Accidentally in Love is a lovely warm and feel good romcom and the perfect poolside summer read. The writing is good and the author has developed some great characters, all of whom are engaging and realistic. I loved the family dynamics, the wonderful relationship Katharine has with her family and the way they all support each other.

Some of the more romantic scenes are depicted really well, particularly the scene in the darkroom with all the simmering sexual tension! Although I enjoyed the progression of the romance between Kit and Katherine, I felt Kit initially came across as downright rude and I can’t believe Katharine put up with the way he spoke to her. He did, however, redeem himself and I grew to like his character as the story progressed. As a lover of art and drawing, I thoroughly enjoyed reading about all the art references, Katherine’s job as art curator and Kit’s art school, and I loved the connection their relationship had through art.

The end felt a little rushed and it all seemed to escalate rather quickly, unfurling it over another chapter would have lessened the seemingly hurried pace.

A quick and easy read if you want a quick fix, with a good story line, great characters and a cosy romance.

Thank you to the publisher via Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley, HQ and Belinda Missen for gifting me an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!
After being passed up for a promotion at work for the third time, Katherine knows it’s time to move on. She breaks up with her “are they, aren’t they” guy and decides that moving home is the best way to see her dreams of opening her own gallery a reality. There she meets Christopher, a local artist and friend of her fathers. He runs a local art school which brings them together.
This starts as an enemies to lovers plot line. Christopher gives fresh and funny banter that keeps the chemistry going between the two characters, but his hot and cold attitude got old fast. I think he was crazy immature for being in his thirties and some of the things he got himself into had me rolling my eyes. Their romance throughout the book was pretty tame and this could be classified as a clean romance! I think maybe if we’d seen their story play out a little longer I would’ve felt a connection between them, but I just feel like we didn’t quite have enough info to really fall for these characters!

An enemies to lovers story that didn't quite mark that tally for me with characters that you may or may not be indifferent to depending on your preferences for MCs.
The start of it is catching but as it moves on with Katharine and Christopher a.k.a Kit, it fell flat and predictable.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book received from the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A cute romance which is exactly what i need sometimes to feel refreshed and dive back into reading so thank you Belinda Missen for making this wonderful romance. The only negative part was that the book seemed a little slow i feel like it took me forever just to get through one page with that being said I did not connect well with the characters either. It almost felt like the author tried to do an enemies to lovers type novel and i dont feel like that worked well for her, had she just stuck with the happy hallmark romance i believe i would have liked the book more.

Accidentally in Love by Belinda Missen is a story about Katharine, a longtime gallery curator at a fine arts gallery in London, who was completely fed up about being passed over for a promotion and was on an undefined relationship with a lawyer. She then leaves London to return back to her hometown to fulfill her artistic dreams, and possibly find the person she’ll spend her life with.

Katharine is very relatable. Sets aside passion for something that will pay the bills, but still holds out hope that one day she’ll be given the opportunity to show the world her talents. But not too far that she forgets about it. She instead took a curator job, which is still a dream job for her. And yet somehow, the time she spent learning and working for her craft, it simply was not enough.

This novel is definitely written for a millennial audience. Why, you ask? Calligraphy, photography, and drinking – the trifecta of millennial hobbies. Plus, the never-ending career frustrations and failed relationships.

It’s been a while since I’ve read a chill novel. It’s definitely a breath of fresh air. Katharine is a wonderful character and I haven’t really laughed while reading a book the entire year. When she checks out Kit, I suddenly burst out laughing because that definitely isn’t something I usually read in books. Which now I think I’ve been reading the wrong ones.

The title clearly says it’s a romantic novel. But that’s not what I got 80 pages in, and I’m not saying like that is a bad thing. What I’m saying is, Ms. Missen prioritized Katharine’s career realizations over her romantic interests. And that is exactly what I like about this novel. It’s more about Katharine’s success than her finding a suitable partner. Sure, finding a person you’d spend your life with is important, but not as important as having a career and being your own person. Katharine is the type of person I aspire to be.

Ah, Ms. Missen. Thank you for this wonderful book. Thank you for writing Katharine as a strong woman who knows what she wants, what she’s worth, and isn’t afraid to ask for what she deserves.

I enjoyed this book for the most part. The writing was solid, the characters are interesting, and I do love stories set in the UK.

My biggest problem was that it seemed a little unbalanced. The beginning is a slow build-up between the two main characters, and I had no issue with that. It was then that the "dark moment" happened and suddenly it's a week later and things are rushed to a happy conclusion.

But I could easily imagine the setting, having visited London and the surrounding countryside a time or two. And I loved how Katharine handled her new lease on life. How many of us have wanted to look at our bosses and do the very same thing?

I look forward to more from this author in future.

After getting passed up for a well deserved promotion because she's not part of the boys club, Katharine decides to move back to her hometown and strike out on her own by opening an art gallery. She meets local artist Kit/Christopher and you can guess what happens. What I really liked about this book is how Katharine worked hard for what she wanted and the author didn't shy away from writing her with some flaws. I really enjoyed the dynamic Katharine has with her family, especially her brother Adam.

I had trouble with the pacing of the book. It started off strong for me but then there were so many other plot lines going on that I felt like I was reading 3 different books. The dialogue was broken up by such long chunks of inner monologue that I often had a hard time tracking the conversations which is unfortunate because there were some good barbs traded between Katharine & Christopher. Their relationship was a bit puzzling to me. One of my favorite tropes is an enemies to lovers romance but the progression of the relationship between Katharine & Christopher left me feeling a bit puzzled. I missed the banter, the slow burn, the simmering feelings. I wasn't rooting for them to become a thing and I felt like Christopher (and when did we suddenly switch from calling him Kit to Christopher in the book?) was largely absent for most of the story, even after he had been introduced as a character.

Each character in the book was well developed but in this case it was almost problematic because there is so much to absorb and take in. You want a chance to explore each of their situations (Lainey, John, Adam & Christopher all have a LOT going on in their stories that I won't spoil here) and I feel like I would have loved to have seen more of an exploration of that rather than a detailed description of Katharine picking out paint samples. The ending hit me out of nowhere and I was still left feeling like I didn't really have a grasp on the relationship between Katharine & Christopher.

I think this book will do well with those interested in the art & gallery world and Katharine is an inspiration for taking a leap of faith for anyone wanting to start their own business. Many thanks to HQ Digital & Netgalley for an ARC

Accidentally in Love was such a fresh, funny romcom. I love stories about self-discovery and following your dreams, and this was very much that, along with a story about family, friendship, and finding the type of love you deserve.

Katharine works in a job where she’s overlooked and underappreciated, she’s semi-dating a guy who never makes her a priority, and her best friend has shuffled her aside except for when she needs her to do something for her. She’s almost at her breaking point, so when the opportunity arises for her to quit her job and leave London, she takes a risk and jumps in head first. Katharine was so relatable. I think we’ve all felt like we weren’t a priority when we should be, whether it’s in a job, a friendship, a relationship, or in our own families. Katharine has it coming at her from all sides, so she decides it’s time to make herself a priority and do something that fulfills her, even if she fails. I loved her gumption.

When she meets Kit, they immediately rub each other the wrong way. She wants nothing to do with him, but they’re connected through her family and their small community, whether she likes it or not. They form a tentative agreement that slowly morphs into friendship and then something more. Even when things were good between them, these two still butted heads, but it provided for a lot of fun banter.

I loved the family dynamics in the book. Katharine had such a great relationship with her brother, Adam, and her dad and his girlfriend were a lot of fun. The friendship between Katharine and Lainey was painful to read at times, mostly because I’ve been in her place and related so much to feeling forgotten, taken for granted, used. I liked what it added to the story and that it tied in with Lainey learning to speak up and do what was right for her own life, even if it looked different than she thought or different from what others expected.

Overall, Accidentally in Love was a fun, lighthearted read. I could see this being made into a Hallmark movie - girl starting over in the small town she grew up in, quirky family, enemies to lovers - and I’d definitely watch it!

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me an ARC of the book in exchange for an honest review!

I really loved this book!
It was the kind of comfy rom-com that we all need once in a while, with a nice plot and witty banter!
I loved Katharine, the female main character of the book. She is determined and funny and crazy and she is ready to do anything she can in order to achieve her newly found goals.
Kit, the male MC and love interest is just equally as good as her. Initially, he's rude and stubborn, but then the amazing encounters between the two intensify and he just becomes this amazingly loving and gentle man that you might fall in love with completely.
Yet another plus to this book is Katharine's family. I loved every single one of them - from her witty brother to her supportive father to her father's amazing girlfriend. That is one hell of a great family!

The only thing that bothered me though was the ending. I felt like it was too rushed.
But if it were 2 or 3 chapters longer, then that would have been absolutely perfect!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was drawn in by this cover immediately I’m suck a sucker for rom-coms with cartoon covers.

An art curator in London, Katherine, following getting passed over a promotion for the third time to less qualified men decides to quit her job and move home Sheffield to open her own art gallery, breaking up with her boyfriend in the process. After being introduced to local artist Kit by her father, he and Katherine become fast foes, constantly bickering, and teasing but upon spending more time together preparing for her gallery opening find themselves falling ‘accidentally in love’.

It took awhile for the book to really get started so it took me a bit to actually get into it. By 30% of the way into the book the protagonist hadn’t moved home, yet which was the driving factor of the novel. But once I properly got into it, I found myself engaged and finished it within the day.

For something which is a rom- com there is a severe lack of romance by half way through the book she had only interacted with the love interest a handful of times so you could see whatever was going to develop between them would be overly rushed and it certainly was. Once the romance aspect developed though I really liked their dynamic honestly preferring it to the enemies- to- lovers build up which is abnormal for me. Despite the lack of romance I was still interested throughout, and I was fascinated by the ins and outs of Katherine trying to open an art gallery.

Character wise I quite liked Katherine, I enjoyed her drive and passion for what she does and her relationships with the people in her family. Kit however I had issue with, his defining personality trait was being overly pretentious though this was explained and he did become less annoying as the book progressed still didn’t leave him as my favourite love interest.

Overall, this novel was light-hearted and witty and quite enjoyable just beware it certainly more com than rom with a lot less romance in it than you would expect.

Eks*mo is an outright SLUR and seeing that in the first few pages was jarring. That needs to be immediately REMOVED. I'm sure the author is able to come up with another analogy that conveys Lainey's prowess at PR than saying "can sell ice to an Esk*mo." Not only does it use a slur, it refers to a harmful stereotype. That should have been caught during edits.

All that aside, I enjoyed the rest of the book quite a lot. As an art historian myself, I really enjoyed reading about the art world, the nuances of gallery management and showcasing artists and so on. I really liked the slow build of appreciation between Katharine and Christopher. I loved their banter and the way they learnt to admit faults and grow from each other's critiques.

I also really enjoyed the family dynamics. I loved how supportive Adam was of Katharine's changes in careers, how much love they had for Fiona despite her being their father's girlfriend after their mother passed.

Overall, it was a great book to read. The esk*mo thing has to go.

Thank you to Netgalley and HQ Digital for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Accidentally in Love is a soon to be released rom com novel about an art curator (Katherine) and her troubles with work, friendship, and love. In the first couple chapters of the book, we find out that Katherine has left her job, moved out of London, and broke up with her "boyfriend" of nine months. What happens next? Katherine moves to her hometown to start her own art gallery using the last of her savings, and unexpectedly starts butting heads with a local artist that her father and stepmom tried to set her up with.

Although this book was very cute and a quick read for me, it fell flat on the plot and relationship building. I felt as though I couldn't connect with the MC or her relationships with her family and friends. I felt so uncomfortable when she talked about "shagging" with her stepmom (if my stepmom said anything like that I would crawl into a hole and never come out). Honestly, I think this is the only book where I hated the main character and thought that the exboyfriend deserved better. If you want to discuss let me know! I don't want to accidentally give any spoilers.

I would recommend this book to those who love a quick romcom/hallmark movie type of book!

I couldn't finish this book, unfortunately. It just seemed like the characters were bland and like many other similar novels. It didn't have anything special and I had to trudge along until I could no longer do it.

Book Review 🇮🇳📚

Acciden_
tally in love❤️
By Belinda Missen

📍Yet to be published.

💕I wish to thank @belindamissen
@Hqstories and
@Netgalley for the privilege to receive this Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review.

💕'Accidentally in love' was sweet delightful read I had after my serious book list!
Honestly I loved the pink cover of it where a gal sitting carefree, boy looking grumpy are surrounded by scattered tripod,camera,art gallery pics in background! The introduction 'Sometimes romance blossoms where you least expect it....' made me explore it on lazy weekend in one go to find out how!?! 🙃

💕We meet thirty five years old Katherine, the confident,self reliant girl working as curator in art gallery in London having pally times with her bestie Lainey and loves to spend weekend with John,a friend with benefits! Away from this hustle bustle of London, in Sheffield we find Kit aka Christopher who runs an art school. How those two headstrong ends meet each other completing the circle, rather heart leading us to read their love-hate sparked romantic liasions where it was more like enemies turning into lovers! It also covers Kat's progressive journey from beginner as curator to exhibited artist!

💕I loved the fact it is not bookish fictional hard-core romance because in reality we do come across unsuitable situations. Practically it is not always hunky dory as they mention sometimes in books or movies. And individually we do find our own lovestories special as they are closed to our heart!

💕The book gave me honest, justified, heart warming and satisfactory epilogue.

This was a cute story that was a fun distraction. I loved the chemistry right away between Katherine & Kit. It had a good moral of not settling & follow your dreams.

Super cute, relatable modern fairytale.

Katherine gets tired of being second best and when she get passed up again for the promotion she deserves she quits her job. After quitting her job she has a 1/4 life crisis and kicks her commitment phobi non boyfriend too the curb and does some soul searching.

Her brother Adam and father and mother 2.0 Fiona and Kate’s biggest supports. And with that she’s decides to risk everything and open her own art gallery. Kat meets Kit when her father tries to set them up and it goes terribly they hate each other.

Life get more complicated as Kate continues to give everything to the gallery. Her best friends upcoming wedding becomes the priority and Kate finds herself with no one to talk too. Until Kit comes back into the picture and fireworks go off.

Insert a terrible set up, proposal, a punch in the face, a lost job, a break up,a ruined friendship and hitting rock bottom when your card declines. And some how you end up with perfection.

This is exactly what I needed to get my out of my funk!

Thank you to Netgalley, Belinda Missen, and HQ for gifting me an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

This is my second book by Belinda and I loved it so much! The characters in this book are written so well. Katherine is strong, relatable, and who HASN’T had $0 in their bank account at one point? Haha I love that her life is not in the perfect place to pursue something she wants and she isn’t even sure it will work! She set her fears aside, took the plunge and decided she would just go with the flow!

I think the chemistry between Katherine and her love interest is great and I love enemies to lovers! The pacing with which things turned around and progressed was great, and it didn’t feel too rushed.

The flow of this story works well and it doesn’t feel too fast paced, unrealistic, or too much. The reader gets the detail they need and that is relevant to the story (character descriptions, setting, etc.)

Honestly, it just made me happy, this story. Made me happy, made me think that maybe someday I’ll find that love (and I’m so glad that characters in this genre aren’t early twenties anymore - I want to read about late twenties, 30s, and even 40 year old women!!!), and when I figure out what I want with my life I can make it a reality! It won’t be perfect, but it will be mine! And really, what more can you ask for from a story?

Thanks to HQ and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for my review.

What happens when you quit your job after not receiving the promotion for the 3rd time and decide to move back home to open up an art gallery and break up with your not-quite boyfriend?
This fun British rom-com is about Katherine and trying to figure out her life. I liked the art gallery background for the story and the enemies to lovers aspect.

I thought the friendship angle was interesting and can relate to the impact of big life changes and how friendships need to evolve. I loved the brother and her family.

If you're looking for a cute, British rom-com then this is a great book!

This book was so cute! The enemies to lovers trope is usually a hit or miss for me, and this book was definitely a hit! I loved how Katharine and Kit’s relationship developed throughout the book. I also loved how the book went into details about Katharine’s relationship with her brother, dad, dad’s girlfriend, and her best friend. I felt really connected to Katharine and wanted a happy ending for her!

Katharine decides after losing her promotion at work that she has had enough and quits her job. That is where it all seems to start to flip her life and thoughts upside down. Meeting "Kit", a work party with John her casual NOT boyfriend, and going to see her dad and his wife. Looking for jobs leads her to looking for real estate and the idea to open her own art gallery. Kit and Katharine start out fairly rocky with each meeting, but their banter is hilarious. Loved how her family came together to help her, and how no matter how much she had going on she kept at it until it was done!