Jenny Colgan's books are an auto read for me. This one was a quick read and just so fun. Would definitely recommend.

I like Jenny Colgan books, but this one wasn't my favorite. I wasn't expecting it to be so heavy from the start and it was a little slow going getting into it. Still a cute story and I liked the character development!

Jenny Colgan charms her readers again with a delightful story. Lissa and Cormack are nurses and are forced to trade locations - Lissa to live at Cormack's charming home in Scotland & Cormack to Lissa's rundown apartment in London. They are both in for culture shock...can they adjust? A romantic story with characters you will fall in love with and you'll be "cheering" for Lissa and Cormack until the end.

I loved this title. My favorite part was seeing the stereotyping of the characters. I enjoy fish-out-of-water stories and this had it from both characters and both points of view. It was refreshing to see their personal growth and how they let down their guards with each other and those around them. It was a great read!

This is definitely my favorite book of the Scottish Bookshop series so far. I always love my books to have a good romantic storyline and this one didn't miss the mark.

Lissa and Cormac are both NHS health workers who end up switching spots for a sort of learning job swap. Lissa takes Cormac's role in the Scottish Highlands, while Cormac heads down to London to spend time in Lissa's role there. They communicate mostly via email, just professionally at first, but then slowly they start to open up to each other. I loved the little addition of Cormac being an artist and sending Lissa sketches now and then. I thought their romance moved in a realistic way, especially considering they only communicated via electronic devices.

This one is definitely a slow-burn (akin to Our Stop by Laura Jane Williams if you've read that one), but I didn't mind it too much. It would have been nice if we got at least a teeny tiny more of Lissa and Cormac together on the page, but I'm hopeful we'll get peeks of them in future books in the series (if there are more coming, fingers crossed!).

One last thing to mention, I must not have read the book description very well, because I did not realize this book was going to deal with such heavy topics! Right from the beginning, a very traumatic event happens. I was honestly thrown for a loop while listening to the audio. I think I had tears in my eyes and even said out loud something along the lines of, "what the heck?! why is this so intense?" (I'll put some content/trigger warnings at the end of my review).

Overall, another very enjoyable read from Jenny Colgan! My only wish is that I would have picked it up sooner.



Content/Trigger warnings: hit and run results in death of a teenager (on-page), chronic illness, organ donor, death/loss of a child, drug use/abuse, PTSD

I'm sure this book will find its audience, but that is not me unfortunately. ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

It starts off slow and kind of dense, but once the action begins, it's hard to resist the story as it drives forward. It reads as a true epic, one that makes you feel the world really has been reshaped as you read it. Would recommend.

I am a big fan of Jenny Colgan’s books, and I loved both The Bookshop on the Corner and The Bookshop on the Shore. 500 Miles From You is the third book in that series, and it’s just as charming as the first two. I think “charming” is the perfect word to describe this book - you get a charming setting, charming and meddling townspeople, a charming long distance love story, and if you do the audiobook, charming accents.

Lissa and Cormac are both home care nurses, and they switch jobs and houses - Lissa to the Scottish countryside and Cormac to busy London. Their work relationship evolves into a long distance friendship - they go from emailing about patients to discussing dates to possibly, maybe falling in love. But really, can you fall in love with someone you’ve never even seen?

I loved this, and I definitely recommend the audiobook! I hope there will be a fourth book in the series!

I didn't realize this was part of a series (unofficial series) but that doesn't take away anything from the enjoyment of this novel. I loved how personalities shined in the emails sent to each other! A really nice touch!

This novel has an interesting premise and is part of Colgan's Scottish Bookshop series. Two health care workers with differing struggles arrange a job swap through the NHS. One has to cope with working in busy London and the other has to function with providing care in a small village. There was so much potential here but the characters spent so much time apart, communicating via email. They mostly seemed so annoyed with each other that their romance did not ring true for me. Fans of the series will probably enjoy it but I wanted more and was a bit disappointed.

500 Miles From You was my first novel by Jenny Colgan, and I adored the way she brought the Scottish Highlands to live. Quaint little towns with quirky characters, surrounded by beautiful nature. It was so easy to picture it all. And I can’t wait to visit the Highlands myself.

To all my slow burn peeps, this one is for you! The love story between Lissie and Cormach was super slow burn. They pretty much fell in love with each other without ever meeting. They started to communicate by email, which was rather sweet. And the falling in love was endearing but the slowest of slows.

And in the end I was left wanting more. More connection. More romance. And more one-on-one. There was just not enough couple time for my taste.

On the other hand, I rather enjoyed the different medical cases that they had on their docket. How different but equally necessary their job was in the Highlands as well as in the city. The difference was fascinating. And if I had a choice, I would have totally picked the Highlands.

I got a bit confused by the change of POV’s throughout the chapters. The author wrote in third person, and she changed the narrative throughout the chapters from one character to the other, and not just the main couple but also side characters. I had to backtrack a couple times to make sure I knew who’s narrative it was. But as always, it was something I got used to, eventually.

500 Miles From You was adorably British, and if not British then Scottish, and that alone made for an entertaining read.

My thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishers/William Morrow Paperbacks for an eARC copy of this book to read and review.

This is the third of a series and I didn't read the first two books. I definitely think reading the books in order would help, as the characters from the books are all connected, but you don't need to read them in order.

That being said, I picked this up, thinking it was a romance and I guess it is, but it is a SLOW BURN, to the point where I just wasn't buying it at all.

The premise is that the h lives and works as a nurse in London, is witness to a horrific hit and run and is traumatized by it, to the point that her work decides she should be switched with a rural nurse so she can get some rest and so he can get some training in London.

They switch and then communicate only via email, texts, etc. The H doesn't even know what the h looks like until 64% of the way into the book. And then he sleeps with someone else and tries a relationship with them. The h, no slouch, is casually dating someone in the Scottish village she was sent to. Not NEARLY as eyebrow raising as the H though.

I stopped at 72% because I didn't believe in the romance and a lot of subplots, and the major PTSD one, seemed to just pop up and then disappear. I wanted to hear more about the h's dealing with her PTSD, despite the REALLY cruddy therapy sessions she was getting. I didn't want a shoe-horned in romance. The book doesn't need romance actually, the setting of the Scottish village and how the town and city mice were getting used to their new environments was captivating. The forced romance, not so much.

Also, if this book is to be believed, London is disgusting and horrible and the people there shallow and vapid and the only good people are salt of the earth from little po-dunk villages who have spotty phone reception and WiFi. London is ugly and grey, villages in the middle of nowhere are gorgeous and full of life, which we are reminded of every page or so.

Having never been to London or to a village in Scotland, I have no idea if this is true about the people and the place, but it does skew the expectations of the reader.

This book wasn't really for me, but it may have been because I haven't read the first two books in the series. The characters in the Scottish village are regulars, so it would have been a boost to see them again in this book had I read the first two books, whereas I was meeting them for the first time here.

This author and the first two books are quite popular in our store, can't keep them on the shelves in fact, which made me curious and why I requested this book in the first place. I think I would have been better served had I started at the beginning to be honest. It's not necessary, but I think I would have enjoyed it more personally.

Recommended if you have read the first two books and if you are pro-rural areas and anti-big cities. 2, not bad but it wasn't what I was looking for, stars.

This was such a fun contemporary style romance. It was not super unique or shocking, but I enjoyed the journey regardless. I recommend this for people looking for a good contemporary romance with relatable main characters.

A fun and predictable read from Jenny Colgan. I liked the contrast in settings, though I found Kirrinfief a little bit too idyllic. The ending wrapped up a little too conveniently for my tastes, with the job share so that both could stay in Scotland. I do want to hear more about the fabulous Kim-Ange!

3.5 Stars

I enjoyed this story about as much as The Bookshop on the Corner, although this one was a lot more emotionally charged. I found myself crying a number of times (not something I like doing at while listening to the audio book - LOL).

This book follows two nurses who switch jobs and homes for a few weeks. Lissie, who is suffering from PTSD after witnessing a terrible accident/crime is sent to a quiet town where she can relax away from the hectic life of London and await the trial she is a witness for. Cormack is sent to London to get some experience as a big city nurse. As they exchange emails to explain the needs of their swapped patients to one another, and info on their homes, they begin to form a friendship from 500 mile apart.

I think one of my biggest issues with this book is that it is essentially the same story as The Bookshop on the Corner and (from what I read of the synopsis) The Bookshop on the Shore; big city girl head to this little Scottish town where she discovers a love of small town life and small town men. While there is nothing wrong with this trope, I wonder if any of the women in this small Scottish town are good enough for the men here, or tired of small town life and up for a venture into big city life.

That being said, the characters in this small town are very sweet and endearing, and it's hard not to enjoy their way of life and acceptance of outsiders into their town. I liked both Lissie and Cormack as characters and their slow building friendship and budding affection was sweet. I wish there was more with them after they met though to see if the emails they shared really did become a long term romance.

This was a sweet story. I had not read the previous novels in this series that introduced Nina and Zoe so some parts felt like I was missing some background but overall it worked as a standalone novel. The story begins with a traumatic event that leads to two NHS nurses switching jobs in Central London and a remote Scottish town. It was a sweet story where love grew between the two main characters.

This is book 3 in the Scottish Bookshop series. Lissie is a nurse in London and witnesses a terrible accident when a friend is killed. Cormac is a nurse/paramedic all around medical man who is assigned to small town, Kirrinfeif in the Scottish Highlands. Now the powers that be decide they both need a change in their lives and switch them. Cormac and Lissie must email and talk daily about their various patients and begin to build a friendship. Both are fish out of water in their new assignments and must help each other overcome major obstacles. A cute story. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Lissa, a London-based NHS nurse, witnesses a fatal, intentional hit-and-run whose 15 yo victim is someone she’s met. The experience leads to PTSD, and she’s shipped off to the Scottish Highlands to have time to heal, exchanging places with Cormac, a former Army medic whose time in Afghanistan has left him with his own ghosts. As both slowly become used to the vastly unfamiliar landscapes they’ve been dropped into, their professional texts discussing each other’s patients begin to evolve into friendship.

As with all of Colgan’s books, 500 Miles to You, 3rd in The Scottish Bookshop series, is a heartwarming, character-driven story with the locations featuring prominently. Unfortunately, this one is weak. Secondary characters like Lissa’s transgender friend Kim-Ange and Scottish ambulance driver Jake are well-drawn and provide subplots that move the story along. Issues including homelessness, teen delinquency, and organ transplants are handled delicately. Unfortunately, the unlikely romance between Lissa and Cormac doesn’t make a great deal of sense given the minimal correspondence we’re privy to, the fact that they’ve never met face to face, and that Lissa hasn’t even seen a photo of Cormac. We don’t even get the satisfaction of a first kiss. Overall, not one of Colgan’s best efforts. The pacing is slow, the plot rather shallow, the texted dialogue between the two is sparse, and the ending is rushed and unsatisfying. Fans of Beth O’Leary’s The Flatshare and her latest, The Switch, might enjoy the similarities between the books, though this one suffers in comparison.

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from William Morrow Paperbacks through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

"500 Miles From You" by Jenny Cogan is a story of swapped lives from London and Scotland. Londoner, Lissa suffers PTSD after witnessing a hit and run accident which leaves a 15 year old boy dead and Highlander, Cormack, needs a change of pace from his quite life in Scotland. The two switch places for 3 months and learn to live life at a different pace and appreciate new aspects of the world.

While I enjoyed Lissa and Cormac's individual stories I never really felt a connection between them. Their communication seemed, to me, a brief part of the book and not nearly enough for me to become involved in their joint story. I also was disappointed with some of the characters that were introduced briefly that I thought would develop more with their respective storylines but then were never mentioned again.

I have read many of Jenny Cogan's books and found this one to just miss the mark.

What a cute, unique love story! The characters were well written, proved to be very interesting. It was a hard to put down. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC copy