I so enjoyed this wonderful and warm summer read from Lizzy Dent! Our protagonist Birdy is adrift in her life in London. She is estranged from her parents, and the only person she has ever really cared about, or who as loved her as family, is giving up the opportunity of a lifetime as a sommelier at a hotel in Scotland to travel to Italy with a new love interest. Birdy decides to assume her friend Heather's identity for the summer. How hard can wine tasting and hospitality be? VERY DIFFICULT, as it turns out. This is a novel about friendship, found family and love. There is an endearing cast of memorable, quirky characters, and the sense of place is stunning. I rooted so hard for Birdy, and for her coworkers, and for Heather. I am so grateful for the ARC of this one--I loved it!

The Summer Job is a light women's fiction, beach read book. Elizabeth (Birdy) Finch is 31 and has no where to stay for the summer. Her best friend Heather is going with her latest boyfriend to Italy and asks Birdy to let the hotel know she isn't going to take their job. Instead Birdy decides she can pose as Heather and have a free room at a hotel in the Scottish highlands. Heather is a renowned, world class trained sommelier. Birdy once waitressed in a pub. What starts as a lark turns more serious as Birdy realizes the hotel has everything on the line with their new posh restaurant. She is in way over her head, but supportive co-workers befriend and help her along the way.

Birdy is a hard lead to love. She is doing something morally unethical but for the first time she really tries to buckle down and do her best. There are a-lot of mistakes and times she could have fessed up to her situation. Her background gave me empathy for her character but other times I was frustrated with her. When her boyfriend shows up and causes problems it was more cringeworthy than funny to me. It did show she was growing in wanting to be reliable but she handled it in irresponsible ways. Love interest James is sweet and swoon worthy. And I liked the real Heather's story even if it was a bit on the sad side.

It is a good debut novel and the author notes that she was inspired by her work in the hospitality industry in Scotland. I will add that I don't drink alcohol so a lot of the wine talk wasn't relevant to me. But maybe that helped me relate to Birdy more as she was starting from about the same general knowledge as me. Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for an ARC ebook in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fun read that will be perfect for summer reading recs. Directionless Birdy takes on the summer job in Scotland as a sommelier that her friend uncharacteristically abandoned, despite having to assume her identity and knowing virtually nothing about wine. The remote Scottish setting is a delight, and the charming cast of characters that Birdy finds herself with are very enjoyable.

This book was a mess but in the best way! I fell in love with Birdy and her antics and now I want all the wine! LOL!

I was hooked from chapter one. The characters were well developed and I smiled the whole time! Great start to summer reading!

Have you ever taken a job that you thought would be easy? Or maybe accidentally filled in for a friend because of a misunderstanding?

Birdie doesn't have a career path or an idea of what she wants to do in that respect. So when she tells her friend that she will help cancel a new job posting for her. Only to meet the prospective employer at a wine event with her wearing a nametag with her friend Heathers name on it. 

As Birdie arrives at what she thought was a rundown hotel/ restaurant to find a renovated restaurant with a new chef. So pretending to be a trained sommelier just got way harder!

I enjoyed all the different personalities that made up the kitchen and front of house. There was a sweet romance. I thought this was a straight forward romance but things get twisty once you get 3/4 in. Once everyone finds out the truth. I love how it ends! 

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thank you @netgalley and @putnambooks @penguinrandomhouse for the e-ARC for my honest and voluntary review.

“The Summer Job” by Lizzy Dent
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was fun and quirky. “Birdy just got her dream job. The problem is, it’s not hers.” When Birdy’s best friend Heather decides not to take her summer job as a Sommelier at a luxury Scotland Hotel she asked Birdy to call and let them know she wasn’t coming. Heather was going to be spending the summer with her kind of boyfriend. Birdy has no where to go, so she decides to take Heather’s place. The problem is she knows nothing about wine. Can she fake it for a whole summer? Can she make herself proud for once or is she going to screw this up?

I wanted to love this because the premise sounded so promising and fun and it was compared to Sweetbitter, which I loved! However, I just found myself cringing so hard and almost unable to finish this book from second hand embarrassment. I liked the romance and I loved the Scottish setting but I think this was too muddy. There needed to be a bit more editing and development of the story.

The Summer Job comes out next week on May 18, 2021 and you can purchase HERE. I would recommend The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella or something by Katie Fforde instead of this one but you may have better luck.

"I don't want you to go."

It's the most beautiful, and the most sobering, sentence I've ever heard. I can't look at him, but I can feel his eyes scanning my face, looking for reassurance. I feel the same. But I don't look up; instead I stare out onto the water, watching it ripple along the bay, lapping at the black stones of the shore.

"Me too," I say in the end, because it's the truth.

This was a really cute book! It was British chic lit (even set in Scotland), well written, and an interesting story. It did take a little suspension of reality - so hard to believe that someone could fake sommelier training even for a little while - but I like the way Dent presented it. Birdy took a little while to grow on me as a character, but her back story was well developed and did explain why she had grown into the person she had. The background of Scotland and an old estate restaurant and hotel was beautiful and almost a character in itself. The supporting cast was richly drawn and pulled you in. Overall, definitely worth the read. 3.5 stars.

The whirlwind of emotions reading this novel! I was silently waiting for everything to implode, with a smug feeling that the main character slightly deserves the karma, even though I really like her. The childhood stories hit home with me, although I will keep that part a secret so I don't give any spoilers.

This novel mixes a few of my favorite things: wine, small-town drama, friendships that have been the sustenance of survival, and unconditional love in the family you create.

Read this book!

Many thanks to NetGalley and GP Putnam's Sons for gifting me a digital ARC of the debut adult novel by Lizzy Dent - 4 stars for a light, humorous, fun summer read!

Birdy lives in London but is out of job prospects and a place to live. Her best friend, Heather, is off to Italy on a hopefully romantic adventure with her boyfriend. Heather, a sommelier, had accepted a summer job at a run-down Scottish inn and tasked Birdy with canceling for her. Birdy forgot and suddenly she decided to go to Scotland and pretend to be Heather for the summer. How hard could it be? However, when she gets there, she discovers that it is a Michelin starred hotel/restaurant with high expectations for its new sommelier.

You will laugh out loud as Birdy attempts to fill her job requirements when she really knows nothing about wine. The best part of this book is the camaraderie that the hotel staff shows as they all come together for the common goal of making the restaurant work. Full of good food and drink, smiles, love, laughter - all those things that make up life, friendship and family in all kinds of ways. A great summer read!

Ahhhh, Millennials. Gotta’ love ’em. No job? No prospects? No place to live? No idea what to do with your life when you’re 31? There’s a simple solution–impersonate your BFF at a summer job that she’s blown off to vacation with a cokehead shoe designer who’s cheating on his girlfriend. What’s a little identity theft between besties?

Honestly, you can’t make this stuff up. Except that debut author Lizzy Dent did make it up in her delightful novel The Summer Job, which not only releases inside three continents (AU, UK, USA) but also scored a TV deal with NBC.

Story protagonist Elizabeth (Birdy) finds herself in a huge bind when her best friend and roommate, Heather, decides to take off for the summer with another disastrous boyfriend–in a string of disastrous boyfriends–and sublet their apartment. That decision leaves Birdy homeless. To this reviewer, that key point gives Birdy somewhat of a pass for what she does next. She has no where to live, she’s unemployed, and her best friend has glibly blown off an opportunity most people would grab in a heartbeat–in Scotland, no less! Can you say, Outlander? Sam Heughen?

I can’t reveal spoilers, but I’m sure you can guess that this romantic comedy has an ultimately satisfying conclusion after lots of hijinks and near misses at an exclusive hotel with a talented but eccentric chef and his staff. I loved the food and wine references along the way.

An enjoyable read! Many thanks to NetGalley and The Penguin Group for offering an ARC to read and review and best of luck to Lizzy Dent.

Birdy Finch’s life is kind of a disaster - no job, no place to live, with a sometimes boyfriend who only sees her as a good time - so when an opportunity arises for her to go to Scotland in her best friend Heather’s place to work at a shoddy old hotel and pretend to be a Sommelier for the summer, she takes it. It can't be that hard, right? Birdy drinks wine...she can tell a red from a white.

But when Birdy arrives at the hotel and sees it's been completely renovated and now under the direction of a world-class chef with high expectations, she realizes the job is going to be a lot more difficult than she thought. Turns out there are 140 wines on their wine list, and just about a week for her to memorize them and pretend it's a piece of cake. Not to mention one of the chefs is gorgeous and is proving to be a distraction.

Thankfully, Birdy is a quick study and oozes charm. She thinks fast on her feet and can talk her way through (almost) any mishap. But just how long can she keep this up? And let's not forget the REAL Heather has no idea Birdy has gone to this job in her place. You can sense the disaster looming, right?

The Summer Job is a quick, fun read, with a surprising amount of self-discovery along the way. Birdy will have you rooting for her as she bungles through, then finds her footing, and just so happens to find the sense of belonging she didn't know she was looking for along the way.

The Summer Job was a fun romcom with a beautiful Scotland back drop, lots and lots of delicious wine, some truly funny moments, and quite a few likable characters.⁣
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I felt like the story was a bit long and could’ve been shortened a tad but overall was a great summer read. ⁣
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Birdy was quirky and sometimes said the funniest things. Irene was eccentric but a mother hen. James was sweet and endearing and he COOKS. Swoon. Roxy, Brett, Heather and Anis were also great secondary characters. The scenery sounded lovely. The wine made me want to sip wine the entire time. ⁣
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The character growth and patience in Birdy, Heather, James and Irene was enjoyable to read about.⁣
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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⁣
Thank you @putnambooks and @netgalley for an arc for my honest review. #netgalley #books #romcom #thesummerjob

This novel by Lizzie Dent was a pleasant read. Elizabeth “Birdy” had spent her life in and out of jobs, she had not really found her calling in life and at her age most of her friends were well settled in their careers. Her best friend, Heather followed in her father’s footsteps and became a sommelier. Heather had acquired a position at a Scottish retreat and at the last minute decided to follow a man to Italy instead of fulfilling her promised job. Heather asked Birdy to call Loch Dorn and tell them she changed her mind and Birdy decided instead to go and take Heather’s place. How hard can it be to serve wine, right?

Once Birdy arrives in Scotland she quickly realizes that she is in way over her head. Loch Dorn had invested a lot of money in modernizing and refurbishing the retreat and Heather/Birdy was supposed to be the piece that pulled them from being average at best to truly posh. As Birdy a.k.a. Heather comes to realize there is more at stake than just a summer job at a run down inn. All the people at Loch Dorn are hoping that this summer will be the beginning of wonderful things. Birdy has to figure out how to fake it and make it or do irreparable harm to her best friend’s reputation and Loch Dorn. It seems that she might have bit off more than she could chew.

As Birdy settles in she gets to know all her coworkers and truly feels a part of a team for the first time in her life. She feels like she belongs. But what will happen if the truth comes out? How can she salvage the relationships she is developing once she comes clean? Every character in the book has flaws and fears that make them relatable and very enjoyable to read about. The ending of the novel brings out some surprises that I was not expecting. Birdy’s journey was a delightful read with characters that helped develop the story line and didn’t distract from it. Dent’s writing style flowed well and made it an overall fun read. I would recommend this book to someone who likes chick-lit, fiction, women’s lit, Scotland and/or wine.

Dent wrote a story that's like fine wine, perfectly balanced in its elements and with a great finish.
And I promise this is the only joke about wine because, like adventurous Birdy who jumps in without thinking, that's all I can pretend to know about wine.
It's a great story full of interesting characters and relatable problems. Birdy takes her sommelier best friend's summer job in a resort in Scottland in a desperate attempt to not have to move back into her parents' house. What she doesn't know is that what her friend passed off as an easy stint in a rundown lodge will turn out to be a challenging job that is crucial for everyone involved. Thus begins Birdy's challenging adventure of self-discovery.
It has comedy, romance, foodie discussions, and the perfect amount of drama to tie it all together into a great read to enjoy along with a good glass of wine.

Many happy thanks to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons for the early read!

I just finished this book, and immediately wanted to get my thoughts and feelings down on paper. First, thank you so much to NetGalley and Penguin group for approving me for the advance copy of this book to read and review. It is rare for me to get approved for a book considered a romance in any sense, so I was elated to get approval on this one. When I read the synopsis for this book, I felt that I would instantly connect with it, and that I DID! I don’t usually read romance, but ROM-COMs I’m all in for.

This one is a RomCom at its finest! It had all the attraction and angst without the steam that I don’t love. At several points in the book my heart was racing because I was so nervous about the book going in a direction I didn’t want it to. But I shouldn’t have worried – this book was pretty close to a perfect read for me. Start with one self-depricating, hilarious and down-to-earth girl who sees everyone around her finding success when she just hops from job to job without purpose. Give her a lifetime best friend that knows all her faults and loves her unconditionally regardless of the missteps she makes. Now give the first girl a situation she falls into and can’t seem to find a way out of. This is the story of Birdy, her best friend Heather, and the summer that Birdy mistakenly “becomes” Heather.

Birdy is one of those characters that you can’t help but root for. She has experienced all kinds of rejection and blame, but still looks to find the good in people always. She never takes herself too seriously and naturally makes other people feel at ease in her presence. Heather is a well educated sommelier, just as her father was. She lost both her parents at an early age – around the same age she and Birdy met and became friends. There is an amazing line in the book,

“The great, lonely hole that she had inside her when her father died. The pain I didn’t understand, and which she tried not to burden me with. We wanted so much to be enough for each other, but it was too much of a burden for each of us to carry.” Birdy

Heather accepts a position as a sommelier at a Scottish resort. She decides on a whim instead to follow her boyfriend (who already has a girlfriend, by the way) to Paris for the summer instead. Thus begins the summer that Birdy becomes Heather. She falls into the situation pretending to be Heather, and then decides she might be able to make it work for one summer. The position is at an out-of-fashion, run down place in Scotland so she thinks maybe she can fake it for a little while. But once she gets to the newly-remodeled and more modern Scottish Inn, she immediately knows she is out of her depth. Now her only choice is to try to save the real Heather’s reputation by becoming the best version of herself that she can. Along the way, Birdy learns about being a part of a team, being responsible, being capable and above all what real love should feel like.

“And then I realize the feeling that is filling my heart is not only a sense of belonging. Or feeling like part of a team. It’s pride in myself. Quiet, personal pride. And it feels good.” Birdy

I’ve read mixed reviews for this one – but I absolutely loved it! The book is full of funny moments and endearing characters. It was a fun, light beach read and my heart was filled. Highly recommend!

Admittedly, this started out a little slow for me and I was a bit disappointed as the synopsis sounded right up my alley. Thankfully, it all changed and I was hooked! I consider myself a foodie and a wannabe wine snob so I loved the hospitality setting. This book was heartfelt, funny, and had you rooting for Birdy even if it is crazy to pretend to be someone else.

Birdy, like many of us, lets her past and insecurities dictate who she believes she is. I loved that we were able to see personal growth throughout her journey. Sometimes it just takes the right place and the right people to set you on your path.

A cute and charming summer read perfect for foodies & wine lovers!

What a fantastic, debut novel from Lizzy Dent.

Heather and Elizabeth ‘Birdy” Finch are best friends and are opposites but together are a whole. Heather is a trained sommelier and Birdy takes whatever job she happens to land, never really lasting. Heather asks Birdy to let a potential job know that she will not be taking it – it was a summer job in Scotland as their head sommelier. A night out drinking has Birdy pretending to be Heather and actually accepting the job for the summer. After all, Heather poo-pooed it as an easy job.

Thinking it will be no big deal proves Birdy wrong at every juncture - she’s in way over her head. Now she is doggedly trying to survive and do a halfway decent job in the process. The longer she stays there the more she become attached to the people who work at highland Scottish Hotel; especially James.

This story sets the idyllic scene in Scotland, with a great cast of characters, peppered with humor, sadness and times of triumph. But trying to be Heather is starting to weigh on Birdy and the perfect storm seems to be brewing. What happens? You’ll definitely have to once click this to find out.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin UK for the opportunity to read this.

I recently finished a book that gave me severe book hangover and I found the cure! The Summer Job is irreverently delightful. Birdy's antics and dry humor are a perfect antidote if you enjoy a romance and women's fiction hybrid. I couldn't help but laugh and root for her.
I think most people can relate to the MC, Elizabeth Finch (aka Birdy). She hasn't found her calling and there's no light at the end of the tunnel. She's steals her best friend's identity and life on a lark and finds much more than she bargains for on the west coast of Scotland.
Lizzy Dent is my newest auto-need author. I have high hopes that her future releases will be just as charming and just as diverting.
Thank you to PENGUIN GROUP Putnam and NetGalley for the advanced copy. All thoughts in this review are my own.

'The Summer Job' is a well-crafted story, full of love in an earnest, heart-warming way. There is a slow-burn build up between Birdy and James, but what I loved about Dent's storytelling is the care she gives to really build up Birdy's confidence in a believable, careful, self-accepting way. It's never the glossy 'falling in love with this man fixes all the problems' - it is much more sincere and earnest.
As a fan of both American and British Women's lit, I thought this straddled the two styles quite well and would be great for either audience.
I fell easily for Birdy, James, and the supporting characters, and found this book to be the perfect length.
Great all-around read.