I can’t believe it took me so long to read this fun, heartwarming book. It follows the inhabitants (residents and visitors) of five apartments early in the pandemic, when they are all unexpectedly quarantined for a week after another resident falls ill. Their situations are all slightly different, but none of them are fully prepared to spend so much uninterrupted time in the company of those they’re forced to. Some relationships falter, while others blossom. The best is a longtime couple who fight bitterly over pineapple on pizza.

The pandemic is still a little fresh to me, so it was weird to read about characters who think they’re only going to be affected by a one-week quarantine. I already feel wise. I think adding a character who is truly alone would have added an interesting dimension. #LockdownonLondonLane #NetGalley

In Lockdown on London Lane, Beth Reekles creates a well written, reflective romantic comedy that explores the impact of a week long lockdown on tenants of the London Lane apartment building. This book was an easy relatable, and humorous read. It was easy to see how each tenant, actual or visiting, after allowing their brains to be shut off from the noise of the outside world, became reflective on the Lockdowns impact on their future and its ability to lead to crucial and sometimes life-changing decisions. Lockdown on London Lane is a fabulous read! I received an advance review copy for free and I am posting this review voluntarily.

We've all heard stories of couples who had to speed up their timelines because of "the" pandemic. Couples who just started dating end up having to quarantine together, or even to move in together. This book follows 5 apartments amidst a seven day quarantine. It felt incredibly relatable, and bizarre to think this is only two years ago. I'm not sure anyone might want to read a pandemic story once we're out of that, but luckily this didn't get too heavy.

I did enjoy most of this book but I did skim over some parts. Some characters were kinda boring or annoyed me but I did like how they all intertwined. It did get confusing for me when I was trying to figure out how this person knows this person. But I would recommend this book for some fun and entertainment.

The people within the reading community who said we should avoid pandemic-related plots might have been on to something with Lockdown on London Lane by Beth Reekles.

A shame, really, as romance is a coping mechanism many readers turn to in times of turmoil. It’s why I read so many books about teenagers in high school while in high school. Something about having your most miserable experiences projected back at you in the form of romantic fantasies can be so healing. Lockdown on London Lane is in no way a harmful take on the global pandemic, but it doesn’t add anything meaningful to the conversation.

The plot could have taken place during any lockdown — a biohazard leak, a royal visit, or even a fictional virus — and the plot would not change. This rom-com believes it’s doing us a favor with this candy-coated take on the Covid-19 virus. Unfortunately, the opposite proves true, with embellishments fictionalizing the very pandemic and its protocols the book wants to embrace. It intends to use the pandemic as a plot device but doesn’t want to commit to much else beyond a reason to keep an apartment complex sequestered.

So if the preference is to fictionalize the events of the pandemic, why not offer readers true escapism in the form of a more creative lockdown scenario? Perhaps it is the lack of interesting romantic pairings that makes digesting this setting so difficult.

The book boldly uses multiple narrations; bouncing around the apartment building to check in on different couples. It is a stimulation overload, and readers will struggle to differentiate who is who. All the female protagonists speak in sentences that end with multiple exclamation marks and keeping storylines straight leaves little room to debate how swoon-worthy the men are. The apartment dwellers’ features are laid out early in an assault of descriptions, making it a feat to remember each person’s distinguishable qualities.

So the few BIPOC and LGBTQ+ characters included in this bloated ensemble are lost in the mix.

Lockdown on London Lane bites off more than it can chew with this revolving door of couples. But, on the other hand, narrowing its sites to two or three couples may have proven for a more substantial character study in captivity, one with more romance. So while apartment hopping is a fun notion, it makes connecting with a larger group quite tricky.

The bridal shower, the one-night stand, and the isolated Twitch streamer prove interesting enough vessels for this story when given the time to shine. This novel works best when it finds a way to showcase the underlining good of humanity beyond wanting to kill each other for chewing too loudly. There’s a beauty in embracing one’s flaws when forced to face them for a week in close confinement. The adorable cover and promise of light romance in a time of suffocating grief will undoubtedly appeal to curious readers for this reason.

If you are willing to overlook its shortcomings and enjoy this book for the fluffy surface-level fun it is, you may just be able to make it out of the lockdown with a better outlook on the residents of London Lane. But for this reader, there is not enough romance or depth to these characters to justify spending a week with them.

Finding comfort in covid times is appealing, but Lockdown on London Lane’s execution is far too good at dredging up the uglier feelings associated with lockdowns. If we as storytellers are going to romanticize the pandemic, we need to do better than this.

I adored this book! I've had no problem reading about the pandemic while living through the pandemic; others might however, so if that's you then this may not be the book for you.
It had contemporary romance vibes and had an overall positive tone to it {no pun intended!}. I liked the characters and all the stories. This was a fun book and I'd definitely recommend it.

Beth Reekles’ first adult novel (correct me if I’m wrong) was even better than her YA novels. I couldn’t put it down - funny, clever and entertaining, it took the pandemic and twisted it into something nostalgic, cute, and full of community.

I didn’t finish this book, I found it quite hard to get invested in the characters as they felt like they lacked depth and weren’t very well drawn. The premise is fun but I felt like we had to wait a while to see the payoff.

Lockdown on London Lane was a sweet look at lockdown love. There’s the couple separated by lockdown, new couple forced together, a one night stand, and bridesmaids holed up together working on wedding prep. Each story is sweet and unique. As someone who did not enjoy the pandemic I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this book!

This is a fun read about a group of tenants that are forced into quarantine because someone in the building tested positive for the virus.
Each chapter is written from a different tenant’s perspective which makes the story more interesting. I really liked how the characters interacted with each other and how they learned something about themselves and their relationships, whether it was good or bad.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wattpad Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Cute and enjoyable read about being locked down at the very start of the pandemic. Enjoyed meeting all the various characters and their problem that they had during lock down. Lots of learning and figuring out life they had to deal with.

This was a great book about people forced to talk to each other and being in lockdown. I really loved it because it gave a good story to go with the COVID shutdown.

This rom-com was fresh and entirely too relatable which is why I think I would’ve enjoyed it more had they all been stuck in the apartment building for any other reason besides the pandemic. I don’t know if it’s just too soon for a covid-19 related book. With that said, this was an enjoyable read that was quick and full of delightfully fun and quirky characters…. Except for Apartment 22; that sounds like my absolute nightmare. 😅

The story of what happens when you spend the night somewhere you probably shouldn't, when you are just a few minutes late getting home, and when you think you are head over heels in love until you have to spend a longer amount of time with the person. These are some of the problems the characters face as a lock down forces them to stay put and stay away. I liked the concept of what happened behind closed doors after lock downs went into effect. An interesting and sometimes humorous take on a serious subject that so many endured together. Recommend for readers who want to get an account of how and what these fictitious characters did to survive forced living in close quarters.

Slightly too early in my opinion for a Covid romance book, I didn’t fall in love with any of the characters but the setting was charming and the idea was cute

Really enjoyed this cast of characters. It was definitely relatable to present times during our covid pandemic. Some people may think too early for a covid romcom. I enjoyed it!

I was worried to read about a book that has occupants of an apartment building in lockdown especially since most of the people reading this were in some sort of lockdown. But this was a fun, quirky read. I really enjoyed all the romances. I do recommend this book!

**3-3.5 stars... This rom-com was so cute and entertaining. A much needed break for me after reading several heavy books in a row. It was a good palate cleanser. Unlike most people, I do not mind reading stories related to Covid, especially if they are charming and funny. Overall, I enjoyed the diverse cast of characters and found their situations interesting, relatable, and funny. **Thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for my advanced copy.

Overall, a decent read. I liked learning about all the different characters/relationships/dynamics. But, overall, this was a very mediocre read to me. The writing was just average (lots of typos and things in the final print), there were a lot of annoying characters that I wanted to skip over after a while, and there were some relationships that just felt like they didn’t need to be included. Definitely forgettable and just a quick read if you’re looking for a palate cleanser.

This book was so cute! I loved it so much and couldn't get enough. One of my favorite books of the year so far, and definitely want to read more from this author. Beth Reekles is great!