to them. if that's what williams is going to do with a non-binary character, then it's better to not do anything at all, in my opinion. it was just so.. reductive.
and just so it doens't go unmentioned: the lizzo references? i cringed.
lastly, i just wanted to say i didn't appreciate how it came across like williams was trying to teach me about technology. not that i think some people wouldn't appreciate help, as i'm a bit technologically challenged myself but, let's just say that, if i need help with my phone or an app, i'm not looking for it in a romance novel. and if you think i'm being too harsh, please consider this quote:
she simultaneously fished her phone out of her apron, pulling up whatsapp to send a voice note to her sister clementine. she held down the record button and slide it up so that it locked, meaning she could talk at length without needing to keep her finger pressed down.
or this one:
she went to contacts and hit 'i' by cristian's name, scrolling down to block his number.
honestly, no wonder this took me so long to finish.
June 30, 2020
I’ve got to admit it, I was rather disappointed by this book. The cover implied a book rather upbeat and light-hearted. However, this was definitely not the case. I found Penny’s circumstances rather miserable and her love-life was irritating. The outcome was predictable and I could not connect with her as the main character.
So, it becomes clear from the outset that Penny is unfortunate in love. She has had a difficult life with being ill from cancer and losing her mum to the same disease. Add in the fact that she can’t seem to find Mr Right and Penny is, naturally, rather frustrated. As her circumstances change over the novel, Penny manages to find herself involved with three very different men – all offering opposing relationships. From the beginning there is Francesco, a fellow chef and attractive Italian. Moving to Derbyshire, Penny gets involved with Thomas who is rakish, unpredictable and not at all interested in monogamy. Finally, Priyesh offers a wild but what felt a desperate attraction that obviously does not have any future to it. When the three men eventually meet in the closing chapters of the story, it is naturally very awkward and I found my toes curling at the atmosphere – I just wanted Penny to hurry up and make her mind up!
It is obvious who Penny should make a future with and I feel the author could have either surprised the reader more at the end or, simply reduced the length of the story. It did feel like it dragged on a bit at the closing and I was relieved when I reached the Epilogue. This was really disappointing myself because I had had such high expectations. I didn’t really appreciated Penny’s infidelities and was frustrated she was quite happy to jump between different men – I guess I was hoping for a heroine with more morality?!
Undoubtedly, Williams’s cast of characters is diverse. Penny’s friends and family are fun and supportive. I liked Sharon and I think Thomas had potential to be the more interesting of boyfriends – it’s a shame neither featured more in the story. Charlie, a colleague working with Penny in Derbyshire, is Williams’s most diverse character and as a gender non-binary, I found myself most surprised to see this representation. My brain struggled to process this (I’m sorry!) and I could not move beyond this.
There isn’t much laugh-out-loud humour in the story but the banter is refreshing and helps break the damp atmosphere. Many issues are running through Penny’s story and this adds depth to something I anticipated being a funny example of women’s fiction. I hope Williams’s other novel is more light-hearted and warming because this one, sadly, to not live up to my expectations.
With thanks to Avon books and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
So, it becomes clear from the outset that Penny is unfortunate in love. She has had a difficult life with being ill from cancer and losing her mum to the same disease. Add in the fact that she can’t seem to find Mr Right and Penny is, naturally, rather frustrated. As her circumstances change over the novel, Penny manages to find herself involved with three very different men – all offering opposing relationships. From the beginning there is Francesco, a fellow chef and attractive Italian. Moving to Derbyshire, Penny gets involved with Thomas who is rakish, unpredictable and not at all interested in monogamy. Finally, Priyesh offers a wild but what felt a desperate attraction that obviously does not have any future to it. When the three men eventually meet in the closing chapters of the story, it is naturally very awkward and I found my toes curling at the atmosphere – I just wanted Penny to hurry up and make her mind up!
It is obvious who Penny should make a future with and I feel the author could have either surprised the reader more at the end or, simply reduced the length of the story. It did feel like it dragged on a bit at the closing and I was relieved when I reached the Epilogue. This was really disappointing myself because I had had such high expectations. I didn’t really appreciated Penny’s infidelities and was frustrated she was quite happy to jump between different men – I guess I was hoping for a heroine with more morality?!
Undoubtedly, Williams’s cast of characters is diverse. Penny’s friends and family are fun and supportive. I liked Sharon and I think Thomas had potential to be the more interesting of boyfriends – it’s a shame neither featured more in the story. Charlie, a colleague working with Penny in Derbyshire, is Williams’s most diverse character and as a gender non-binary, I found myself most surprised to see this representation. My brain struggled to process this (I’m sorry!) and I could not move beyond this.
There isn’t much laugh-out-loud humour in the story but the banter is refreshing and helps break the damp atmosphere. Many issues are running through Penny’s story and this adds depth to something I anticipated being a funny example of women’s fiction. I hope Williams’s other novel is more light-hearted and warming because this one, sadly, to not live up to my expectations.
With thanks to Avon books and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
June 29, 2020
The Love Square by Laura Jane Williams is a light read. It is a fun and fast-paced romantic comedy, which deals with the story of Penelope Hermione Bridge, our heroine, who struggling to get dates, ends up in a connection with three guys at once, thus forming a love square geometrically!
There is something inviting about chefs falling in love, what with all that tantalizing aroma around their food and eventually themselves. This book cleverly banks on the same, and delivers as expected.
The love making scenes, though few, were not erotic enough for an adult romcom. Now, I don't mean for them to compete with the erotica genre itself, but something was definitely amiss here.
Thanks to the author and the publisher for the ARC.
Verdict: One time read.
There is something inviting about chefs falling in love, what with all that tantalizing aroma around their food and eventually themselves. This book cleverly banks on the same, and delivers as expected.
The love making scenes, though few, were not erotic enough for an adult romcom. Now, I don't mean for them to compete with the erotica genre itself, but something was definitely amiss here.
Thanks to the author and the publisher for the ARC.
Verdict: One time read.
July 30, 2020
When I received Love Square via Netgalley from HarperCollins (thank you, as always), I was super excited. I’ve read a couple of thrillers in a row and thought a bit of chicklit would be a nice relaxing and fun change. I’ve read great things about Williams’s first book, Our Stop, so it would be a good quality chicklit read, I assumed. But my enthusiasm waned soon enough…
Seriously, nothing happened for the first half of the book. Okay, stuff happened but it was boring, boring, boring. Penny has a boring meet-cute with Francesco and we get every word of their boring dates (hint for writers: recapping the routine convo your leads have is okay - I do not need to read boring word for word transcripts - just cut to the chase), they flirt boringly, they kiss boringly, they have boring sex (literally, this is a plot point) and then Penny has to go up north and she doesn’t want a long distance relationship (I googled it and it’s probably around a 3 hour drive away at the most - every Australian rolls their eyes at the ‘distance’) and they break up and she meets other boring men.
Penny has had breast cancer and is in remission. I’ve been searching for a decent post breast cancer sex scene in a book for a long time. I’ll need to keep waiting.
Williams presented the cancer storyline without any consideration of the ‘show not tell’ style of writing. Penny just basically gave Francesco (and us) an info dump early on. Love Square reminded me of another couple of books I’ve read where the writer has obviously had good intentions by adding a medical issue to raise awareness but fail to make it work. In those other books, and this one, it was a case of poor execution. Here it became like a textbook list of symptoms and side effects without any sense of timing for any of the reveals to make anything heartfelt.
Even though Penny has a plethora of men, she has no chemistry with any of them. Nor did she deliver any humorous lines (stuff I think was supposed to be funny really wasn’t).
Diversity is also poorly executed. Every supporting character ticks off something from the ‘Diversity in Books 101’ list. Except, of course, for Penny. I felt like Williams wanted to have her cake and eat it too. If she really wanted to make a difference, why not just make Penny the diverse character! Or at least give one of the diverse characters some point.
Williams actually had other checklists besides the diversity one to tick off. There was also the Modern Technology in Chicklit one (dating apps and texts and podcasts and inability to answer a real phone call), the Required Occupation in Chicklit one (owner of a coffee shop/qualified chef, just don't expect mouth watering food porn - apparently having one of the characters calling out ‘chef’ now and then covered all bases), and the Pop Culture References in Contemporary Chicklit one (why did they have to spoil Frank Ocean’s music for me).
I’ve also got to mention all the weird head hopping Williams indulges in. For example, it’s Penny, Penny, Penny and then - bam - Francesco for one or two lines before we rush back to Penny. It made my head ache.
No, I did not finish the book. I began to skim more and more and it seemed pointless. I didn’t care about the outcome. (I’ve now found some spoilers and I can’t quite believe I wasted my time on reading as much as I did.)
Disappointing with a capital D but I have a zillion other books to read so, thank you, next.
1 out of 5
Seriously, nothing happened for the first half of the book. Okay, stuff happened but it was boring, boring, boring. Penny has a boring meet-cute with Francesco and we get every word of their boring dates (hint for writers: recapping the routine convo your leads have is okay - I do not need to read boring word for word transcripts - just cut to the chase), they flirt boringly, they kiss boringly, they have boring sex (literally, this is a plot point) and then Penny has to go up north and she doesn’t want a long distance relationship (I googled it and it’s probably around a 3 hour drive away at the most - every Australian rolls their eyes at the ‘distance’) and they break up and she meets other boring men.
Penny has had breast cancer and is in remission. I’ve been searching for a decent post breast cancer sex scene in a book for a long time. I’ll need to keep waiting.
Williams presented the cancer storyline without any consideration of the ‘show not tell’ style of writing. Penny just basically gave Francesco (and us) an info dump early on. Love Square reminded me of another couple of books I’ve read where the writer has obviously had good intentions by adding a medical issue to raise awareness but fail to make it work. In those other books, and this one, it was a case of poor execution. Here it became like a textbook list of symptoms and side effects without any sense of timing for any of the reveals to make anything heartfelt.
Even though Penny has a plethora of men, she has no chemistry with any of them. Nor did she deliver any humorous lines (stuff I think was supposed to be funny really wasn’t).
Diversity is also poorly executed. Every supporting character ticks off something from the ‘Diversity in Books 101’ list. Except, of course, for Penny. I felt like Williams wanted to have her cake and eat it too. If she really wanted to make a difference, why not just make Penny the diverse character! Or at least give one of the diverse characters some point.
Williams actually had other checklists besides the diversity one to tick off. There was also the Modern Technology in Chicklit one (dating apps and texts and podcasts and inability to answer a real phone call), the Required Occupation in Chicklit one (owner of a coffee shop/qualified chef, just don't expect mouth watering food porn - apparently having one of the characters calling out ‘chef’ now and then covered all bases), and the Pop Culture References in Contemporary Chicklit one (why did they have to spoil Frank Ocean’s music for me).
I’ve also got to mention all the weird head hopping Williams indulges in. For example, it’s Penny, Penny, Penny and then - bam - Francesco for one or two lines before we rush back to Penny. It made my head ache.
No, I did not finish the book. I began to skim more and more and it seemed pointless. I didn’t care about the outcome. (I’ve now found some spoilers and I can’t quite believe I wasted my time on reading as much as I did.)
Disappointing with a capital D but I have a zillion other books to read so, thank you, next.
1 out of 5
May 15, 2022
3.75⭐️ Unpopular opinion…. I like love triangles. There I said it. Feel free to hate me but I really do, I just find them so entertaining. Now was the book and overall wow factor? no. Did I still enjoy myself for 2 hours? yes.
July 3, 2023
I honestly can't with this book, it was atrocious
November 25, 2020
I received this book from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
To be frank, this was nothing like I expected.
The story starts light-hearted and fun but then it takes a weird turn. There were so much unnecessary conflict and misunderstandings, which I’m not a fan of.
The MC was annoying at times, especially when she didn’t communicate with her partners how she felt and went with the flow until shit hit the fan. I think she should have been truthful with all three men. I also think one of them was outright rude and an ass and the other started catching feelings for Penny and felt somewhat entitled to have them reciprocated.
The narrator was a delight and made the experience better than it would have been otherwise.
Sadly, this one was a let down. It was a very quick and easy read tho so if you don’t mind miscommunication, you might want to give it a read.
To be frank, this was nothing like I expected.
The story starts light-hearted and fun but then it takes a weird turn. There were so much unnecessary conflict and misunderstandings, which I’m not a fan of.
The MC was annoying at times, especially when she didn’t communicate with her partners how she felt and went with the flow until shit hit the fan. I think she should have been truthful with all three men. I also think one of them was outright rude and an ass and the other started catching feelings for Penny and felt somewhat entitled to have them reciprocated.
The narrator was a delight and made the experience better than it would have been otherwise.
Sadly, this one was a let down. It was a very quick and easy read tho so if you don’t mind miscommunication, you might want to give it a read.
July 21, 2020
After having devoured
Our Stop
and falling in love with Laura Jane Williams’ characters, humour, and writing style, I had high hopes for this novel. But this one is nothing like Our Stop, and I think that’s what made me have a hard time with it. It’s much more heartfelt and serious, with very little humour.
Penny is an old soul, and I say that because while reading the first few chapters, I was sure she was an older woman. When it was revealed that she’s only thirty, I was shocked. I think it’s a combination of her irritability, her having given up on finding love, the success she’s already found in her career, and her general outlook on life. I have to say that I wasn’t a fan of Penny’s. She’s indecisive, which I can accept, since that’s honestly a critical aspect of the plot of the book. (If she wasn’t indecisive, she would be able to pick her man right away!) But one part that really got to me was her jealousy. Can she honestly be upset that the men she’s with aren’t monogamous when she herself isn’t? That said, there was a little bit of slut shaming in this book that really upset me, and honestly made me dissatisfied with the man that she ends up choosing in the end.
The blurb for the novel is a little misleading, and she isn’t truly dating three guys at the same time. While the book has feminist themes, I wanted her to genuinely date these three men for the majority of the book, but she only starts to date the third man around the 60% mark. Based on my experience reading Our Stop , I had assumed that there would be humorous scenes where she bumps into one man while on a date with another, and other romantic comedy situations, but this book only has one or two of these, and the tone was all off. I felt more of a sense of dread than being overwhelmed with the giggles like I was during awkward scenes in her previous book.
I know I shouldn’t be so critical, but when the blurb tells you that you will be laughing and crying while reading a “feel good book” I expect to laugh and “feel good” while reading it. Oh well. I’ll still check out the author’s next book, and I hope that she’ll return to the romantic comedy genre.
I recommend this book to those looking for a heartfelt novel about a woman trying to figure out her identity.
*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc to review*
This review appeared first on https://powerlibrarian.wordpress.com/
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My 2020 Reading Challenge
Penny is an old soul, and I say that because while reading the first few chapters, I was sure she was an older woman. When it was revealed that she’s only thirty, I was shocked. I think it’s a combination of her irritability, her having given up on finding love, the success she’s already found in her career, and her general outlook on life. I have to say that I wasn’t a fan of Penny’s. She’s indecisive, which I can accept, since that’s honestly a critical aspect of the plot of the book. (If she wasn’t indecisive, she would be able to pick her man right away!) But one part that really got to me was her jealousy. Can she honestly be upset that the men she’s with aren’t monogamous when she herself isn’t? That said, there was a little bit of slut shaming in this book that really upset me, and honestly made me dissatisfied with the man that she ends up choosing in the end.
The blurb for the novel is a little misleading, and she isn’t truly dating three guys at the same time. While the book has feminist themes, I wanted her to genuinely date these three men for the majority of the book, but she only starts to date the third man around the 60% mark. Based on my experience reading Our Stop , I had assumed that there would be humorous scenes where she bumps into one man while on a date with another, and other romantic comedy situations, but this book only has one or two of these, and the tone was all off. I felt more of a sense of dread than being overwhelmed with the giggles like I was during awkward scenes in her previous book.
I know I shouldn’t be so critical, but when the blurb tells you that you will be laughing and crying while reading a “feel good book” I expect to laugh and “feel good” while reading it. Oh well. I’ll still check out the author’s next book, and I hope that she’ll return to the romantic comedy genre.
I recommend this book to those looking for a heartfelt novel about a woman trying to figure out her identity.
*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc to review*
This review appeared first on https://powerlibrarian.wordpress.com/
Instagram | Blog | Website | Twitter
My 2020 Reading Challenge
April 22, 2021
Oh god I’m sorry but this book was NOT it. Honestly, what on earth did I just read?
I didn’t vibe with the writing at all. Don’t get me wrong, it did it’s job but I’m not sure it did it well. For a start, while we spend most of the time in Penny’s POV, sometimes it would randomly switch to another character without any warning or need for it. Secondly, the amount of info dumping was insane. It’s like she told Penny’s super tragic backstory in an entire paragraph as soon as she was introduced. Every time a new character was introduced, their physical appearance was painstakingly described immediately in a bulky paragraph, It just wasn’t necessary. Don’t even get me started on referring to characters by their first AND last name – I hate it.
Penny did my head in. I just didn’t like her at all as a protagonist. The way she (and other characters, let’s be real) communicated just felt so off. Honestly, who talks like that in real life? And the way her entire life is somewhat upheaved for six months because of a man she knew for THREE WEEKS? Get it together girl. Get a grip. Second-hand embarrassment to the max in this book at times.
When you’re reading a romance, you want to root for the love interests. You want some passion, some suspense. Especially in a book with multiple love interests – you want it to be unpredictable and not know who she’s going to choose. Well, a) it’s obvious and not even a love square and b) all of the love interests were awful. I didn’t even like them a little bit. Apart from the fact they were all supposedly ridiculously physically attractive, what did they even have going for them? You have a old man who is a bit pervy and clingy, a young ‘player’ who wore silk tracksuits, and a random Italian man with issues. Like, none of them were appealing in the slightest – what was the aim of even writing them into the story?
LIZZO? Listen I know we’re in a fictional world and I can suspend my belief for a lot of things to enjoy a good story, but come on. Why was Lizzo a side character in this book? Why did she have dialogue, and become friends with the protagonist, and FACETIME her? I’m sorry it was actually laugh out loud ridiculous and not in a good way. What on Earth who thought that was a good idea.
I went in looking for a light-hearted, feel-good contemporary romance but honestly it annoyed me so much it had the opposite effect.
I didn’t vibe with the writing at all. Don’t get me wrong, it did it’s job but I’m not sure it did it well. For a start, while we spend most of the time in Penny’s POV, sometimes it would randomly switch to another character without any warning or need for it. Secondly, the amount of info dumping was insane. It’s like she told Penny’s super tragic backstory in an entire paragraph as soon as she was introduced. Every time a new character was introduced, their physical appearance was painstakingly described immediately in a bulky paragraph, It just wasn’t necessary. Don’t even get me started on referring to characters by their first AND last name – I hate it.
Penny did my head in. I just didn’t like her at all as a protagonist. The way she (and other characters, let’s be real) communicated just felt so off. Honestly, who talks like that in real life? And the way her entire life is somewhat upheaved for six months because of a man she knew for THREE WEEKS? Get it together girl. Get a grip. Second-hand embarrassment to the max in this book at times.
When you’re reading a romance, you want to root for the love interests. You want some passion, some suspense. Especially in a book with multiple love interests – you want it to be unpredictable and not know who she’s going to choose. Well, a) it’s obvious and not even a love square and b) all of the love interests were awful. I didn’t even like them a little bit. Apart from the fact they were all supposedly ridiculously physically attractive, what did they even have going for them? You have a old man who is a bit pervy and clingy, a young ‘player’ who wore silk tracksuits, and a random Italian man with issues. Like, none of them were appealing in the slightest – what was the aim of even writing them into the story?
LIZZO? Listen I know we’re in a fictional world and I can suspend my belief for a lot of things to enjoy a good story, but come on. Why was Lizzo a side character in this book? Why did she have dialogue, and become friends with the protagonist, and FACETIME her? I’m sorry it was actually laugh out loud ridiculous and not in a good way. What on Earth who thought that was a good idea.
I went in looking for a light-hearted, feel-good contemporary romance but honestly it annoyed me so much it had the opposite effect.
September 14, 2020
An entertaining and enjoyable quick little read. I was expecting this to be more of a fun light hearted story filled with laughs. The book was much more emotional and dealt with more serious subject matter than I was anticipating. Once I readjusted my expectations I really enjoyed the story. Penny is looking for love in all the wrong places, that is until she’s not... do you know the saying, “when it rains it pours”, well that was Penny’s love life. Penny has a pretty good life even though she’s dealt with some tragedy including fighting cancer and the death of her parents. She is now the proud owner of her own café, and that’s when her path crosses with Francesco. Francesco is kind, supportive, and handsome and things get pretty cozy between Penny and he. That is until penny is summoned Home to run the family pub after her uncle who raised her falls ill. Penny ends things with Francesco because she does not want a long distance relationship. When Penny is working at the family pub she meets two other men that fancy her. So when Francesco and her finally reconnect Penny is all kinds of confused.
Penny was a likable character, however I was frustrated with her indecision. All three men were good guys in their own way, but I had my favorite to be sure. But I have to admit I probably would have liked the story more if it just dealt with one man and that was it. I think these additional men just made the book a little too messy for me. The secondary characters were fabulous in this book, I loved Penny’s BFF and her family. There was also a lot of diversity in the story, something I don’t see as much in books set in the UK as in the US. The audiobook was narrated by Carrie Hope Fletcher Who did a wonderful job of bringing the story to life.
This book in emojis 👩🏻🍳 ☕️ 🍬 📱 🍺 👨🏻🍳
*** Big thank you to Harper Audio UK for my gifted copy of this book. All opinions are my own. ***
Penny was a likable character, however I was frustrated with her indecision. All three men were good guys in their own way, but I had my favorite to be sure. But I have to admit I probably would have liked the story more if it just dealt with one man and that was it. I think these additional men just made the book a little too messy for me. The secondary characters were fabulous in this book, I loved Penny’s BFF and her family. There was also a lot of diversity in the story, something I don’t see as much in books set in the UK as in the US. The audiobook was narrated by Carrie Hope Fletcher Who did a wonderful job of bringing the story to life.
This book in emojis 👩🏻🍳 ☕️ 🍬 📱 🍺 👨🏻🍳
*** Big thank you to Harper Audio UK for my gifted copy of this book. All opinions are my own. ***
August 6, 2020
I'm not usually one for love triangles, let alone a love square so I didn't have my hopes up too high. It's a lighter read when you're not in the mood for anything dark but it also touches on some important topics such as losing parents, cancer, and infertility. Penny wasn't very likable unfortunately. I did admire how strong she was given that she's a business owner and had went through some hardships. What ruined it for me was that she kept talking about how independent she was yet she complained about being single and how no one would love her or be with her for far too long and it got on my nerves.. Then she just got a little bit more annoying as the love interests were introduced. This had some potential and definitely would have been better if Penny was different. I wasn't really a fan of any of the love interests either. I also do think this dragged on a bit too long, it should've been shorter rather than 400 pages or in this case, the audiobook. The narrator did a good job though and was easy to listen to. Also the Lizzo appearance was sO weird??
Thank you to Netgalley and to the publisher for the copy!
Thank you to Netgalley and to the publisher for the copy!
September 17, 2022
I just finished this book and honestly I didn’t really have any expectations for this book but it was absolutly amazing. This book might be a cute romance but it’s so much more than that. For me the biggest plot in this book is the search for oneself and figuring out what you want and what you wish for or need to be happy. This is a story about self discovery with a subplot of a good little romance story. This book might be one that you can either see as just another romance book but personally this might be one that I’ll be thinking about from time to time. It really made me think about a lot tbh.
June 28, 2020
Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the eARC!
The Love Square is honest and emotional read with lovable characters and a satisfying conclusion. It highlights the importance of finding yourself, and discovering what will make you truly happy.
The book started off strong. It was engaging and funny, I liked the characters and it felt mature and relevant. But as the plot went on it started to lose me. I think part of that is because I expected the book to have the same levity to Our Stop. And while it did have some sunnier moments, it was much more of an emotional story as opposed to a fun romantic comedy.
The story follows Penny Bridge, a café owner in London who temporarily moves to Derbyshire to run her uncle’s pub in Derbyshire. I loved Penny. She’s a business owner but also a family-orientated, strong-willed and courageous woman. We also listen to the same podcasts so I was instantly a fan. Although she considers herself unlucky in love, Penny soon finds herself at the centre of affections from three men: Francisco, Thomas and Priyesh.
One thing I realised early on in the book was that I didn’t particularly care who Penny ended up with. I wasn’t keen on any of the men, and I found their individual arcs to be unimpressive. Romantic chemistry was seriously lacking between the three and Penny. I was more interested in her infertility struggle and journey to IVF than who she actually fell in love with. The Love Square didn’t read like a romance despite its title, which was disappointing.
The main character is a cancer survivor, and I really liked how the author highlighted the struggles that come after treatment. The character points out how anyone going through treatment is desperate for it to be over, but no one really talks about what happens when it’s actually over. And as someone who has not been through that kind of traumatic experience, it was interesting to learn how someone who is cancer-free feels after their victorious battle. It doesn’t all just go back to normal, and I really wished this was explored a bit more in the book.
Laura Jane Williams is brilliant at writing conversation. The dialogue in The Love Square, much like Our Stop, is appealing and charming. As a reader, you thoroughly get to know the characters through their speech. The personalities of each of the characters really shines, especially through the way they interact with one another. I found it really easy to distinguish the difference between Penny’s love interests, her family and her friends.
When I first started reading, my imagination was as active as the plot. But sadly, I felt like the book slowed in the middle and I had to push myself to keep reading. A lot of the time I felt like I was turning pages but the story wasn’t moving forward. There was a huge urge to skip chapters because I kept waiting for something to happen, which is a shame because the premise really excited me.
I had the same issues with this book I had with Our Stop. While it’s well-written, it still feels like a giant BuzzFeed article. The jokes didn’t make me laugh, the celebrity name dropping was irritating and it made a book with heavy topics feel surface level.
Overall, The Love Square was okay. I adored it in the beginning, but as the story developed I lost interest in the original concept. By the end, I was only focused on Penny’s stability rather than her love story.
For more book reviews and posts, check out my blog or follow along on Instagram 📚✨
The Love Square is honest and emotional read with lovable characters and a satisfying conclusion. It highlights the importance of finding yourself, and discovering what will make you truly happy.
The book started off strong. It was engaging and funny, I liked the characters and it felt mature and relevant. But as the plot went on it started to lose me. I think part of that is because I expected the book to have the same levity to Our Stop. And while it did have some sunnier moments, it was much more of an emotional story as opposed to a fun romantic comedy.
The story follows Penny Bridge, a café owner in London who temporarily moves to Derbyshire to run her uncle’s pub in Derbyshire. I loved Penny. She’s a business owner but also a family-orientated, strong-willed and courageous woman. We also listen to the same podcasts so I was instantly a fan. Although she considers herself unlucky in love, Penny soon finds herself at the centre of affections from three men: Francisco, Thomas and Priyesh.
One thing I realised early on in the book was that I didn’t particularly care who Penny ended up with. I wasn’t keen on any of the men, and I found their individual arcs to be unimpressive. Romantic chemistry was seriously lacking between the three and Penny. I was more interested in her infertility struggle and journey to IVF than who she actually fell in love with. The Love Square didn’t read like a romance despite its title, which was disappointing.
The main character is a cancer survivor, and I really liked how the author highlighted the struggles that come after treatment. The character points out how anyone going through treatment is desperate for it to be over, but no one really talks about what happens when it’s actually over. And as someone who has not been through that kind of traumatic experience, it was interesting to learn how someone who is cancer-free feels after their victorious battle. It doesn’t all just go back to normal, and I really wished this was explored a bit more in the book.
Laura Jane Williams is brilliant at writing conversation. The dialogue in The Love Square, much like Our Stop, is appealing and charming. As a reader, you thoroughly get to know the characters through their speech. The personalities of each of the characters really shines, especially through the way they interact with one another. I found it really easy to distinguish the difference between Penny’s love interests, her family and her friends.
When I first started reading, my imagination was as active as the plot. But sadly, I felt like the book slowed in the middle and I had to push myself to keep reading. A lot of the time I felt like I was turning pages but the story wasn’t moving forward. There was a huge urge to skip chapters because I kept waiting for something to happen, which is a shame because the premise really excited me.
I had the same issues with this book I had with Our Stop. While it’s well-written, it still feels like a giant BuzzFeed article. The jokes didn’t make me laugh, the celebrity name dropping was irritating and it made a book with heavy topics feel surface level.
Overall, The Love Square was okay. I adored it in the beginning, but as the story developed I lost interest in the original concept. By the end, I was only focused on Penny’s stability rather than her love story.
For more book reviews and posts, check out my blog or follow along on Instagram 📚✨
July 10, 2020
This was an okay read.
It was quite a lot more serious than I expected. I had an impression that this would be a fun and quick read, but it has it's layers, and they're pulled off in an okay manner.
I don't know what it was about this book that didn't wow me, since theoretically this is exactly what I enjoy. Maybe it's cause I went in with expectations. Maybe it was that the books feels only half baked. But I think it mostly has to do with the fact that I hated the main character. With everything going on in her life, she still came out as someone I couldn't sympathize with. I wasn't looking for a likeable character (even though it's chick lit, and that's what we always get with chick lit), but I was looking for someone I could understand and feel for. I didn't get that.
This book could've been so much more than it is. But I did enjoy some of the themes in it, which saved me from DNFing it.
*Copy received through NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.
*Rating: 3/5 stars.
It was quite a lot more serious than I expected. I had an impression that this would be a fun and quick read, but it has it's layers, and they're pulled off in an okay manner.
I don't know what it was about this book that didn't wow me, since theoretically this is exactly what I enjoy. Maybe it's cause I went in with expectations. Maybe it was that the books feels only half baked. But I think it mostly has to do with the fact that I hated the main character. With everything going on in her life, she still came out as someone I couldn't sympathize with. I wasn't looking for a likeable character (even though it's chick lit, and that's what we always get with chick lit), but I was looking for someone I could understand and feel for. I didn't get that.
This book could've been so much more than it is. But I did enjoy some of the themes in it, which saved me from DNFing it.
*Copy received through NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.
*Rating: 3/5 stars.
December 28, 2021
From reading the title and the blurb of the book you would think that you already know everything that is going to happen in this book - but you’d be wrong! The Love Square is such a fabulous, heart-warming and happy book with so many twists, turns and sub-storylines to keep you engaged with the characters throughout. I really loved this book as it was so easy to read and was extremely uplifting and joyful. I have a couple more of Laura Jane Williams’ books to read which I have heard are also amazing, so really looking forward to that! If you’re looking for a uplifting and overall lovely book then this one is definitely for you - I loved it!!
February 14, 2021
I enjoyed this romantic realistic story about Penny, a cafe owner in London who has a whirlwind romance but before she can go farther her Uncle gets sick and she is asked to help run his Pub out in the countryside, where she grew up. They decide to remain friends.
In the countryside, she ends up dating another guy from her former school which was very casual and he left for an extended work trip. Then she ended up dating an older wine merchant for a while. Her London friend asks if she needs a friend. Then all of a sudden all 3 of them are in the same place and she is dating them, which to be fair she was single and being casual. And honestly it would be ok if a guy was doing this i.e. Bachelor, Bachelorette shows. But two of them might have wanted a more serious relationship. So she has to take a step back and think about what she really wants in life. Which is a great question, some of us are on auto-pilot doing the societal norms, trying to get any attention but are we doing what is really in our hearts? Are we picking the right person for our hearts, our lives, our passions in lives or are we settling for the only person who is interested?
As a cancer survivor Penny had been trying to figure out timing with doing surrogacy with her sister who offered. She had frozen and fertilized her embryos at her doctors recommendation since she really wanted to be a mother. But this was something she put on hold for relationships seeing if they would be compatible. I liked how she took a step back and made choices for herself and then the romance with the one of the 3 at the end was very sweet. There were a lot of mistakes, misunderstandings, hard choices, sweet moments, steamy moments. They were harsh with each other, they ignored each other, but they came back to each other because they were who they wanted to be with. It is a lovely realistic hard love story. Definitely the tragic lifecycle of dating is represented. I could never date more than 1 person at a time in my dating days cause I would end up at the same place at the same time. That reminds me of a mortifying moment that happened right before I fell asleep - I wonder what happened between the two guys that tried to hold me hand but they ended up touching each other's hands. hmmm.
Rating:
Thank you Net Galley and Avon books for the arc for my honest and voluntary review.
In the countryside, she ends up dating another guy from her former school which was very casual and he left for an extended work trip. Then she ended up dating an older wine merchant for a while. Her London friend asks if she needs a friend. Then all of a sudden all 3 of them are in the same place and she is dating them, which to be fair she was single and being casual. And honestly it would be ok if a guy was doing this i.e. Bachelor, Bachelorette shows. But two of them might have wanted a more serious relationship. So she has to take a step back and think about what she really wants in life. Which is a great question, some of us are on auto-pilot doing the societal norms, trying to get any attention but are we doing what is really in our hearts? Are we picking the right person for our hearts, our lives, our passions in lives or are we settling for the only person who is interested?
As a cancer survivor Penny had been trying to figure out timing with doing surrogacy with her sister who offered. She had frozen and fertilized her embryos at her doctors recommendation since she really wanted to be a mother. But this was something she put on hold for relationships seeing if they would be compatible. I liked how she took a step back and made choices for herself and then the romance with the one of the 3 at the end was very sweet. There were a lot of mistakes, misunderstandings, hard choices, sweet moments, steamy moments. They were harsh with each other, they ignored each other, but they came back to each other because they were who they wanted to be with. It is a lovely realistic hard love story. Definitely the tragic lifecycle of dating is represented. I could never date more than 1 person at a time in my dating days cause I would end up at the same place at the same time. That reminds me of a mortifying moment that happened right before I fell asleep - I wonder what happened between the two guys that tried to hold me hand but they ended up touching each other's hands. hmmm.
Rating:
Thank you Net Galley and Avon books for the arc for my honest and voluntary review.
June 25, 2020
Light and nice read.
Penny is a chef and owns a café in London. She loves her work and one could say she has her life kind of sorted out, but it's far from that... Besides all the love she gets from her sister, her uncle, and friends, she still feels unloved. The reason: men. It seems like she can't find the right one. After her former boyfriend broke up with her, she's been dating, but without finding someone who would like a serious relationship. Therefore, she can't help wondering if there's something wrong with her, until Francesco appears. He seems so perfect... and she feels truly loved. Unfortunately, she must go to her childhood village, to be in charge of her uncle's restaurant, and she doesn't dare to ask Francesco to go with her.
Penny's life has changed drastically in very little time. After all those years of feeling unliked by men, now she needs more free time to spend it with the ones who find her quite interesting and try to know her better. So now Penny is not in a "love triangle", but a "love square", as her friend and workmate says to her.
Thanks to Avon Books UK and NetGalley for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for myhonest review.
Penny is a chef and owns a café in London. She loves her work and one could say she has her life kind of sorted out, but it's far from that... Besides all the love she gets from her sister, her uncle, and friends, she still feels unloved. The reason: men. It seems like she can't find the right one. After her former boyfriend broke up with her, she's been dating, but without finding someone who would like a serious relationship. Therefore, she can't help wondering if there's something wrong with her, until Francesco appears. He seems so perfect... and she feels truly loved. Unfortunately, she must go to her childhood village, to be in charge of her uncle's restaurant, and she doesn't dare to ask Francesco to go with her.
Penny's life has changed drastically in very little time. After all those years of feeling unliked by men, now she needs more free time to spend it with the ones who find her quite interesting and try to know her better. So now Penny is not in a "love triangle", but a "love square", as her friend and workmate says to her.
Thanks to Avon Books UK and NetGalley for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for myhonest review.
September 30, 2022
2.5 stars
Not pregnancy. Also each man that joined the picture was worse ??
Not pregnancy. Also each man that joined the picture was worse ??
July 23, 2020
After thoroughly enjoying Our Stop I was looking forward to Laura’s latest novel The Love Square, sadly I’m a more than a little disappointed.
This had so much potential, it was incredibly refreshing to meet a single, thirtyish Londoner not just looking for the perfect fairy tale ending on Tinder. Penny’s history has been challenging from an absentee father, the death of her mother from cancer and her subsequent battle with cancer herself. The novel explores her search for love alongside her considerations as to whether she’s ready to harvest her frozen embryos through a surrogate to become a parent alone.
I found Penny incredibly irritating and lacking in depth, whilst I know the facts of her life from the trauma and her love of food, the reader never fully understands Penny. It felt very much as though you saw a different Penny depending on which man, she was keeping company with. The title alone gives away that Penny has three love interests in the book and as a reader you’d usually find yourself rooting for one of them *thinks Hunger Games love triangle* but with this novel I didn’t care. I
The introductions of Francesco, Thomas and Paresh felt so rushed that again the characters lacked dimension. Spoiler alert but I found Thomas professing his love incredibly unrealistic given the views of his character we’d been shared previously.
I agree with other readers about Charlie’s character, the lack of exploration of them left me as a reading feeling as though the inclusion of non-binary character was purely tick box.
I think this book could have been executed better had time been taking in the first few chapters to fully introduce Penny before any of the men were involved. I also think having three love interests was too ambitious to allow the reader to be on the journey. All in in all it felt rushed to include what could have been incredibly emotive topics in a plot that had a lot of potential.
Thank you to Avon Books and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This had so much potential, it was incredibly refreshing to meet a single, thirtyish Londoner not just looking for the perfect fairy tale ending on Tinder. Penny’s history has been challenging from an absentee father, the death of her mother from cancer and her subsequent battle with cancer herself. The novel explores her search for love alongside her considerations as to whether she’s ready to harvest her frozen embryos through a surrogate to become a parent alone.
I found Penny incredibly irritating and lacking in depth, whilst I know the facts of her life from the trauma and her love of food, the reader never fully understands Penny. It felt very much as though you saw a different Penny depending on which man, she was keeping company with. The title alone gives away that Penny has three love interests in the book and as a reader you’d usually find yourself rooting for one of them *thinks Hunger Games love triangle* but with this novel I didn’t care. I
The introductions of Francesco, Thomas and Paresh felt so rushed that again the characters lacked dimension. Spoiler alert but I found Thomas professing his love incredibly unrealistic given the views of his character we’d been shared previously.
I agree with other readers about Charlie’s character, the lack of exploration of them left me as a reading feeling as though the inclusion of non-binary character was purely tick box.
I think this book could have been executed better had time been taking in the first few chapters to fully introduce Penny before any of the men were involved. I also think having three love interests was too ambitious to allow the reader to be on the journey. All in in all it felt rushed to include what could have been incredibly emotive topics in a plot that had a lot of potential.
Thank you to Avon Books and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 28, 2023
*Thank you to NetGalley for a free e-copy in exchange for an honest review.*
Actual Rating: 2
There was a lot of potential in this, but at the end of the day it turned out to be little more than a chick lit.
This story follows Penny Bridge, cancer survivor who desperately wants to have kids but can't. To add insult to injury, she's never been lucky in love anyways — until she runs into Francesco, a chef. But everything falls apart, and before she knows it, Penny is living a new life and meeting two new men...
That's essentially the blurb of the story. It's marketed as a "love square," with Penny dealing with 3 other guys who all like her. Now, what are the good markings of a love square/triangle?It's one where you feel like multiple love interests actually have a shot; they need to all be interesting, unique characters, who have different but still intriguing interactions with the main character.
I didn't see those elements in this story at all; the entire time, there was pretty much only one love interest that had a shot, and I didn't care for that character. And so, I feel like love square really shouldn't have been the main selling point of this story, because there were other themes that could've been explored more.
Instead of having other love interests that were only there just to be annoying, I would've liked it more if the story focused on Penny's infertility, and on her personal growth — without tying it to her need to be in a relationship. There was so much focus on who she was sleeping with there was honestly very little room for us to see who she was on her own.
The writing style was okay — nothing makes it stand out from other contemporary romance novels, but if you want something that that's a light, no-thoughts read, this would be good.
Actual Rating: 2
There was a lot of potential in this, but at the end of the day it turned out to be little more than a chick lit.
This story follows Penny Bridge, cancer survivor who desperately wants to have kids but can't. To add insult to injury, she's never been lucky in love anyways — until she runs into Francesco, a chef. But everything falls apart, and before she knows it, Penny is living a new life and meeting two new men...
That's essentially the blurb of the story. It's marketed as a "love square," with Penny dealing with 3 other guys who all like her. Now, what are the good markings of a love square/triangle?It's one where you feel like multiple love interests actually have a shot; they need to all be interesting, unique characters, who have different but still intriguing interactions with the main character.
I didn't see those elements in this story at all; the entire time, there was pretty much only one love interest that had a shot, and I didn't care for that character. And so, I feel like love square really shouldn't have been the main selling point of this story, because there were other themes that could've been explored more.
Instead of having other love interests that were only there just to be annoying, I would've liked it more if the story focused on Penny's infertility, and on her personal growth — without tying it to her need to be in a relationship. There was so much focus on who she was sleeping with there was honestly very little room for us to see who she was on her own.
The writing style was okay — nothing makes it stand out from other contemporary romance novels, but if you want something that that's a light, no-thoughts read, this would be good.
January 6, 2021
Thank you to Edelweiss and the publishers for providing a copy in exchange for a fair review
This was quite enjoyable for the first third, less so in the second third and not good at all in the last third.
The author puts effort into making their main character very modern and while she has insecurities, is also vocal about feminism and very self-respecting. That is then all forgotten to gain forgiveness from a man about something she shouldn't even be sorry about.
I found the inclusion of several real life people pretty odd and it jarred me out of the novel a couple times. The dialogue was also a bit too dull at times.
This was quite enjoyable for the first third, less so in the second third and not good at all in the last third.
The author puts effort into making their main character very modern and while she has insecurities, is also vocal about feminism and very self-respecting. That is then all forgotten to gain forgiveness from a man about something she shouldn't even be sorry about.
I found the inclusion of several real life people pretty odd and it jarred me out of the novel a couple times. The dialogue was also a bit too dull at times.
October 12, 2020
This is a quick, easy read, perfect for the summer. It's fairly predictable, but still enjoyable. I really loved Our Stop by Laura Jane Williams so was looking forward to reading this.
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I liked Penny for most of the book, but particularly towards the end, I felt her confidence and independence came across really well, and it showed how her character had developed. I actually didn't really care for any of the three guys, I didn't really find any of their relationships particularly believable, they felt a bit too cliché. I felt like the book was more about Penny and her journey and the "love square" was just a part of that - I think I'd have enjoyed the book more if it had focused on her and made the love interests a bit of a sub-plot.
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I was impressed at how the book dealt with issues of infertility very sensitively, and the book also included great LGBTQ+ characters.
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I really like Williams' writing style, though at times the dialogue felt a little stilted. I'd probably give it 3.5/5, it's not the most groundbreaking rom-com I've read, but it's perfect if you want a lovely, easy read.
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I liked Penny for most of the book, but particularly towards the end, I felt her confidence and independence came across really well, and it showed how her character had developed. I actually didn't really care for any of the three guys, I didn't really find any of their relationships particularly believable, they felt a bit too cliché. I felt like the book was more about Penny and her journey and the "love square" was just a part of that - I think I'd have enjoyed the book more if it had focused on her and made the love interests a bit of a sub-plot.
.
I was impressed at how the book dealt with issues of infertility very sensitively, and the book also included great LGBTQ+ characters.
.
I really like Williams' writing style, though at times the dialogue felt a little stilted. I'd probably give it 3.5/5, it's not the most groundbreaking rom-com I've read, but it's perfect if you want a lovely, easy read.
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