It sounds harsh but Meet Me in Madrid has to be one of the most boring books I’ve read recently. I don’t know what it was about it, but I started skimming within a few chapters of the start, and I simply couldn’t bring myself to care one bit about the characters.
This isn’t a bad book! For another person, perhaps none of it would have mattered and they’d have enjoyed it a lot more. For me? Well. It was a death knell.
I just didnt enjoy the writing style...

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4298290715

Thank you NetGalley for the preview of this book!

I'm surprised to admit I found myself enjoying these few chapters more than i thought i would per blurb only. It introduced well enough with descriptions the setting and the main characters. I loved as well how it addressed issues like racism in such a tactful way. Even though it was just a teaser it left wanting for more, I will definitely be checking out the rest when it comes out, so excited for this one!

Sped through the preview and can hardly wait to get my hands on the full book next week! So far, Charlotte and Adrianna both seem like such strong characters, I'm excited to see where the story takes them.

Huge thank you to Netgalley for the preview of Meet Me in Madrid. The characters were charming and mature and it tackles important discussions on race and sexism. The first four chapters were a delight and had me hooked. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the book!

From this preview I can't wait to read it. Will be the perfect when i'll be in need of travelling plus it seems soooo cute

I was only able to read the preview, which contained four chapters. Will I be interested in reading more? Not really. For me, the setting of a book is very important. The first four chapters I read are set in Madrid, yet I was not able to envision what the city looks like because the author was focused on the main characters. For a book titled 'meet me in Madrid', I would have expected more information on the setting. Maybe it comes later on in the book though, who knows?

I was gifted a preview of this book in exchange for my honest review! Four chapters isn't quite enough to know for sure whether or not I'd have liked the book as a whole, but it gave me an idea of how the rest of the book would go. I wouldn't say this is a bad book by any standard, it was just a little bland. I was bored just reading the four chapters so I can only imagine how I would've felt reading the entire thing!

The preview was more than enough to convince me that I need to read this book asap. The premise is brillant. The f/f representation is *chef's kiss.*

Thank you Netgalley for the preview of this book. I was instantly hooked by the description of MMIM and knew it was right up my alley. The first four chapters have me hooked and highly anticipating the remainder of the book.

The first four chapters of this book give us a glance into the lives of Adrianna and Charlotte as the reunite during a snow storm in Spain. Already this sapphic romance has gotten steamy and discussed hard-hitting, real life topics such as racism, sexism, and homophobia in academia.

This could not hold my interest so I’m glad that these first 4 chapters were read now.

Now I know this is not the book for me.

Thank you NetGalley for the preview of this book.
It was definitely not for me, when I saw the cover and the title I was very hooked and I was sure I would like it, but when I started reading I was slowly disconnecting with the story because the way the story is written I didn't like it, it seemed to me that in some scenes the descriptions were too much but if we leave that out I would have to say that the concept of the book seems interesting to me, if it was handled in a simpler way I think I would love it.

As I said, I really liked the concept of the book, especially the representation of the main characters, but something I didn't like was how already in the beginning of the book started "the connection" of these same, and I would have liked to see a little more development between them.
Maybe it wasn't for me but it doesn't take away from the merit that other people will surely enjoy it a lot.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with a preview of this book! I'm honestly not entirely sure of my thoughts on this one. It focuses on Charlotte and Adrianna, who knew each other in grad school, and how they reunite in Spain when they're a bit older. I thought it was interesting and I loved the representation included, but the writing style seemed a bit off to me. It seemed overly sexual in regards to the two main characters and was very fast-paced with the relationship. I wish we would have seen more growth towards their relationship because it seemed very forward without much to back it up.

I love sapphic romances, but this one doesn't seem like the one for me. However, it wasn't bad, which is why I'm giving it three stars. I feel like some readers will enjoy it, it just wasn't my thing. Don't let this stop you from reading it though - especially if you like sapphic romances and fast-paced reads.

Those first four chapters were very nice, especially the fourth one. I really appreciated my reading! For readers who like fast-paced books, this one will be perfect for you. That's maybe the only point which I didn't like: it was a bit too fast-paced for me, but it does immerse the readers directly.

The story starts with Charlotte's point of view, then progressively shifts to Adrianna's. Both women are very different: While Adrianna is bold, has strong ideas and lived many experiences, Charlotte is, as Adrianna puts it, more 'demure' and less experienced. She is calm, well-organised, but a bit lost when it comes to her feelings. As you can tell from the blurb, they are both queer women.

Queerness is brought up already many times in those first chapters, which is quite nice because readers can directly dive into one of the main subjects of this novel. Alongside this theme, homophobia is obviously mentioned through the experiences of both scholars. Adrianna and Charlotte often have discussions about some homophobic encounters and comments they were victims of during their years at University. They also discuss oftentimes how they felt marginalised, or at least not in line with others ideas, and of the fact that many people/students around them at this time weren't queer, or not out yet.

Also, racism is mentioned many times in the beginning. Adrianna identifies as Creole and queer, while Charlotte identifies as a woman of colour and queer. It is very interesting to read that, though Charlotte is a woman of colour (it is said she has olive skin), people around her, and one teacher especially, do not perceive her as such and refuse to identify her as POC.

So yes, on the whole, I think it is a promising story, very romantic and very insightful on POC and BIPOC communities! My heart was full of love after reading this preview! The sexual tension between the two protagonists was very present, which added to the suspense and the need to know more! Also, as both are avid travellers, it was nice to have a glimpse of different cultures, especially the two I knew most of, the French and Spanish cultures. It added more dimensions to the story and contributed to a real exchange between Adrianna and Charlotte. I really liked that!

Thank you Netgalley and Carina Press for the preview of Meet me in Madrid.

I read the four chapter preview of Meet Me in Madrid, thanks to NetGalley and Carina Press.

Meet Me in Madrid follows Charlotte, a museum courier while she's on a trip to Madrid and gets stranded by a snow storm. She reaches out to Adrianna, her crush from college, for drinks. They meet up and discover their mutual feelings from the decade prior.

This is such a unique concept for a queer romance! The genre is loaded with stories of older teens and young 20-somethines, especially in coming of age stories. But Meet Me in Madrid is such a nice breath of fresh air featuring two queer women in their 30's and 40's!

I love their involvement in art history and I'm obsessed with the setting of Madrid! Charlotte and Adrianna seem like they're going to be such a sweet couple to follow as they get to know each other better.

I will most definitely be purchasing a copy of Meet Me in Madrid when it's released at the end of October!

Nice enough story and written very well. The story just didn't hook me enough in the four chapters provided to want to buy the book. If the full book had been provided I most probably would have read the entire thing, but I'm good with four chapters.

This was a sample that grabbed my attention! Pretty much the opposite of a slow burn, this book worked with the background knowledge that the characters have of each other to allow for a quick, but very realistic, near immediate hookup. And so as the sample ends, the reader is left to discover how they will work things out in the future.

I really enjoyed the descriptions of the museum work and I'm really hoping there's more of that in the rest of the book.

Adding the book to my tbr list!

Thank you for the preview of this book! I really enjoyed the characters relationships as well as their personalities! I also loved the social issues tackled in these first 4 chapters!
I'm really looking forward to reading the rest of this novel!

Meet Charlotte and Adrianna, two queer academics who are thrown together after a layover and a blizzard in Madrid reignites an old (dormant) flame. As a queer academic POC who’s spent time in Spain, I can easily say that I’m SO excited for Meet Me in Madrid by Verity Lowell. After reading the preview of the book (thank you to @netgalley and Harlequin Books!), I’m now even more excited to see the book in stores on October 26th.

First four chapters gracious provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Charlotte is a museum courier and Adriana is her former graduate TA. Charlotte, stranded in Madrid by a storm on a work trip, reconnects with Adriana, who insists that she spends the the night on her pullout couch. I don't know much about the plot beyond that from the first four chapters.

This book really wasn't my cup of tea. I loved the idea and I'm always here for a good sapphic romance, but I had a hard time connecting with this book. The language was overly flowery and I felt like it was something my mom or an older crowd would enjoy reading. It also felt like it was overly sexual in a way I can't quite put my fingers on, right from the get-go. They also dive straight into the steam and smut in the first four chapters, and that's a little quick for me.

All in all, this is definitely someone's book, and I think that this definitely has appeal as a sapphic romance, it just wasn't for me.

Meet Me in Madrid by Verity Lowell

Two queer women of color & former classmates -- Charlotte & Adrianna -- reunite in Madrid and get stranded together during a blizzard. Sparks fly and a whirlwind international long distance relationship ensues.

I enjoyed this book and would recommend to anyone interested in lgbtqia+ romance/contemporary romance or fans of Casey McQuiston & Alexis Hall. This is the first book I've read by the author Verity Lowell and I'll likely read her other titles going forward. I'm an avid reader of mm romance novels and 'Meet Me in Madrid' is my first ff romance. I enjoyed the writing and the unique perspectives of the heroines who are both PhD's working in academia as queer woman of color. I always think it's important to amplify the POVs of queer/female/people of color's voices since as the minority their POV is often silenced

Check out Meet Me in Madrid by Verity Lowell and be sure to pick up this LGBTQIA+ romance wherever you buy books!

✦ Goodreads ➜ https://bit.ly/3ACqFcx
✦ Amazon ➜ https://amzn.to/3zozl4s
✦ Apple ➜ https://apple.co/3kmSO1l
✦ Google ➜ https://bit.ly/3ACqGgB
✦ Kobo ➜ https://bit.ly/3tUoTAP
✦ Nook ➜ https://bit.ly/2Xxlfk3

TAGS: fiction, romance, contemporary romance, LGBTQIA+, long distance romance, rom-com, ff romance, female/female

MY RATING: 3.5/5 stars

MY RATING SYSTEM:
1 star = I don't recommend the book
2 stars = I would not read the book again
3 stars = I enjoyed the book
4 stars = I liked the book and would recommend to others
5 stars = Everyone should read the book; I would read the book again & again

*Thanks to Edelweiss, NetGalley, Verity Lowell & Carina Adores for providing a free eARC in exchange for my honest review. #Edelweiss #NetGalley #CarinaPress #MeetMeInMadrid @edelweiss_squad @CarinaPress