I thought I was going to enjoy this book but did not expect how head over heels I would fall in love with it. While being great romance, the story also managed to feel grounded and no obstacle felt thrown in just for the sake of drama. I plan to get a physical copy of this book, because I will absolutely be rereading it in the future.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam for providing me with an eARC.

This book was cute and humorous. It will be a great beach read. It was a little predictable, but other than that I really enjoyed it. Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for this arc.

Mara has trouble making friends and her best friend lives a distance from her AND has a baby now. How will Mara cope with her loneliness? Lizzy Dent has written a story that is both humorous and touching. Really enjoyed it!

I adore Lizzy Dent and her writing! Mara was a fantastic character, managing to really grow throughout the novel. And one of my favourite aspects was the friendship between her and Charlie and a look at how close friends can have their relationship change and evolve throughout time and kids.

I prefered THE SUMMER JOB but still absolutely adored this and am eagerly awaiting Dent's next book.

A good lazy Sunday read! I liked the romance but found reading from Mara’s perspective a bit tiresome at times. I did enjoy the setting and the humor quite a bit. Overall it was a fun read!

Thank you Putnam and NetGalley for an E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

In the beginning Mara is on holiday in Budapest having her palm read, where she’s told she’ll meet a love interest-imminently. The palm reader has to leave very suddenly and Mara is tasked with closing up the shop when Josef walks in. Instead of being honest with Josef, Mara poses as the palm reader and tells Josef he will meet a woman named Mara in August.

When Mara returns to her new flatmate in Boradgate she’s surprised to find out that Ash is a man. He makes her a welcome home goulash and they get on well. Mara also works at a local pool/community center called The Lido that’s in danger of closing and her boss isn’t doing anything to help stop, so Mara and her coworkers embark on a plan to save The Lido.

Mara swears by her horoscope/astrology, she’s a Sagittarius. As someone who enjoys astrology I found this very fun but Mara definitely takes it very seriously. Sometimes a little too seriously.

Mara decided before she officially meets Joe she needs to change some things in her life (clothes, hair, etc.). There’s an incident that leaves her home bound with Ash for a weekend and they bond eating pizza and junk food and watching movies. There’s a part where Ash talks about the gummies he’d trade his siblings as kids and it’s absolutely endearing.

A fondness grows between Mara and Ash but she still can’t let go of Joe and the idea of Joe to the point I was getting frustrated with her. However, with the beautiful friendships and self discovery in Mara’s journey she learns a lesson about life and herself and is able to come to a decision in the end.

I really enjoyed this book it was charming and had great emphasis on the importance of friendship, having a place in the community and trusting your gut.

I’m giving this one 4.5 stars, it was a great read!

I feel very ambivalent about this one. Mara was very unlikeable. I was not super into the setting like I was with The Summer Job. I did like Ash but felt he could have been more developed. I think if you like self improvement, and coming of age stories, you will like this one.

This is another interesting read by Lizzy Dent, while I generally enjoyed the novel, it did stall in some place where I was not exactly pulled in to read more. writing is great, just not a favorite in my mind.

I enjoyed the cute cast of characters in the town. I was occasionally annoyed by the main character.

As a fellow Sagittarius, no. (Kinda).

I think people who shove astrology down your throat are the worst. That was clearly the premise from the start but jeeeeez, how many times did Mara have to say she was a Sagittarius? What Mara should have focused on was getting her head out of the clouds and land back on earth. She is probably one of the most unlikable characters from any chick lit romance books I’ve read. What she did to Ash was deplorable.

The only refreshing thing about this book is that Mara’s friends would call out her bullshit. Her friends are the redeeming factor of this book, I loved them!!
Okay, I lied, they’re not the only things I love about this book, I also really love Ash. Their banter and chemistry were cute, but Mara is extremely immature and superficial for a majority of the book it was hard to overlook at times. Obviously this was the plot, to eventually grow up but my god, it was rough to get through. I don’t think I ever liked Mara at all.

If you like chick-lit books you will probably love this book… i guess I’m bias as my least favorite trope is quirky clueless girl doesn’t see loves in front of them all along. It’s a shame because I actually liked a good amount of the book but the MC was just so annoying.

This book is a good solid read. Mara can be a bit frustrating as a character sometimes, but that’s kinda the point. Mara does take it a little too far sometimes and seems to get herself together rather quickly towards the end. I like that the author explores the early 30s sense of not having everything together. There is a strong sense of friendship throughout the book, which is also a nice bonus.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of The Setup.

Mara Williams believes in fate. Destiny. Astrology. When she meets the love of her life on a solo vacation (impersonating a fortuneteller no less) she is confident he is the one. The fact they don't know each other yet is not the point. Mara and Joe are destined to be together. But before they can be together, Mara needs to focus on herself.

Mara was hard to like. She's not unlikable; she's kind of immature. I respect the fact that she believes in astrology and fate, but there's a fine line between reading your horoscope every day and letting your horoscope determine your life.

What I did like (and agree with) is that astrology or knowing something about your future may compel a person to take charge of his or her life; to make changes they otherwise wouldn't if they hadn't heard from a fortuneteller or a psychic that their life is about to change, but they need to take action to get the gears turning.

Mara lacked self esteem and assertiveness so she was unable to take initiative until the fortuneteller's predictions enabled her to 'get a life.'

And she did. She made a conscious effort to make friends at her job (naturally, all quirky and unique and funny), she spearheads a political campaign for a friend to save a beloved community business, she takes pottery and painting classes to broaden her creativity horizons, and eventually came to terms with the mistakes she made in personal life, reconnecting with her family.

Let's not forget her hot roomie, Ash. I knew they were gonna get together the minute he showed up.

I didn't like Mara; sometimes I forgot she was 31, because her thoughts and actions made me think she was a decade younger.

I did like how she eventually evolves; it takes support and encouragement from friends and family to find your way, but you have to let go and trust them, and most of all, trust yourself.

The Setup is a standard chick lit novel filled with your stereotypical tropes; Ash is a hottie and so is Joe; Mara's friends are funny and unusual; the location is a small town where everyone knows everyone else, Mara and her family don't get along until they do; Mara begins a project to transform herself and everything ends happily ever after.

This isn't my favorite genre to read, but who doesn't love a happily ever after?

There's enough hate and turmoil in the world.

It was really tough for me to get on board once reading the initial pages – Mara, following her faith in astrology and the universe, receives a tarot reading on vacation predicting that she will meet her romantic match imminently. When the tarot reader goes into labor and leaves Mara to lock up her shop, a new customer arrives who expects the woman in veil and tarot reader garb to give him a reading. The problem is, Mara has played dress-up and decides that this is Mr Right and he may just need a bit of help finding his path to her. Instead of owning up to the mistaken identity, which would be a meet-cute in itself, she gives him (Josef) a reading that directs him to visit her new home town a few months from them where she would pretend to meet him for the first time.

The good news: Her friends called her out on the ridiculousness of it.
The bad news: She doesn’t care and thinks they’re just being unsupportive.

While the story progresses, Mara shows signs of growing and finding a life.
I wasn’t drawn in enough to get invested though. Ash is adorable and seems fab but I didn’t feel the connection with Mara – maybe because she was so fickle. Her new friends have a lot to offer (love Samira and her straight talk) and the strain on her relationship with best pal and new mom, Charlie, makes for a great perspective from her earlier life.

Ultimately, I found myself rolling my eyes each time the story came back to Mara’s focus on meeting Josef.

Thank you to NetGalley for this gifted copy, of which I am providing an honest review.

When Mara Williams accidentally impersonates a fortune teller while on holiday in Budapest, she tells the handsome and charming cellist Josef, that he will meet the woman of his dreams in late August in a pub in Broadgate, and her name will be Mara.

As Mara heads back home to her real life, she sets out to complete Project Mara, in which she will “fix” all aspects of her life in order to prepare for her meeting with Josef. But as her job at a cherished local pool club is threatened by a takeover, and a friendship with her handsome new roommate surprises her, Mara becomes distracted from her plan and is no longer sure she knows what destiny has in store for her.

This book was such a pleasant surprise. The characters were well rounded and adorably quirky, the dialogue witty and engaging, and the plot line unique. I became very emotionally invested in Mara and whether she would ultimately make the right decision, which as I’ve said in the past, is a sign of a well written book.

The only criticism I have is that the self doubt plaguing Mara became a bit repetitive in the second half of the book and I found myself becoming very frustrated with her character and her indecisiveness. But at the same time, it’s the illustration of that flaw and how she overcomes it, that shows us her growth at the end. It’s a bit of a catch 22.

All in all, I really liked this book and would definitely recommend it. I’ll be checking out other work by this author in the near future.

Thank you to NetGalley and Putnam for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to Penguin Group Putnam and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review. I enjoyed The Summer Job by the same author so I was excited to see she had a new book. This was funny and sweet and I predict it will be a big hit this summer!

This is my first work that I've read by Lizzy Dent and I enjoyed it so much that I will be adding her first novel (The Summer Job) to my TBR list.
The Setup is scheduled for release June 7th, 2022 by Penguin Group Putnam which means it will be a perfect summertime read. Whether you're poolside, at the beach, or curled up on your favorite chair, you'll need to cross this book off your summer TBR list.
The premise drew me in first as a fellow 30 year old female who sometimes struggles to get her shit together. Mara sometimes grinded on my nerves but overall was an enjoyable character.
We meet her new flatmate, Ash, who by a case of misunderstanding moves in when Mara believes Ash is a female and shocker-- Ash is a tall, good-looking intelligent job who loves his family and friends and would do anything to help them out. The complication is that Mara is convinced her soulmate is a cellist who--through another case of mistaken identity--met her briefly as a fortune teller. Mara does what any self-respecting single person would do when confronted by a good-looking musician who is looking for love and tells him he'll meet his soulmate... her. She gives him a date and a location.
As Mara uses the impending soulmate date as motivation to make changes in her life, the reader also sees her go out of her comfort zone in her job, relationships with family, and friends. And through it all, Ash supports her knowing that these changes are for another man.
All in all, The Setup makes for a great light-hearted read that'll have you asking... Would you open the door?
(What does that mean? I guess you'll have to read it to find out.)

Telling just a little white lie to someone when you first meet? What could possibly go wrong? Plenty, it turns out, in this fun story of mistaken identity. Mara manages to "pass" as a glamorous fortune teller when she meets a handsome stranger, then impulsively tells him his fortune: he will meet the woman of his dreams on a particular date at a particular time and place, just three months from now. That would be...her! Now she has three months to completely transform herself into the beautiful, mysterious woman he expects. Lots of fun and very romantic. I look forward to recommending this title.

This read was unexpected. Mara a tourist turned stand in fortune teller takes matters into her own hands. As readers, we always read about “meetcutes” but how often do we get to create our own!? Mara did, she had the perfect set up! The plan of all plans. Insert Ash, the roomie

I really wanted to shake Mara! She was frustrating. I couldn’t connect or relate to her actions/reactions. It was difficult for me to stay engaged.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. Pub date: June 7, 2022

A psychic tells Mara she’ll meet a man, Mara then immediately misrepresents herself (as the psychic) to the next man she sees to tell him he’ll meet the woman of his dreams in August, in the town where she lives, and named Mara (shocker). Then we go on her whole journey (via the aptly named horoscope-inspired “Project Mara”) trying to change everything about herself so when the guy gets there at the end of summer, he what…doesn’t think she’s a loser? Maybe along the way she finds herself a therapist and realizes she doesn’t need to change herself for some rando she catfished in a shop but I couldn’t force myself to finish this one and find out.

Really did love Lizzy Dent’s previous book, The Summer Job, though!

The Setup opens in Budapest. Mara is traveling alone, overwhelmed and lonely. She goes to see a palm reader. The palm reader tells her that love is coming with a tall man but that she must fix things in her life first. Then the palm reader’s water breaks and she rushes to the hospital. Left in the palm reader’s shop, Mara tries on her garb, only to be mistaken by a customer. A tall, handsome male customer, who’s a cellist. Mara decides to give him a reading and tells him that he can meet his soul mate, Mara, at a certain bar on the last Friday in August back in England. She’s engineered her destiny. Now all she needs to do is revamp her life.

This is the fanciful setup for the rest of The Setup. But where the first part in Budapest doesn’t seem realistic, the rest of the book is grounded in the day-to-day monotony of trying to change her life for the best. She’s been hiding out, working a job she doesn’t care about, wearing all black, and drifting away from her one friend. Mara just doesn’t seem invested in her life.

I’ve written two paragraphs and haven’t even mentioned the other love interest option. And that reflects the book’s focus. Yes, Mara ends up paired off with a talk, handsome man, but the book isn’t about that so much as her waking up and engaging with the world. The most interesting parts by far were watching Mara grapple with her feelings of shame and inadequacy to make changes. Seeing Mara’s personality emerge from the gooey cocoon is what had me tearing up. Her life isn’t perfect at the end, but she’s created something real that she fully participates in.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.