James Bailey's debut is the awkward rom-com 2020 needs. The Flip Side opens with our intrepid hero, Josh, proposing to his long-term girlfriend Jade while attempting to celebrate NYE on the London Eye. Unfortunately for Josh, Jade's planning on breaking up with him and leaving him for the older guy she's having an affair with. Rather than finding himself fianced by the end of the night, Josh winds up losing his job, his flat, and his girlfriend.

He moves back in with his parents and decides he's been so bad at making decisions that he will leave all-decision making up to fate for the year by tossing a coin every time he has to make a decision.

This book is laugh-out-loud funny throughout. The dialogue is catchy, and Josh is just hilarious. The side characters really shine in this one, too – particularly Jessie, Pap, Nan, and Josh's mum. I confess it caught me off guard a bit because it doesn't completely follow the romance formula I was expecting, which certainly isn't a bad thing – but it did surprise me. It's more of a contemporary in that it follows Josh's personal journey for the first half, and isn't as all about romance as I was expecting.

Overall a very enjoyable read that needs to be made into a movie. The Flip Side releases in November, and it's sure to be a hit.

The Flip Side was a cute and humorous British Rom-Com! Set in Bristol, main character Josh decided to flip a coin for all his decisions after a break up leaves him single, out of work, and moving back in with his parents. After reading many female protagonist romance novels, it was unique and interesting to read one with a male protagonist. However, I did find the female love interest to be underdeveloped and a bit "manic pixie dream girl-ish". And I would have liked even more insight on Josh's friends and family. That being said I really enjoyed reading this cozy and funny book after a long day. It would make a cute Netflix movie!
Thank you to author James Bailey, HarperCollins Publishers, and William Morrow Paperbacks for an advance reader copy of this book. Reviews are all my own.

Every once in a while a book comes along that makes you believe in true love again. This snappy debut novel by author, James Bailey, rediscovers the ideal we all strive for in our relationships, passionate true love. Add in the bonus subplots of international travel, timeless artwork, and the serendipity of living life by the flip of a coin, and you've got this refreshing love story told from the male character's, Josh's, perspective.

When Josh's carefully planned, romantic marriage proposal atop the London Eye on New Year's Eve goes spectacularly awry and his proposal is flatly rejected by his long-term, live-in girlfriend, Josh suddenly finds himself single, unemployed and homeless.

Forced to move back into his childhood home with his parents, and no longer confident in his decision-making prowess, Josh begins flipping a coin to make important decisions in his life.

After a chance encounter at the National Gallery in London with a woman, who is wearing a bright yellow raincoat and searching for the museum's Sunflower painting from Vincent van Gogh's famous Sunflower painting series, Josh becomes convinced he's met the woman of his dreams.

When Josh gets separated from this "Sunflower woman" without even learning her name, Josh believes he's lost her forever.

Or has he? With the flip of his trusted coin and the slimiest of clues to the Sunflower girl's identity, Josh embarks on an international quest to find his elusive Sunflower girl, by traveling to the cities that hold the remaining Vincent van Gogh Sunflower painting series.

For me, this was an unexpected added bonus to this whimsical love story, as I'm passionate about art and the provenance of famous artworks. This aspect of the book brought to life Vincent van Gogh's Sunflower painting series to me and I enjoyed following Josh on his adventure that took him to museums in Amsterdam, Munich and Paris. As an aside, after doing some independent research, I also learned that one of van Gogh's Sunflower paintings was unfortunately destroyed during WWII in bombings that took place in Japan.

Along with this romantic story, friendship and family ties play a strong role in Bailey's first novel, which he fittingly dedicated to his Nan & Pap. I look forward to reading more novels from this young, talented writer.

This was a fun rom-com! It was entertaining, and the relationships among the characters were well-developed and realistic. I was frustrated with Josh's immaturity at times, but that's a huge focus of his character arc, and I was super happy with where he ended up at the end.

I can easily picture this book as an early 2000s romantic comedy. I'd love to see it on the screen! There are quite a few moments of physical comedy/drama that would work well live. It's the perfect book for anyone looking for a fun romance and a few laughs!

From the publisher: "To coin a phrase, Josh is suffering a quarter-life crisis. He just broke up with his long-term girlfriend, lost his job, and moved back home with his parents (shudder). Welcome to rock bottom in Bristol. As Josh starts questioning all his life choices, he has a mad thought: Maybe he would just be better flipping a coin. After all, careful planning has landed him homeless, jobless, and single.

What starts as a joke soon becomes serious and Josh decides to start putting his faith in the capriciousness of currency. He doesn’t have anything to lose.

But when the chance of a lifetime and the girl of his dreams are on the line, will the coin guide him to a rich love life or leave him flat broke?"

CW: cheating partner, job loss/unemployment, death of a loved one

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishers for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

5/5 Stars!

What if you could flip a coin and decide all of life's most challenging questions; or what if you had to? It's New Year's Eve and Josh plans to pop the question to his girlfriend (Jade) of four years in the most romantic way possible - in a private glass capsule of the London Eye. But it turns out Jade had another plans, plans with a married man she met while working at a job she and Josh share. Devastated after losing his job, girlfriend, and home, Josh moves back in with his parents and tries to figure out how to get his life together. He decides that he won't decide at all; he'll let a coin do the job.

The Flip Side follows Josh over the course of a year as he grieves his relationship, the loss of a family member, the loss of a possible true love, through first dates and reunions, and through pub quiz nights with his friends. Every flip of the coin leads Josh on a new adventure toward finding out who he really is and what he really wants out of life.

Bailey's characters are diverse, funny, and full of heart. I can't wait to read more from this author!

The Flip Side is a romance about a guy who gets his heartbroken and turns to a coin to help him with his life decisions. I really wanted to love this one, but it fell short. When I read the synopsis, I thought it would be such a beautiful love story, but it took so long to get really interested in the book.

The beginning of the book is heartbreaking for the main character, Josh. He has just proposed and his 'supposed to be bride' said no. They have been together for a while and he doesn't know what to do next. He gets the idea to let a flip a coin and let it determine his decisions.

It was very difficult for me to get invested in the story. It got interesting when he went in search of his Sunflower girl, but again even that relationship felt a bit rushed.

I give The Flip Side 3 stars. Like I said before I really wanted to love this one more but it just didn't click with me. I think the premise of the story had potential but it never got there.

I absolutely enjoyed every second of reading this! From the hilarious situations, traveling, and self discovery this book has it all. I can't wait to read more from this author...such a fantastic escape! Huge thank you to Harper Collins/ William Morrow for allowing me to review this book on Netgalley.

A romance written in the male POV by a male author seemed like a novelty so I had to give this a try. The story flows well even if it does drag in a few places. It’s considered a romance but it’s really more about Josh and his worries over finding his place in the world. If this was a female POV, I’d consider it women’s fiction.

Josh is absolutely normal. Odd, but normal, if that makes sense. He’s not a billionaire or an attorney or super hot like most romance hero’s. Just a guy with a romantic side who can’t seem to find his groove in life. Parts of the story are very witty with dry British humor and parts of it are a bit emotional. I’d say the romance is light but it’s also sweet and a very, very slow burn. There is no sex and only a few mild kisses so if you’re looking for steam, this isn’t the book for you.

If you’re interested in a novel flipped to a male trying to find love and straighten out his life, you may enjoy it. It is a tad boring though so be warned.

Quirky and engaging! A young down of his luck Brit decides to let the flip of a coin determine his romantic choices for the next year. The story was funny and light hearted. A fast read that would be perfect for anyone who enjoys a solid rom-com. Well written debut; can't wait to see more from this author. Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to review this ARC.

Wowza!This is hilarious, extremely entertaining, ultra smart, sassy, sarcastic, sensational! My cheeks hurt to laugh too much. I’m still wiping my tears but another blasting laughter comes! Each time I remember the tinder date part of Josh( our hero) with his parents’ participation or discount birthday rendezvous part of the book, I start laughing. I cannot help myself. This is well deserved, creative and needed to be adapted on screen kind of brilliant story! ( Yes Hulu, Netflix, Amazon, HBO Max: here’s a great adaptation opportunity for you! )

I loved Josh. I loved his wonderful, quirky family. I adored Nan and Pap. I loved two Jakes and badass Jessie. And of course I loved Sunflower girl which reminded me of singing Sunflower from Post Malone and which made my husband puke who told me shut up if I wouldn’t want him hurt himself because of ear bleeding!

If you want to spend quality time with a witty, romantic, uplifting, feel-good, enjoyable, heartwarming self discovery, friendship, love story, this is the best fit for your needs!

The story starts with Josh’s tragicomic situation who recently bought a proposal package and trapped himself inside a glass capsule with, 443 feet above ground which is called “London Eye”, giving spectacular 360 degree view of London with its highest rotation points! He is on his knees to propose but he gets rejected by his long term girlfriend who tells him she’s seeing another guy behind his back. And yes, they have to spend 28 minutes more till their tour ends!

What a beautiful way of celebrating your New Year’s Eve! Yay!

And I have to add his girlfriend Jade is also his big boss’ daughter which means he has to resign from his job and let’s not forget he also shares a loft with her. Oh sorry, he doesn’t share. That’s his girlfriend’s flat!

So he is dumped, jobless, returning back to his parents’ house who celebrate his postponed engagement party with a huge crowd from neighborhood. Yes,his life couldn’t be absurd and miserable, could it?

As he sneaks out from party to watch a movie with his Pap, his Pap gives him idea to choose which movie they will watch by flipping a coin.
From now on he will make his decisions by flipping a coin for a year. Because he already regrets his decisions he’s made before and he needs a fresh start by changing direction of his life. He has nothing to lose! Right?

Even though his besties Jack and Jessie tease him a lot about his decision, the coin idea slowly grows on them.

Each flip ends with unique results like finding himself getting wasted, thrown away from indie bar, competing at quiz show on tv, chasing a girl he even doesn’t know her name all around the Europe.

Throughout his journey he makes mistakes, he learns more about himself, he gets humiliated, entertained, hurt, wasted, suffered from loss, heartbreak, discovers different shades and variable opportunities of his life with the help of his friends, anecdotes of his Pap. He learns how to have a fulfilled life by taking more chances!

No more words! Five funny, sweet, emotional, glorious, laughing out loud, unique, intelligent stars coming up!

Don’t read this book just one time! You buy it and every time you feel lost, down, upset, sad, suffer from dark mood, you just grab it and reread it. That’s one of those books which are feeding your souls and warming your hearts!

Special thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins Publishers/ William Morrow Paperbacks for sharing this epic Arc with me in exchange my honest opinions. Special congrats to James Bailey for his debut. I already got addicted to his writing style and looking forward to read his upcoming works.

Would you let the flip of a coin make all your decisions for a whole year? One flip, heads or tails, one choice or another… That’s the premise for James’ debut novel The Flip Side which follows Josh and his fate-deciding fifty pence. The flip side by James Bailey was such a fun and great story to read. I enjoyed the writing. The story was gripping and funny with true laugh out loud moments. It's a simple plot that works well with this story. This is a perfect summer or weekend read. A great debut novel from this author.

I was excited to read this book as the premise seemed like a fun quirky spin on your traditional british romcom. Sadly, it just missed the mark.

The protagonist Josh was such a dweeb, and his interactions with anyone of the opposite sex left me feeling annoyed. He had such a negative outlook on just about everything and it grew tiresome.

My final straw was when he meets "the one" and decides to drop all his money (he's very poor) in a bid to track her down. 1) creepy. And 2) just a poor choice. Even the side characters in this grated on me, they were all so stereotypically British in the worst way possible.

I would read more by this author as I think he had a great idea for a story, the characters and execution of The Flipside just didn't work for me.

Would you put your life choices on the line by flipping a coin? Josh is at what we would call a older mans mid life crisis, but he is a 30 year old that was dumped, quit his job, moved home and basically feels like a has been! At first you pity the poor guy, but then you are like suck it up buttercup!

I love the fact the author is using a male character as the one who is having the angst and all the sappy feelings, but it is almost too much in this particular case.
The author does a great job with the parents and their opinions butting in the lives of their children!
I found so many humorous moments that it made up for the drippy whiny Josh and flipping the coin!

I know that others are going to fall in love with this book , but I have to say I enjoyed the character Jessie and the two Jakes more enjoyable!
However, the authors writing skills are not in question! The author kept the flow moving and the other characters held the dynamics of the story together for me!

I received an advanced copy from NetGalley and these are my willingly given thoughts and opinions.

So sweet and charming! A recommended purchase for collections where light women's fic and contemporary British romances are popular.

Review posted on GoodReads (August 24, 2020)
Review linked.

3/5 stars!

A huge thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishers for sending me an E-ARC for an honest review!

As someone who devours romance and loves reading any romance I can get my hands on, I was really looking forward to this book. I had heard a lot of good reviews about it on GoodReads and was super excited to receive a copy on NetGalley.

This book was fun, but it did not live up to the expectations that I had of it going in. I really wanted more romance from this book. To me, we didn't really even get the romance until halfway through the book. I felt like the first half of this book kind of lagged a lot for me, and I found myself almost DNFing it. However, I am glad I pushed through because the ending was super cute. For me, I just ended up wanting MORE. I wanted the book to be a lot deeper than it was, especially when it came to the romance. I felt like the entire love story was good, but it was also very surface-y and I felt myself not really being invested in the characters at all. The things that I did like about this book were the travel aspects in the second half of the book, and also the ending. I really loved the ending! I also really loved the scenes that we got with Lucy once they met in Paris. Once Lucy's character came into the story, I was a lot more invested in what was happening.

In the end, I do think that this is a cute rom com, but it doesn't have as much romance as I was hoping it would. I do recommend it, though, to people who love the "every-day life" rom coms and to anyone looking for a light and fun romantic read.

Thanks for reading!
Caden

The gimmick of substituting a coin-toss for informed decision-making leads to some fun and funny situations, but I felt like the promise of where this could have gone was lost in the execution. Josh is comically pathetic and for some absurd reason a lot of the central characters have names that begin with J –Josh, Jake, Jessie, Jade, Jake's Jake – but I expected and hoped the premise of a 50/50 flip would lead him to some dark and interesting places and people. Instead, we get a humorous but pretty safe English romcom.

I enjoyed this one. It was funny and witty and the characters were engaging. Well written. This was a quick read. Great addition to any library.

3.5 stars. Josh's year is not starting very well. He proposed to his girlfriend in a private car on the London Eye, only to be trapped with her for 30 minutes after she said no and broke up with him. Then he lost his mediocre hotel job, and had to move back in with his parents. So when an impulsive coin flip helps him make a decision, he decides to spend the year letting the coin make his choices, from the type of beer to order, to whether to ask a girl out.

Josh has a series of hilariously disastrous dates, before he meets the perfect girl at an art gallery--and promptly loses her in the crowd before they can exchange names or numbers. Should he pursue her, or give up and try to meet someone else? Only the coin can decide.

Overall I enjoyed this book. Josh's ineptitude leads to some pretty funny predicaments (Bailey definitely owes a debt to Adrian Mole). I wasn't completely on board for his romance with the mystery girl, though. He has only spent a few minutes with her, but decides that she's the answer to all his problems. It's a little too Manic Pixie Dream Girl. Without giving anything away, she doesn't really get to develop as a character on her own, other than as Josh's perfect woman, and she feels more like a plot device than a person. Josh's friends, both men and women, are more well-rounded, so I know Bailey is capable of writing an engaging female character.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for the ARC to review.