The Love Square by Laura Jane Williams (6/29)

Rating 3.5 / 5 Stars

** Thank you to Netgalley, Avon Books, and of course, Laura Jane Williams, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Another meet cute, entertaining, feel-good, swoony, and adorable love story which ends with a smile on your face and an awwwwww. This book, although I’m giving it 3.5 stars, was truly a good read.

Penny was such a fun heroine to read. She’s unlucky in love, well until she meets three amazing men over the course of a few dates. So what happens when she tries to see if one of them is her prince charming? Well, a lot of beautiful mess! We see Penny trying to choose wisely between her three suitors. Honestly, This is one of those situations where if polygamy was legal I would totally support it! All of these guys are so amazing. This book is the best romcom and it makes you laugh and cry at the same time. Penny has a lot of heartbreaking and emotional pieces to her story. We learn she lost her parents and is dealing with cancer which makes this story much more realistic than most.

The only real con I found was the idea that Penny was still indecisive as we neared the end of the book. I mean, we have all heard of seasons fo the Bachelor/ette where the person falls in love with multiple people - I truly do not think this is possible. I believe there has to be something in your gut that draws you to one specific person - especially in Penny’s case. I wish she had been able to come to the conclusion sooner and we could have had a better ending. Of course, Penny made the best choice in the end - I just wanted it to give me more!!!

Highly recommend.

We meet penny who has always been unlucky in love, she has a bit of a rubbish hand thrown at her too, combined with some of the disastrous dates she has been on and well, she just wants to be happy.
Then she is, she meets a wonderful man. Francesco. Fast forward, they are having wonderful dates, fantastic times together and everything is falling into place until its not. Penny moves away to help her uncle out and then she meets another wonderful man, but he isnt always around and then she meets a third man.
Penny is in a love square, but can she find the one? Each man brings something different to Penny and their relationship.

I loved this, Penny was a character who i connected with (not that i have had a life like hers but she was written so well) that i was really invested in her getting her happy ever after, because if anyone deserves it- its Penny. I felt she was strong willed, independent but there was a part of her that wasnt sure what she wanted and that made her believable, she was flawed. She messed up and it was honest.

I also really enjoyed getting to know her family and friends, they were supportive but also honest and guided her when she needed it, and gave her a talking too when she needed it as well. I also think that it dealt with serious topics in a senestive way, the handling of infertility was done i a delicate but open way and had my heart hurting. It was just a wonderful kick of contemporary, another sure fire hit from Laura. If you keep an eye on my blog, i have a q&a with her next month!

I was gifted an e-arc for the blog tour, but you can get your copy

This book is a cute fun read, mainly based around Penny a chef and cafe owner and the different relationships she gets entangled with and where she would like it to go.
Lovable characters and a good few laugh out loud.

Thank you to Avon books and Netgalley for this advanced copy

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 lose 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

I struggled to get into this book it felt a little slow at start but after a while I enjoyed it and wanted to know what life she choose and who she would end up in. I glad she finally got what she wanted in the end her dream man and a family

This book is a sweet, emotional love story. It is not a traditional romance in the two-main-characters-find-their -HEA sense of the word although Penny does find her HEA in the end. Penny is our single protagonist, and she finds herself suddenly with three diverse suitors to choose from. Each is a bit imperfect, true to life, and each has their pros and cons.

In addition to the relationships between Penny and her suitors, this book delves into infertility and LBGTQA+ issues as well. Penny's relationship with her sister is sweet and very deep.

I would have liked to have spent more time reading about the final couple's HEA, but overall this was a good read.

Not at good as her first book. Still enjoyed it but felt confused in places. Jumps from one character to the next and you don’t realise until half way through. Struggled to keep up with it

*TW this book addresses cancer treatment, infertility, death of a loved one

In this book our main character Penny achieved pretty much all of her life goals. She has her own business in the small cafe she owns and runs in London, her own flat (above the cafe) and a good work life balance (doesn't everyone want that!?). However there are things she is missing and this book follows her as she tried to find them. 

It seems to start well when she has a chance encounter with Francesco, who is the replacement bread delivery guy, and Penny instantly feels something. However a series of mis communications and a family emergency mean that Penny has to move away to help run the family gastropub. 

While running the pub Penny learns a lot about her self and comes across two other guys who, although the connection isn't instant like with Francesco, she enjoys spending time with. These two men couldn't be more different from one another and from Penny but could one of them be what she is looking for?

The book tackles some very difficult story lines, some which are common, but some which are less. I felt it approached them in a very real and believabe way as we watched Penny work through them. It also had good LGBTQ+ representations (Penny’s uncle and sister Clementine are both in stable same sex, long term relationships), and the presence of a gender non-binary character named Charlie who works alongside Penny was something that I think more books need. 

I really enjoyed reading about the way Penny interacted with (most) of the other characters and feel like she would be a really good friend, as for the most part, she is very likable and 'her own person'. 

My only real issue with this book was with one member of the Love Square, who changed quite a bit from the lovable guy we first met. The way he behaved at a certain point didn't sit comfortably with me and I don't feel the issue was addressed in an appropriate way by Penny... 

Overall I did enjoy this book, it was quite predictable at times and there are a few parts that I feel could have been changed a little to better fit the book and characters but it was a fun read for summer!

"His open heart made her softer. His ability to savor small moments rooted her in the present. His daily pledge to be her partner made her want to do him justice, too."

Hi everyone!
I don't even have the words to say how great this book is! I seriously can't find one thing I don't like about it.

First of all, I want to say I've been in a big reading slump for over a year and that this book got me out of it so easily that I'm sad I didn't find it sooner.
The characters are great and well thought out, the plot is so intriguing: I laughed and cried but also got so mad I had to put it down.
I loved the writing style, it was neither too easy nor too hard, perfect for the story, with many parts to highlight.
It had many lgbtq+ characters and examples of a non-traditional family.

So, if you're looking for a good romance book, you should definitely check this out!

P.S. A big thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read this book in advance.

Having heard such great things about the author's first book, Our Stop. I was really excited to start reading this.
This is a really easy book to get into.
I enjoyed the way that this was written and the characters felt real and like ones that you could invest the time in finding out more about.
Like a lot of these books (Sally Rooney's Normal People springs to mind, also), so much time and eventual heartbreak could have been avoided had the main character actually shared her feelings instead of staying quite.
It is a really well done rom-com though and one that I enjoyed reading.
If you enjoyed Beth O'Leary's books, I would recommend giving this author a try.
I will also be going back and reading Our Stop soon to see how it compares.
Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a decent 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.

I was a little surprised by this book as I thought it was going to be an upbeat fun rom-com but it turned out to be a lot more emotional than I was expecting. Overall it was a good book but sadly not one of my favourites from this author. Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

This is a lighthearted romantic comedy where the female lead makes all the choices. It's contemporary and diverse embracing love wherever it falls, which is refreshing. Penny is likeable, and the love square she finds herself in is amusing, frustrating and a little sad. I don't necessarily understand what motivates some of her actions and choices, but they do make this a good read.

I received a copy of this book from Avon Books UK via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

This is my first novel by Laura Jane Williams; I enjoyed it so much that I've already added her debut, Our Stop, to my wish list!

Penny has almost everything she wants in life; with her own business, a good work / life balance but it really would make it perfect to fall in love. It's not as if she doesn't try - she's out there meeting and dating but with a catalogue of failures she's beginning to think it must be her. Then she meets 'him' .. then another 'him' .. and then a third 'him'. Just like buses, eh? What's a girl to do?

Now here's a book that is everything it promised to be - funny, feel-good and very, very entertaining! Penny is a tough lady who's had a lot to deal with in life but has wonderful support from her staff, friend and family - especially her sister who always provides a listening ear and a shoulder to cry on. The author has produced a fantastic array of characters from all walks of life, all with their own thing going on and I loved them all! The story is cleverly written, kept my focus throughout and yes, it had me cheering for Penny. As often happens, I really enjoyed the last chapter where everything was brought together with nothing left to chance. My kind of read, and completely worth all five sparkling stars!

My thanks to the publisher for my copy via NetGalley; this is - as always - my honest, original and unbiased review.

After reading and loving Our Stop last year I could not wait to read this book. Plus as a reader who adores a good love triangle, how could I not read a book that goes one step further to make it a love square!

Penny is a chef and business owner that seems to have nothing but bad luck when it comes to men. Her last relationship ended badly and she still bears the scars, but when a chance encounter with fellow chef, Francesco, turns into a whirlwind romance she thinks her luck may be changing.

Unfortunately Penny’s uncle becomes ill and she has to move to look after his pub/restaurant whilst he recovers. Having only been dating Francesco for 3 weeks she doesn’t think their relationship can continue and breaks up with him.

Penny isn’t looking forward to running her uncle’s business. She enjoys her more relaxed laid back cafe and doesn’t want to leave London however things begin to brighten up for her when she meets not 1 but 2 new men in Derbyshire. Suddenly unlucky in love Penny has 3 men to choose from. All 3 are very different and offer Penny something she wants or needs. But are any of them her Mr Right?

I liked the idea behind this story and felt it had real promise. Unfortunately it didn’t quite deliver on that promise. The main reason for this was Penny. Although I loved her feisty attitude and her confidence, at times she irritated me. I could not see why she would be attracted to some of these men and she didn’t seem particularly sincere in her dealings with them. Having said that her friendships with Sharon and Charlie were fantastic and really made the story in my opinion. I thought the issues around cancer and fertility were handled with care and attention. Having not experienced either, I cannot day how realistic they are but it definitely felt sincere and thoughtful.

The Love Square is a rom-com with a bit of everything: humour, sadness, frustration and romance. Although it didn’t quite hit the same heights as Our Stop for me, it was certainly worth a read.

3.5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (rounded up)

Trigger warnings: Cancer and fertility issues

A nice light read for these stressful times! One of the guys in this square definitely outshone the others from the start, but I enjoyed the journey and the lessons along the way.

I just can't. I adored Our stop, so because that book I had this preordered. But I just don't get it ...
Couldn't connect to main characters. Really disappointed.
The lowest rating... 1 star.... :-(

I really enjoyed this book!

Penny is a lovely character who knows her own mind and is incredibly comfortable and confident in her skin.

The events of the book lead her on a journey of self discovery and help establish her as a person of substance.

The men in the book were lovely but I could see who she would end up with quiet quickly, but the journey was very much worth it.

Honestly, I DNF.
I've read 4 other books since I started this one and when I return to it I have no inclination to continue.

The Love Square is a fun, sweet read with some deeper moments among the sweetness. I don’t need to re-hash the synopsis for you, but basically our protagonist Penny ends up dating three men who she ends up having to choose between.

I liked that Penny was around my age and, although wanting to meet someone, it wasn’t the be all and end all for her. She meets Francesco in London, where she lives, and instantly knows this is something special, but bad communication and family issues means she ends up having to move to elsewhere in the country, where she then meets two other men who capture her heart for different reasons. All three men are very different, which only seems to make the decision harder for Penny.

I liked that this book offers some very different storylines to that which we often see in books of this genre. It has themes around cancer treatment, infertility, LGBTQ+ relationships, and the widely accepted ‘two parent family’, as well as surrogacy and sexual pleasure – the book really speaks about sex in a positive and, importantly, pleasurable way. I think these important issues, and the way there wasn’t a magic wand to sort out all the problems instantly, made me connect more with the book and with Penny herself.

I did however struggle with Penny’s decision making at times. I felt like I wanted to scream at her to talk properly to people, and then so much of the heartache could be avoided! Apart from that, though, I loved her interactions with friends such as Charlie, Sharon, and her lovely sister Clementine, with whom she seems to have an amazing relationship. I felt like Penny as a character apart from the ‘romance’ was far easier to like and identify with, and seemed much more unique.

The love interests in this book, however, were (on the whole) characters I struggled to like, and their storylines didn’t really do it for me. I don’t want to give too much away but I found some of them a little one-dimensional, and one in particular started off as a positive, likable character but later on in the book behaved in a way which I didn’t feel was OK – or at least I felt that their behaviour should have been more seriously addressed by Penny. The stories all felt a little predictable, which was a shame as this the premise on which the book is based on.

Overall I still enjoyed The Love Square. There are bits I’d have changed a little but it did feel like a fresh release from the contemporary romance genre, amongst a sea of similar books, and the storyline is a fun read – I just almost wish the book could have been about Penny and her life minus the men!