This was a very amusing and quirky book. I think it would appeal to readers who enjoyed the switch by Beth O'leary . It was a very engaging storyline and the characters were relatable and likeable. Once you start you won't want to put it down until you find out the outcome.
Elizabeth, otherwise known as "Birdy" takes on the persona of her Best friend Heather and takes off for the furthest parts of Scotland to work as a Somelier at a Highlands restaurant. Buddy knows next to nothing about fine wines and her blagging leads to some humorous moments that make you laugh out loud.
She meets James and they become friends with the feelings between them developing over the Summer period. . Everyone believes that she's Heather Jones , wine expert extraordinaire, what happens when they find out she's an imposter? Read it and find out!
I loved this book, it was heartwarming and humorous and definitely made me smile . It's feel good fiction at it's best. I thoroughly recommend if you want to escape from everything for a while, in an idyllic setting. You will be transported to the beautiful Scottish Highlands in the turn of a page! 5 stars

The Summer Job, The hottest new debut of 2021 – WARNING: this is not your typical rom com, Lizzy Dent

Review from Jeannie Zelos book reviews

Genre: Romance, General Fiction

I've read a few like this and found them great fun, and hey, with Covid dominating our thoughts fun and fluff is much needed.

I really didn't like Birdy at first, she seemed careless, selfish, and ready to possibly drop her best friend in it, to “borrow” the job for which she knows Heather has worked incredibly hard. Sommelier – Heather has spent years working at it, studying, building a steadfast reputation, and yet her supposed best friend is ready to risk her career, risk her losing all that?
Yes., Birdie is in a hole, but thinking she could just step into Heather's shoes was naïve to say the least, selfish in my eyes.

As the story moved on I did come to understand Birdie a little better, and see that she had a good heart, though I still felt she did a horrible thing to Heather.
There were funny moments, serious problems, heartbreaking sadness, and the food.....wow, that was some of the best part, visualising that. One of the best parts, one that showcased Birdie's talents, was the big food/wine event she presided over. That was just perfect.

The romance. I expected more, and TBH its really just a potential romance for the most part of the book. I'm not sure I was wholly convinced either.

Its a fun read if you can get past the issues of betrayal of her friend, and of course risking the whole hotel's renovation that hinges like all businesses, on getting the money in.

Stars: Three, an OK read, made me laugh at times but I was irritated by Birdie's actions too much, with her lack of concern for others.

ARC supplied for review purposes by Netgalley and Publishers

When I read the blurb for this book and also saw that it was being compared to The Flat Share, one of my favourite books of 2019, I was completely on board.
And I have to say, for me, The Summer Job was even better than The Flat Share.
Birdy Finch is such a great character and I adored how much personality and authenticity (even though she spends most of the book telling far from the truth) oozed from her.
She is easily one of my favourite female characters of late and I also found myself so invested in the lives of the accompanying characters.
Each of them was so well constructed and you could definitely imagine yourself at Loch Dorn encountering all of the characters.
I really loved the way that Lizzy Dent wrote this. Her writing style was right up my street.
When you start reading this you assume that you know exactly how it will end and it does end in a similar fashion but with enough twists and differences to totally make up for that.
The Summer Job was just such a great read. It was funny, romantic, emotional and perfect escapism.
I definitely can't wait to read more from Lizzy Dent in the future.
And if you enjoy reading the likes of Beth O' Leary and Lindsey Kelk, etc., you should seriously pick up The Summer Job!
Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Elizabeth ‘Birdy’ Finch has had a run of temporary jobs and now her flatmate Heather is running off to Italy she needs to find somewhere else to stay. Heather is supposed to spend the summer working in Scotland as a sommelier and Birdy decides to go in her place. She’s trying her best to fumble her way through the job when she begins to develop feelings for the chef. Birdy soon realises she might have gone too far and people might get hurt.
I enjoyed Birdy as a protagonist, she was funny and self-deprecating but also someone who cared deeply for others. It was great to see her grow as a person and come to terms with her family and her past. The staff team at the restaurant were all really interesting and they felt like one dysfunctional family.
This book is pitched as a rom-com for fans of ‘The Flatshare’ and I would agree with this.This feels like the perfect summer beach read. It is light-hearted, fun story with an improbable plot but it also touches on deeper topics such as child neglect and explores what family means. Although she comes off as care-free and confident, Birdy has a really vulnerable side that she learns to deal with. Overall, this was an entertaining, quick read which I would recommend to fans of ‘The Love Square’ and ‘Beach Read’.

This was a fun and surprising romantic comedy describing the free fall the protagonist is experiencing while pretending to be her friend and now knowing anything about the job at hand. The handsome love interest adds a layer of spiciness to this lovely story.

A pure escapist novel which has been a great read during these bleak times. Birdy Finch decides on the spur of the moment to take her best friends job in a Scottish Highland hotel to escape her dull life in London but it doesn't turn out how she envisaged and she has to learn a lot about wine to pull it off. At the hotel Birdy meets an interesting range of characters who she comes to care about especially a good looking chef is beginning to come out of his shell and sees the best in Birdy.

A laugh out loud tale of finding the place where you belong.

A bit ambivalent about this book. Birdy, or rather, Elizabeth Finch, takes a job which is originally meant for her best friend Heather. Not just any job, but that of a sommelier at a high end hotel in Scotland. She knows nothing about wine, or much else to be honest.
I found that I didnt like her, her attitude, her swearing, her lies. I know that they wwere supposedly the result of a traumatic childhood but.......
However, midway, things began to change, and as she took the job to heart she began to be a more rounded personality.
It was all a bit improbable really, but quite a light enjoyable read.
Thanks to NetGalley for a chance to read and review this book.

Birdy takes a job in a hotel that her friend didn't want to do but she doesn't know anything about being a sommelier and has to wing it. Ok book but didn't think all the swearing was necessary

A lovely unexpected story set in Scotland. This book follows Birdy who often attends events as her best friend, sommelier Heather until she takes this too far and takes a job on her behalf. A book filled with great characters, mouthwatering food and superb scenery. Thank you netgalley.

This easy-to-love story is one that deals with life-swap and mistaken identity themes in a slightly left-field way that's easy for anyone to empathise with, even if they haven't done anything as extreme as the heroine Birdy Finch, who finds herself impersonating her best friend Heather, a talented sommelier, at a struggling Scottish countryside hotel - although she doesn't know her Picpoul from her Lambrusco Bianco. While laugh-out-loud funny, this novel also explores the struggles of the two girls and how their bad choices stem from unresolved pain. Birdy's father was an alcoholic and her mother prioritised his needs over her daughter's, and Heather has an obsessive craving for love and sense of emptiness that starts to make sense towards the end of the book. Anyone who's ever worked in hospitality will understand the struggles and joys of the events which the author captures beautifully, and it just made me want to return to those food-and-wine-soaked nights - except maybe not as a waitress! Five Michelin stars to Lizzy Dent, and long may she keep serving up these books!

Absolutely loved this book!! A lighthearted story about the perils of telling a fib and what happens when you try and get out of it. Really funny read. X

Fun! Especially when James is Sam Heughan in your head.

4.5 stars. I really enjoyed this, it was an enjoyable read.

Witty and yet uncomfortable, I binge read this book in two sittings Reading Buddy's lies and deception made me squirm but also laugh out loud at her social.awkwardness wrapped.up in innuendos. Funny, romantic, sad with a great setting. I would have been very happy to have been sat on a beach reading "The Summer Job" by Lizzy Dent.

Thanks so much to @penguinukbooks for letting me read an advance copy of The Summer Job!

The Summer Job is, unsurprisingly, about a summer job: Elizabeth Finch, nicknamed Birdy, decides - in a moment of absolute madness - to pose as her best friend Heather and work as a sommelier in a remote Highlands hotel for the summer. I have like absolutely zero knowledge of the Highlands - went to Aviemore six years ago, that's it - so I can't speak for the accuracy of this setting, but you know I'm always looking for Scotland-set books that aren't depressing/crime/full of stereotypes and this pleasingly delivered.

Anyway, I really liked The Summer Job! Fictional stories where people pretend to be other people give me the absolute fear but I overcame my inner awkwardness and thankfully enjoyed this. The hotel setting is great and very convincingly portrayed, the characters are all likeable and the romantic lead, James, is one of my absolute rom-com faves. He is just so nice, and I liked how there were no weird misunderstandings and annoyances littering their path. Once you get over the admittedly ludicrous premise, this is a very engaging rom-com and I enjoyed bingeing it in two addicted sittings.

This seemed like a light, fuffy read, but it became à gradually heavier and more poignant as it went on.

I have to say, the lighter part at the start didn't particularly work for me, I was too anxious about all of the lies Birdy was telling and the pickle she'd got herself into as she told lie after lie. I think it was intended to be witty and funny it it made me feel on edge and uncomfortable and felt far fetched, but I pressed on and I warmed to Birdy as she dialled down the crazy and knuckled down to succeeding in her job and understanding herself a bit better.

The Scottish hotel setting and the foodie stuff was vivid and great escapism but the romance did nothing for me, I didn't get any feels from them. I was more invested in seeing Birdy mature and find her niche so I was a bit disappointed by the end that felt quite abrupt and not especially satisfying for me.

This would probably suit if you were looking for a beach read but I didn't love it I'm afraid.

Thanks to the publisher via netgalley for my arc.

Elizabeth ‘Birdie’ Finch is a loser, she can’t hold on to a job, she’s got no money, no where to live and Tim the worlds biggest douchebag for a sort of/not really boy/friend semi casual hang/ bootycall type relationship thing. What she does have is Heather her best friend, provider and all round good egg who is also a top sommelier that wears her romantic heart in her fragile sleeve for douchebags to peck at.
When Heather takes off for the Summer searching for that elusive thing called love, Birdie finds herself borrowing her identity and blagging her way into a new job that turns out to more than she bargained for. What could go wrong?
This review is totally biased because I am Scottish and this is a bit of a love letter to the west coast so obviously that 5 stars alone. I don’t need to be told how great Scotland is because I’m from there so there was a lot of head nodding at how beautiful Birdie found everything. Yes. Yes indeed. Aside from that however this is a really fun read. Birdie starts out as a cocky mess that I wasn’t entirely sure I liked but slowly we stripped her back to the fundamentals and I grew to love her just like everyone else.
There’s also horses in it which is never a bad thing especially when accompanied by Bret the hot horseman and his Heathcliff hair and shovel sized hands. Yes James can make killer cheese on toast but come on, who wouldn’t want a man who could cold poultice your twisted ankle at a moments notice?
Despite this serious error of judgement on Birdie’s part I was routing for her the whole time, she is a good woman who sometimes gets it spectacularly wrong but she sticks it out and tries to make things right this time. Good lass!

When Birdy's sommelier friend Heather wants to back out of a seasonal job in Western Scotland, Birdy offers to call on Heather's behalf to get her out of the work. But Birdy somehow forgets to do so before it's too late, and instead she decides, 'Screw it, I'll go in Heather's place.' We follow her during this summer in rural Scotland as she pretends to know anything about wine.

This one wasn't for me. If I hadn't been kindly given by the publisher the opportunity to read it, I would have DNF'd it at around 30%.

It's funny, Birdy and I are the same age and have the same parental baggage, but we couldn't be any different. I couldn't believe how high the stakes were and how long it took her to care, to realise the weight of her actions and to stop dicking about. I expected shenanigans going into the book, but this was next level. There were so many people relying on her and for the longest time she barely felt guilty about leading them astray.

I also had issues with the love interest. Until halfway through the book, the only thing he saw of Birdy were lies and innuendos. Not an exaggeration. Everything out of her mouth is lies and innuendos. Obviously this is later explained away as part of Birdy's attachment issues, but it's not a very convincing start to an attraction between them.

Still, give it a try. Might be the right summer read for you.

I was expecting something of the Kinsella genre when I ordered this book, but although it didn’ t have the lighthearted zaniness of a Bloomwood, it had its own charm. It was a little tense and a little more emotionally charged than I expected, but I really enjoyed it.

The characters also had solidity and realness, and created an emotional connection to the reader.

Well recommended for an evening’s entertainment.

An absolute gem of a book! I loved it. The characters were so well developed and I felt a connection with each and every one. Each character had their own hidden heartbreaks, which combined in a beautiful way to create a story that made me want to laugh out loud and cry in equal measure. Highly recommended!

Elizabeth Finch is on a downwards turn & her life is going no where. Her best friend Heather is a sommelier but her head's turned by Christian & follows him to Italy, not taking up a new job at a hotel in Scotland. 'Birdy' (Elizabeth) decides to pretend to be Heather & take the job! The story unfolds & its a good read. The descriptions of Scotland are wonderful, the characters & Birdy are likeable. Recommended read. Enjoy!