Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this ARC publication for an honest review.

From the Jump

Lacie Waldon

Publication: July 19, 2022

Liv is a “yes” girl…doing everything she can to be her best self. Until one day she discovers the word NO and her life takes an unexpected turn. Ironically, it is when her life appears to be falling apart that she actually starts living. I love the friends to lover romance and the friendships/relationships were all well fleshed out. This was more than just a standard rom-com with true substance amidst the swoon and cuteness. The only thing I wish (other than maybe more Deiss just because he is Deiss…lol) is I wish there was more groveling/a better apology to truly earn forgiveness from one of the friends in the group. Other than that, I truly loved the book!
5 Stars

This book is great! Would definitely recommend. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Lovely Friends to Lovers romance. Liv has been struggling to maintain the perfect persona. She has her life neatly organized and is on the path she has told her self she needed to be. Although this path has caused her isolation from her friends and unhappiness. She has nothing to look forward to beside her third Thursday meetings with her longtime college pals and work.

Her friends set off to go on the annual trip abroad and after realizing she’s tired of complying and not truly living she decides to set off to meet friends. While abroad she realizes that she is attracted to her sweet gorgeous friend. During the trip they learn that they enjoy each other company and there is more to their friendship than they realize.


Overall this is a fun read. I love all romance and friends to lovers Is always a great trope. I really enjoyed the dynamics of the friend group and the development of a stronger relationship between Liv and Deiss. I think once they both allowed their mask to fade away they were truly able to see other and understand that they both had insecurities and were not so different. If you looking for a cute romance read this is a great book.

I loved this friends to lovers, fiorced proximity (only one bed) romance!

Liv plays it safe. Always. Her childhood taught her to be a self-reliant woman with a meticulous plan and a nest egg against the hard times. The only time she lets her guard down is when she's around the gang of friends she met in college.

The five of them, she, Phoebe, Selene and the two guys who were juggling jelly beans- Mac and Deiss. Mac is an open book, a golden retriever everyone loves and indulges. Deiss is inscrutable. He deflects questions about his past and doesn't talk about his family. In the eleven years they''ve known each other, Liv can remember very few in-depth conversations.

Liv's career implodes and suddenly she's joining her friends for their annual getaway. Something she's never done. But Phoebe isn't the one who retrieves her from the airport- it's Deiss. And they have three hours of silence to fill. For the first time, Liv thinks the secret crush she's nourished may be flirting with her. Especially when they end up sharing a bedroom.

When they return from the trip, Liv's life becomes even more chaotic. All of the changes are forcing a serious re-examination of priorities and she starts to question why she ever imposed limits on what she wants out of life and who she wants to spend it with.

This slow burn, low steam, closed door romance is the perfect poolside or beach read.

A huge thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I am sad to say that I was so disappointed by this book. I really loved Lacie Waldon’s first novel, The Layover, and had high expectations for this one, but it completely missed the mark for me. I think the supporting cast can make or break a book and in this case, I thought the friend group (which the entire plot revolves around) were particularly awful individuals. They were mean to each other, rude to the main character, Liv, and I just could not believe their friendship was supposed to be like “family”. The love story was hard to get in to and I couldn’t believe they had been in love for years, when they were quite rude to each other for the first half of the book, and not flirty rude either. Overall, not for me and it left a bad taste in my mouth. Would give Lacie Waldon another shot but this one missed the mark. 2.5 stars rounded up.

As a chronic yes person myself, I identified with Liv so much!! I love a friends to lovers and Liv and Lucas's story was so strong. It was super swoony and romantic and overall this book was fun! I loved their core friend group and the evolution of Liv and Lucas. Change is a good thing and this book explores some real life issues many people face!

3.5/5 (rounded up)

To feel in control of her Life, Liv follows the rules, works hard, follows her diet. After a chance event, she loses her apartment and quits her job to follow her friends on a trip to Africa. When her ‘imperfections’ start to show, her longtime friend, Lucas Deiss, starts to give her extra attention and encourage her to be who she wants to be.

This was a hella cute book. A clean romance (no spice), Liv and Deiss are a Friends-to-Lovers forbidden by the rest of their friends. Deiss is the playboy every girl thinks can turn sweet, and it was a fun read. It wasn’t anything noteworthy tbh, but I still enjoyed it! I will say I liked the Layover more than this a bit.

Thank you Penguin Group Putnam and NetGalley for an eARC copy of From the Jump by Lacie Waldron, in exchange for my honest review!

I really enjoyed this book! I loved the premise of this book and flew through it in no time! I can't wait to read more from Lacie!

From The Jump - Lacie Waldon (eARC)
4.5 stars

Give me a long-time-friends-to-lovers story, a solid friends group, and some sunshine vibes and I am a goner! Long story short - I loved this!

Waldon manages to paint her vacation destinations so vividly, it bathes the reader in sunlight and dowses them with all the warm and fuzzies. Perfect for such a dreary winter pick-me-up… or the beach.. or anytime really! From the Jump is not as travel heavy as Waldon’s first book - The Layover - but the cool stateside music store setting makes up for it.

Liv is unbending in her pursuit of perfection, yet she felt relatable. Her self-imposed pressures didn’t induce the usual heavy eye rolls from me as so many other heroines striving for perfection do. And Deiss… oh Deiss… he’s just the best. And musical… which makes him the absolute best. Nough said!

Summary - A well written, wonderfully balanced, super-swoony, friends-to-lovers story that makes you want to pack your suitcase and head out on an adventure with your friends!

ARC (my first!) was provided to me by Putnam Books in exchange for an honest review.

The Layover by Lacie Walton was one of my favs this year! I’m so glad I got an early copy of her second book From the Jump!!! Coming out in July it’s the perfect beach read!! Definitely recommend

Thank you! Netgalley!

This book was a fun, easy, light read with very humorous writing. I had a bit of trouble seeing the chemistry between Deiss and Liv. It also took me a while to warm up to Liv in general. I also thought some of the storylines felt a bit over the top but overall it was a sweet story.

“I see you. I see you more clearly than I ever have. And I’ve never admired you more.”

From the Jump is written in the first person narrative from the perspective of Olivia ‘Liv’ Bakersfield. Liv is an overworked graphic designer who does everything as she should with her strict diet, workout regime, financial planning, and man-hunting. Her close-knit group of friends vacation together often but Liv has never gone. After a rough day at work, she finally decides it’s time to start saying ‘no’ instead of ‘yes’ and boy, does it feel good. With a new outlook, she heads to South Africa to vacation with her friends but everything changes after that, not only with her life but also with her enigmatic and attractive friend, Lucas Deiss.

Thoughts: I really struggled to get through this one. I also wasn’t a fan of The Layover so if you read and enjoyed that one, take my review with a grain of salt. This had so much potential to be a great read but fell flat on so many levels. I normally enjoy a well-done friends to lovers story but this felt much more like… acquaintances to lovers. Seriously, on what planet is this a ‘close-knit’ group of friends? They don’t really know who Liv is on the inside, past her Ice Queen exterior. And how is Liv friends with them for 10+ years but never once been able to afford to go on vacation with them? She seems relatively successful so I find it hard to believe she never once went somewhere with them. The flashbacks could’ve been better done to show actual connections among the group but they just felt pointless. The romance between Deiss and Liv came across as so forced to me, never really allowing me to get very invested. I was hoping for an awesome vacation romance but the actual vacation was such a small portion of the book. All of the supporting characters were incredibly one-dimensional, the plot had too much going on while leaving a trail of plot holes in its wake, and Liv was hard for me to root for. I could go on about what else didn’t work but I’ll cut it short and just say this one wasn’t for me. There’s quite a few good reviews for this though so it is worth looking into if you’re a fan of friends to lovers books.

This is a book that I will think about often.

Olivia (Liv) is a yes-girl that does what she's supposed to, looks how she's supposed to, eats how she's supposed to, and it gets her exactly nowhere. Only when she loses everything does she realize that she still has her friends, and they are everything. Even through trials with her group of closest friends, she learns she can live in the present instead of always trying to plan for the future.

The way that the characters are written is fantastic. When Liv is figuratively punched in the gut, I literally felt it with her. The more I read, the more I had to know about the characters.

I'll remember these friends for a long time.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC, the above opinions are my own.

I couldn't wait to read From The Jump because I loved Lacie Waldon's previous book The Layover. Last summer, it jump-started my burgeoning appreciation for the romance genre.

Waldon is very skilled at creating characters that you really root for. You can tell that she has so much love and empathy for these characters, in both books.

In From the Jump, I appreciated how the author explored themes of perfectionism. I've never seen that examined in a romance before. I love the idea of friends who become like family. However, I did struggle to believe the family ties between this particular group of friends. There were several times where I wondered how well they really knew each other and if they truly cared for each other. I didn't think they were particularly nice to each other, nor did they seem as close as family would be.

Additionally, I would have liked to see more of the story take place abroad. I believe Waldon is a flight attendant, and I loved how she portrayed that lifestyle in The Layover. I wanted a greater portion of the story to take place in South Africa, but of course I do understand that landing the love interests back into normal everyday life helps move the plot along in important ways.

I'm already looking forward to Waldon's third novel, so I can see where she takes her talents next.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Putnam, and the author for this gifted eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Well, it’s official. I don’t mesh well with Lacie Waldon’s writing/characters. I was really interested in the premise, but was worried since I hated The Layover. Sadly, it’s a repeat issue for me. Liv annoyed me to no end. I didn’t like the friend relationships, didn’t care about her and Deiss, though I will admit there are some charming moments, and I couldn’t care less about her personal journey. It’s a wash- we just don’t blend, so if it wasn’t for needing to complete a review, I would have DNF’d around 20 pages in.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this advance copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Once again Lacie Waldon has taken my mind away to another world and helped me escape the stress of everyday life. This great beach or poolside read is a ‘friends to lovers’ story that takes place on two continents and at two points in time.
After reading The Layover I was already in love with the way Waldon chooses her words; it has only improved in her second novel. In addition, Waldon’s character development has improved too. I’m already anticipating the third novel!

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion. After reading this book, I would have to say that I just couldn't get into this book. Liv was okay but the story just felt like it was lacking something more. I wanted to get into it but I just couldn't.

Thank you to Putnam Books for my gifted review copy.

From the Jump was my first book by author Lacie Waldon. The story follows a group of long-time friends, one of whom follows the rules a little too closely and could stand for a little more fun (or so her friends think...) When she finally joins them on one of their annual trips, her tendency towards perfection is tested.

As she starts to slow down, let herself relax, and stop trying to impress for the future, she uncovers a side of herself that has been there all along- a side that one of her friends has been drawn to all along.

I really enjoyed the focus on friendship turned romance and that there was also just as much focus on Liv's self discovery journey as well. Happiness vs perfection was a great theme in this one. I do wish more of the book took place during their vacation which was such a fun reading escape. That part felt quick to me and I would have liked to see more happen there. Overall, I look forward to seeing what this author writes next!

From the Jump is a cute rom-com that I read during a wet and rainy winter and has be daily dreaming about far away vacations. Unfortunately, the characters vacation was all I was drawn to. The book seemed very slow to me and had me losing interest for the first 3/4 of the book. The characters were hard to connect with especially since the group of best friends seemed so distant.

This took awhile to get through, I’m not sure why. I just felt like it was all meh. I think it has great potential, it just needs more!! I can’t wait to see what’s next from this author!