Thanks to NetGalley, Chloe James and Avon Books for and Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for my honest review.

There is one scene early on in this book which sets the mood for the entire remainder. It involves a saxophone, some singing and a whole lot of emotion. If there is one word to describe this beautiful little gem, it is emotion.

Sophia is out on her balcony for the weekly Clap for NHS. They have been on lockdown for two weeks and she is feeling the weight of it. She begins sobbing after the clap, feeling the pressure of grief and sadness all at once. Her neighbor, Jack, whom she has never met hears her sobbing and calls out to her, offering his support. Both Jack and Sophia have serious health issues in play. Jacki is in complete isolation due to a weakened immune system. They "meet" without laying eyes on each other and so being a beautiful friendship. Together, they find ways to help and unite their neighbors while falling in love with each other.

This is one of the happiest little novels I have read in a long time. The characters are engaging and quirky and despite the somewhat heavy background of the Covid Pandemic, it is kept light. I enjoyed this escape from our current reality very much and loved being a part of this cool "neighborhood"!

What a lovely story, a great feel good love story to make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Lockdown is a huge part of all our lives at the moment, but this book made you aware of all the beauty that comes from it, of the togetherness, the caring nature it brought out of everyone, the community spirit, it was lovely written.

A lovely read about the current circumstances, although much more positive and filled with plenty of love and joy! I really enjoyed the blossoming romance between Sophia and Jack, it was heart-warming & had me smiling over a situation that hasn't brought much joy to the real world. I was slightly jealous of the community the two had around them, they really made the most of hard times & not only did they work on themselves, they supported the people around them and made use of a trying time. I read this book in the space of a day, it was just that spirit lifting book that I needed in my life!

I figured this would be a cute rom-com (which it totally is), but it's also so much more. This is a story about resilience, community, and hope in the crazy times we call the present.

If you're anything like me, you're seeing the influx of quarantine-related stories and wondering if people are just jumping on the bandwagon to capitalize on what is possibly the weirdest fictional trend since YA paranormal romance: pandemic romance. I was worried this might be a bit gimmicky, but it feels like Chole James genuinely wants to explore the effects of lockdown in a meaningful way. "Together, Apart" feels less like a slogan and more like a defiant battle cry in the midst of isolation and loneliness.

The premise of this book intrigued me and excites me to read this book at first. However, I don't think this is the right book with this premise for me. I did not connect well with the characters and I just got bored while reading. I skimmed almost the entire book and that's how bored I am with this.

Mixed feelings on this book - a hooky romance (which seems to be a big trend at the moment) with neighbours who haven't met falling for each other. The community feel was well executed and I loved some of the minor characters who lived in the same building complex as Jack and Sophia, but the numerous references to the cliches of lockdown (lack of toilet roll etc) felt a bit like overkill. The sections in Jack's voice were more engaging than those in Sophia's and he was the more likeable character of the two - things seemed to always go right for Sophia which made her less relatable as a heroine. Easy to read romcom. 3.5*

Unfortunately, this wasn't the right book for me. I loved the idea of a rom-com during Lockdown, especially since one of the Characters is at higher risk because I thought it would appeal to me personally.

Yet, I was sadly unable to connect to any of the characters in any way and I think the main reason is that I think about this pandemic differently and experience it differently than Jack and Sophia - and that is fine.

The writing itself was nice and I know that a lot of people will be able to relate but I kept dreading to have to pick it up again to read on so I, personally, cannot give it more than two stars.

I really wanted to like this but but it just wasn't my thing. The side characters were more interesting than the main ones in my opinion. The story felt slow moving and I found myself skimming through.

Kindly received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Love in Lockdown by Chloe James is set in today's world with the pandemic and lockdown and how characters cope with their new normal. Jack hears Sophia crying on her balcony, and so this sets up the friendship (and maybe possible romance) for these characters. The story started strong and then lagged slightly in the middle, with scenes and interactions that felt a bit weighted to move the story forward.

Kudos to the author for writing this book and the realistic nature of how some people are coping and getting to know their neighbors.

I do hope, as others have mentioned, that the formatting is fixed on publication. The spacing and lack of clear chapter headings made it distracting and hard to read at times.

"Love in Lockdown" puts a modern twist on the usual meet-cute romance. Chloe James set up this adorable romance between Sophia and Jack, two apartment neighbors who have never met (or have they?!) but begin to develop a relationship during the Covid quarantine. While both are dealing with their own health issues and the difficulties involved with being isolated from others, they begin to rely on each other for companionship and even love. I thought this book was very timely and incredibly cute.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

This was the book storyline I had been waiting for. However, I didn't love it quite as much as I expected to, I ended up wanting to skim past chunks of it. Hats off to writing a book in lockdown though.

I received an advance copy of, Love in Lockdown, by Chloe James. This is book in modern times, with the virus, and the toilet paper shortage. Jack hears Sophia crying from the balcony below his. They start a friendship, but will it lead anywhere?

I found this book to be a bit too long-winded. Portions of dialogue were hard to get through and extraneous. That being said, it was interesting to read a love story that would realistically happen in the world we are all living in today. I struggled to get through it due to the length though.

I really liked the idea for this book, and I definitely enjoyed reading about the sense of community spirit and togetherness that we experienced during lockdown. I also liked the fact that one of the characters was shielding, as I feel that shielding was something many people forgot about during lockdown; many people did not appreciate the freedom they still had to go shopping or exercise while some people were locked in one room.
However, the writing style was not for me. I struggled to relate to the main characters, especially Sophia. I found the pace a bit slow and sometimes the story jumped about a bit and was hard to keep track of. I really liked the side characters actually, especially Bertie and Mavis.
Overall an enjoyable read, just not my cup of tea! The ARC formatting was slightly messy, but I’m sure this will be fixed upon publication. Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books for allowing me to read and review!

This book was just ok for me. The formatting for the arc was a little messed up do it was harder for me to read. I hope it gets fixed. The story was a little flat for me. I found myself skimming a lot. The idea was good. Just a little too slow for me.

Unfortunately I couldn't finish this book as the writing style made it so difficult and distracting to read, I struggled to keep my attention on the story. It's written in the 3rd person but it was directed to just 1 person at a time so you could hear what was going through their head but it was he did this and he saw that etc which wrecked the flow of the story

Due to what I'm sure will be fixed in editing before this heads out for publication, the break up of the chapters was very hard to see because they weren't bolded. I am sure this will be fixed in publication.

Overall, it was a good read. I think it was sweet and endearing, especially during these tough times.

Love in Lockdown tells a story of two people stuck at home during quarantine who desperately wish to find someone out there even during these trying times. It’s a story that is absolutely highly relatable to most people and sometimes we need books like this to feel that no, we’re not alone at all and everyone is going through the exact same thing.

This had been a nice read albeit it being so close to him with the COVID-19 nowadays. Although I usually read books to escape from reality, this surprisingly was not bad at all. I felt for the characters and how they were trying to slowly go through the motions. If you need a quick read, this one is for you.