As much as I wanted to like this book, I just couldn’t connect with it. I found it to be quite boring, if I am being honest. The characters had zero chemistry, even with the insta-love. I also felt like the characters didn’t develop enough. There were a few interesting moments, which is why it’s getting two stars instead of one, but not enough for me to really enjoy reading it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, Random House Children’s for the opportunity to read this advanced reader copy. This honest review was based off my experience reading this eARC, which in no way biased me. All opinions are my own.

First impression is that maybe it’s just me but these cartoon covers are really starting to be misleading. Now with the influx of cartoon covers for adult romance books when I see a cartoon cover I immediately think it is not going to be YA. This was not the case here. I did not realize this was YA when I requested it, and I have become more and more picky with the YA reads I pick up. Unfortunately I am not the target audience for this book and it wasn’t anything other than average for me.

It was predictable but there isn’t anything wrong with predictable here. Also if anyone isn’t a fan of insta love (because of a timeline) I would avoid this. I don’t mind the insta love trope, but I know a lot of people do.

Please, someone, MAKE THIS A MOVIE!!!! I'm currently teaching Brit Lit and reading Pride and Prejudice with my son. Of course, this book hit me a little differently. I tried solving the riddles on my own before reading on to see the answers. I've also wanted to travel the UK. And my favorite books involve ANY of my favorite hobbies with a little romance thrown in. This book was perfect. Romance and self-discovery.

Thank you to the publisher for giving me a copy in exchange for my honest review.

This was a super cute book! It follows Britt, a high school graduate that lost her dream of playing soccer because of an accident. Her teacher gives her the opportunity of a lifetime to participate in a scavenger hunt in England based on readings from her English class.

While on the scavenger hunt, Britt meets Luke, a nerdy Brit (Britt and Brit, ha!) who agrees to accompany her on her quest. Along the way, Britt learns more about herself and her abilities.

I loved how Britt grew as a character. She didn’t believe in herself in the beginning and was just lost in general. Throughout the book, she slowly realizes she has talents other than soccer and begins to believe in herself.

I cannot post a review of this book without gushing about Luke. He was the cutest character. He was funny, smart, and kind. Luke was also so protective of Britt and helped her grow as a character.

The romance balanced very nicely with the rest of the book. It wasn’t solely focused on romance or on the scavenger hunt. I also like how realistic the ending was. Slight spoilers but they say they like each other and kiss. There was no “I love you” which I appreciated since they knew each other for a week.

This book was amazing and I recommend getting a copy for yourself.

Title: Love & Other Great Expectations
Author: Becky Dean

Ch: 30

Pg: 371

Genre: YA Contemporary Rom Comish

Rating: 4.5 stars

Publisher: Delacorte Press



I'm not going to lie I picked this one up for the cover and title. I didn't bother to read the blurb. But it was the first line "Dreams are like knees-- you don't realize how fragile they are until something rips them to shreds." that had me hooked. I had to keep reading I had to know what happened. Because like Britt I also played soccer and it was a knee injury that sidelined me. And just like Britt I had to rethink my whole future and career choices. But my knee injury wouldn't keep me from college I had no desire to play college soccer no my knee injury and the diagnosis it led to me having to give up my dream of joining the Marines. So even though I'm not the typical audience for YA Britt was an easy character to relate. I enjoyed reading her adventures through the United Kingdom and through classic works of literature. With British Luke along for the ride.


This one lean more on the side of YA Contemporary more so than a YA Rom Com though it does have its rom com moments. This was a great debut from Becky Dean, and I can't wait to see what else she writes.



I received a copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are mine alone.

Love and Other Great Expectations is the first book that I have read by Becky Dean and it certainly won’t be the last, if this remarkable story is anything to go by. I loved reading this very unique and beautifully written story. I don’t read as many young adult books as I used to, but even though it took me a little longer than I planned to finish it, it was well worth it. I really enjoyed getting to know all the main characters, and found them easy to relate to. I loved that there was a romantic element to the story, but that there was so much more to it than that. What a fresh and exciting new way to go about teaching a bit about all the different literary classics.

I highly recommend joining Britt as she embarks on a very unique and exciting adventure through the greatest English literary classics to anyone who is looking for a book with adventure with a little bit of romance thrown in too.

A great young adult book for those who are somewhere between middle grade and true YA readers. I would recommend this sweet love story for tweens and early teens. The book is a milder romance than a lot of YA books, without any graphic content. I thought the scavenger hunt and the way that literature was woven into the story was ingenious. I know if I had read this as a young reader I would have been delighted. My only gripe is that some of the dialogue could be less on the nose (the common issue of show me don’t tell me), but since the book is geared towards a younger audience it won’t detract from the primary audience’s enjoyment.

Britt is given the opportunity of a lifetime! She gets a full expenses paid trip through Britain paid for my her English teacher with the chance to win money for college! An opportunity I would gladly take. The competition involves clues about British lit and sharing some memorable times with a British boy. What could go wrong??

The premise of this book really drew me in. After getting started it feels a lot like the Amazing Race: British edition. I loved the learning curve that she goes through as an American trying to learn customs in her new surroundings. As an American who is dying to go to London I loved those bits as well as the setting in general. Unfortunately, I felt like the story fell kind of flat. The boy was nice but felt bland to me, which made the romance also bland. There were fun parts here and there, but I felt like the clues were too easy for her because she just looked them up and headed to the next area.

I would recommend to those who have a love of London and all things British. It's a light fluffy read.

I really enjoyed this book! I thought the main characters were charming and the idea behind the concept was great.

Thank you to @NetGalley and @delacortepress for gifting me a copy of Love & Other Great Expectations in exchange for an honest review.

☂️ Mini Review 🇬🇧
I’m always looking for a good YA Contemporary Romance. Here lately they’ve been harder and harder to find. I wanted to love this book, but I just couldn’t get into it.

Britt is an amazing soccer player, but because of a leg injury she hasn’t played in so months and this has ruined her chances at a scholarship. Well, thankfully she gets invited to go on this amazing scavenger hunt in England. There she has to figure out all the clues to this bookish scavenger hunt in order to win the money she needs for college.

During this hunt she meets bookish Luke. He can’t know the rules of the scavenger and can’t really help her but he decides to be her wingman.

I just… I couldn’t get into this one. As much as I love the idea of a bookish scavenger hunt I didn’t like it in this book. I didn’t make sense. Anyways, this one just wasn’t for me.

If you like YA contemporaries I would say try this one out. I gave it ⭐️⭐️

This book was so funny! I have only laughed out loud for a few books. This is one of them. I started laughing from the second chapter. I loved it! I loved Britt, who is the main character. I could see myself in her so much, but there were so many things she had that I wish I did. Her humor, courage, creativity, and determination were some things I loved to to see in this book. Al was the perfect babysitter for Britt and their personality clash brought so much humor to the story. I am not a person that goes and reads romance books, but this was so different. I will definitely be looking for more books like this from this author. I loved the references to classics like Jane Austen, C. S. Lewis, Sherlock Holmes, and many more. I have always wanted to go to the UK and this book has only fueled that desire to go. I highly recommend!

Britt is about to graduate high school, and she has a secret- the knee injury that ended her soccer season early has also altered the path of her life forever.
Near the end of school, Britt receives an invitation to a meeting in her English teacher’s classroom. There she is invited to take part in an all expenses paid trip to England for a 10 day scavenger hunt against 3 of her fellow classmates. The winner will take home $100,000.
Britt sets off to England without fully understanding the adventure before her, but she knows she needs to do something different or she will lose the dream of college.
As she follows the scavenger hunt clues, she meets Luke- the cute British boy who is also trying to decide his future- and together they travel the country and tackle the clues.
By the time Britt’s journey is finished, she has a new appreciation for herself outside of soccer and she might just get the boy too.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange honest review.

If I could give this book 100 stars I would! I loved this story. It was swoony and very sweet. I loved the characters (They are super adorable) I really loved the story. The amount of detail in this book is amazing! I also really enjoyed all of the literary references in it.

Love & Other Great Expectations is a completely fun-filled story that features an amazing scavenger hunt across England. My Amazing Race-loving, anglophile heart was bursting throughout this entire book. The adorable main characters, Britt & Luke, and literary culture as well made the book a fantastic adventure of personal growth. I felt completely captivated the entire time! Highly and enthusiastically recommend!

REVIEW | Love and Other Great Expectations
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Thank you @netgalley, @randomhousechildrens, and @beckydeanwrites for the #gifted digital ARC.
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LOVE & OTHER GREAT EXPECTATIONS by Becky Dean (@beckydeanwrites)
Publisher: Delacourte Press, @randomhousechildrens
Pub Date: June 14, 2022 | Available now!
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Britt Hanson has always preferred scoring goals on the soccer field to analyzing dusty old books. But when an injury ends her dream to play in college, she jumps at the chance to compete in a scavenger hunt in England that takes her to the locations of classic novels—the prize money would change her life!

There she meets bookish and very British Luke Jackson. He can’t actually help her with any of the clues (against the rules), but something about Luke compels her to invite him to join her. She wouldn’t mind getting to know him—and listening to his accent.

To win, Britt must outwit three smart competitors who aren’t afraid to play dirty while solving clues and traveling around the English countryside. Along the way, Britt learns that sometimes you have to follow the map and other times, you need to throw caution to the wind and see where the cobblestoned road takes you.
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Read this if you like…
• Riddles and scavenger hunts
• Classic British literature
• Self-discovery through foreign travel
• The Amazing Race
• Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, Sherlock Holmes, King Arthur, Canterbury Tales, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkein
• Grump and sunshine (Britt and Al, not Luke ha)
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I thought this book was so fun after my own three-week trip to Britain and Ireland. Not only was I entertained by the features above, but I was so engaged by hearing about locations I just had visited myself! See the slideshow for some pics of Oxford, Bath, Edinburgh, and London.
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#LoveOtherGreatExpectations #NetGalley #BeckyDean #delacourtepress #randomhousekids @randomhousekids @randomhouse #canva #canvadesign

This was a very well written YA contemporary. Not my usual cup of tea, but the author pitched just the right balance between humor, finding yourself, exploring new things, budding romance, and so much more. I loved Britt and Luke. So true on the “opposites attract” trope. She’s the “airhead” athlete, and he’s the nerdy smart guy, but they balanced or complimented each other so well. They also helped each other to come to grips with each other’s life-altering events. This was really cute but deep. Like I said, I loved it :)

Leaving reviews on Goodreads and Amazon

Britt had her whole life planned ahead of her. She was set to play soccer at a local university and a scholarship to get her through it, that is until an injury and a health condition ruin all of her soccer dreams. An offer to travel to the United Kingdom and compete in a classic literature based competition shows up in Britt's locker, and the reward? Enough money to last her four years at college. With crazy adventures and a cute literature loving British boy, this is a trip that Britt is not likely to forget.

If you're looking for a cute summer romance, this book is definitely for you. While I did think that the concept was a bit absurd at first, the way it is explained at the end does make the loose ends tie up pretty well. The hints were small enough that they didn't feel in my face, but when the reveal happens it really makes you go "Oh that actually works!"

The adventures, while beautifully described, sometimes felt bogged down with how many different places that they had to travel to. As a result, half of the book felt like it was just descriptions of locations and places that Britt traveled to for the competition. I did really like how this story, because of the adventures, felt like a love story to anything and everything literature, and while some stories may be unconventional or bizarre, there is always some way to find appreciation for them.

The plot was a tad predictable for me, especially with the ending. I had a feeling from the moment certain traits of Britt started showing that things would go her way, and of course I was right. I felt like there could have been a bit more liberties taken with the story, because it felt a bit too perfect. I know it's a romance and that's the whole purpose of a contemporary romance, but still. There were times where random citizens of the UK would be absolutely captivated by Britt's oral storytelling when that barely even happens in real life, at least from my experience. It was moments like these that snapped me out of the story.

In terms of characters, they also felt too one dimensional. Britt competes with three other competitors, one of which is an ex-friend and the other a rival. Over the course of the clues, we find out why these two people have specific feelings towards Britt. And honestly, they could have been better. We aren't really told the reasons until about 70-80% through the story and one of them is just "oh you embarrassed me in fifth grade and I've held a grudge since then." Seriously, who holds a grudge that long? While these competitors are at least 17-18 years old, there were other actions and decisions that made them come off as immature and sometimes childish.

Britt was the better of the group, because through her lens we are able to understand her complex emotions with wanting to ignore the bad and only focus on the good, which ends with her coming to this realization that she has to confront the bad and stop running away, which I thought was done really well. While her final conclusion on what to do with her life felt very abrupt, I still think she was a well written character.

Britt's romance with Luke was definitely cute, but was I absolutely swooning over him? No. Was he the typical definition of a swoon-worthy love interest? Also no. But did I think that their chemistry was cute and they work well together? Yeah I'd say so.

Love and Other Great Expectations is a cute romance for people looking for a dream trip to the United Kingdom and fantasize of their own British book-loving boyfriend.

I received a copy of this novel as an e-arc from NetGalley. Any and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Can I just say, UGH!!! 😩This book was so cute! Definitely my favorite August read so far and I’ve already started recommending it to my friends.

For whatever reason, I did not realize that this is YA! I have a hard time with romcoms as it is and definitely would have preferred Adult for the added romance aspect. Nonetheless, this was VERY cute! I read it on the plane on my way to vacation. It was fun, light, and refreshing! Definitely pick it up if this is typically the genre you prefer - you'll probably like it more than I did (:

My biggest thing to say about this book is that it was cute. And I think that can be a good and a bad thing. I didn’t get much more than surface level and that was fine. I had a cute time reading a cute little book. I feel like I may just be weening off of YA but I feel like there should have been more.
3.75/5