Ava has been a flight attendant for the last ten years. Her boyfriend has proposed and she is going to quit flying so she can be a wife after being pressured by her boyfriend to hang up her wings. Ava has thrived in the world of travel after being moved around all her childhood by her parents.

Ava has one last flight before she is done but that one last flight will change her life. This is a fun, fast read that is a great vacation read. Waldon has well developed characters and the added element of friend/enemies makes for a great romance.

Lacie Waldon has delivered a solid debut work. I will be watching for future releases from her.

I really liked the premise of The Layover and was so excited to read it. An enemies-to-lovers romance with an airplane stewardess sounded so unique. The book started out well for me and I liked the writing, however as the story progressed I started to lose interest. I didn't feel any spark or connection between Ava and Jack and more often than not I wasn't a very big fan of Ava's character. I read up to about 30% and then decided to DNF.

Recently engaged Ava is on her last trip as flight attendant. It’s a dream trip with a layover in Belize sure to end this career on a high note before life with fiancé Alexander begins. Little does she know she’s stuck with claimed playboy Jack. Can she make it through this trip with her enemy?

Waldon write a cute, breezy rom-com about love found in the clouds. Ava and Jack have fun, witty banter that makes you want to read more. While steamy, this one was on the milder side as far juicy details go. Perfect for those who want romance while leaving something to the imagination. I also enjoyed that Ava grew as a person and discovered herself throughout the story.

You may enjoy The Layover if:

✈️ You want a rom-com that is character driven.
✈️ You enjoy knowing secrets about the ins and outs of flight attendant life.
✈️ You like getting into the inner thoughts of a character.

⭐️⭐️💫

🏝Friends to lovers in Belize🏝

👍🏼Loved the setting, I’m ready to pack my bags and head down to the Caribbean!

👎🏼The actual story. I cant say I liked any of the characters, except for her friend, and the plot and romance just didn’t work for me.

❎Not my favorite, there are so many fun, romance books with well written characters out there, skip this one.

This book is a fantastic beach read! Loved the story and loved that the main character was a flight attendant! It provided for interesting points of view that I don’t often read about.

Very cute book- the ultimate beach or vacation read! I had a lot of fun reading The Layover, and I am really glad I saved this one for summer! I love a good forced proximity situation and Jack and Ava did not disappoint :)

Ugh yes, give me that enemies to lovers excellence! It is truly an unmatched romance trope, and The Layover really nails it. It's a super fun and feel good read that makes me long for snorkeling. Tropical island, sting rays, luminescent swimming!
Ava is a dreamer, a wanderer, an explorer. Not to mention a superb flight attendant. The only problem is that she desperately wants roots on the ground, and is willing to marry her ultra-successful, painfully traditional lawyer fiancee. After this last trip, she's hanging up her wings and keeping her feet planted on earth. So she plans to make her last trip perfect, and that includes a 24 hour layover in a tropical island. Only she finds out that her perfect last trip is with her mortal enemy, Jack. He's beautiful, cocky, and helped cover up for someone who broke her heart... Or did he?
Watching Ava find herself in the clouds and seek adventure on the island as she finally allows herself to make friends with people she built walls around was so gratifying, Ava and Jack had a fun, banter filled dynamic that always made the tension palpable.
There are a couple of tiny things that made me knock off a single star, though. First, the fact that her relationship with her long term boyfriend is not fully fleshed out on the page, it's mostly us being told he's kind of the worst. I wish we could see more of their dysfunction earlier in the story so that I didn't feel a strange sense of guilt for rooting for the two MCs. There is zero cheating though if that is at all a concern for you!
Secondly (and this is very much a subjective take), I felt like Ava had moments of self-righteous strong-headedness that was sometimes frustrating to read. She was kind of naive and judgemental, which is clearly part of her character arch, but there were moments where it took me out of the moment of what is just a fun, fluffy read.
Overall this was the fun vacation read of my dreams and I am giving it 4/5 fun, tropical stars.
Thank you to Putnam and NetGalley for the digital arc!

The Layover by Lacie Waldron is a perfect summer read with all of the romance goodness—from enemies-to-lovers, adventure, forced proximity, misunderstandings, and shenanigans. The main characters—Ava and Jack are relatable and real. The storyline flows nicely and keeps the reader engaged until the end. Bring this novel with you on your vacation—you won’t be sorry.

Super cute! Started a little slow for me, but overall a fun & entertaining rom-com. I loved the unique flight attendant perspective as well. 3.5 stars

I thought this book was OKAY. I didn't get The Unhoneymooners comparison, and while I enjoyed the adventure aspect of this book with the traveling, I thought the enemy part of enemies to lovers felt a bit forced. Like the hate was INTENSE on Ava's end... I loved Jack's swagger and sweet side though! Overall it was a good beach read that was pretty quick and fun!

Traveling! Witty banter! Enemies to lovers! This book was adorable!

I loved following Ava’s story, a flight attendant who can’t wait to settle down with her new fiancé and establish roots, quite different from the childhood she lived. But as Ava gets closer to making this dream life her reality, she begins to wonder if her new life will allow her to truly be herself.
I loved the self discovery and the peek into the world of a flight attendant!

This was a nice Adult romance, that I would definitely recommend trying!

I received an e-ARC from the publisher of the book.

The Layover is about Ava, who is a flight attendant, on her last trip before she gets married to Alexander. She agreed she would no longer work after they were engaged so they could have a routine. Ava's last flight had a layover in Belize - a trip usually only the highest ranking flight attendants get. As soon as she pulls into the parking lot for her last flight, things start going wrong. Jack, her nemesis, seems to be everywhere and she quickly learns they are working the flight together. There are some miscommunications that started years ago but thankfully they get some extra time while their plane needs maintenance in Belize, to figure out who each other really is.

This book was charming, witty, and so much fun! . I loved the friendships Ava made and being brave enough to find herself. This book is so much fun! I loved the characters and the how each of them had their own stories and were able to help each other thru big choices. I really appreciate that there is little angst and the romance was perfect

The adventure in Belize was fun, flirty, and full of beach vibes

This is the perfect summer read!

I really enjoyed this one!

I'm a fan of the enemies to lovers trope and so I enjoyed Ava and Jack's banter. Her reasoning for hating him seems pretty legit, until you hear his side of the story. I LOVED the scenes in Belize - I thought they were really well written. Made me want to hop a plane and go to Belize! I also really loved the evolution of Ava's female friendships. PLUS the evolution of Ava as she discovers who she really is.

Read this if you're in the mood for a closed-door romance that is funny, cute, and makes you want to be a flight attendant headed to Belize!

Thanks to NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review. I thought this was very cute but I always feel cheated with these kind of books where the two main characters don't get together until the very end and then I don't get to see them as an actual couple.

This was a very enjoyable romantic (mostly) comedy featuring two flight attendants with constantly missed signals. The two are assigned to a flight with a layover in Belize. They are very competitive at work. She is engaged and she has pegged him as a cheating player. He secretly has fallen for her but she thinks he protected her cheating boyfriend and doesn't want anything to do with him. Their relationship begins to turn around and when they are stuck in Belize for extra days they start to fall for each other. Things do not go smoothly but the story is entertaining and fun to read. I recommend this book to anyone interested in the life of flight attendants and who likes a good romance.

This was a fun beach read. Or at least a read and pretend I’m on a beach read.

Ava Green is a flight attendant embarking on her last flight before settling down with her new fiancé and living a more stable and settled life. After moving around and feeling the lack of stability as a child, she feels this is the next logical step. And, she has a 24 hour layover in Belize so what a send off to end her career. The problem is, she realizes, maybe she’s ending her career for the wrong reasons aka running away from her own wanderlust and into her fiancé’s expectations rather than her own.

Enter Jack Stone- former pilot and now flight attendant that she has built up as being a womanizer and her arch nemesis. Of course they are assigned together and work alongside each other competitively. That coupled their matchmaking attempts between one of the pilots and a fellow flight attendant really brought some comedy into it!

While in Belize many things unfold and everything changes for Ava - I really enjoyed it! Fun, tropical escape in book form!!

Thank you to NetGalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Ava is a flight attendant on her last trip ever - she is retiring to settle down with her fiancé. Of course, Jack is also working this flight, and he doesn’t realize that Ava is in a fight with him because of a misunderstanding that happened years ago. When the two are stuck in Belize in for an extended layover, Ava starts to realize Jack isn’t who she thought he was. She also starts to question what she’s doing with her life… does she want to put down roots if it means she can no longer fly?

The blurb describes this as The Unhoneymooners meets The Hating Game, and it think that hits the nail on the head. This was a super fun read, and I can’t wait to read more from Lacie Waldon!

Thanks to @NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for my ARC!

This was a great summer read! The characters were likeable, the plot kept moving, and while most in the romantic comedy genre are predictable, I was happy with this ending because that's what we are rooting for! I felt there was a lot of attention on the main character's body type and how small she was. It seemed strange to focus on this in the era of body positivity and maybe we should be focusing on internal aspects of the character. Her biggest appeal to her love interest was her kindness so let's build out a more complex character than continuing to mention how tiny she is.

I'm happy to have read this book over a summer weekend and would rate it somewhere around 3.5 out of 5 stars for the above.

The Layover was funny, cute, and fast-paced! It is a perfect book to take with you on a vacation especially to a beach (or pool)!