My thoughts


Narrative and Plot 






The Promise of Summer is the kind of book that delivers exactly what it promises. Ha, that's a pun!! Seriously though, it gives you that warm and fuzzy feeling of a pleasant summer day. The plot is pretty simple. Two women in search of their happily ever afters.
However, the story embodies a charm that comes along with an old school rom-com. I loved it for all the pleasant treats it offered me - flowers, chemistry, dogs and of course, the love story.




Characters and Conflicts






Of all the characters, Curtis remained my favorite and understandably so. Him and Ruby had an amazing friendship and an adorable chemistry which makes you crave for more. Adrian and Kim too had a playful yet enjoyable relationship which was kind of unexpected because they were supposed to be the matured couple.

The book gives me a classic Sophie Kinsella or Jill Mansell vibe with its characters and their lives. To top it, the book even gives a nod by mentioning Jill Mansell.

The only thing that I could point out is that the conflict didn't exactly elevate the story. It was set up in such an elaborate manner that you saw what was coming. And the pay off later wasn't as satisfying as the set up.




Conclusion



Overall, The Promise of Sumner is quite an enjoyable romantic tale. If you're looking for a feel good summer beachy book, just to go back in time for the summery warmth, this is the one you want to pick.

Bella has a wonderful way of writing that draws you in completely!
This book was such a fun read! I loved Ruby and Curtis. They are complete polar opposites who surprisingly find the perfect person in one another. It beautifully showcases that you really can find the perfect person even after many disastrous relationships and that love will find you but you just need to be yourself!

Ruby has a plan and she can’t wait to put it into action.

On her train journey down to London to realise her dream, she meets Curtis who immediately rubs her up the wrong way.

She also meets Lewis. He is going down to London to propose to his girlfriend. The problem is, he ends up getting off the train with Ruby’s phone and without the ring.

Ruby and Curtis set out together to try and reunite the engagement ring with its owner, getting to know one another along the way.

Oh, I get so excited whenever Bella Osborne releases a new novel and it really is a pleasure to be part of the blog tour for her new book.

Being such a fan, the expectations for The Promise of Summer were high but it did not disappoint. I couldn’t put it down and read it in pretty much one sitting.

You are pulled straight into the action. I immediately wanted to know what was going on. Was Lewis going to get his ring back? Was Curtis as pompous as he seemed? Was Ruby going to see her dream happen and what was this dream?

I liked how this book was set up going between Ruby and Kim’s point of views. Both these women are different and yet they are dealing with similar things. The fear of being alone.

Ruby is a brilliant, feisty, strong female character and I loved her. Curtis was both lovely and frustrating. Kim made me quite sad to begin with. She seemed to be so lost at the beginning and I liked seeing how she developed through the story. In-fact, every plot line was compelling, relatable, heartbreaking and wonderful all at the same time.

Bella has such a great talent for placing the reader into her book with her descriptions. I could see myself in these places, smell the flowers in the shop.

Bella also does a great job of weaving a lovely, romantic, whimsical feeling into her novels that you feel like you’re having a lovely big hug.

This book is a wonderful antidote to all the horrible things currently dominating the news.

It’s perfect for the summer evenings when you want to just sit down and escape for a while.

Another gem of a novel from Bella. I loved it.

This was a gorgeous summer read, filled with so much humour, warmth and lots of smiles. The characters were absolutely delightful and the romance was written so beautifully, I couldn't have been more enthusiastic to turn the pages and find out how their journey was going.

I loved this book! It positively just fizzes with energy and romance. This is not your bog standard one stranded story. There’s so much going on that you just have to know how it all ends! I’m sad to finish those as I love all the main characters (human and doggy). I could not out this down. Heart warming, tear jerking, laugh out loud - it has it all!

Thank you Netgalley

🦋This was such a FUN read for summer! (Really you could read it any season and it would be great) But if you are looking for a summer read, 🛑 stop here and pick this one!
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🦋I absolutely loved the writing! It was fantastic with a dual story/plot line, lovely romance, and some fun comedy! The characters were so relatable. Curtis was my favorite. He’s not the typical romance character; rich or famous or amazing at sports. He’s kind of serious and takes thing literally, and he’s interested in mathematical statistics.
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🦋The cute dog boomerang is the clincher. What else could you need? I will definitely be reading more from this author!!!

The book started absolutely promising, it was a 5 – star read for me for some time, but then it went a bit downhill and there were moments that it dragged on too much for my liking, there were also many, many threads running through the story, simply too much probably, but altogether it was a lovely, uplifting, full of life story with living and breathing characters. I loved Ruby, however it took me some time to warm to Kim and her subplot to be honest.

Bella Osborne has proved – again – that she’s a brilliant story – teller, the writing style is chatty, engaging and inviting and it’s easy to follow, which is a great things, especially when you are in a reading slump. There is swo much humour in this book, it will really make you smile, with its silly, sometimes too far – fetched scenes that – nevertheless! – work perfectly in this story. However, the author doesn’t forget about other emotions and there are some emotional moments that will give you lump in your throat. The romance aspect is so brilliantly tackled, not too much, not too little, just perfect, light – hearted and both funny and poignant. You can’t not love this story and the lovely Ruby, Kim and Curtis!

This book was initially released as four separate parts and I had already read part 1 before I got the chance to read the book in its entirety. I absolutely LOVED every minute of it!! It was an entertaining and delightful book with interesting, entertaining and delightful characters plus a hyperactive and adorable dog called Boomerang. The story was very original and till the end I could not quite figure out how it would all end. The phrase 'opposites attract' worked wonders for our two main potential couples in making, Ruby/Curtis and Kim/Adrian. Funny, heartwarming and lovable, I had a smile and a chuckle ready for the entire length of the book.

The Promise of Summer lived up to its promise.

My thanks to NetGalley, the publisher Avon Books UK, and the author Bella Osborne for the e-Arc of the book. This is the first book I have read by the author and I now want to read more of her works.

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

#thepromiseofsummer #bellaosborne #avonbooksuk #netgalley such an entertaining and delightful book. I read the first part to this one and was super stoked to see it is all compiled in to one book. Ruby and Curtis are two complete opposites yet somehow they take a delight to each other. It’s definitely a fun cute quirky read. #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #readersofinstagram #readtheyear #readersareleaders #booklover

3,5 Stars

This story is quite extraordinary. You shouldn't question its likability. However, getting to know the main protagonists (in my opinion those are Ruby, Curtis and Kim) is quite fun - I liked all three of them.

Still, there were some things that could have been done better. The switch between Rubys and Kims perspective is often very rushed. There is a page with Ruby, followed by a page about Kim, and back to Ruby for a few paragraph and then back to Kim. As if Bella Osborne really wanted to tell us their stories simultanously. But I would have preferred staying with one storyline for a bit longer.

Originally this book has been 4 installments of a series. I read them all as one book, and this felt a bit lenghty in the last quarter. I was getting a bit impatient and was just wishing they would finally wrap it all up. Even though I didn't feel any chemistry between Ruby and Curtis (except for them becoming good friends), I wanted them to come to a decision and didn't care so much which way they would take.

The story is all about the ups and downs of life, it’s about friendship and how somebody’s future can change after just one meeting! Bella writes with humour and you find yourself laughing alongside the characters.

The Promise of Summer is a perfect summer beach read. It's a nice story and the characters are very likeable.
Thanks to NetGalley and Avon Books for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

As always you can never be disappointed with a Bella Osborne book!
I loved this story of Ruby and Curtis who were worlds apart but somehow found a connection. All the characters were great and I loved the use of humour through the book.
A thoroughly brilliant read.

I adored this book! The characters of Ruby and Curtis were such polar opposites but I was completely rooting for them right from the start. There were some brilliantly funny moments throughout and I often found myself smiling whilst reading this. Normally if books move about between 2 different plots it irritates me but I found Kim as a character very likeable too and the 2 plots flowed really well alongside each other. Absolutely brilliant feel good read that I would recommend to anyone.

This book was such a fun read and loved Ruby and Curtis. They are two very opposite people who find themselves truly finding the perfect person in one another. Ruby learns that she can find the perfect person after a string of disastrous relationships and Curtis learns to just be himself and love will find him.

This book grabbed me from the very beginning and I couldn’t put it down. I loved the style of writing and humour which had me giggling out loud. I felt like I knew Ruby very well and all of the characters within the book. I felt like I was living between the pages and I didnt want the book to end. Will be looking forward to her next book.

I read the first part of this book when it was released as part 1 on ebook and although I did pre-order the other 3 parts I ended up listening to the whole thing on audio. I will say that the narrator of the audio was good. They did different accent for the characters who are mostly from the Sheffield area and did a good job of providing slightly more sinister voices for those characters we love to hate.

I think that this book did feel different to a usual Bella Osborne book, I don't know if thats just because it was set in and around Sheffield for the most part and so I was getting Milly Johnson vibes or if it's because a lot more bodily functions and fluids are involved than in a usual Bella Osborne book and so it just felt more risque funny and less sweet romance. Either way it suited me down to the ground and I was chuckling away to myself in my car quite a bit listening to the mishaps of the various characters.

This book centres around Ruby who is just so sweet and innocent. At some times her naivety did grate on my a little bit but I kn ew that this book was a journey for her and I enjoyed getting to see her become more worldly wise but still never losing that sweet side. Kim is Ruby's employer and we get to hear her side of the story as well. Unfortunately both women do fall fowl to some horrible men in their lives and so they have that in common but Kim does find solace with some human and canine friendships and I loved that for her.

I think my favourite character in the book was Curtis. I think this is because you being the book really quite disliking the guy but then you realise he provides an antidote to some of the other character traits in the novel and he really does grow on you. I would love to hear from him again in future novels. The characters we love to hate in this book are really evil in their own ways. I really did hate them with a passion and I'm glad that this writing evoked such emotion in me. I couldn't believe some of them got away with the things that they did-as always, no spoilers here!

It's always nice to have a book that is set in and around Yorkshire rather than just having a London, New York or Cornwall setting as so many romcoms lean towards these days. I enjoyed the fact that we got some train travel in there and I enjoyed the social norms that were exposed and explored that maybe shouldn't be our norms anymore. I was glad to see that this include's women's biological clocks and the pressure that society puts on women of a certain ago. I really enjoyed this audio and even though it didn't feel the same as Bella Osborne novels I have read in the past, I liked this new direction and I laughed an awful lot so what's not to love?

Great feel good novel. I liked both Ruby and Kim, both working in a flower shop. They’re searching for love, but it’s hard to find, even if it’s just around the corner. Ruby meets Curtis in a train, and he is all she don’t want in a man, but he really is a great guy. There helping each other as friends, but isn’t there more than that between them? And Kim has to choose between her ex-husband and a nice customer. She finds out that it’s easier to get a dog.
It ‘s a nice story and I loved the way Kim and Ruby are growing and in the end making the right decisions. Before that, a lot happened and most of it is very funny. But there are also some heavier theme’s in this novel, like foster care and illness.
The writing is easy to read. Change of perspective between Ruby and Kim, with little cliffhangers is a great choice and that is a reason to be keeping on reading till the end. A happy end of course, but with a lot of bumps to take in the ride to be there.

Ruby, a florist, is so determined, she is just brilliant! Along with Curtis, they make a great team. When Ruby finds an engagement ring on the train which Curtis is travelling on too, they decide together that they will find the owner and reunite them with their treasured ring. This takes them on a journey which you could never have imagined! Expect the unexpected! The Promise of Summer is a book full of surprises, full of laughs and fun along with the way!

The Promise of Summer focuses on Ruby and Curtis and also Ruby's boss at the florist which she works at - Kim and Adrian, who is a regular visitor to the florist! I thought I had sussed out what Ruby's appointment was about, why Adrian was going to the shop each week but I was wrong every time! The book is full of twists and turns and I was always going down a different route to what I had imagined was going to happen.

Their future is in their hands and this book is all about making every day count, trusting your intuition and making plans for the future. An absolutely lovely story about the importance of friendships and there is romance too! This very emotional book will make you smile and laugh throughout.

Thank you for another fabulous read!

Thank you very much for my advanced copy. This review is based on a NetGalley ARC provided in exchange for an honest, unbiased opinion.

The Promise of Summer is one of those perfect summer beach reads. Think romcom set in England, with a quirky female lead, Ruby, and a no nonsense rule follower co-star, named Curtis. Ruby works in a florist shop and has a history of dating men who turn out to be complete jerks, and she has all but given up on ever finding love. One day she's taking the train to London when she meets a handsome man who asks for her opinion about his plan to propose to his girlfriend. Somehow the man accidentally leaves the ring behind on the train, and Ruby and fellow passenger Curtis embark on an adventure through London trying to find him to return the ring.

As the book progresses, Ruby and Curtis become friends. She helps him with his business and style, and he helps her to rethink her future plans. Only time will tell if these two will fall in love and live happily ever after. What do you think reader? Will they? Or won't they? If you are looking for a light, fun, entertaining summer read then this book is for you.