*Huge thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!*

Who doesn't dream of picking up everything they own, quitting their job and moving across the world for a new adventure and potential romance?! After a string of bad events in her work and personal life, Abbey Potter decides to do just this, leaving her life in London behind for a new one in Utah. It turns out that this big move was more than just a change of job and scenery, it was also a journey of self-discovery, that helps Abbey realize how strong and worthy of love she really is.

First off, what an amazing debut novel for Rebecca Banks, her writing was brilliant, I was sucked in after the first paragraph! I also really love how she was able to approach and discuss some difficult subject matters in a respectful and honest way. I really enjoyed reading Half the World Away, it was lighthearted, funny and so easy to get into. I found myself super drawn to Abbey's character, her enthusiasm and vulnerability were traits that were really endearing and her friends and family reminded me of my own in the best way possible, which made me feel so connected to her right away. This was a quick read that left me wanting more! I'm so excited to see what else @rebeccabanks comes out with!

DNF at 57%

I don't feel like the plot is flowing right. There are a few hiccups on the horizon but really everything is too honkey dory happy. She has a perfect apartment, then a perfect house, is perfect at her job, a new best friend, a new money-making blog, and dating a perfect guy. Again there is set up for a few hiccups in the future but there doesn't feel like there is balance.

I did skim through to the end and as predicted the conflict was almost silly. This book just didn't hit my standards.

This book demonstrates that when one decides to put the past behind and refuse to lead a stagnant life, anything can happen. In standing up for herself in England and taking a chance in Salt Lake City, Abbie found her self confidence back and love with Kyle. She was able to focus on what was important to her and in doing so, had created a stronger and better friendships both with Violet and Rose. She faced her past and stood up to Kitty. Abbie is the personified reinvention.

Half The World Away was a cute romance novel - a "fish out of water" type story, if you will. I enjoyed all of the characters and the overall storyline of the novel. While the twist and ending were predictable, I still enjoyed the slow-burn romance and the witty banter throughout the novel. I look forward to seeing more by this author and would like to thank NetGalley and Amazon for the ARC of this adorable debut novel!
(CW: Abortion, Sexual Assault, Divorce)

I have not yet had time to read this novel before the archive date. I am looking forward to reading it and once I do, I will come back and leave a proper review!

After Abbie's divorce she finds herself floating through life without any real ambition or purpose. When she's offered a job across the pond in Utah, she decides it can't hurt to give it a go. While I liked the idea behind the book (new life/new love) it felt a bit forced and just sort of.... uneventful. There wasn't really a particular climatic event or any big reveal and the few issues that the main characters did have seemed to be glossed over and/or added in at the last minute. I admired Abbie's determination to start over, and I know it's *fiction* but I still didn't appreciate the fact that things came so easily to her. I mean she moved to a new country and easily had a job, furnished home, friends, love... all things that wouldn't work out so seamlessly IRL. Overall it was a good book, but not one I'd re-read or find myself thinking of again.

Thanks to NetGalley and Amazon for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Literally PR Ltd. for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Abbie Potter just got divorced, her careers a mess, and she needs a change. Luckily, that comes in the form of a job offer that takes her from London to Salt Lake City! There, she has an adorable meet-cute with Kyle Miller. Kyle is sexy, and a little bit of a rogue, or so her new coworker says. Can she succeed at this new job and resist Kyle?

Okay, this one was so cute. I love a slow burn, and this one DELIVERS! Abbie especially is really well-written. Her journey is one that I’m sure many people, myself included, can relate to. It’s also delicately handled—there’s a pretty sensitive issue dealt with in this one. The plot is also great without being totally unrealistic and the romance is swoon-worthy. No steamy bits though for those of you that read exclusively for those! Regardless, it was a thoroughly enjoyable read, and will absolutely deserve all the hype it gets.

4/5

This book was adorable! The story begins with Abbie needing a fresh start and moving from England to Utah for a new job opportunity. She is about to turn thirty and has been through a divorce, so while she misses her friends and family, she is so excited for this new adventure. She makes new friends through work, meets a guy and goes through all the struggles of being in a new place. I loved the writing style and banter between friends. The romance was great too! Thanks to NetGalley and the author for this advanced reader copy.

A special thanks to Netgalley and Amazon for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Abbie needs a fresh start. After spending years as a workaholic, trying to forget her painful divorce, she's had enough. Always bailing out the entitled football players from trouble, she's fed up working PR for the London Football Club. When a new opportunity presents itself halfway around the world in Utah, Abbie jumps at the chance. Arriving in Salt Lake, Abbie soon finds a new crew of friends, a handsome co-worker, and hopefully, her real self.

I really enjoyed this debut novel! Not only do I love football (or soccer for Americans), I also loved the music angle of this book. Abbie was such a down to Earth character and I felt like I could be friends with her. Not only does she take charge at the Utah Saints, she also doesn't take no for an answer ever. Her friendship with Rose, the bartender at the Live Joint, made me smile and made me long for seeing live music again (ugh COVID).

Kyle was an adorable love interest that brought the heat, even in a closed-door romance. His planned outings were amazing and perfectly captured the wonders and wilderness that Utah has to offer. And his endearing nickname of "England" for Abbie totally grabbed my heart strings. My only complaint about his is that some of his dialogue came off sounding more British than American, but it was definitely something I could look past.

There was great chemistry with the characters and some surprises that I didn't see coming. I enjoyed reading this book!

Half The World Away has a good premise - a rom-com about moving to another country and new beginnings - but it plays out in a fairly unexciting way with one pretty predictable twist. The romance was slow-burn, which is fine, but Kyle, the main guy in the couple, is pretty too-perfect and one-dimensional. He has one "issue" or "baggage" that comes out towards the end that seemed just kind of thrown in there.
I did like Abby, the main character, and appreciated some of the personal growth she had, though it felt a little rushed at the end. I think the author handled some tough topics (CW: abortion) well, but others (CW: sexual assault of a minor) not well, and also thought she used terms like OCD and bipolar in the wrong (ie not describing actual mental health) way, which in 2021, bothered me.
The writing itself was a little rambly and I, unfortunately, found myself skimming a lot of it, especially in the last 25%. Some of this is probably due to my guessing of the twist within the first 20% of the book, but it not being revealed until the last 10%.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing an early review copy.

Abbie Porter needs a fresh start. Her ex has posted on Facebook that he's expecting a child with his new woman! So when a job comes up in Utah she jumps at the chance to escape where she meets Kyle Miller.

I enjoyed this book. This is a fun, romantic comedy. I enjoyed getting to know Abbie and escape into her world. A delightful read and I'm looking forward to reading more from this author.

What a fun book this was! A very lovely debut with a sweet romance and great character development. The story was a bit predictable, but aren't most romance books?

I loved Abbie's journey to Utah, how she moved across the world for a new job all by herself. That's a huge change. She's also dealing with her past and I think she's so strong! The side characters were lovely too, especially Rose and Violet. I loved Kyle too, but he sometimes looked a bit too perfect. It would have been nice if his character developed a bit more as well.

I'd recommend this book if you're looking for something light and fun in between - it's a rom-com with a friends to lovers trope. 3 stars for me!

I enjoyed this book, it was a feel good romance I with a set of very likeable main characters. Abbie had a great relationship with her friends from England and it was also great to see her develop new friendships in Utah. Kyle was the stereotypical “perfect” love interest, however I did still really like him and I think he worked well with Abbie, also he was a total sweetheart and I can be a complete sucker for that type of character. Kitty however was a character I could not get on board with, she grated on me in every scene she was in and she ofter came across as being annoying and a bit overbearing.

I do feel like the plot twist towards the end was kind of predictable and I saw it coming from the moment Abbie had a problem with keeping the house she was living in. Some things could have been explored more and had more time within the book, like the secret Abbie had been keeping, as I felt it was kind of rushed at the end and solved without us getting to know how Abbie felt about it all besides her being ok about it now. That being said it was still a fun read with a cute romance that I think a lot of people will enjoy!

The premise of this book was intriguing, a woman moving half way across the world, ready to live a new life with a prestigious new job. For me there were a few things about the book I just didn’t love. Th relationship in the book happens quickly and doesn’t seem very strong because one word about the love interests past from a colleague and the main character is doubting everything they have. I also felt that while not all books have to include sex, the way they portrayed it by just referring to it as something that happened or spending the night together took away something of the intimacy for me and I felt like I was watching a PG movie where they had to dance around it.

The four’s for the mood, and for being an easy, breezy weekend read.

It isn’t for the er, shall we call it a plot?, or for the somewhat unreal male characters (yes, there are a few). But it’s quite the beach read - in a time where not many of us are daring to go to the beach, or any kind of travel, but hey.

If you want a feel good rom-com aboiut starting over your life this book is exactly what you need!!

I loved the self discovery in this book. I love when characters learn and grow and develop from their past.

This was the light fluffy read i needed.

3.5 stars!

Just what I had expected from the cover and Instagram adverts, easy to read short book with a charming romance. The book gave me total wonderlust. Arches National Park is definitely a new addition to my bucket list which I would not have heard of otherwise. I enjoyed this book overall but to mention the parts which took me out of the story, please see below.

It seems outdated to refer to teenagers using Facebook. It also seems outdated to describe food as dirty (used twice to describe Chinese food and pizza). In general, there was soooo much Italian food in the story. Is this reflective of the Author's own experience of Utah because I would expect it be a spot for Italian.

Some areas of repetition which felt lazy (Abbie sleeping as soon as she gets into bed, how Kyle fills every space he is in, it's about people around you and not where you are, Abbie recieved has more bracelets than she has wrists).

It is worth adding that the book was a very light read because the "drama" wasn't anything worthy of the build up or reaction. For example, it sounds to me that Kitty and Kyle had the same story and it wasn't cause for a big drama. If it was down to him taking her virginity, that is another factor that makes the book seem out dated.

To bring more depth to the book I would like to see more exploration of Abbie's counselling, history of Liverpool as a port for abortions, the coercion she experienced from Josh, the poor poor teenager at the start, Kitty's jealousy and therapy, Abbie being there for Violet as she expects Violet to be there for her (it came off as self centred) and maybe give Kyle a personality beyond catching Abbie when she falls.

Despite my criticisms, this is an enjoyable read and I'm likely to pick up the next book by Rebecca Banks in this genre.

★★★☆☆/5

*First of all, thank you NetGalley for sending me this arc in exchange for an honest review*

Synopsis:
Abbie lives and breathes sport, when a player from the football team she works for allegedly sexually assaults a girl, she decides she’s had enough and quits. Luckily, her best friends husband has found her the perfect job... small catch, it’s over in the states. Can Abbie move all that distance? Seeing her ex-husband having clearly moved on, she decides to take a leap and accept the job. Now in Salt Lake City, she finds herself growing to love her new life, and potentially a new love interest?

Opinion:
So this book was kind of a cliche romance and was quite cheesy at parts. I do find that some of it was quite rushed, especially the conflict towards the end. The character of Abbie was well developed but I found Kitty unrealistic and Kyle lacked any depth other than being “gorgeous and perfect at everything”. For example the only glimpse of any character development of Kyle was at the very end when he’s trying to win Abbie over.

Abbie’s relationship with Rose was very enjoyable and it was lovely to see the friendship blossoming. I found that some of the dialogue was a bit unnecessary and didn’t really sound realistic, also some of the scenarios didn’t really add to the plot (her dad getting ill felt like it was kind of a chapter filler and wasn’t brought up again until the end).

Overall it was a cute read but I would have loved some more depth in the themes of friendship, grief from abortions and love.

Thank you, NetGalley and author Rebecca Banks for giving me an Arc of this book in exchange for an honest review. I would give this book 3.75 stars.
Half The World Away by Rebecca Banks is set in Salt Lake City in Utah. It talks about the lush landscapes that provide a space from her previous life to the lead, Abbie. Abbie feels as if her life has been on a stagnant path since her divorce decides to leave London and move to a city where across the pond to start fresh. (CW: sexual assault) The first chapter does talk about sexual assault in the football world which gets dealt with in a way that resembles a lot how celebrity assaults get pushed under the rug in real life, but we see the lead's character really come through when she decides to leave her job in light of this. She moves, meet this perfect all American man, Kyle and their relationship is nothing less than one out of a film. All the tropes this book has: domestic, friends to lovers, cute banter throughout, sunshine heroine x jock hero and the third act conflict resolution clears up pretty quickly. The book had so many cute moments between the leads and you really just feel so happy after reading this. I would definitely recommend the book for people who want to read this amazing romance between two really great sunshine characters who find their way to each other but also know when they have to work on themselves, a sign of a healthy relationship. So, I hope you enjoy Abbie's new beginnings in life and love as much as I did. All in all a fresh, cute and makes you feel happy from the inside debut by Rebecca Banks.

Romantic, joyful, fun read.

Clever, an easy way to pass the day. I’d recommend to anyone who wants an authentic, entertaining book to read for any occasion. Romcom books don’t always hit it out of the park for me it did this time.