This book was not my favorite. I’m not someone who DNFs books, but I really did consider giving up on this book. In the beginning, I found the main character to be so entitled and annoying. In other riches-to-rags stories I have enjoyed, they have done a good job balancing the entitlement with humor and charm, but I found that missing from this book. I definitely felt that this book leaned a little more YA, which I wasn’t expecting. The book did get better in the second half, but not enough to redeem the first half. I found many of the characters to be underdeveloped and wish much of the plot was more compelling. Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Laugh out loud, heartwarming and funny in exactly the right places - I binge read Stone Broke Heiress. Its a book with a lot of heart and I loved how light and easy-breezy this book was.
All the characters in the book are extremely endearing and loveable and I enjoyed this book thoroughly! Definitely recommend it - perfect to lounge with, on the beach or on holiday!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

"The whiff of his aftershave, combined with a tinge of smelly bin juice, fills the air as we roll away into the night, like a budget Bonnie and Clyde."

Publisher: Bookouture

Release date: 21st March 2022

Pages: 309

Representation: NA

Trigger warnings: Fire/Fire injury, homelessness, adultery.

Summary: Bella Whittington is the heiress of the Whittington Soup Empire. Until, one day, she isn't. Her super-rich parents move to France, and she’s left on her own for the first time in her life-In Liverpool, of all places. A hit of reality sends Bella looking for her next move, and leads her to Dan and his soup kitchen; with one issue-He’s heard of the Whittingtons, and he hates them. She has to be quick to adjust to her new life and keep her secret safe, and she’s risking everything she has left by doing it.

Stone broke Heiress is like a warm bowl of soup on a cold day, unfortunately it’s not our favourite flavour.

I definitely enjoyed this book more because of my personal knowledge and love of Liverpool. The main character-Bella-was very naive. She had a lot to learn about the real world, and her cluelessness definitely played into the ‘ down on her luck rich girl’ trope. She was nice though, and cute. She wanted to do better, and although she wasn’t the most well-rounded character ever written she was very likeable.

The same can’t be said for the love interest-he fell extremely flat. I didn’t see much personality out of him, and because of it it made it hard for me to see what Bella saw in him. Was he a nice guy? Sure, but he didn’t seem to have much of a personality beyond that. The cast of side characters really added to the story though, and it was made so much more delightful with them involved!

The plot at times seemed scattered, but it was easy enough to follow and simply enjoyable! Overall it was an okay book-nothing spectacular, but definitely not bad. I wish I could offer a more in-depth perspective, but it was hard to find anything to describe everything that happened other than “ok.”. I want to rate the book up for dealing with important topics-such as homelessness-in an appropriate way, but every plot point seemed rushed and like it was written with little depth. It seemed to take away from what was a serious situation, and from the importance of Bellas growth.

Its shining glory: It was a cute, easy read. A lighthearted rom-com that felt effortless and offered an easy escape from reality.

Its fatal flaw: The entire story felt overly familiar. It was predictable, and not in a comforting way. Because of this, there was a lack of tension and therefore a lack of payoff.

Read this if: You want a fun, quirky rom-com that you can rely on to follow the classic rom-com formula.

Skip this if: You want a less predictable read. You want characters with strong traits.

Thank you, NetGalley for this copy of this book!

I did enjoy this book and although it was wholly predictable, it was still a charming, easy read. It really is more of a love letter to Liverpool than anything else and sometimes this subsumes the plot. However the characters were likeable, although Bella's naivety was sometimes a little too unbelievable. A nice, easy read for the summer.

This was a really cute story. At first I thought that it would be fluff and all about Bella learning to adjust from being a spoiled rich woman, but I was pleasantly surprised when she gets a job at a soup kitchen and soon learns the realities of how people that may be less fortunate live. I really liked how much the author drives home the message of how easy it is to judge people when you know nothing of their circumstances and how lucky that many people are when there are many others out there struggling. It does really make you think about things and emphasise.

I also really liked the characters of Elsie and Herbie and am glad that Bella finds some truly genuine people in her life and happiness in the things that really matter.

3.5⭐

Thank you to Netgalley, Bookouture and the author for the review copy, provided in exchange for an honest opinion.

I hated this one. I thought I was really going to like this one. But every thing about this book I did not like. I would not suggest this and I do not think I will read another thing by this author.

Stone Broke Heiress was a delight of a book. I went in thinking this book would be the regular story about rags to riches, but I was pleasantly surprised. This story is about a once soup heiress Bella that was in charge of the PR for her family’s soup company Whittingtons Soup. Bella loses it all, and then moved into a 1 bedroom apartment, Bella must find a job, and that is where she meets the grumpy Dan (the owner of the local soup kitchen). This story has more depth than I originally thought, and it was a pleasant and enjoyable read.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC for an exchange for an honest review.

Yes, its definitely a good one.

I was drawn to this book by its cover (what's not to love about it?!) and the summary intrigued me. Overall I'm giving this one 3.8 stars and rounding up to four. Although Bella (the former heiress) took a while to endear herself to me, I eventually came to love her for her tenacity and personal growth. She's definitely got the Legally Blond trope going on at the start, which is what took me a hot minute. The book is a bit romcom in a Hallmark kind of way and a whole lot of learning to keep going when the chips are down. I also enjoyed the book's setting and its vernacular. Which, to be honest, always draws me in to a story. Not a bad start at all for this debut author. I'm looking forward to checking out her next book later in 2022.

“Recent events had taught me that eyeliners were like men; good ones, the ones with staying power, were rare. And the bad ones left a smudgy, tear-stained mess.”

I was in need of a RomCom and this was the one! The cover is quite appealing and the synopsis even more so, I couldn't not request this book on NetGalley.
It was overall a good read with a plot although predictable quite light and enjoyable. But the funny parts of this novel are, at times, too forced and unnatural ending up not being as funny as they should be and losing the essence and outcome that should be felt by the reader. The characters are poorly developed while the surroundings are sometimes overly described, something I would prefer to see reversed because, especially in the romance genre, I find it more relevant to deepen the characters in favor of the surroundings which can be something more secondary just used to better explore the story. This was something I felt particularly with Dan, the main male character, who falls quite short in that role and which I felt very sorry for as I can see the potential that was not explored. The main female character Bella, on the other hand, is a well explored character with an amazing evolution throughout the narrative that I loved to follow, her redemption was one of my favorite parts! But then the romance between these two ended up disappointing me a lot... Too rushed especially in the first impact, I feel there was no tension, no gradual unfolding of the relationship, it seems like something that just came out of nowhere, which is due to the small temporal jumps that are happening. And so, we jump almost directly to the typical final drama which, although it is also a bit predictable, is quite satisfying both in its essence and in the way it was handled and overcome.
Despite all that, and considering it's the first book by this author, it's a read I recommend to those who like the genre and books that portray the redemption of a character as the main focus with a well-structured and fluid writing. It's worth the opportunity and I will definitely keep an eye out for the author's next books!

Plot | ⭐⭐⭐
Characters | ⭐⭐⭐
Ease of Read | ⭐⭐⭐
Quality of Writing | ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Overall | ⭐⭐⭐,25

Review to be soon published on my bookstagram account @direadsomebooks!

I almost forgot to review this book! I read it a while back as I received an ARC via Netgalley and I rather enjoyed it.

Bella is a lovely heroine, sometimes a bit too naive but a good person. I wished for more romance, but overall a nice story. Maybe a bit too predictable? Could be, I liked it for a few hours of fun.

To begin with, I was struggling to to get into it but 10% in I was completely invested. This novel had self discovery, friendships, love, pets and some of the most ridiculously hilarious moments. Loved seeing Bella struggle to adjust with her new downgraded life. Dan was perfect for her.

Three stars. I did like the general plotline and some of the external events, but the characters are not on my favorites list. I feel there is so much more that could be explored in this story so it kind of disappointed me. If you're looking for a casual, light, romantic contemporary, without any expectations, this might be the one for you.

I really hate lying. SO obviously the first strike was Bella lying about her identity. After that, I hated how affective she was seeing her ex after the disaster she had been through. She should've been proud of herself instead of being aware about her poor state of clothing. Strike two. She was a PR and should've known better than to say stupid stuff in front of the journalists. Yet she did exactly that. Ugh.

It was an an okay read.

2.5 stars

The first half of this book was easily 3.5 stars. A typical but enjoyable story of a sweet and funny romance between the rich girl turn poor and the grumpy but handsome cook of the town. There's not much to say about this part, it was well written and fun with nothing too serious, some cute scenes, and overall a nice romance. That's why I don't understand why the last half turned as bad as it did.

Imagine going from a fluffy romance to serious world problems from one chapter to another. Without previous explanation suddenly the book began a political talk about modern slavery, animal cruelty and overall awful stuff that needs to be addressed, but not out of nowhere with minimal information just because the author wanted to fill a social agenda. There was no reason to include this, it was forced and unnecessary. And I don't understand why the author felt the need to do a whole social talk just to create conflict between the main characters. Because there can't be a healthy relationship without external conflicts right?

I just want to forget the last part ever existed.

This was definitely a rom con. And a rags to riches story. I almost feel like it should be a YA book. The main character Bella has to grow up a lot. Otherwise this was a good funny laugh out loud read!

🛁 Stone Broke Heiress - Danielle Owen-Jones 🛁

I was very kindly sent this book by @netgalley 🥰

When I tell you this book had me LOLing, I truly mean it hit my funny bone just right 🤣

This was such a beautiful, coming of age self-discovery novel of our FMC Bella, who goes from riches to rags and has to figure out her life again. Enter Dan, grumpy but loveable Dan, and watch their story unfold.

⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

I really liked this book. It’s the story of a rich girl named Bella Whittington, who’s family owns a large soup company. In a twist of fate, her family is removed from the business her great grandfather started, and Amanda is suddenly broke. She can’t clean or do laundry, but she makes great soup and that gets her a job at a local soup kitchen run by Dan, her new neighbors friend.
I liked reading about Bella’s journey to self awareness. She’s surprised when Dan takes her dumpster diving, and shocked when she realizes how much money she’s wasted over the years. She and Dan have great chemistry, but he doesn’t know that she’s a Whittington, from a company he hates.
How will they save their relationship once he finds out?
This was an enjoyable and entertaining 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.

Definitely leaning closely to young adult versus adult. Loved the MC so much. Everything falling apart and Bella persevering through it all. Romance angle wasn’t top notch, but it was a cute, feel good story.

This is a fun riches to rags contemporary romance,
Yes, you read that right - if it can go wrong, there's a good chance!
Millionaire heiress finds her fiancé and supposedly her best friend
In a situation in which they really can't pretend
They're cheating on her with each other, she's through.
So what should an heiress like her, now do?

Get ready for her massive wake up call
As her new home and need for a job are now the be all.
Working in a soup kitchen seems a great role - maybe?
But cleaning up and cooking? Well, perhaps she'll see!
Get ready for disasters, though she tries her best
But pretending and lies will put new relations to the test.

A story of having to grow up and change
Of learning about yourself and your life goals rearrange.
A story of learning of new values
And new options you can choose.
A tale of love across the divide
And the truth that you should never hide....

For my complementary copy of this book, I say thank you,
It is an entertaining read and this is my honest review.