This book reminds me of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo in a way. In both stories, we see a woman bound by a patriarchal society, desperately aching to be free and live their lives the way they want.

This story is split into two stories: Eloise’s from the past, and her daughter’s, Valentina, in the present. When Valentina arrives at her late mother’s bookstore in Primrose Hill, you will immediately be immersed in the charm of small-town living bursting with loveable characters. This book isn't perfect, but it was exactly what I needed. Any time I picked it up to read a few pages or a few chapters, I found myself feeling simply warm. This is a book to curl up on the couch with your dogs, take into the bath with a couple of candles, or bask in the sunshine at your favorite coffee shop. More, I think this would be the perfect book for mothers and daughters to read together.

Beautifully done.

5⭐️

What a heart-wharming story!

When I found this tittle on Netgalley, I though it was a contemporary romance, one of those novels to enjoy and disconnect and just spend a good time; I didn't read the synopsis, I just went for its reading expecting a simple plot to laugh and smile. What a surprise when I started reading and everythingh was beyond my expectations.

For a start, is not even a love story. Or it is, but is about family, friends, and self-love.

I'm not a reader of this type of books, so I don't know how frequent it is this kind of narratives, but I was amaze that the novel was told in two different times by this two awesome main characters, Valentina and her mother Eloise.

When Val was 12 years old, her mom just left one day out of her life. Val never forgive her for the abandonment, specially because she never understood the reasons of Eloise for leaving.

Now, Eloise has passed and she's left to her daugther her little bookstore on Primerose Hill on London. Valentina is going through a hard divorce and decides to go to London and try to find the life of that mother that left her so many years ago.

Since that moment, Valentina's heart start to heal, not just because all the persons who met her mother says wonderful things about her, but also because she starts digging in her past in order to get her actions and knowing her for the great women she was.

It's a very emotional book. While Eloise tells you her story, you feel so emphatic with her, you just want o hug her and say "hey, nothing was your fault, I'd wish you had better". Eloise is a beatiful character, she suffers, she resist, she loves and she stands even in the hardest moments. I felt so impotent when thing didn't go well for her, she was just a victim of her own life's decitions.

And Valentina. OMG, Valentina was great! As a reader I could really feel her sadness, the way she was hopeless and broken and I love every single step she took to repair and heal.

This story is about forgiveness, about sacrifice, about fate and how sometimes is the right person, but the wrong moment. It's also about friend's bound, and how a good support system can make a pain transition easier.

It also have romance, it's not the most important thing, not even close, but Eloise's and Valentina's love stories, both imperfect and at the same time so touching... Are so pretty to read, even in the bad times.

Oh, and another thing that I absolutly loved: the booklove in every page. Not only its that the story located around a library, but Valentina in a bookstagrammer, a librarian, and Eloise is a bookworn who passed her love of literature on her daugther and on every person who steped in her bookstore. The way books are represented as safe places, refugies, confort zones... I felt so related and understood. I love it.

Eloise and Valentina are inspiring in so many ways, is impossible not to love them.

I laugh, I cried, I enjoyed so much this book, I'm gonna recommend it forever. It's a perfect novel for story and book-lovers, for people who need to learn about healing the heart out of it emotional pain, and to treasure every moment, every second of life that is given to us.


Please read it ♥

In the charming way that Sarah Jio is known for, the stories of Valentina and Eloise will tug at your heart strings and find you rooting for both characters to find love and peace. An estranged mother/daughter duo whose paths have now crossed once more as Valentina navigates the end of her marriage and the loss of her mother, Valentina must reinvent herself while uncovering the past in her search for answers. She must do this all while trying to keep her mothers bookstore afloat and try dating once more in a new neighborhood where she knows nobody. As the stories of the pair unfold, in the present and the past, Valentina and Eloise find comfort in each other even though they are not together. Beautifully written (and a bit predictable) but such a fun read!

I absolutely loved this book! It's my favorite from Sarah Jio since Goodnight June. While I don't always enjoy dual timelines, Sarah Jio makes them work perfectly. This book made me cry several times (I definitely read this at the wrong time in my life, but I can't NOT read a new Jio book) but overall it was such a heartwarming and beautiful book.

Such a beautiful story of love and two women bound by love and family ties. Written beautifully and with such devotion, the author clearly loves her words and chooses them wisely. I absolutely loved the journey she took me on!

I was so excited to see that Sarah Jio had a new novel out, and it was a fantastic read! The London setting was lovingly described, and Jio did an excellent job moving between the present day with Val and the flashbacks with her mother Eloise. An excellent, moving read.

BOOK REVIEW: With Love from London by Sarah Jio
Publication Date: February 8

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

T.I.M.E. Recommended Books By Genre | Contemporary Romance

CONNECT WITH THIS BOOK | T.I.M.E. SIMPLE LIVING TIP:
When you discover your passion, never give up hope... Whether in your lifetime or beyond... ✨😎✨

T.I.M.E. BOOK REVIEW: A multi-layered story filled with the hope that comes with the "never give up" dream of a lost love, buried passions of purpose, reuniting a mother & daughter... and more... Charming & inspiring us to hold our dreams in our heart forever, come what may... ✨😎✨

Pages: 381
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Sub-Genre: Second Chance At Love Romance
Time Period: Present Day (Multiple Timelines)
Location: London | Primrose Hill (England)

IF YOU LIKE THIS BOOK THEN TRY…
Book: Before We Grow Old by Clare Swatman
Movie: The Bookshop

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All my reviews can be seen at This Is My Everybody | Simple Living | Denise Wilbanks at www.thisismyeverybody.com

♡ Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. I voluntarily chose to review it and the opinions contained within are my own.

Sarah Jio always writes a great story and this is no exception! This story alternates timelines between current day Valentina and her earlier times with her mother Eloise. It is a beautiful story about love. If you are a lover of books then you will enjoy this story.

Well, how do I start. I loved this book. So much so that I put off reading it when I got near the end because I did not want it to be over.

Valentina is in the process of getting a divorce when she is informed that her long lost mother died and left her her estate in London.

She travels there and there she discovers everything about her mother through a scavenger hunt.

I do not want to give too much away. READ THIS BOOK.

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I love a good author's note at the beginning of a novel to set the tone. The author meant for With Love From London to be cozy and comforting in a time of uncertainty, and that it was.

Newly divorced Valentina arrives in Primrose Hill to inherit her mother's bookstore - a nook with first editions, old friends and of course, quirky customers and neighbors. Valentina knew none of these friends and customers coming in because you see - she didn't really know her mother. We find out that her mother left suddenly when Valentina was just 12, never to be heard from again - until now.

So what happened to her mom, Eloise? We are transported from 2013 to 1968 to find out. Eloise meets a mysterious, handsome and wealthy stranger, Edward, and spends a couple of magical evenings with him. But when she does not hear from him again, she accepts the proposal of an American business man, Frank. Eloise and Frank become parents, eventually, to Valentina.

Although it's 1990 when Eloise leaves her daughter in America, much of her story reads as if she's stuck in 1968, with the technology of 1968 - my one big sticking point in the story. Regardless of the circumstances that sent her back to London, it's strange that mother and daughter never reconnected.

But that is where we pick up in Valentina's story - feeling abandoned, she plans on selling the bookstore. But she's a librarian, a lover of books, and she quickly strives to save The Book Garden instead - and perhaps she will learn the truth about her mother along the way.

There's a bit of a Great Expectations element to this book that I loved and the pages did indeed provide a retreat into the warm and welcoming world of Primrose Hill.

Thank you to Netgalley for this read!

I really enjoyed reading the letting the author included in the front of the book where she explains her motivation for this book and how she really needed something comforting and hopeful to get her through the pandemic and I really think the author executed that here, I loved this books and there hope and potential always even when it didn’t start off looking like there would be. I definitely want to read other books by this author now because her writing is just so strong and engaging.

1st of all, I'm not sure I can write a review that will do this book justice. This book has all the feels & will appeal to anyone looking for romance, mystery, a bit of history, family, finding one's self, overcoming the odds, and books…. a book about books, a bookstore, bookstagram ❤
Valentina(Val) Is a librarian in Seattle. She's always wondered why her mother left her (&her father)?! When Val's husband leaves her and she subsequently receives word of her mother's death & her inheritance of her mother's London based bookstore, She heads across the pond in search of answers. She discovers so much more! Answers to long unanswered questions. Her mother's love for her is touching, her story wrenching. As Val follows the clues of the scavenger hunt her mother set up before her death, she begins to piece together the puzzle & in doing so, discovers her mother's everlasting love for her & discovers herself in the process. A gem of a book, a story that will stay with you, I absolutely loved it!

This dual-timeline story ended up being so much more than a book about our protagonist's search for herself in London. The setting of London drew me in immediately, especially when said protagonist inherits her estranged mother's bookshop in the Notting Hill area of London. However, the dual-timeline, something often overused in novels, worked well this time, and the plot structure really pulled the entire piece together. There's a lot to love in this one.

More like 3 and ½ Stars!

A huge thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for my advanced copy of With Love from London.

I have been a Sarah Jio fan since the beginning of time. I love her and I love her books.
If you haven't read a Sarah Jio book I'd recommend them all. My personal favorite: The Violets of March. Her first novel.

What I Loved About With Love from London-

*The Dual Timeline / Perspective- In true Sarah Jio fashion this novel has a dual timeline and multiple perspectives. I appreciated that it was a mother-daughter POV.
I loved that we were able to see Eloise as a young woman prior to Val's conception. The choices she had to make along her life's journey. It brought a fullness to the storyline that was needed. There were no plot holes or questions after reading.

*Val- I adore Val. I can definitely identify with her struggles. I am so thankful to the author for writing this character.

*The Book Garden- If it were more than just a fictional place I would definitely visit. I love books that contain book stores, book lovers, librarians etc. Val was a Bookstagrammer and I loved that. The Bookstagram community is one of my favorite things.

*The Heavier Topics- This book deals with loss, grief, abandonment and forgiveness. I think these topics were so well written.

Overall- Recommend. I look forward to reading every single book this author publishes in the future.

With Love from London is a wonderfully delightful book with many things to love about it, a bookstore, a long lost mum, romance, finding a new love and new life! Simply charming, a gem! Thank you #NetGalley#BallentineBooks#WithLovefromLondon

I enjoyed reading this book. There are sad plot threads that weave through the book, but the overall tone is happy. It’s a dual timeline story of Eloise, Valentina’s mother, as she meets the men who will change her life, and Valentina’s, who goes to London after her mother dies and Lea her a bookshop. Valentina goes on a journey to find her mother through clues for her to find.

From the Publisher:
“When librarian Valentina Baker was a teenager, her mother, Eloise, unexpectedly fled to her native London, leaving Val and her father on their own. Now in her thirties and fresh out of a failed marriage, Val feels a nagging disenchantment with her life--and knows she is still heartbroken over her mother's abandonment.
In a bittersweet twist of fate, Val receives word that Eloise has passed away, leaving Val her Primrose Hill apartment and the deed to a bookshop Val never knew she'd owned. Though the news is devastating, Val finds herself more determined than ever to discover who her mother truly was. She jets across the Atlantic, departing Seattle for a new life in charming London.”

When she arrives In London, she meets her mother’s best friend and learns things about her life that upend everything she believes about her parents. She has to keep the bookshop in business, and meets some fascinating men after tracking down the author of notes in the margins of a beloved book. I recommend this book, 4 stars.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own..

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Devastated from a divorce and the news that her estranged mother has died, librarian and bookstagrammer Valentina Baker seeks answers and refuge in London's Primrose Hill. This charming locale was where her mother, Eloise, went to after leaving Val and her father. Eloise has bequeathed Val an apartment and bookstore and she hopes that by going there, she can find out why her mother left her and explore the love they both shared for books.

The hallmarks of this popular romance trope are here: an emotionally fraught heroine, a delightful location perfect for spiritual rejuvenation, endearing supporting characters, and the tease of a new love healing a broken heart. Yet Jio's take on the common narrative shines by underscoring it with the emotional pathos of a woman who believes she was abandoned and her yearning to make sense of that abandonment. In short, there's complex, emotional weight threading through the romantic charm.

Val's search for the reason her mother left is not merely told through her experiences (which include a scavenger hunt prepared by her late mother). It's also explored through a dual storyline that harks back to the past to share Eloise's story. Her personality and emotional core are revealed, as is why she left her family and ended up in London. The revelation of the "reason" she left does a good job of tempering the idea that a mother would leave her beloved daughter.

Two minor complaints: At times, the story gets a little too syrupy sweet and Val's search for love ends on a surprising and, to me, unfulfilling note. Still, the emotional search for answers through a fun (and, at times, book-themed!) scavenger hunt, and Eloise's vivid story mix to create a lovely addition to the romance genre.

Sarah Jio brought me right to London of yesterday and today in this beautiful story of love. I was left wishing it wouldn’t end.

With Love From London
By: Sarah Jio @sarahjio
Random House Publishing Group @randomhouse - Ballantine, Ballantine Books
Genre: Romance, Women's Fiction

In a story told through dual timelines and settings, Jio writes of the relationship between mother Eloise and daughter Valentina "Val" and their paths of mourning, healing, and redemption. Themes of the many facets of love are prominent in the book, from romantic love, family love, and love of literacy. We meet both women in London, England. In contrast to Valentina's introduction in 2013, however, Eloise's begins in 1968.

Books play an important role in both Eloise and Valentina's lives. A librarian and bookstagrammer in Seattle, Val comes to London upon inheritance of her deceased mother's Book Garden bookshop and Primrose Hill apartment. An intriguing series of clues left by her mother lead Val toward solving the secrets and mysteries surrounding childhood abandonment by her mother.

There is something comforting and familiar about novels which have libraries, librarians, bookstores, and book sellers in the pages. An extra layer of warmth is found in references to beloved books and authors. Jio has excelled with blending fascinating leading ladies in intriguing plot lines. Becoming immersed in Jio's beautiful writing, along with lovely London and literary connections, was pure reading joy.

Thank you to Net Galley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Ballantine Books for the advance reader's copy and opportunity to provide my unbiased review.
#WithLovefromLondon #NetGalley

I loved this book, with themes of family, second acts, hope and community. Valentina is leaving Seattle after her divorce, and at the same time her estranged mother dies. Val goes to London to discover she inherited a building with a bookstore on the first floor, employing her mother’s long time best friend, Millie. When she first arrives, Val is still experiencing the resentment of being abandoned by her mother at 12, until she begins to learn the truth about Eloise. Flashing back to 1968, we are told Eloise’s story too. I highly recommend this book to anyone who needs a pick me up in these difficult times, when we are missing the sense of community and hope Valentina discovers. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.