Bella’s glamorous life of a soup company heiress comes crashing down after losing the family business and walking in on her fiancé and best friend all in a day. She’s left with no choice but to live the life of the average and find her own footing.

Stone Broke Heiress was a laugh out loud book filled with personal growth, tough lessons, and friendship. Bella’s character growth explodes as she realizes the life of privilege she’s lived was not only over the top but unfulfilled. Paving her way to independence, deep friendships, and a little bit of romance- she’s set out to save her new life from tragedy. This is a read that’ll have you devouring every word in a single sitting as you laugh, cry, and cheer for the characters.

This book gives me a Schitt's Creek kinda feel. Think of Arabella as Alexis Rose, and her mom, Aurila as Moira Rose. Super cute and funny fast read. Arabella (Bella) works as a PR Manager for her dads soup business. When things start to go south for the family Bella is forced to explore the world on her own. Learning how to navigate a new town, being single, very small budget and making new friends just gives you a wholesome feel when reading this book. .From multi-million heiress in Liverpool, England to a soup kitchen employee, flat cleaning citizen of Toxteth, England this book will put a smile on your face from beginning to end.


Thanks to NetGalley for providing this digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

3.5/5 ⭐

Bella, heiress of a soup company, suddenly loses everything, her job, her house, her fiancé… and needs to start again. As Bella says, ‘Six months ago, I was the heiress to a soup empire worth millions. Now, I’m standing in a giant dumpster.’

To be honest I didn't like Bella until half way through the book, where she starts to grow on me, especially her growth and maturity towards what life is throwing at her. Helping in what she knows most, making soup. We can see Bella's journey from having everything to having nothing and in need to learn how to clean, cook, use public transport.. I didn't particularly enjoy the name dropping of luxury brands every two sentences and the naivety of Bella in some situations, like not knowing how to clean or that the washing liquid is not for cleaning the toilet.

I like Dan and his backstory and why he decided to open the soup kitchen and help the ones that are in the same position he was when he was a teenager.

Elsie and Susie are the comedy of the story, with their crazy stories and dialogues.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to read the book for an honest review.

This is a super fun and fast read, as if Sophie Kinsella had written a season of Schitt's Creek! If you love Alexis Rose, you will adore Bella Whittington.

I enjoyed reading this one a lot. It is set in Liverpool, which was interesting to explore through the pages. The city even feels like one of the characters at times!

Bella had a really solid emotional journey in this book and I think the change she went through in her behavior and world views was well motivated and explained.

Her relationships with Susie und Elsie were the most interesting to me to read about. Even though I understood her attraction to dreamy Dan, I wish there would have been more emotional development between them after the start of their relationship.

My favorite character apart from Bella herself ended up being her mum though. She is hilarious and has the best quips and one-liners. She stole every scene she appeared in!

The novel is pretty slice-of-life-y which I enjoy, but takes a more action-packed turn after the 60% mark or so. I did enjoy the first part of the book a bit more since it was more character-driven. The action plot that followed felt a bit bonkers for the genre, but Danielle Owen-Jones managed to bring it all to a satisfying end. It's a little wild ride for a bit there though!

Also, I can't end this review without at least mentioning the good boi Herbie. He's Dan's dog and so adorable!

(Thank you to NetGalley, Danielle Owen-Jones and Bookouture for providing me with an eARC for this book in exchange for my honest feedback. All opinions in this review are my own.)

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. This book was a fun and light-hearted “riches to rags” story featuring Bella, a soup heiress. In a typical story like this, I usually find the protagonist to have few redeeming qualities until they have a complete change. I was happy to see that Bella was likable from the beginning, and while she still had those silly moments of learning to be a “normal” person, she wasn’t dumb or ditzy. This book heavily shared philanthropic views without leaving the reader feeling preached to or less than. This was a fun, light hearted read with a feel good ending!

The story
Bella comes from a long line of soup makers. Her great grandfather started making soup in Liverpool in WW2, and the company is now a mega corporation. Her giddy, luxurious lifestyle falls apart quickly though after disastrous PR, her losing her job, finding out some terrible truths about her fiancé and best friend. Dropped from a dizzying height into working class life, Bella manages to find work in a soup kitchen. It literally changes her life!

My thoughts
There are many really funny moments in this story as Bella adjusts to normal life away from the ivory towers. There are also several moments where you need to suspend reality a bit as a reader as Bella has her naive moments. The maturity that grows in Bella as the story progresses does redeem the plot to some extent. I appreciated the enthusiasm and openness to being vegan and the level food consciousness that is shown in this story.

Bella Whittington’s caviar-and-Cristal life comes crashing down when she walks in on her fiancé and best friend tangled up in page 34 of the Kama Sutra, limbs everywhere. But her plan to dull the pain with Daddy’s credit card is totalled by the news that they’ve lost the family business. Suddenly Bella’s both single and completely broke.

This book was a lovely read which I basically read in one sitting. It took me a while to like Bella as I felt she made me cringe a little bit in some parts. I adored Dan and thought he was a great addition to the book. Susie is the perfect best-friend character that everybody wants, a little but wacky but always there when you need her.

The only thing I didn't necessarily like about this book is that it felt a little like something I'd read before. I couldn't put my finger on exactly what the book was but it definitely felt familiar but maybe it is just the trope of rich to poor, snob to normal. I did find it a bit simple sometimes but I still enjoyed the book.

I rated this book 3.5 stars and would definitely still recommend to people!

Thank you to the publisher and the author for the e-arc :)

I have tried but could not finish it. None of the characters were likeable or relatable and I get the attempt of a silly comedy with an airheaded girl having a rude awakening and then falling in love but it was just not funny. Also upon mentioning a number of tattoos I just couldn't find Dan attractive and was disappointed if he became her love interest. I didn't bother to continue and find out.

By the way, as the founders of the company her family would have been the main shareholders of the company. Even if the company was public, they still would hold a large number of shares. As billionaires, they would have a lot of equity and property invested all over the world. So losing a salary of a chairman of the board should not have made such a big dent in their lifestyle.

Thanks to Netgalley for the free copy in exchange of an honest review.

An easy reverse cinderella-princess romantic story with a bit of comedy and a thriller where a 30-year-old Arabella who lives in luxury loses everything and gets to know a different life that is closer to her, in both love and lifestyle areas.
I was delightful surprised by the covered topics: homelessness, food waste.
Before reading I had different expectations, I wanted a comedy and did not wanted a thriller at all, but I got two mixed genres: the first third of the comedy, the second part of the thriller.
Thanks #netgalley ir #DanielleOwenJones for the opportunity to read this book.

3.5 ⭐

Stone Broke Heiress is a riches to rags, romantic comedy that follows Bella Whittington, as she loses her job, friends and fiancé, while now having to start new, fresh and all on her own

this story definitely played off like a chick flick - think Material Girls & From Prada to Nada (obviously...) - as Bella literally goes from designer things and being spoiled to now having to learn how to use a mop properly aswell as get used to dumpster diving

i have to say that i really enjoyed the story. it was really easy to get through, some fun writing with some great characters. i also adored the friendship between Bella and Susie!
i got a bit frustrated with the heroine being so naive and all even though i knew it played the part of the story ... but she definitely matured and i ended up loving her character

it was lighthearted and entertaining that turned into a sweet ending which i found to be absolutely perfect for Bella and Dan

*𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳, 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘉𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘤 𝘪𝘯-𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸*

Stone Broke Heiress is the debut of Danielle Owen-Jones and it’s a great one. The whole story is so well written, it played out like a rom-com film in my mind.

Even though our FMC is a spoiled, naive young woman you can’t help but feel for her, when her whole world is turned upside down. I think it’s because being spoiled and having money is her ‘normal‘, she isn’t even smug about it, she simply doesn’t know differently. She is refreshingly oblivious to the real world, which makes for some funny laugh-out-loud situations (e.g. cleaning her flat). On several occasions I had the urge to shake my head a little, smile slightly and say ‘Oh Bella‘ out loud, because of it. Her naivety can also be seriously aggravating at times, but I guess that’s part of her charm.

There were tiny aspects I didn’t like that much, for example how the h kept her secret for so long and how she didn’t stand up and fight for herself many times throughout the book. It made me a little itchy to be honest, but I see how it was important for her character to grow.
The love story took a backseat, the personal change and growth of the h being in the focus. But every interaction with the H was as sweet as sugar and absolutely lovely.

I really don’t like soup, but I loved this book ;)

Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Stone Broke Heiress by Danielle Owen-Jones is a light-hearted rom-com that will appeal to fans of Sophie Kinsella and Melissa Ferguson. The story revolves around Bella Whittington, heiress to the Whittington soup company. She's used to the high life, including glamorous fashion, jewelry, and vacations. Suddenly, her dad loses his business, and she goes from millionaire to broke. She realizes that she must get a job, so why not start working at a soup kitchen?

Here is a hilarious excerpt from Chapter 1, which is a flash-forward:

"It’s hard to believe that six months ago, I was the heiress to a multimillion-pound soup empire. Now, I’m standing in a giant bin. A Super Saver supermarket bin, to be precise. My limited edition Hunter wellies, that once graced Glastonbury’s VIP area and the idyllic fields of Cheshire for my horse riding lessons, are stained by rotting rubbish.
I’m manically rummaging around for any food worth saving. Packs of tomatoes emblazoned with today’s expiry date? They’ll do. Wonky celery sticks? Golden. A battered bag of potatoes? Jackpot.
...
Never in my life did I imagine I would be looking at a bin bag with the same desire that I usually reserved for an Hermès Birkin."

Overall, Stone Broke Heiress is an absolutely adorable rom-com that reminded me of rich-to-broke movies like Material Girls or Cowbelles. One highlight of this book is the romance that develops between Bella and a guy that I won't say too much about to avoid spoilers. I thought that the plot was well-executed, especially how Bella has to keep her former life as an heiress a secret from her new man. I did take off 1 star, because I sometimes found it hard to sympathize with Bella. I know that she's supposed to be an heiress, but some of her statements felt more tone-deaf than funny to me. If you're intrigued by the excerpt above, or if you're a fan of rom-coms in general, I highly recommend that you check out this book when it comes out in March!

A sweet and funny story about a rich woman who in few hours loses her fiance and her family money . She is spoiled but she is not going to give everything up and she is trying to make the best of everything . Now she has to live in a tiny flat without her expenses . She is working in a soup house for the poor and addicts . Her new real friends are there with her . While she is happy now she hasn 't told them the truth about her past . What will happen when the truth is revealed ?
I received this book from net galley and the publisher as an ARC. Thank you! All thoughts and opinions are my own

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. Athough 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.
Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC and opportunity to provide an honest review.

Six months ago, I was the heiress to a soup empire worth millions. Now, I’m standing in a giant dumpster.

Bella Whittington’s caviar-and-Cristal life comes crashing down when she walks in on her fiancé and best friend tangled up in page 34 of the Kama Sutra, limbs everywhere. But her plan to dull the pain with Daddy’s credit card is totalled by the news that they’ve lost the family business. Suddenly Bella’s both single and completely broke.

Shivering in her dingy new studio apartment after a traumatic incident with a homemade turmeric face mask (Hello Tangerina Jolie!), Bella realises she must pull up her Gucci socks and get a job, fast. But Dan, the gorgeous grumpy owner of the local soup kitchen, hates the Whittingtons, so a teensy lie about her surname gets Bella through the door, and set loose on the stove… Minestrone with a side of melted spatula, anyone?

When Bella’s ex returns with a golden ticket back to her glitzy old life, should she accept? Because that would mean no more box wine and frozen pizza nights with Dan. No more singalongs to the crackly kitchen radio. No more my-heart-is-as-melted-as-that-spatula moments when he finally cracks a reluctant smile… But if Dan finds out the truth about who she really is, will she even have the choice?

wow what a beautiful, heart warming, funny, cute story, absolutely loved following Arabella Whittingtons story of riches to rags, just goes to show money cant buy happiness

"everyday may not be good, but there's good in everyday"
highly recommend this book

At first, I was a little unsure about the novel but my interest was strong enough that I kept going. And I'm so glad I did. It was well-written, the contrast of Arabella's two lives and the vivid descriptions. I loved the romance, I loved the friendships. I didn't want it to end!

I wanted to love this one but I found the heroine to be an unlikeable character. I know that she’s supposed to start out that way. But as the story went on I still didn’t warm up to her.

So, as a crime-thriller kind of girl, chick-fic isn't my usual go-to genre. I usually feel that it is slow to get going, not much happens and there are pages and pages of filler before a conclusion is reached.

HOWEVER WOW! This book was none of that and I'm actually impressed by how engaging the story was and how much I enjoyed it. Another reviewer has called it a "reverse rags to riches" story which is a brilliant accurate description. I found it a fun, easy, quick but very entertaining read with plenty going on. I was slow to put the book down, and quick to pick it back up. When this happens I say the book has "the pull", and this is one of those books. It was very Sophie Kinsella-esque, who is one of the few women's fiction authors who I will actually make time for.

This appears to be the authors debut (apologies if I am wrong) and I will definitely be watching out for her future work. Well done Danielle Owen-Jones.

This was an okay read. Rich spoiled heiress loses everything. Finds a new place, new job, her conscious. Finds love. Nothing ground breaking the writing was okay not bad but also didn’t really grab my attention

Instead of a rags to riches story, we get a riches to rags one, and a lovely one at that. It was such honest writing that it felt like it was happening to a friend, and I found it really touching.

It’s a light, happily-ever-after, rom-com type book, but it isn’t frivolous; it has real heart and a real message without being patronising and forceful.

I love making soup from scratch, and I will admit I have stolen a number of the flavour combinations mentioned in this book as they just sound so yummy.

I did have my reservations to begin with, as I thought it might be a bit over the top and unrealistic, but apart from one or two larger than life characters, it felt very natural. And Bella, who I thought would be irritating and something of a caricature, was a really nice character, even in her snobby chapters, I really warmed to her and the cast of supporting characters.

There’s no real big twists or surprises with this story, but that works perfectly for me. It’s very sweet and enjoyable, and leaves you with a big smile and just full of joy. It’s surprising that this is Danielle’s debut novel as it does feel very accomplished; I’ll definitely be keeping my eye out for her name in the future.