Good. Interesting characters and concept. Shows how sometimes you need to pretend to be someone else to find who you really are. Nice easy read full of food, drink and romance.

Birdy Finch goes to a remote Scottish hotel, posing as her best friend, Heather, to take up Heather's job as sommelier, even though she knows nothing about wines. Will cramming knowledge on a daily basis be enough to get her through? How can she start a new relationship when everything is built on a lie? Funny, sad, enthralling, ideal reading for a wet winters day.

A funny, perky story where Elizabeth also known as “Birdy” risks everything to dive into a stolen second skin. Recreating a brand new life from scratch under the guise of expert sommelier is both hilarious and stressful to follow. The characters in the story are all colourful and rounded, although I wish the main love interest character was as interesting as the ex! I tore through this story and it leaves me longing for a Scottish highlands hike and a dram of whisky!

Sometimes you want a book full of twists and turns. Sometimes you want something that's going to wreck you emotionally. And sometimes you just want the comfort of a good rom-com.

And that's what this book delivers, and delivers well. There's a fun range of characters, some touching moments, all in a setting that is described so well that it was easy to picture.

So that's what this book is – the comfort of knowing that you're going to have everything tied up in a neat bow at the end. And sometimes, that's exactly what you want.

Sorry, but this was just to ridiculous for me.
Someone with no job experience in the hospitality industry as a sommelier being able to persuade supposed professionals that they know what they are doing.
It was an insult to anybody working in the hospitality industry.
I found it frustrating it was so stupid.

This was such an entertaining read, with a cast of brilliantly imagined characters that you couldn't help but love. It explored a range of themese - from finding what makes you happy, to the impact of an alcoholic parent and how your childhood can go on to impact your life and relationships in adulthood. But none of these themes were shoehorned in to the book, they were all wonderfully weaved through the story. This was the ideal dreary January read.

3. 5 stars

When Birdy's best friend Heather heads to Italy in pursue of love, Birdy finds herself in the awkward position of not having anywhere to live, anywhere to work, or anywhere she particularly wants to be.

On a whim, Birdy impersonates Heather and heads to Scotland to work as a sommelier. The problem is, Heather doesn't know about it. And Birdy is not a sommelier. Can Birdy pull off the switch, and help a struggling hotel?

I enjoyed The Summer Job! I liked Birdy's character, although I didn't appreciate her choice in men initially. Tim was an arrogant waste of space, and I was so relieved when Birdy kicked him to the curb!

I am not-so-secretly hoping that a book from Heather's perspective might be on the cards, because I am so keen to know more about her.

I felt as though the pace of the book was a bit off. I did find myself skimming some parts in the middle which I felt dragged.

The Summer Job tackled some hard hitting issues such as parent abuse and neglect, gaslighting, alcohol abuse and mental health.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read a copy of this book.

I kept hearing about this book and it's easy to see why! It's wonderfully light and escapist, which is exactly what I need in times like these. Thank you so much for the ARC!

This book was absolutely fine, easy to read and a pleasant enough story. I didn’t really connect with the main character so wasn’t particularly interested in her story and found some of the side characters a bit more interesting. Descriptions were good of the setting and area. Just wasn’t excited about this one.

I started this book thinking – this is just so unlikely. How could someone blag themselves into this position and make it work? Birdy (Elizabeth) and Heather have been best friends since primary school, through family troubles and relationship break-ups. Heather’s a sommelier about to take up a summer job in Scotland when she decides days before that she’s going off to Italy instead with her new boyfriend who she’s convinced is ‘the one’. Birdy has no job, a dodgy relationship and, while Heather’s away for the summer and has rented out her house, is homeless. Used to pretending to be Heather to go to the odd party her friend hasn’t time to attend, and thinking it would be a low key job and a bit of fun, she travels to Scotland to take up the post at Loch Dorn, an old family-run hotel currently being modernised by the mostly absent head chef and a staff determined to make the hotel a success. Despite everything – she manages to pull it off (thank goodness for a copy of the good wine guide), develop her confidence, find love and a passion. It’s not as predictable as some romantic reads and focuses on families and friendships. Really enjoyed it!

Books like this always make me feel a little uncomfortable - when someone gets themselves into an impossible situation, and doesn’t have the wit to extricate themselves.
The sommelier theme is unusual, and interesting.
A lovely story, if a little predictable.

Reading this book over a few winter days was perfect escape.

Life isn’t going all to well for Birdy. She’s out of a job, home and her best friend, Heather is off to Italy for the summer with her new boyfriend.

Tasked with the job of turning down a summer job in a Scottish hotel as a sommelier on Heather’s behalf, Birdy ends up with a case of mistaken/borrowed identity and finds herself up in the remotes of Scotland pretending to be her best friend in a beautiful hotel which is a far cry from its rundown shabby website appearance.

Realising the hotel’s future counts on her (non-existent) wine knowledge ( alongside the efforts of the kitchen and waiting staff!) Birdy has a lot on her plate! Her plan is simple though, keep her secret under wraps, protect her friend’s reputation and not let the hotel fail. Oh, and not fall for the chef. Easy right?

I adored this book, Birdy is such a delight and the scenes with the chef, James where the perfect blend of flirtatious, banter and romantic. The cooking lessons he gave her were spot on, my own husband is a chef and I totally relate to the way James’ demeanour chances when teaching cooking skills!


5/5 will absolutely buy the book the second It’s released!

This is about a girl called Birdie who lives a life without direction and wanders from one thing to another. She suddenly finds herself totally broke and homeless with the only option to return home to Plymouth where her uncaring mother lives, when another opportunity presents itself. This opportunity involves taking her friend Heather’s identity and going to work in a hotel in Scotland. Heather is a sommelier who has devoted her life to gaining top qualifications and an excellent knowledge and understanding of wine. Can Birdie pull it off? The hotel that Birdie thinks she is going to is a run-down old-fashioned hotel in the Scottish Highlands. The reality is that a lot of money has actually been thrown at the place in an attempt to bring it into the 21st century, with a wonderful menu and wine list and an expectation of huge success – not at all what Birdie had expected. After a very shaky start working there a the sommelier Birdie throws herself into her new life with unexpected results. After a slightly slow start I really engaged with this book. I loved the fact that it demonstrated that we are not all dealt the same hands in life but some people are able to overcome this and make the best of themselves. I loved the description of the area around the loch and also the delicious descriptions of the food and wine themselves. The characters are warm and likeable with probably only one exception and the ending is heart-warming. This book has a really good story line with quite a bit happening throughout. I really enjoyed hearing about the characters, the setting and the food and drink. Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me an ARC of this book in return for an honest review.

Enjoyable read. Light hearted romance with a frisson of tension around Birdie’s web of untruth. The scenery description are compelling throughout. The plot slows midway through the book but does again pick up pace with a surprising ending. I enjoyed the authors style would recommend this book. Happy reading.

Thank you Netgalley.

I started this book and can't seem to get in to it so I had put it down.

I didn't understand the characters or nothing.

Firstly I have to say that I adore the cover on this book! The bright colours are so fresh and eye catching, great design choice. Its so nice to see a book that isn’t afraid to stand out from the crowd.

This was a fun, fast read. Birdy was an interesting character – in a lot of ways she shouldn’t have been very likeable at all. She lied, cheated, was unreliable and took no responsibility for anything (at least not at the start of the book) but she was a fierce supporter and defender of her best friend, warm and personable. Somehow it worked – even when her decisions spiralled out of control, somehow you always willed her to fix it and pull through.

This was one of those stories when at some points you wanted to bang your head on something or reach into the pages and ask the characters (OK Birdy, always Birdy) what on earth she though she was doing! At the same time, even though the situations she got herself into were plainly ridiculous you could actually see how she ended up there and couldn’t find a way out except to carry on through.

The descriptions of the Scottish countryside in this book are wonderful. The muddy walks, the vast loch, the sweeping countryside with the old manor house sitting proud in the middle of it. The depictions are so vivid that you could almost be standing there yourself.

A nice book to get lost in for a little while, I’d recommend for those looking for a bit of escapism.

It took me forever to read this, and a cute romance should be a breeze to read. It just didn't do anything new or exciting. The characters didn't grab me, and the more serious themes left me unmoved (and felt tagged on for a bit of filler). It wasn't as funny or as engaging as I'd hoped.

I did enjoy the descriptions of the setting, though.

An easy read with likeable characters and a fun plot, an ideal beach read and perfect for summer!
4 stars

A wonderful, funny and entertaining debut from a fresh new voice.

Birdy Finch doesn’t seem to have her life together. She lives in London with her best friend Heather, but when Heather decides that she’s going to Italy for a few months to be with the latest love of her life (who also happens to have a girlfriend already. Alarm bells, right?) and Birdy is left without a job or a home, she panics. Going to a wine party posing as Heather, she ends up accepting a sommelier job at a rundown Scottish hotel for the summer.

What can go wrong? Talk about grapes to a bunch of clueless customers for a few months. Except it’s been renovated to a sophisticated, top-notch boutique hotel and suddenly Birdy is excepted to know her shit. It’s a slight disaster, not helped by the fact that the head chef, James, is hunky as hell and she can’t seem to keep her eyes off him. Suddenly Birdy finds that she cares about this. The job, James, the owners, protecting Heather’s reputation. This was so relatable, and I definitely think that we’ve all been in a situation where a lie has got out of control and suddenly there is a lot more at stake.

I was rooting for Birdy from day one. It takes guts to walk into a situation like this and decide to stay and work at it, even if she is building on a lie. Despite the deceit, Birdy learns so much about herself. With a traumatic childhood and Heather being the only family she has, she loves joining the new mismatched, gruff and caring family that she finds herself in the middle of Scotland.

My favourite part of this book is that Birdy is a strong, modern woman and she makes mistakes and she is allowed to. She is exactly the kind of woman I imagine living in London right now: a little bit lost but slowly finding her way, trying her best to find her identity in a crowded world. I mean don’t get me wrong, James is dreamy, but the main relationship here is Birdy and Heather’s. It’s such a celebration of the lengths we go to for friendship, even if they’re amongst mistakes.

This novel made me feel light, and that is a mean feat with the current state of the world. It was so much fun, and I would gently urge you to pick this up for a great escapist read.

The Summer Job reads like a high-octane version of a Beth O'Leary or Josie Silver novel -- the protagonist, Birdy, has loads of lovable English charm, but the romance is less 'slow burn' and more 'oh-my-gosh-the-stakes-are-so-high-and-I'm-mildly-stressead-for-these-lovebirds' in its unfolding, you know? The story is clever and silly and a complete delight to read, and Birdy's an adorable, relatable hot mess of a character you can't help but root for. Would absolutely recommend to fans of The Flatshare, One Day in December, or Beach Read (or even Sweetbitter, if you love a story set in the hospitality industry). It's flirty and fun -- a perfect spring / summer read!