The Love Square follows the story of Penny, a thirty year old cafe owner who can't seem to find a relationship since her boyfriend, Mo, left her 5yrs ago. The story starts as Penny is leaving her lovely behind to go to the countryside to run her uncles restaurant, leaving her very new relationship in tatters - flashback to three months before when a chance bread delivery brings about the gorgeous Francesco who leaves Penny his number, but Penny is convinced that she is unloveable and decides to put him out of her mind, until a month later when she meets him again. We follow Penny's relationship with Francesco developing, but its stopped in it's tracks by Penny's uncle taking ill, and Penny stepping up to help with the family business, So, breaking up with Francesco, Penny drives into the sunset, but not before seeing something that crushes her fragile heart even more...

I absolitely adored The Love Square, it was refreshing and funny and didn't shy away from the often funny sights of sexual relationships - I loved how Penny went about her life, she was great and the love square was fantastically done - though I could see the very inevitable car crash tv part coming head on.

Perfect summer read; read it in one sitting!

I loved this book, got me over a reading block.

It tells the story of Penny who owns her own cafe in London and meets a new man just as she has to go and help her Uncle run his pub and restaurant for him after he has a heart attack. She puts her life on hold to help him out but ends up spoilt for choice for male company. She meets an older man who is great in bed and a person from her childhood who is great company and great fun but not around much as he is travelling for work and the reappearance of new boyfriend from London.

She happily enjoys all their company and has to decide which man is for her.

I am a fan of Laura Jane's work from her instagram posts to her last novel, Our Stop - she really does know how to construct a story and I'm a sucker for good romantic fiction but boy, do I feel inferior to her characters! Sometimes I feel as if they have almost *too* multidimensional...the main protagonist is a cancer survivor, their mum died when they were younger a successful business owner AND considering becoming a single mum through IVF - they kinda make me feel like I haven't achieved much...sThe male characters are well written and whilst sometimes a bit earnest, don't we all want a man like any of them featured in this book - it's escapism isn't it?! All that said, I did really enjoy this novel and would recommend it to other readers - the story was interesting enough to keep my attention and I read it really quickly! I would definitely read more from Laura Jane :)

I’ve been eyeing up this book for a while I won’t lie. 😂 I really enjoyed OUR STOP last year so I had high hopes for this knowing that I enjoy William’s writing. It’s fun, witty with poignant and heartfelt moments. And thankfully, that’s what I got with THE LOVE SQUARE. I flew through this book! It’s really easy to read, has very lovable characters and great settings. Trendy coffee shops, cozy pubs, and even a celeb makes a cameo. 🤩 No spoilers but it’s epic! 😎

The plot is fun. I love the idea of a love square. Penny is single and unlucky in love (aren’t we all...Oh just me? Okay 😆) and then she meets a wonderful man. Then another and then another. Hence the square! But are any of them THE ONE?!! Does the course of love ever run smoothly? Nope. Is life picture perfect? Nope. Is it best just to accept our imperfect humanness and be thankful for what we have??Absobloodylutely! 💃🏼

I’m a fan of contemporary fiction and I need it right now. I love nothing more than feeling my heart swell up with happiness and joy. At the same time, I like drama and for the characters to have depth, be flawed and authentic. Williams writes about infertility, grief and illness so openly and with compassion and sensitivity. And the characters? I applaud the way Williams writes such diverse, real and relatable characters. Penny Bridge is strong, independent and definitely grew as a person through the book. Her friends and family are supportive, kind and really compliment the essence of the story. Oh and I may have liked some of the sexy male characters too...ahem. 😏

THE LOVE SQUARE is a refreshing, modern “feel good” story of romance, hope, and trusting in love. One to look out for this summer! ❤️

“Life is about how you handle being thrown off course, not discounting yourself from the race because you were thrown off in the first place”. Amen! 🙏

A super cute book
I loved Penny’s closeness with her sister and video podcasts.
She was so unlucky in love with guys ghosting her. Readers can relate to that.

Her relationship with all three guys I really enjoyed.
Francesca, especially who was so understanding to her and for everything she’s been through.
And why not, it’s good to have a bit of fun. She’s strong and independent.
Recommend it.

I had the chance to read an ARC of The Love Square courtesy of Net Galley and the publisher. This is not your average modern romance novel. We've all come to expect some sort of love triangle in a romance novel, but Williams takes it a bit further giving us a full-on love square. I know, one woman finding herself in a relationship with three different men? But our main character Penny finds herself in this awkward situation quite honestly. She's always been unlucky in love so when a seemingly perfect man falls for her she's always waiting for the bomb to drop, and she thinks she finds it as she's forced to leave town for a while on family business. When she settles into her "new: life, she meets another guy who is interested in her, but travels a lot and wants to keep things open, and then she meets another guy. Then the first guy finds his way back into her life - but only as her friend. Or is he? And next thing you know, Penny finds herself with a monumental quadrilateral problem.

As with any romance, I found myself liking one of the guys way more than the other two and spent a large portion of the book wishing she'd just ditch the other two, even when they weren't together. But all in all, it was an enjoyable read, and when all the men came face to face with one another and realized what was happening - well that was golden awkwardness that I loved.

I really really enjoyed “our stop”. It was one of my favourite books of last year. Perhaps I compared this book too much to that novel, but I felt that this didn’t grab me as much as I thought it would do. It had a good storyline, but the book felt almost rushed and too short. I did enjoy the book and was laughing in places and crying in others.

A sincere thank you to the publisher, author and Netgalley for providing me an ebook copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This is not my usual genre, I’m more of a crime/thriller reader however this story intrigued me. I absolutely loved it, truly one of the best books I have read. I am extremely pleased and grateful to both for opening up my mind to something totally different.

Penny is searching for ‘the one’ and she thinks she has met him then she meets another two men and it all gets confusing and emotional for Penny.

I really enjoyed Our Stop and was excited to read this but this fell a little short for me. It didn’t seem as funny but was still a nice read.

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

I am not usually a fan of more than one love interest but this story made me change my view on it. It was beautifully crafted with the choices so vast and all so alluring that it was difficult to choose one.
It is a good romance read, especially when stuck in the indoors with quarantine. It keeps you engaged till the end and plot is good paced.

I really enjoyed the setting of this book, I used to live near Stoke Newington so that was lovely to read about as well as all the other London landmarks as well as the countryside. I couldn't take to the main character at all which I know is normal but it felt like she was meant to be endearing but it just didn't quite catch. I felt like it tried to deal with two much e.g. grief, IVF etc and then didn't do justice to topics as well as could have been done. I loved the concept of the book but it left me a bit cold. I did love the style of writing though.

Finding a decently written romance that reflects the complexities of our lives is becoming slightly easier to find. Among them sits The Love Square that initially starts off with the possibility of love but is more to do with feeling displaced and out of control of one’s life.

In the depths of Stoke Newington, London lives Penny, a talented chef who runs her own cafe, whose life is turned upside down when her uncle falls sick and is forced to shoulder the responsibility of running his pub restaurant in Havingley, a village in Derbyshire. In the midst of what she hopes to be a temporary life change are the three men she meets along the way – Francesco, Thomas and Priyesh. Spending time with each man, Penny realises that this isn’t who she is or what she wanted in the first place and comes to terms with what she truly wants, as well as with whom.

Pleasantly surprising, The Love Square holds some of Beth O’Leary’s The Flat Share vibes partly due to it being based in London with a refreshing shift to the Derbyshire hills bringing it an earthy experience where Penny gets in touch with nature. As the novel progresses, however, it becomes apparent that she’s not the same woman we meet in the beginning who thrives on being in the capital, a place she feels she belongs and can be the best version of herself. The book is frank and emotionally honest about Penny’s past pain. She’s clearly strong in spite of losing her mother, being deserted by her father as well as surviving breast cancer at 25. Yet her self-confidence wavers when it comes to love due to her poor experiences with men and she wonders if she’ll ever be able to find a lifelong, supportive companion.

You could be forgiven for thinking this is going to be a hilarious comedy of errors – after all, being caught between three men at the same time is a recipe for disaster of colossal proportions. Yet this isn’t a funny story as Penny appears to use men as a distraction from the truth and undergoes some serious introspection to understand herself better. That’s not to say the men in her life are entirely negative influences. Thomas’ sense of adventure allows her to go out of her comfort zone and explore the surrounding wilderness, Priyesh is attentive, sweet and kind, while Francesco has a lot in common with her. The choice she ultimately makes is one that’s best for the life goals she holds in mind. Between the three men, I don’t think I preferred any of them strongly enough – Thomas is a little one-dimensional and superficial, Priyesh comes off too eager and Francesco, towards whom I was initially inclined, is judgemental and unfair to Penny. It seems slim pickings for a short while until Penny realises she needs to be her true, authentic self before she can choose a man.

Away from Penny’s drama, Laura Jane Williams has seamlessly written numerous LGBTQ+ friends and family into the storyline who provide her with the loving stability and enable her to eventually find her feet. The close bond between herself and her sister, Clementine, is heartwarming while the banter her friend Charlie provides is the source of some comic relief. Between the men and the temporary displacement, Penny isn’t merely caught between a romance of who she wants but also where she wants to be. Ultimately, Penny ends up making the decisions she wants instead of what the men want her to do and finds herself in control of her life again.

The Love Square is a satisfyingly light, feel-good fiction with some honest soul-searching beyond a typically disastrous romance. It’s fast-paced and doesn’t dwell too much on emotional angst but still offers some depth in allowing characters to realise their full potential by refocusing, knowing what they want and standing up for it. Amidst all of this, what it quite wonderfully offers is that none of this can be possible without a support network of family and friends that help Penny achieve her dreams.

While reading The Love Square there were moments that I truly enjoyed. I loved Penny's relationship with her sister. I love her desire to be independent. I felt like Penny had the tools to be a strong character.

What I didn't love was how Penny was a bit hypocritical at time. It was okay for her to date more than one person but the guy she was dating couldn't without her being upset over it. I also felt like I was let to believe Penny was going to be happy on her own but was then given a different ending.

This book had potential but just feel flat for me. I think with a little more clarity and a bit more depth, this could be a 4 star book for sure.

Not what I expected, not in a bad way just not what I expected. I liked how the story handles infertility issues and reminds us that loving relationships come in all kinds of forms. Thank you publisher and netgalley for this arc in exchange of an honest review.

This book was given to me by Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.

This book was definitely what I needed to read right now. It's so real, and so full of love and laughter. I absolutely loved Laura's first novel, and this met all expectations. I devoured it in a few hours as I honestly couldn't put it down!


Would love to read more of her writings

I really, really liked this! I'm a fan already of Laura Jane Williams, as I read "Our Last Stop" last year. I didn't put this down and I read it in a day.

Penny Bridges is 30, a small business owner, a sister, niece and friend - but she wants love, and a family. She's used to having no luck with dating, but over the course of the year her luck changes. After meeting someone special, her life is uprooted and all changed. As she adapts to her new climate, she meets not one, but two more potential suitors, and suddenly what was once a lacklustre love life is the opposite.

The characters in this are extremely well-written, to the point I can vividly see them - hard to achieve but essential to a brilliant story. I thought the love story was exceptionally feminist and modern and I enjoyed the dialogue. I related to Penny perhaps a little too hard (I wish I owned my own business) and I really think Laura Jane Williams put a great deal of love into these characters and it shows.

10/10 would recommend and I'll always read her work!

“The Love Square” is a fast paced read, which is the perfect antidote to the time period where most of us are social distancing. The novel focuses on Penny, who like many of us, just cannot win at the dating game. Yet, as the novel progresses, Penny finds herself interested three different men, all of whom have feelings for Penny—hence, the love square. The reader experiences the high and lows of developing relationships with these three men and joins in the debate of who might come out the winner.

But if you think the novel is simply a romantic comedy, it is much more. Penny is a chef who has lost both parents and survived breast cancer. Due to treatment, Penny went into menopause and would not be able to have children, if Penny hadn’t harvested and frozen some of her eggs pre-treatment. The book does not gloss over what it means to be a cancer survivor and because of Penny’s strength, the reader cannot help but wonder if a man is what Penny really needs. (No spoilers, but remember this book is touted as a romance).

Not only does the author do an excellent job in developing Penny, but creates supporting characters with plenty of diversity. Penny’s main familial support comes from her sister and her uncle. In fact, I liked these characters (and companions, Sharon and Charlie) much more than the three love interests: Francesco, Thomas, and Priyesh.

While I would not consider this novel light-hearted, it does leave you with warm fuzzies at the end and is great “escape” literature. I was not familiar with Laura Jane Williams, but I will be curious to check out her debut novel, “One Stop.” Three and a half stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for my review.

This book was super cute. I love Penny’s closeness with her sister and their video podcasts. Also she started so unlucky in love with guys ghosting her. I think everyone can relate to that.

I enjoyed her relationship with all three guys. Especially Francesca who was so understanding to her and everything she’s been through. And why not, sometimes it’s good to have a bit of fun. She’s strong and independent.

Fantastic book. It made me laugh it made me cry and shout at the main character in frustration for not having faith in herself.
Low self esteem in her romantic life whilst he professional life is a success, that is after the adjustment made due to illness. Not what you expect in your early twenties to face your own morality.
Don't expect a pity party in this book in any way. How can you believe that the hot guy fancies you and wants to be with you after a short time when family drama turns your life upside down for a minimum of 12 months.
Loved the previous book our stop and will be looking out for other books by this author.

I really liked this book - the relationship with the main characters differed at different times in the story, which I liked