Thanks to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, I was provided an ARC of With Love From London by Sarah Jio via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

****Coming out Feburary 8, 2022****


⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ A Dual timeline book that alternates between Valentina (2013) and her Mother Eloise (1968). After Valentina’s failed marriage and her mother’s death, Valentina heads back to London to learn more about her mother who she hadn’t seen since she was a teenager. Valentina soon finds out that she will inherit her mother’s apartment and bookstore, but not without having to coming up with the inheritance taxes. Will she be able come up with the money In time to save the bookstore?

Her mother sends her on a scavenger hunt all over London to meet her closest friends who were important to her. Will Valentina get the answers she is looking for? Will this give her some peace after feeling abandoned by her mother? This heartfelt book will have you turning the pages to find out!

A heartfelt book that explores the relationship between an estranged mother and her daughter, where her daughter only discovers who she really was, but not until after her death. This book explores love, loss, friendships,and second chances. Perfect for book clubs! As this book will spark a lot of good discussions!

With Love from London was a way more enjoyable read than I was expecting. My relationship with contemporary romances tends to be way more misses than hits, but this thankfully fell in the hit column. The first thing that drew me to this book was the setting: a small bookshop in a quaint London town. The author didn't disappoint in bringing this setting to life. A lot of love and detail was put into creating a comforting setting and I think the author succeeded.

The characters were also really loveable. There were a few side characters that fell into cliche tropes, but the main characters were interesting and loveable and you couldn't help but hope for the best for them. The heartbreak they endured also felt really authentic so even when their actions were frustrating, you at least understood where they were coming from.

My biggest complaints about this book are that the ending was a bit to "wrapped in a bow" perfect (but that wasn't surprising giving the genre) and the fact that there were a number of moments where continuity got wonky. Like on one page it was nighttime but on the next page it was daytime despite the fact that no time had passed? I think these are just editing errors that may be ironed out before publication.

Even if you're not a contemporary/romance fan (like me), I would still recommend this book if you're looking for an engaging, entertaining story that will transport you to a lovely setting and hit you in the gut a little more than you may be expecting.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the ARC.

I just love Sarah Jio = her writing style is both beautiful and comforting, and this book was no exception! I found both POVs engaging, loved the cozy setting of the Book Garden and enjoyed the way both the romance and the rest of the story played out. I appreciated that the mother-daughter relationship was center stage in this book, but also the emphasis on female friendships and how important your chosen family is as well. Overall highly recommend!

Thank you so much for my copy of With Love From London! This is an emotional story that will take you on a beautiful journey. Filled with loss, love and betrayal be ready to have your heart strings pulled. Loved it!

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC!
I thoroughly enjoyed this unique story, that straddles history and the lives of an estranged mother and daughter. As the daughter discovers just who her mother really was and why they were separated, she becomes part of a community in her mothers neighborhood in London. This story has a lot of heart, a lot of swoon worthy moments, and a lot of tragic timing as well.
I love a good bookstore, so naturally I loved this book set in and around one.
I do wish we’d been able to learn a bit more about the daughter’s life before coming to London after her mothers death- we get snippets, but mostly learn about her childhood and the present day. I felt we got a more complete story about her mother than her.
The cast of supporting characters was sweet and rounded out the story nicely.
Altogether an enjoyable read.

This book didn’t grip me. I had a hard time getting through it and eventually started skimming Eloise’s chapters as I found them to be boring. I didn’t buy the explanation given for why Eloise hadn’t seen or spoken to her daughter in 20 years. I understand that in the beginning it was difficult because of her ex husband but, at the very least, once Val turned 18 Eloise could’ve found her. Maybe the reason she didn’t was explained in one of Eloise’s chapters and I skipped over it but there can’t be an excuse for not trying harder to see your child.

The dual POV chapters is fine as long as both POV are equally as captivating. Val and her chapters grew on me but I could never connect with Eloise. I also had a difficult time with the plot as it was incredibly predictable but we were made to jump through hoops to get there anyway. As soon as she found the book with Daniel’s name and then we were introduced to Eric and Fiona I could see that part of the plot before it unfolded.

This was a fine women’s fiction book. It was entertaining and I liked the London setting and I can certify appreciate a plot dealing with difficult family dynamics. I think there are many people who would enjoy this book very much even though it was not one of my favorites.

With Love From London
Sarah Jio
February 08, 2022


In 2013 Valentina Baker lost her mother to a terminal illness. She was given her mother’s inheritance, it involved real estate in London. She decided to sell her condo in Seattle and sold her belongings. She packed her bags and took off on her long flight. Surrounded by an odd sort of people on the plane, she tried to drown out the woman sitting next to her who compulsively spoke. Despite her head set and trying to sleep the
‘Orator’ never stopped. The babies cried. Eventually despite her thoughts wandering back to her pending divorce from Nick and his betrayal, she landed in London ready to find her mother’s home in Primrose Hill.
This amazing story flows back and forth between the years. It tells of her mother Eloise’s life in England and then to the states when she moved to California. Valentina’s story tells the reader of her life from the time her mother left when she was twelve. Her father, Frank did his best to make Val believe that Eloise left her and did not take her with because she didn’t love her. He was distant from Val as well, she only had the housekeeper, Bonnie.
The reader is totally immersed in the lives of these two women. Such a beautiful story of love, loss, and the need to rebuild the little bookstore of Primrose Hill. Jio writes with supherb descriptions of her characters and the geographic areas they reside. With Love From London by Sarah Jio will be published by Ballantine Books February 8th of 2022. I appreciate their allowing me to read and review Jio’s latest novel via NetGalley. I also would like to thank Emma of Penguin Random House for recommending that I read With Love From London. This is an impressive journey these two characters travel. The time spent reading encouraged me to recognize the excellent writing in Valentina’s story. It is exceptional fiction that I hope readers will select. Please do enjoy.

With Love From London has taken its place as my favorite Sarah Jio book. It's a warm and bittersweet story of mothers and daughters and love and forgiveness, and finding the right people at the wrong time. I wasn't sure how I was going to feel once I knew it was about a mother leaving her daughter, but the lovely (yet heartbreaking) story caught me up and didn't let go, all the way through the wonderful ending. Thanks to Netgalley and Ballantine books for the advance digital copy!

Pub date: 2/8/22
Genre: women's fiction (with romantic elements)
In one sentence: Valentina's English mother abandoned her when she was 11 - but their relationship gets the chance for a rewrite when Val inherits her mother's London bookshop.

I love books about mother-daughter relationships, and this one felt really special. When Valentina arrives in London, she gets the chance to meet the important people in her mother's life and experience the magic of the city through a scavenger hunt her mom devised. I enjoyed seeing her work to save the shop and her mother's legacy. I also loved that Val's a bookstagrammer herself (albeit with many more followers that most of us have!) In the past timeline, we see Val's mother Eloise grow up, fall in love, return to England with her heart broken, and find a way to move forward.

Most of all, I enjoyed that this story is about family, friends, books, and community, and how these things make a life. The romance was wonderful too, and I appreciated that Jio didn't let it dominate the narrative. Instead, it was the mother-daughter relationship that took center stage. I recommend it if you like books about books and family.

Thank you to Ballantine Books for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this sweet book about a complicated mother daughter relationship! Both POVs, Eloise and Valentina’s, were engaging and I enjoyed the dual timelines. I especially loved the cozy setting of the Book Garden. This book was like a warm hug on a cold day!

Omg! Wow, I absolutely loved this book! It was everything and more. Loved how it was from both the mothers and daughters perspectives and different times. The story made me laugh and cry. Loved the twists that took place and actually shocked me. It was hard to set this book down and once I finished I went through a little book depression.

At Twelve years old, Valentina’s mother, Eloise, abandons her family and returns to her home in London. Growing up without her mother in LA, Valentina has become a librarian and bookstragrammer. She is surprised to hear that her mother has passed and left her her beloved bookstore. Once there, she discovers a letter that starts a bookish scavenger hunt leading to Valentina discovering there is much more to the story than what she has always believed to be the truth

This book was wonderful and written after a book lovers heart.

(4.25/5) This contemporary fiction read drew me in and had me creating emotional attachments to both Val (the main character) and her mother (Eloise). It's a love story, but not in the way you might think. The way the author switched between Val and Eloise's perspectives while slowly intertwining them and shedding light on the truth of the mother-daughter relationship was... chef's kiss. I was expecting it to be a bit more lighthearted (which is my own fault for not fully reading the blurb), but I think the author dealt with the difficult situations that arose in the book well. Do check the trigger warnings (miscarriage, family death, divorce) before you read. The bit of romance in the book was predictable but still heartwarming. Overall, a good read for any book club.

With Love from London is a every bookworms dream! A Librarian who inherits a bookshop.. what dreams are made of. This story has a mixture of rom-com, a work of art and a bit of mystery. This is a must read for 2022!
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Review posted on Goodreads.
Review will be posted to Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other indie sites on date of publication.

I just finished reading With Love from London by Sarah Jio and it was completely enjoyable from page 1 until the last page!

Valentina was just a child when her mother left her and she has carried around the pain of that loss into adulthood. So when she receives word that she’s inherited her mother’s bookshop in London, she has very little interest in it. She plans to fly to England, wrap up the sale of the shop, and come home.

But when she gets there, she meets a cast of characters who paint a different picture of the mother who abandoned her daughter. Valentina learns there was more to the story of her mother and maybe this shop can be the start of a new beginning for Valentina who is recovering from a recent divorce.

The chapters switch between current day Valentina, and her mother Eloise in the years leading up to leaving her daughter in California.

Reading this book made me want to move to England and run a bookshop!



When Valentina Baker was only eleven years old, her mother, Eloise, unexpectedly fled to her native London, leaving Val and her father on their own in California. Now a librarian in her thirties, fresh out of a failed marriage and still at odds with her mother’s abandonment, Val feels disenchanted with her life.

In a bittersweet twist of fate, she receives word that Eloise has died, leaving Val the deed to her mother’s Primrose Hill apartment and the Book Garden, the storied bookshop she opened almost two decades prior. Though the news is devastating, Val jumps at the chance for a new beginning and jets across the Atlantic, hoping to learn who her mother truly was while mourning the relationship they never had.

Coming out on 2/8

or my first book by Sarah Jo, I really liked this one. I think she did a great job with the changing timelines, storylines and characters. When I first started the book I was so wrapped up in Eloise’s life, I hated having to wait a chapter to see what was going to happen next. But as the story progressed, I really loved reading Valentina come into her own second act, and I just loved how the story played out. I loved the ending, and I loved EVERYONE’S ending. Everyone got their own sweet little wrap up and I don’t think that happens often. I only take it down half a star because I do feel like a lot of this story was surface level, and I think I would have appreciated it less happened and more detail went into the major plot lines. I loved the characters and I just wanted more.

Lastly, I loved how bookish this book was. :)

With Love, From California

In 2011, I stumbled upon a novel by Sarah Jio and was instantly smitten. I immediately borrowed all her published books from my local library. She instantly became one of my go-to authors, whenever she has a new book out, I will buy it!

With Love From London might be my favorite of Sarah’s yet! The year is 2013 when Valentina arrives in London, recently divorced, to settle her mother’s estate. It had been more than 20 years since her mother left Valentina and her father in California to return home to London. Valentina plans to sell the bookstore and its building that her mother left to her and move on, but she quickly discovers that her mother wasn’t the person she thought she was. As one of her final acts before she passed Eloise, Valentina’s mother, has left her with a scavenger hunt. Can this scavenger hunt help Valentina better understand a mother she barely knew?

The book alternates between Valentina in 2013 and her mother Eloise in 1968, until her recent death. My favorite part might have been Valentina’s bookstagram account. ♥️ This book gave me You’ve Got Mail vibes, set in a bookstore, in one of my favorite cities.

Whether you are a long-time Sarah Jio fan or haven’t read any of her books (yet), you will want to check this one out immediately. With Love From London is our February 8th!

Thank you to @netgalley and @ballantinebooks for this advanced readers ebook.

“Honestly, I think the only men who stand a chance of capturing my attention are of the fictional variety.”

I loved this quote and liked this book! If you’re a book lover, you’ll enjoy this book.

Valentina Baker is recently divorced and inherits her mothers bookstore and flat in London. But the catch? Her mother moved back to London when she was 12 and was never heard from her again. Valentina flies to London from Seattle to settle her mother’s affairs, but ends up falling in love with the bookstore and neighborhood as she goes on a scavenger hunt her mother left for her. In a dual timeline, her mother (Eloise) falls in love and we learn her history and why she left.

If you’re looking for a light, easy read about a quaint and adorable neighborhood in London, then this it!

This is a lovely story of timeless romance, a love letter to books, and a reminder that there are always second chances at love.

With Love From London is the perfect readers who love:
- Multiple Points of view
- Different voices from different time periods
- Second chance romances
- Female friendships
- Cozy bookstores
- Life reinvention

I absolutely recommend this book for all fans of romance!

Beautifully written women's fiction. It is the story of a mother and daughter told in duel POV. Eloise we meet in 1968, she is a shop girl looking for love. She draws the attention of a couple of men. She has dreams of owning a bookshop one day. Valentina Baker's story begins in present day as she arrives in London. She is a librarian and is in the process of finalizing a divorce she didn't want.

Val discovers her mother left her a building with two apartments and a bookstore. Everyone in the neighborhood shares how much her mother meant to them. She is confused because all she knows is her mother left her. There is so much to enjoy in this book. A scavenger hunt to bring a mother and daughter closer. The enjoyment of books themselves and how they can enrich are lives. And the bookshop too is almost it's own character as it gives something to the neighborhood around it. Some of this is predictable and sentimental but I happily broke out a couple of tissues as I finished the novel.

It contains a few mild curse words and intimacy is off the page. I think my book club would enjoy it as they prefer less graphic novels. Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. (4.5 stars)