What a fun read! I started reading The Lucky Escape in the days surrounding my decision to postpone my own upcoming wedding due to the ongoing pandemic - and what a welcome relief it has been from that stress! The Lucky Escape has excellent character building, and transported me from the same four walls I’ve seen nothing other than for the last 11 months in the snowy UK to the heat of Australia. I felt I was on my own luxury holiday with Annie, experiencing the wider world again - such a treat. A little slow to pick up, it took me a while to get into, but once Annie got on the plane, everything fell into place and began to race along (something I recall feeling when reading Our Stop a few years ago too). The Lucky Escape is perfect reading for a pandemic year, and one I’m certain people are going to find a lot of comfort in. Would definitely recommend.

This was a fun read. I really liked the situation that Annie is put in right at the start, it leads to a great character arc through the course of the novel. I also enjoyed her moments with Patrick and found myself smiling through reading them.

This was such a fun story with an unexpected theme. The main character goes through a period of growth and its nice to see her move from people pleasing victim; to a confident independent woman. Original idea that really works!

When Annie is left standing at the altar on her wedding day she thinks that she has lost everything that matters. A chance encounter with an old friend and a honeymoon to take are impulsively seeming like a good idea. The holiday most people could only dream about in Australia turns into something more magical as friends become more. Can this become real when they get back home to England, or was it really just a holiday romance?

I was so glad to get approved for Laura's third book as I really enjoyed the previous pair; and I must admit to not being disappointed with The Lucky Escape.

Jilted outside the church, with her groom letting the wedding planner break the news, Annie is understandably devestated and struggling to piece her life together without Alexander, her college sweetheart and The One. When she finally tracks him down, Annie realises that things may not have been as perfect as she'd first thought and she starts moving on with her life. When she meets Patrick, a man from her past life as a theatre kid, Annie throws caution to the wind and drunkenly invites him on the honeymoon her not quite mother in law has insisted she still goes on.

Armed with the persona she thinks people want to see, Annie starts to come out of her shell, the more time that she spends with Patrick, the more she realises that she has been hiding her true self away.

This book was funny, heartwarming and at times a tad cringe but it was afantastic read. The second hand embarrassment was real several times haha. Definitely recommend this one, it is the perfect holiday read!

Oh my goodness - what a lovely book. It takes you from the emotional lows of being left at the altar to the beautiful skies of a honeymoon without a husband. The book is well told, with a witty input of humour as the trip around Australia puts the couple into new and awkward situations. The happy ever after in romantic terms is never guaranteed and it almost doesn't matter! The journey that Annie goes on, ably assisted by mad friends and an adorable little sister is worth it whatever happens to Annie and Patrick!

Another wonderfully charming romance from Laura Jane Williams. I absolutely adored this and ended up reading it in two sittings!

The Lucky Escape was an unexpected favorite. While I generally have a hard time connecting with characters living across the pond, I felt an immediate pull from Annie and Patrick. Who hasn’t been dumped or felt they needed a drastic change in their lives? While most of us haven’t dealt with a tragic end to a relationship, I connected with Patrick’s calm demeanour and quiet optimism. His apprehension diving into a new romance was relatable. I thoroughly enjoyed the easy banter, Australian honeymoon and blossoming romance. I found the story uplifting and heartwarming. A good 4 star read.

3 stars!

I thought this book was a little slow and lost direction at times. I wasn’t a huge fan of Annie, the MC, so I think I had a hard time becoming fully invested. It starts with Annie getting left at the alter by her fiancé and then she goes on her honeymoon with a man from her fitness class. She used to go to camp with him and he always had a thing for her. The trip was pretty decent but when they returned from their ‘honeymoon’ it got pretty boring for me.

Overall, it was a quick read. I needed something light after a few heavier books!

Thanks Harper Collins and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Escapist reading at it’s best!

The thing I love about Laura’s writing is it’s pure escapism when you need it most.

And while I loved the lucky escape, I almost find myself liking her earlier work, The Love Square more as there was more conflict and interest in that story.

In this one we go from wedding to honeymoon and back again without much really happening.

It almost reads like a script for a movie rather than a novel and things just happen too fast to be plausible.

A good read but not quite for me.

Vacation in Australia with a hot new man friend? Sign me up! I only wish I had been summering in Australia while reading!

The Lucky Escape captured my attention from the start, and I flew through it. I personally enjoy romance novels with some depth past just the romance and The Lucky Escape delivered. The characters have different traumatic experiences in each of their pasts, but each learned to grow as a human and move forward with their lives and each other.

The only reason this was a 4 star for me was that I found Patrick to be whiny and annoying towards the end. He was doing SO well, but his attitude toward Annie and the things in her life about 75% of the way through was frustrating. But that definitely could just be me and my strong-willed, not-to-be controlled attitude.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this book to all my romance lovers!

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon for this ARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

3.50 stars
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TW; Death of a spouse, Ending of engagement, Sexual Content, Challenging parents, Self-doubt
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Annie has it all and she's about to marry her college sweetheart Alexander, the last thing she expects is to be left at the altar on their special day. Without communication, Annie is left in the dark about what on earth happened and what went wrong. After a reunion with Patrick - who used to attend her summer drama camp and a chance to live the honeymoon, she's missing out on, courtesy of her very apologetic in-laws Annie finds herself jetting off to Australia with Patrick.

It was so fun to see these two reconnect after years of not speaking, although I felt like the outcome would be a little predictable of them falling for each other while on vacation, it was still a fun concept. It's not every day you get to take a honeymoon with someone who isn't the man you've planned to marry! I have to applaud Annie's character, as I think she handled the situation very well - she also had an amazing support system including her sister, her work wife, and the core fore.

This was a cute read, I'd read it if I were on vacation but it felt like the book was divided into 3 parts; before Australia, Australia, and after Australia - and felt like sometimes the flow of the book was a little off!

I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review, all thoughts and opinions are my own!

I loved Our Stop so had very high hopes for this and Laura didn't disappoint!!
This was such an adorable book and I could have kept reading for hours (housework ceased for the day in this house!!)
It was the perfect book to escape with and I just loved the scene setting it really transported me!
Cant wait to read more from Laura and her witty sense of humour!

Laura Jane Williams does it again! I adored Out Stop and equally love The Lucky Escape. As Laura says in her acknowledgements, it really is the perfect book for escapism. Commercial but has nuggets of wisdom and life advice tucked in there. It’s the book I’ll be telling people to read in 2021 because we all need some love and lightness like this.

I enjoyed other books from Laura Jane Williams. Loved Our Stop! However, this book is a miss for me for a few reasons:
- The chemistry between the leads are weak. I might be one of the minorities that agree with Annie's mum. the relationship is too rush and feels like a rebound.
- I was so frustrated with Annie and felt so sorry for Patrick. When Annie was deciding her next step in her career and new place, I was so disappointed with her for not even thinking about Patrick. She only thinks about her core four and sister. I feel you, Patrick. When Patrick went away on a weekend without telling Annie, I literally shouted out: "Hah! Serves you right!" Yes, she wants to be adventurous but not considering your boyfriend in your life choices is just wrong especially if you want to treat the relationship seriously.
- I know we are supposed to see the character growth for Annie but oh boy it took so long. Almost till 95% of the book only we see Annie stand up for herself. By that time, I am already annoyed with her.

The build-up to actually getting to the vacation took longer than expected, but I understood why the author did wrote it that way. It did help with establishing their relationship and characteristics and made it different than a traditional romance book to me. However, I felt there was a lot of repetitiveness in both of their behaviors which got to be annoying at points.

I have to say I was quite disappointed with the book overall. After reading The Love Square last year, I was hopeful that this would be a fun and interesting read too.

The premise is definitely one that caught my attention. Annie had been left at the altar by Alexander, her college boyfriend. She reconnects with a friend from theatre camp by chance, and thus begins a whirlwind romance. It's pretty clear that Patrick and Annie are going to end up together, especially when he dares her to go on her honeymoon, not alone, but with him! And she actually does!

Annie annoyed me a lot. I felt her character lacked real depth. And her professional life is written very poorly. Is she a theoretical physicist? Why is she in a corporate setting then, is she in R & D? What was her motivation to become a theoretical physicist?? Nobody in the world would choose that as the easy or good career choice with lots of opportunities. It felt like very lazy writing, giving her a fancy job, that has no basis in reality or even a fabricated reality.

The honeymoon was the best part of this, as we got to travel (while being stuck at home). That was some lovely escapism. But Annie and Patrick didn't have a lot of chemistry in my mind. They seemed better as flirting friends. And Patrick's whole life philosophy didn't seem as cool and revolutionary to me as it did to Annie. How did he get three weeks off work for that honeymoon too!!

Overall, I had trouble getting through this book. With more attention to the details of Annie and Patrick's lives, it could have been a great one. Like why did Alexander's parents pay for this exorbitant honeymoon for her, and then we never really see them later on (except when Alex mentions they miss Annie). I'd have liked to see that reunion and see their relationship, rather than just being told repeatedly how much they love Annie. Since their input into the storyline was so huge, it would have made a lot of sense to show them interact with her.

I am grateful to the publishers for providing an ARC via NetGalley.

Having enjoyed the authors books before, I was very intrigued by this book. Jilted on her wedding day, Annie is devastated. She mopes for a little while before deciding to try and get back out there, bumping into old friend Patrick when she does.

Her in laws are ashamed about how their son treated her and tell her to go on the honeymoon regardless - and Patrick ends up going along for the ride! Now these must be very understanding in laws because even though their son was a piece of garbage, I doubt many people would allow another man to go on the holiday that they technically paid for!

It was nice to see Annie rekindle an old friendship and I loved the relationship between Annie and her little sister. Her mum was a little infuriating, overbearing and judgemental but it was nice to see them finally find some common ground.

I think the ending could have been a little stronger but overall this was a fantastic read.

This book is pure beach read escapism- it’s full of optimism, joy, and the message that good things are waiting for you. It all starts when Annie gets left at the altar on her wedding day (and her would-be groom lets her know through a text to the WEDDING PLANNER?!). There is one positive- her ex’s parents feel guilty about the whole thing and tell her to go on the all-expenses-paid honeymoon without him. After meeting up with an old friend at an exercise class, Annie decides to embrace his ‘YOLO’ outlook and take him with her on her honeymoon.
I have to admit, it did take me a while to get into this book. I do feel bad about this because obviously Annie was grieving her relationship but I found her difficult to warm to at first- she was very self deprecating and seemed to have very little agency. However, the side characters really did make me stick with it- Annie’s female friends and her little sister made a huge impression despite not having a huge role in the book. It’s really nice to see female relationships presented as so essential and valuable, and I loved how her friends were all at different stages of life, and yet no one’s lifestyle was without problems.
I really liked the love interest, Patrick. He’s a big believer of living every day in the moment, despite grieving himself. However, at times I found him hard to relate to- his optimism sometimes felt false, and when he did get angry or upset it could sometimes feel strange too. I did like him and I think him and Annie work very well together, but at times I struggled to relate to him. The overall message that he teaches Annie- that you should live life for yourself, is something I really liked.
Honestly, my favourite scenes were on the actual honeymoon- the sheer escapism of losing yourself in a book where someone else has paid for you to have a posh holiday, with all the fanciest days out and hotel rooms, is just such an escape from lockdown. I hope that when this book is actually released, these scenes will be possible for people, because when I read it, it felt like a distant dream!
My main criticism is just that I found some sections of the book to be quite slow. When it was good, it was really good- and I stuck around for these sections. If you need a lighthearted escapism read, I would recommend this one.
Thank you so much to Netgalley and Avon Books for allowing me early access to this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

*gifted in exchange for an honest review*

I love Laura Jane Williams books! Annie is a loveable character, and we instantly fell for her after she was left outside the church on her wedding day, by Alexander (who we instantly don't like). Patrick however, is an old friend of Annie's and when they catch up at boot camp, she knows he's not the type of man who would leaver her at the altar.

I loved following Annie's empowerment after losing her university love. She was strong and Patrick was the perfect example of a man to help her. It was a little predictable in the second half but that's ok.