One of my romance reading goals in 2021 is to search out new authors to try via NetGalley. So far it's been a mixed bag. Unfortunately, I don't think Lizzy Dent is for me - or maybe it's just this story. Either way, despite positive reviews here, I will not be returning to this author.

And confession time: I didn't and won't finish it, but I fully intend to tell you why.

Problem 1: The premise.

The premise of the story - that a young girl (Birdy Finch) runs away from her life and pretends to be someone she isn't - is...fine? I mean, TBH, who does that? None of the moms/friends in my life, but since this is a fictional romance novel, I guess we’re supposed to just go along with it. For funsies. Unfortunately, our runner has a history of poor decision making, an inability to hold onto a job, and she's impersonating someone who has none of these problematic issues in her life. Her best friend (only friend) since childhood.

Hold up, we've arrived at problem number 2.

Problem 2: Why would you do this to your best friend?

Nope, she isn't impersonating someone insignificant. She's pretending to be her ONLY friend, Heather. Heather who has forgiven her for a zillion misdeeds. Heather who has essentially funded Birdy's life since she can't hold a job or keep an apartment or even a sublet and/or save money. Heather who is a successful, aspiring sommelier following in her well-known and well regarded father's footsteps.

Heather who trusted Birdy to contact her employer and let them know she wasn't going to show up in Scotland for a job she agreed to take because she's running away to Italy to be with a total loser who already has a girlfriend.
“I think I’m in love with Cristian,” she said as her mouth curved into a nervous smile.
“Oh,” I replied, trying to sound buoyant as my heart sank.

“I know, I know.” She was blushing and grinning, and I wanted to break something in half. Not him. Cristian, the coked-up shoe guy.

“Really?” I said, bracing myself. “The cobbler?”

“The shoe designer—Cristian, yes,” she said, sighing. “Anyway, I’m going to Rome for the summer with him, to see if it can be a thing.”

That explains the bikinis.

“He’s going to break up with his girlfriend,” she said quickly. To reassure me, I suppose.

And then she took a deep breath. “Birdy, I think I might . . . I mean I think we might be in love. I think this is it.”
Uh oh reader. We've stumbled onto problem number 3 haven’t we?

Problem 3: Your best friend might be just as big a loser as you are.

Following this ridiculous exchange, Birdy asks how Heather’s planning to let the Scotland hotel job people know she’s quitting. And instead of calling, or doing the 20’something thing and just sending a fucking email (right?!), these two concoct a whole fake story about Heather and a stabbing (I’m not even going to put the quote in this review because THE CONVERSATION ISN’T FUNNY IT’S RIDICULOUS AND ABSURD. AND OH MY GOD I THOUGHT IT WOULDN’T GET WORSE THAN THIS BUT - SPOILER ALERT- BIRDY ISN’T EVEN IN SCOTLAND FAKING HEATHER’S LIFE YET.) Moving on.

So, they concoct this dumb and not funny story and somehow Birdy gets nominated to tell it. Because Heather can’t be bothered to quit. Even though she totally has her shit together, and she’s a successful and aspiring and amazing sommelier and FFS. Obv, Ms. Dent, she isn’t.

Fortunately for this story, Birdy (who’s proven she’s super reliable and responsible.) is up to the task and has ALL THE PLANS to do the quitting. Except then she shows up to a wine event as super sommelier Heather (who’s currently running away to Italy) with a guy she fucks around with sometimes but who doesn’t respect her but he’s fun or something? [I do not get this character or understand why he is in this book.] But back to the event and the fake-Heathering.

At the wine event Birdy meets Heather’s future employer. The future employer who somehow doesn’t actually know Heather at all even though I THOUGHT SHE WAS AND UP AND COMING SOMMELIER AND THE DAUGHTER OF A FAMOUS SOMMELIER AND AT SOME POINT SOMEONE INTERVIEWED HER AND DOESN’T SHE GO TO SHIT LIKE THIS ALL THE TIME? BUT FOR SOME REASON NO ONE KNOWS WHAT SHE LOOKS LIKE BECAUSE HER SOCIAL MEDIA PICTURE IS A CAT. The whole cat picture thing was Birdy’s brilliant idea that has something to do with keeping a low profile. Whatever. Birdy and her boy toy manage to get totally wasted, fool absolutely no one with their wine knowledge, knock over a display of vintage crystal and then bolt. Future boss thinks it's funny. And obv Birdy can’t quit now! She’s met the boss! OH NO.

Problem 4: Birdy arrives in Scotland and everyone is expecting a person who looks like a cat and they laugh and shrug it off everytime she fucks up a wine selection EVEN THOUGH SHE IS AN UP AND COMING SOMMELIER WITH A TERRIFIC REPUTATION and the boss thinks Birdy is just great and the sous chef keeps giving her soulmate eyes and Birdy SHOULD READ UP ON WINES but always falls asleep just when it’s study time and the HOT Michelin starred chef somehow can’t recognize someone faking wine knowledge.

Wow! I think the problem is longer than my explanation why it’s a problem. So. I’ll just leave that there for you.

Convenient solution to Problem #4: Italy boytoy asked Heather to keep a low profile because he’s a cheating shoe designing coked up sleazebag, so no one knows anything about Heather except she looks like a cat in her profile picture. BIRDING IS WINNING.

Problem 5: Let’s go ahead and insult the American readers
(FYI: THAT’S ME MS. DENT)

Because Birdy doesn’t know much about wine - aside from how much it takes to get wasted at professional events that you attend pretending to be your super great gal-pal Heather, she doesn’t actually know what to recommend to guests at the super fancy restaurant she’s been hired to work at. But since the guests are Americans - and therefore BIG FUCKING MORONS - she offers them Chardonnay. With ice.
“I’m having the guinea fowl, with a glass of white,” a Very Confident American Tourist had said. “Which would you recommend?”

“Oh gosh, I hate recommending wines,” I’d joked, scanning the list in a panic.

He chuckled. “Sounds to me like you’re in the wrong business.”

“Quite,” I quickly replied, grinning, as a memory of Heather complaining about how Americans only ever drink bloody Chardonnay flashed before me.

“Take the Chardonnay,” I said firmly.

“Oh, I love Chardonnay,” his partner said in one of those perfect little Texan accents. “Can I have an ice cube in that?”
SIDE NOTE Ms. Dent: I ALSO LIVE IN TEXAS. We’re basically stupid here.

Problem 5: Birdy’s inconvenient attraction to the sous chef and self-image issues.

The sous chef - who I am assuming is also the man she falls in love with, is nice to her. WHAT?! He calls her a breath of fresh air. Because she’s sucked at wine recommendations and it’s been super funny to witness your sommelier joke about not actually knowing what she’s doing. Um. Okay. So then we get this bizarre personal reflection which doesn’t come off quite like the author thinks it does because Birdy is DELUSIONAL and a THIEF. I don’t know about the cunt part and it’s not my favorite insult, but I can see how the roommate arrived at this point based on knowing Birdy for barely 5 chapters of this book.
I’ve been called many things in my life, but this is the first time I’ve ever been called a breath of fresh air. My mum used to call me boisterous. My dad called me a little attention seeker. My first flatmate, an uptight cow who worked in HR, called me a lying, thieving little cunt because she thought I stole her MAC makeup pen. (I borrowed it and lost it, so I technically didn’t steal it, but either way, she couldn’t have known it was me.) I’ve been called a fucking loser enough times for it to feel normal. Heather mostly calls me wonderful, but then I have always saved the best of myself for Heather.

I look over at James and my heart flutters.

We both reach for the champagne. He gets there first and I deliberately “accidentally” touch his fingers. I can’t help myself. Even I can’t have misread the signals. Plus, I’m this fancy protégée sommelier, and everybody knows newness is eighty percent of attraction. Surely I am fanciable in this scenario?

I try to push the thought out of my head, suddenly embarrassed.

Oh, Birdy. I’M EMBARRASSED FOR YOU! You’re stuck in this book!

I can’t with this. Everything about this character suggests some, if not all, of these things are true and why would I want to read about her? Newsflash: I don’t.

The Summer Job is dumb and terrible and not funny and painful.

Thank you to NetGalley, Putnam, and Lizzy Dent for providing me with a DRC in exchange for an honest review.

Birdy is meandering aimlessly through her thirties. She hops from one job to another, barely scraping by and struggling to keep a roof over her head. She gets occasional tastes of luxury from her best friend, Heather, a sommelier who allows Birdy to pretend to be her at fancy galas and events that Heather doesn’t feel like attending. When Birdy gets the chance to pretend to be Heather for a whole summer at a run-down hotel in Scotland, she jumps at the chance for free food, wine, and accommodation. After all, how hard could it possibly be?

I loved this book! I was expecting something surface level and rom com-y, but this one had surprising depth.

Top Notes: comedy of errors as Birdy flubs her way through the role of a sommelier, her ‘will they or won’t they’ flirtation with the hot chef, James

Body: Birdy’s quest to find some direction and meaning in her life as she learns to apply herself and get out of her own way, very interesting side storylines with all of the secondary characters that gives the plot a very robust and full-bodied feel (see what I’m doing here?), an awesome nod to and accurate portrayal of the world of hospitality

Finish: a satisfying conclusion that doesn’t feel too perfect, warm fuzzies

I really wanted to love this book because it has everything that I love: wine, food, Scotland and hot Scottish dudes but this book fell a little flat for me. First off, Birdy is kind of a shit person. Even though the author tries to redeem her there are 10,000 opportunities when she could’ve done the right thing. Secondly, in the middle the book kind of drags and I found myself forcing myself to keep reading.

I’ll give it 3 stars because I did find Lizzy Dent’s writing to be good and humorous but other than that this book was a miss for me.

Birdy promised her childhood friend, Heather, that she would call and resign from the summer job that Heather accepted at a Scottish hotel. It's not the first time she's pretended to be Heather. But she meets Heather's would-be boss, Irene, at an event, and takes a shine to her. Moreover, with Heather going to Italy with her latest boyfriend, Birdy is not only unemployed but essentially homeless. She checks out the hotel's lackluster website and decides she can pretend to be a sommelier for a few months.

What she doesn't realize is that the hotel is in the final stages of a major redo and Irene was counting on a well-respected sommelier like Heather to bolster its reputation. The other thing she didn't expect was how quickly she would become invested in making the hotel a success.

Author Lizzy Dent has created a host of characters the reader will care about, particularly Birdy and James. Birdy has a history of getting herself into predicaments that her charm and humor help her extricate herself from, but has she taken on more than she can manage this time? This is an excellent escapist read, with lots of good laughs and cringey moments. #TheSummerJob #NetGalley

THE SUMMER JOB was a fun, easy read set in the highlands of Scotland. I loved Birdy and the cast of characters she met along the way, while pretending to be her sommelier friend, Heather. Some aspects of the story seemed a bit ingenuine or hard to understand - particularly her relationship with Tim - but I loved the depiction of her friendship with Heather, the relationships with Loch Dern employees, and Birdy's character growth throughout the story. This one made me want to have a nice meal with a glass of wine surrounded by those I love - and has me dreaming of a trip to Scotland! I'd recommend this book for fans of Beth O'Leary and Emily Henry. Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Putnam for the ARC, received in exchange for my honest review.

This was such a cute read! I think it will be a great summer read or a beach book. I also liked that *I* learned something about wine from reading it. The main characters were fun to follow along!

Okay this was a cute story.

Meet Birdy, Elizabeth actually. However most people now know her as Heather. But Heather is really her best friend, a professional sommelier hired at a Scottish restaurant/hotel, who is away on holiday in Italy. Why exactly is Birdy pretending to be Heather if she knows absolutely nothing about wine or food? Birdy thought it would be a fun idea: free housing, food, and a good escape (but Heather does not know she is pretending to be her because Birdy offered to turn the job down for Heather since she wasn't planning on telling them). Now Birdy (pretending to be Heather) is an amazing sommelier working in Scotland, falling for the hot chef, faking the wine list, and finding out who she really is.

I absolutely adored the cover and I really liked how this story become more than just some cheesy rom com. In actuality, there was not as much romance as you would expect. The book focused more on personal passions, friendships, the family we're given and the family that we choose or fall into. I really enjoyed Birdy's personality and her ownership of her mistakes. I also liked how the ending was not your typical rom com ending. This book is a cute summer read, light and a little different than others in the same genre. I liked the twist towards the end as well.

A romance, but despite the cover I would not call it a romcom.

Birdy is slobbing through life, working crap jobs and hooking up with crap relationships. When Heather, her wealthy, privileged bestie, bails on her job as a sommelier at a hotel and leaves town, Birdy attends a fancy wine event using Heather’s guest pass, which causes an identity mix-up. This leads to Birdy deciding to take Heather’s job—as Heather. Even though she doesn’t know squat about being a sommelier. She meets a hot chef and likes him . . . and the story is on!

The writing was nifty and the characters interesting and complex. But most complex was Birdy, who was a bit of a snob, sneering at styles and people she thought uncool by her definition, which she sort of implied was a universal. Not cool. And that is not, by far, the worst of her actions.

The fact that she didn’t know anything about being a sommelier and kept having to fake it was too much like my anxiety dreams. I thought I’d deal with it if she set out to learn, but other things (including Birdy herself) got in the way.

What kept me going was James. He’s the kind of hero I like best—calm, complex, good at something interesting, which makes him interesting. Hot. That kept me glued to the pages until the surprise twists, and then I couldn’t put the book down.

I loved the descriptions of Scotland—couldn’t get enough of those, and I loved the romance. Though it started out as a fitful read, the story eventually grabbed me and wouldn’t let me go.

“You cannot hope to debut the perfect vintage if you do not take the time to grow and nurture and love.”

The Gist: Birdy is unemployed and aimless, with no idea what to do with her life. So when Birdy’s best friend Heather, a world-renowned sommelier, turns down a job at a Scottish hotel, Birdy decides to take her identity and try the job out for herself.

My Thoughts: This is the third book I’ve read this year where the heroine runs away to Scotland to get a second chance at life. I feel like the universe is trying to tell me something!!!!

Swapped identity stories always stress me out, because I’m always waiting for the other shoe to drop. But I really loved this one. It was funny, yes, but it had a lot more depth than I was expecting. Birdy is a troubled soul, just looking for a sense of purpose and belonging, and I really felt for her even when I was shaking my head at all her mistakes and lies.

I appreciated that Birdy taking on this new job she knew nothing about wasn’t effortless. She had to put in a ton of effort to even sort-of pass it off, and people were suspicious the whole time. And when it’s finally discovered, the consequences were realistic.

There were some little writing style quirks that irked me a bit, but overall this is a perfect summer beach read for when you’re looking for something fun but with heart. You’ll also learn a lot about wine and food! Don’t read on an empty stomach.

Thanks to G.P. Putnam's Sons and Netgalley for an advanced copy of The Summer Job.

This book immediately transferred me to the west coast of Scotland. I loved the descriptions and it made me think of where we stayed in the area visiting Eilean Donan Castle on our honeymoon in Scotland and how beautiful it was. This was a funny book with well written characters. As the author states inthe end, this book was a love letter to her time in Scotland!

What can go wrong when you pretend to be your best friend who is a sommelier at a small Scottish hotel/restaurant for the summer? Especially when you know nothing about wine and your best friend doesn't know you are doing it...

I lived seeing Birdy find herself and the scenes in the beginning when she was trying to pass herself as a sommelier. The way the restaurant is described and the great characters you feel as if you're there working alongside them all.

This was a great book and recommend for the trip it takes you to Scotland!

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Putnam for the arc of this book. All opinions are my own!

This was so much fun! I have been having such a stressful few weeks with work, but every time I picked up this book it made me laugh and made me feel. Birdy was such a fantastic main character! Her demeanor and actions made this book so interesting and incredibly fun to read. I couldn’t wait to keep reading.

It did take me a minute to get into it, but once so did it went by so quick! The way Birdy went about trying to be a Sommelier was priceless. She was charming, sweet & made me want more. The idea behind this book is incredible! I truly enjoyed it, minus the bit it took me to get into and connect with it. Definitely worth the read! The romance was great and the comedy was top notch!

This one was SUCH a cute and fun read. Perfect to grab & read on the beach this summer.

This book tells the story of Birdy, who runs away to Scotland taking a job as her sommelier friend, Heather. It ends up being way more complicated than Birdy anticipated.

The characters in this were great because there were some you loved, some you hated, some you grew to love. Again, I also love a book with good banter.

The Scotland setting made me want to travel there ASAP and the descriptions of the restaurant and food make me want to binge watch Top Chef.

Definitely recommend picking this up this summer! Swipe to see my book journal.

Birdy wants a change of scenery from her life, so when her best friend decides to pass on a sommelier job at a Scottish hotel, Birdy decides to pretend to be Heather and take the opportunity. The only problem is, she knows nothing about wine.

This was a fun romcom! The side characters are delightful and add so much humor to this story. Watching Birdy’s journey of finding herself was so sweet and truly some of the best character development I've ever read. Add the Scottish countryside and we have the cutest setting for this book!

Thanks to G.P. Putnam and NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Many thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of this book in return for an honest review.

Sometimes you just know. As in, just reading the first few pages, you KNOW that you love the way an author writes. I was drawn in right away into Elizabeth "Birdy" Finch's wacky personality and view of the world.

Birdy has essentially hit rock bottom, unlike her successful sommelier BFF, Heather. She is sarcastic, insecure, an underachiever and has significant attachment issues. Her saving grace is that she is charming and hilarious. With no job or living arrangement, a drunken whim takes her to Scotland to pose as "Heather" in the summer position her BFF abandoned. Quickly realizing that she is in over her head and that for the first time, her selfishness has consequences, Birdy has to put in the work to do the right thing.

The cast of characters is so well developed that you can't help but become invested in them all. The writing and incredible imagery brings the Highland Scottish hotel to life and makes you want to book your next vacation. I really loved that book also has depth and deals with some family issues, alcoholism, feeling alone in the world and making bad choices because you don't believe in yourself. But it is also a tale about choosing your own "family", finding yourself, starting over, true friendships and a sweet romance.

I really enjoyed every minute of this book and am jealous of readers who get to start it for the first time!

Pretending to be your best friend, a world class sommelier, for a summer at a Scottish hotel job? What could go wrong! Turns out many things. Birdy is kind of a disaster with no plan in life. When her friend, Heather takes off to Italy in pursuit of love, Birdy volunteers to call the hotel that Heather planned to work for and explain that she can no longer take the job. Unfortunately what happens is that Birdy finds herself pretending to be Heather and having to pair 140 different kinds of wine with food at this posh Scottish hotel! Thankfully Birdy's personality saves the day and gets her through.

The premise of this book is hilarious and the setting is absolutely dreamy! As someone who doesn't get to travel much- especially out of the country, this was such a great escape! I love any sort of book that takes place in a cozy setting and this fit the bill. The characters were all well written and I enjoyed reading about them, aside from Tim. Birdy is a character I won't soon forget!

Thank you Netgalley PENGUIN GROUP Putnam for the ARC.

🌟🌟🌟💫 3.5/5 stars

The Summer Job is a sweet rom-com set at Highland Scottish hotel. Birdy is drifting through life, working dead-end jobs and having dead-end relationships. When her best friend, Heather, bails on her job as a Sommelier at a hotel and leaves town, Birdy attends a wine event posing as Heather. She runs into the owner of the hotel restaurant and through a series of events, ends up deciding to act as her friend for a summer to make some cash. However, Birdy underestimates the job and all that it entails..and also has no clue about wine in general. As Birdy stumbles her way through the job, she meets chef James and her secret gets even more complicated.

I loved Birdy and her sense of humor, as well as the chemistry between her and James. It was very much an opposites attract storyline and their scenes together were my favorite. However, the plot of this book made Birdy’s character very complicated. You root for her, but then you remember that she is interfering with her best friend’s career and could seriously damage it. The lack of consideration really made it hard for me to connect with her as character. The dialogue is excellent and I laughed out loud many times, but the scenes of Birdy trying to wing her way through a job that is impossible to improvise gave me so much anxiety and made me cringe. Overall, the setting and dialogue make this an entertaining book to escape into.

If you are a fan of romances that include darker themes and lean more towards character/plot than solely the romance, you will enjoy this. I feel fans of The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary will love this one!

ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Impersonating your best friend, a sommelier, at resort in the Scottish Highlands? This either spells disaster or amazing triumph. Birdy is supposed to cancel her friend’s summer employment at Loch Dorn, a resort in the Scottish Highlands, but Birdy has nowhere to live. So, having impersonated her friend, Heather, at wine events in the past, she decides that she can do it again for a few months in the summer. During the summer, Birdy meets some amazing people who she does not want to disappoint so she figures out a way to become familiar with the wines and dishes served at the resort. The cast of characters in this book is exceptional, and I really feel I got to know them, and was hoping for Birdy’s success by the end of the book. There are some good twists at the end which made the story that much more enjoyable. I recommend this book if you are looking for a light read, a good story, and some memorable characters. Thank you Netgalley for allowing access to this book in exchange for a review.

I really enjoyed Lizzie Dent’s latest novel, The Summer Job. Her characters are down-to-earth and enjoyable, the setting is beautifully described and easily imagined and the theme of love, family and community is interwoven throughout the book. Our heroine, Birdy, is living a rather large lie that seems only moments away from being discovered. Throughout a wonderful summer in Scotland, while living with this lie, she finds the life she has always wanted and the sense of belonging that she has always yearned for. But, what will happen when everyone discovers her misconceptions? Ms. Dent writes a lovely story of finding oneself and discovering one’s destiny after learning some of life’s toughest lessons. Thank you NetGalley for an advanced eCopy of this fun and entertaining read.

Who hasn’t dreamed about stepping into someone else’s shoes? Birdy is at loose ends and saying goodbye to her roommate Heather for the summer. Heather is headed off to Italy with the latest love of her life. Birdy offers to call the hotel in Scotland where Heather is supposed to be starting a summer job with an excuse. But . . . Birdy decides that she might just be able to pull off taking the job instead.

I love Birdy’s optimism that she could pass as a sommelier when she’s only had a few jobs as a waitress. That optimism is part of her whole outlook on life, and I really enjoyed her character. As you might imagine, there are some hilarious moments when she has no idea what she’s doing, trying to pass herself off as a qualified sommelier!

There’s a handsome cook that Birdy takes a shine to and some gorgeous Scotland scenery to explore. And Birdy’s old boyfriend decides he wants to visit the hotel sending Birdy into a panic! Throw in a control-freak master chef and an important relaunch of the hotel and you have a recipe for an interesting book. Just when Birdy has found a place where she belongs, everyone thinks she is someone else. How will she get out of this mess?

I really enjoyed this one and it was a great escape for a few hours. Now I totally want to visit Scotland! I'm also interested in more books by this author. I loved these characters.

Although I have never read anything from this author, and it took me awhile to get into this story, it had all the requisite points of a good romantic comedy. It took me awhile to relate to Birdy (Heather) but I enjoyed how she muddled her way through trying to be a sommelier. Heather and Birdy are best friends and when Heather decides to ditch a summer job as a sommelier in Scotland, Birdy takes the job, pretending to be Heather. As to be expected, it is not as easy job pretending to be someone else. This had a great cast of secondary characters which made the book better for the reader. A nice romantic comedy with more depth than was expected.