I loved this book! It's well-written, enjoyable, and a great read. Linh Le James did a great job of writing in a way that captures the readers attention, and makes you not want to put it down until you're finished! I would highly recommend it!

Not a bad read and quite entertaining but my thought was that it had way too many character's perspectives. A fine tweaking needed.

Thank you for the copy of #Toots. recieved via Netgalley. The book was of interest for a number of reasons, and I'm pleased that I could read it and see that it lived up to all the wonderful reviews I'd seen in the book community. I've shared a full review on Goodreads - thank you!

Amazing! Had some great cocktails during this book! #friendship Thank you netgalley for the free arc in exchange for an honest review!

LONDON: Four sisters swipe left on everything they hate in their life, one cocktail at a time...

In #Toots we meet Louise - dreaming of an exotic lifestyle a million miles from Hackney, Jess - juggling work and two babies... Carla - who goes ona bender and wakes up next to her young assistant...and Emily - getting over her cheating ex... This book explores sisterhood amongst a chaotic world for all four siblings - and does so with humour, emotion and finesse.

It's not often you can find a book that gives you a cocktail recipe in each chapter... amazing! This is more than just sisterhood - this book covers the bond of best friendship as well. A hilarious, stunning read.

Four sisters swipe left on everything they hate in their life and uplift each other one luscious cocktail at a time. Louise dreams of getting out of Hackney and will lies her way to the glamourous lifestyle she craves. But when her “harmless” little white lies catch up to her, she can feel her dream sailing away. Jess is supermom, juggling a career, two babies and a cheating dirtbag of a husband. She longs to get away, too. Carla parties a little too hard one night and wakes up next to her very young assistant. Calgon has no help for her. Emily is back in the dating pool and struggling to keep her head above water. Who knew life could be so un-fun? But through it all, these four sisters have each other and that’s all you need. Except maybe a few top-shelf cocktails.



#Toots is a hilarious British romantic comedy akin to Cadence Bushnell and Helen Fielding. Every chapter starts with a fab cocktail recipe and really ladies, what else do you need? I can’t tell you how much I laughed while reading this book but about halfway through, I had to force myself to stop drinking while reading because I was tired of wiping down my e-reader. Yes, it’s that funny. Women all over the world will relate to the four sisters and connect with at least one of them. A fast-moving plot kept me turning the pages and I can’t wait for book 2.



If you’re looking for a laugh-so-hard-my-side-aches women’s fiction, pick up #Toots today. Highly recommend, especially for fans of SATC and Shopaholic series.



My Rating: 5 stars

Set in London, and told mainly in the first person from the perspective of each of the sisters, #toots is an enjoyable present-day story about friendships and relationships. I have to say that the cover with its hand-me-down shell-suit led me to think that the story was about children rather than adults, and was probably set in the late 1980s. Fortunately, the accompanying blurb suggested otherwise. It sounded interesting and chaotic enough to suit my taste, and convinced me to choose this one.

#toots is a well-written, funny and engaging story about the lives and loves of four sisters. The sisters are in different stages of their lives, one is married with children, one hopes to be married, one is looking for a husband who will improve her social status, and the youngest is studying at university, and just looking for love.

Jess's story is one which will resonate with a lot of mothers. While Dad seems to have all the freedoms of a single man, contributing little to the upbringing of offspring, Mum picks up the lion's share of the work, and feels overlooked and neglected. Jess suspects her husband is cheating on her, and and sets about gathering evidence. The way she goes about it, makes her sisters think that she is the one having the affair.

Carla has wasted years on Ben, a man who will not marry her. She finally wakes up to this fact and leaves him for good. At this point Freddie, a much younger man and intern in her office, makes his interest in her known. She is loving how he makes her feel, yet feels guilty about the age difference.

Louise is now calling herself Louisa. She thinks it's a more powerful name, and will help her snag her Prince Charming. She has set her heart on marrying a wealthy young man called Nick, and in order to make herself more appealing to him, is pretending to be a vegetarian, non-smoking, recently tee-total, spa manager. The reality is that she smokes, has not given up alcohol, eats meat, and is a therapist at the spa, not a manager. I don't feel that she even loves him. He just seems to be a means to an end. How he does not see her for what she is, fails me, but he does seem a bit otherwise preoccupied. The web of lies she is spinning must surely be her downfall in #toots2.

Emily is getting over her cheating ex-boyfriend with the help of flatmate Lola, who has encouraged Emily to rejoin the dating scene, and filled her phone with online dating apps. While Lola is wild, carefree, and dangerous to have as an enemy, Emily is more reserved, unsure of herself, and a tad clumsy. She meets Max, an outgoing sports enthusiast who she believes has started ghosting her. He's not, and when that issue is resolved, there is another one that Emily thinks will definitely ruin her chances of happiness with Max.

The four sisters have a strong bond with each other, and also with Lola, although she's a more extreme character than the rest. She's the one you want in your corner when the chips are down, and you are looking for payback; she's the one with the best ideas. She is described as 'Crazy Lola' - in my opinion an that's an understatement, when your see how she springs into revenge-mode after Carla leaves Ben.

There are several laugh out loud moments in this entertaining story. My favourite being Emily phoning Louise's work, pretending to be Louise, and calling in sick. Emily is then unintentionally steered into giving the reason for absence as 'syphilis'! Of the four sisters, Louise is the one I like least. To me, it felt like divine justice, as she had gone off to do her own thing, and only as an afterthought, had put the responsibility of lying to her employer on Emily.

I found the main characters to be realistic and likeable, each with their own issues to overcome. The secondary characters add the necessary intrigue and colour to the story. I had nothing against Rosie the Ginger Dinner until Jess confronted her. That's when we see Rosie's true nature, and it got my hackles up! I particularly liked Pat, Jess's work-colleague. She would drive me nuts too. However, when Jess snaps, and I thought Pat was going to get a piece of Jess's mind, what actually is said, provided constructive criticism rather than the expected tongue-lashing.

As an added bonus, there is a cocktail recipe at the beginning of each chapter, named after the chapter title.

I enjoyed reading #toots, and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys a humorous observation of modern relationships.

The writing wasn't great, the plot was jumbled and unclear, and I just couldn't get through this one.

Not a bad read- for me it was ok but nothing special.
Thank you to both NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest unbiased review

Light and frothy contemporary "chick lit." Funny but at times repetitive, sometimes to the point that it became wearing.

Had such high expectations for this one. It sounded like a right laugh. But sadly it didn’t live up to my expectations. It was rather monotonous and dull

The first thing I'll say about this book is don't judge it by its cover. Thankfully, I never judge a book by its cover or I might not have discovered this fabulous book by Linh Le James. Perhaps it's because I remember the shell suit era that the cover of #Toots makes me shudder but when I figuratively peeled back the hideous nylon layer I discovered an absolutely brilliant book.

Anyone who follows me on Goodreads would have missed my updates for #Toots because I started it and finished it in one sitting. I simply couldn't put it down as my eyes were glued to my kindle following the lives of these four crazy sisters. As each sister inevitably raced towards the latest car crash drama in their life it was like I could see it happening in slow motion but couldn't, and didn't want to, slow my reading pace.

We've all been there and done crazy things (or is that just me?) so as crazily hilarious as the story is, it actually feels very true to life. Where relationships are concerned, it's like every daft thing you've ever done, or thought about doing, is in this book. With so much drama crammed into this book, Linh Le James has still managed to create characters that are so well developed that I felt like I got to know them, almost like a fifth sister. Not since Little Women have I felt so connected to a group of siblings but #Toots is like the March sisters putting their gladrags on and going on a bender!

I was literally crying with laughter at times and when I turned the final page, I was already crying out for more so I'm absolutely thrilled that there is a sequel planned. I can't wait to meet up with my literary sisters again!

If my blog had an award for most surprising book of the year, #Toots would definitely walk away with first prize. I've never read anything like #Toots before; it's unique, funny and completely addictive. An easy five stars from me for this exceptional debut by Linh Le James; romcom fans, you don't want to miss this one!

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

According to the opening of Linh le James' novel, the term 'toots' refers to a person's best friends or sisters. Her novel is concerned with four sisters: Jess, Louisa, Carla, and Emily. Emily is the youngest and finds herself juggling time between work, university, and dating. Carla has just been promoted in her marketing job but finds herself stuck in a rut with her long-time boyfriend, Ben. Louisa has dreams of rich and handsome man who can take her away from her life as a beautician. Finally, Jess is a working mother of two daughters and worries that her marriage is struggling. After a cliffhanger opening, the novel follows each of the sisters as their lives are all thrown into turmoil. Thankfully, they are able to turn to each other to help them.

This is a novel all about young women having fun: a fact that is highlighted by the fact that each chapter opens with a cocktail recipe. I'd have to say this is the kind of romance literature that has come out in the wake of Sex and the City. We have four women who are uninhibited in their actions and deeds in an attempt to ride the feminist wave. Yet, at the same time, none of the women have many positive aspects to them. I get that the  author is trying to present a non-stereotypical view of women but something about it feels disingenuous. As if she's pushing it a bit too far to make a point that doesn't actually come through.

I do have to say that each of the women have a distinctive voice and, when the point of view switches, it is easy to keep up. My only issue is the chapters that are taken from the point of view of an omnscient narrator. Those chapters feel jarring and don't seem to add anything to the narrative. I'm not a fan of first-person narration for the most part but, here at least, it seemed to make sense. The need to switch third-person. It stuck out for all the wrong reasons. But, thankfully, it didn't happen very often.

In terms of the story, #Toots is a quick and easy read. It only took a matter of hours to get all the way through. Normally, I'd say that was a good thing but I think in this instance is showcases a lack of depth. It is an incredibly simple story. Not very much happens and the narrative rushes along at breakneck speed that everything besides the characters is a blur. There is very little time to get to know everyone and each of the characters feels a bit like a sitcom cliche now. We have the 20-something with the DJ ex who takes to Tinder to find love. Then we have her newly single sister who jumps into bed with her very young assistant. The desperate and greedy sister who tricks a nice, rich guy into a relationship. And, finally, the sad sack mother who imagines her husband is sleeping with his female colleague based on no proof. There is no real attempt to modify anything. It all feels very familiar and by-the-book.

That's the real reason this was such a simple read. It's all very familiar and doesn't require anything from it's reader. The dialogue doesn't seem like the language of real 20-40 year old British women and I think I'm okay to say that as a 31 year old British woman. Listening to these women is at times excruciating. It's supposed to be a funny sitcom style book but very little, if any, of the humour really lands. #Toots is a novel that think it's something other than it is. It uses sex, alcohol, and bad language to make it seem like it's more outrageous than it really is. Kind of like how Sandy dresses up in leather at the end of Grease. We're supposed to believe she's super sexy now but, really, she's just the same girl she always was just with a slightly racier aesthetic. It's all set dressing. #Toots isn't a bad read but it isn't a great read either. It didn't get me excited to read the next in the series.

#Toots is an amusing tale of four sisters navigating dating life. The sisters are a bit of a mess, and the story as it bounces around between them is somewhat chaotic. It did take me a while to get into this one with the chaos and jumping around, but once I did it was an entertaining read. I would've liked a a little more depth to the men in their lives. They're all two dimensional, but in the end I suppose that was intentional on the author's part. The story revolves around the sisters and their relationships with each other. The men are more like accessories to that. All in all, this one is a fast-paced, entertaining story.

I was underwhelmed by this book. These four sisters and their lives seemed like a mess. I didn’t connect with it very much like any of the characters. The beginning of the book did well to set me up to read the whole book to figure out what happens in the end, then I was disappointed that the ending didn’t even wrap everything up. While I was personally disappointed in the book, some readers might really enjoy seeing what is in store for these toots.

Was good. Really enjoyed the characters and the writing. Will let others know about this title. The writing was good and overall I found myself not wanting to put it down. Cant wait for the next book by this author.

A light beach read for fans of romantic comedies.

'Toots' is the name given to sisters and friends - not one I've come across before. The story is about four sisters and their relationships with various attractive but oblivious men, their manipulation and scheming methods to attract and keep them.

Each chapter begins with a cocktail recipe, suggesting that this is what binds or motivates the sisters. This is an original idea, which I like. The story is told via each of the sisters' first person point of view with a couple of general third person chapters. This can be a little confusing at times, trying to decipher which character's story we're reading and remember who the two dimensional male is. The only revelation is exposed at the very beginning of the book, which is also the end, thus completing the cycle.

The writing style is very contemporary using modern British expressions and references to current culture, television programmes, designer labels and trends. With most of the story delivered in the first person, the many cliches and stereotypes are acceptable as modes of speech. This keeps the story jogging along nicely.

The humorous element is typical of romantic comedies with quite a bit of feigned elegance and falling over contrasts, baby vomit, ignorance and shallowness sometimes bordering on farce. Great for young women who are going through the challenges of dating.

#Toots #Netgalley

I rarely read chicklit but every now and again I fancy something a bit more fun. My main reason for choosing this book was the hashtag title and colourful cover. It seemed young and trendy and the description sounded good as well.
However they kept using the word toots instead of "girls" or "friends" or "gang" or any other word that could indicate women. And it was so annoying! Using it once to describe what you meant and also using it as a quirky book title would have been more than enough. I can't think of a single woman under the age of 90 that would use the word toots, also is this not an American term.
In general the book was very well written but another issue was that not a lot was resolved in the end and it left me feeling very unsatisfied. Not the sort of unsatisfied that you would read a follow up book but the sort of unsatisfied that you can't believe you wasted your time finishing it.
To have kept me interested she should have at least resolved two out of the four sisters' issues.
It felt like the book was rushed at the end just to come up with a conclusion.

This book is about 4 sisters Carla, Emily, Louisa, and Jess.

For me, I felt the stories were hard to get my head around as there seemed to be so much going on and it all muddled into one.
I felt it may have been better if the author dedicated one half of the book to 2 of the sisters, then the second half to the other 2 then bought them all together at the end. It would have been more enjoyable.
I did read the whole book but must admit this one really wasn't for me.
Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity xx

Toots! I’d never heard of this term prior to reading the book...I quite like it.

The book is about 4 sisters and a friend, Lola. It’s taken me a few days to read this, mainly because I felt I had to concentrate and focus on it. Lots of people love that, but I like light reading where I can escape and wind down. The book is written from 5 perspectives: each of the four sisters and a narrative. It’s so confusing! Each chapter I would have to remember what that sisters storyline was. This was easy by the end of the book, but quite annoying through the early chapters.

Each sister is very different and I found myself liking one more than the others. I loved that element of the book, and I think different readers will possibly have their own favourite character.

I wish the first book could have focussed on one sisters story, then the author could’ve followed with other books (similar to how Jo Watson did?)

Overall, despite the confusing multi-angled story, I really liked this. Once I got into the story and got to know the characters I couldn’t put the book down.