I have given The Setup by Lizzy Dent five out of five stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I absolutely adored this book and it was everything I needed! Last year, I was very lucky to have been accepted to read and review The Summer Job by Lizzy Dent which was a breath of fresh air and another book which I loved.

Our main character, Mara, was a very interesting character who at times I could seen myself in when it came to stepping out of their comfort zone and her adoration for movies. The movie references throughout this book were *chefs kiss*. There were times were Mara started to get on my nerves a little and I wanted to shout “what are you doing?!” at her,, but that was due to knowing what she had right in front of her was everything she wanted and at that moment she couldn’t see that properly, so really I was jumping the gun but I did find myself talking to the book, wanting her to see sense sooner.

I loved how much detail and time Lizzy Dent put in for the supporting characters as I felt there was a great level of detail and understanding of who they all were and I would love a friend like Samira, she sounds absolutely brilliant! Ash, Mars’s flatmate, was such a lovely, adoring character and made me fall for him at times with the actions that he did and the words that he said to Mara.

I love that Mara finally finds herself, after such a long time of doubting and self-sabotaging herself. The growth that we see from beginning to end of this book is recognisable.

You’ll find yourself laughing, smiling and gawking at this book; it’s a very easy summer read which I would recommend anyone to pick up if they want a fun and enjoyable book.

The Setup was so much fun! I cannot wait to read more by Lizzy Dent, she definitely knows how to draw the reader in and so far, that’s two books out of two!

I'd like to thank NetGalley and Viking for approving me for an ARC of this book. I was a huge fan of The Summer Job and couldn't wait to see what Lizzy Dent wrote next.

I have always been fascinated with start signs, particularly the characteristic features and whether I'm anything like mine says I should be. I wouldn't say I'm as obsessed as Sagittarius Mara who's life revolves around her daily horoscope readings.

From the beginning I was entertained. I loved how, whilst on holiday, Mara took fate into her own hands and convinced herself that she had found 'the one'. Isn't it funny how easily led we can become and throw our hats into one ring, never even considering another possibility?

When Mara returns home she is determined to make her meeting with 'the one' as perfect as can be so surely this means changing everything about herself! Mara's lack of self confidence and self love was frustrating at times. She couldn't see what Charlie, Ash and even her own parents could. That she was perfect as she was. Don't get me wrong there is nothing wrong with pampering oneself but surely you would want 'the one' to accept you for being you, all the horrible warts included!

As soon as Ash stepped on the scene you could see that Mara would have a crisis of conscience and I know which team I was batting for! The chemistry between theses two was off the radar and it was fun watching them try to deny it to each other.

This was a delightful read where the secondary characters made the story. From the frayed friendship with Charlie to Samira's savvy fashion knowledge, Mara couldn't of asked for a better supporting cast. Even Ryan and his constant Tinder bio suggestions had me giggling.

Once again Lizzy Dent has produced a solid read. Filled with humour, romance and a flawed character that you can't help but want to succeed, what more could you ask for?

What a cute read from Lizzy Dent. This is the first book ive read of hers and i will definately be picming up more along the way.

Cute little romance story with a very likeable main character!

Thanks

Another lovely book from Lizzy Dent. I really enjoyed the storyline and characters Ash, Mara, Charlie. The chemistry between the characters was great. Lovely story about friendship, family, love and finding who you are.Great summer read.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book is the definition of an easy holiday read! It's not particularly memorable, but it's fun for the most part and you don't have to think too much when you're reading it. When Mara is on a solo trip she gets her fortune told, and of course it centers around meeting a man. So obviously when she meets Josef immediately she decides she's going to fall in love with him, and basically tricks him into meeting her down the line as a "fortune".
But of course, she then goes home and has to decide who she's really in love with. which man is truly her destiny. I didn't feel any particular sparks in this story, some romances just burn straight off the page and you can't help but root for love, but in this book I kind of wanted Mara to take a time out and work on herself for a bit. She's not the most mature character.

I'd recommend for a light plane or beach read but I wouldn't particularly be writing home about it. 3 stars!

Thank you for the advance copy NetGalley. I have heard really good things about the author and was keen to read a book by her. Even though I found this book had some interesting parts it didn’t really grab me like I hoped it would. I would still try other books by this author though.

Oh wow. I loved this book as much as, if not more than, The Summer Job. Mara is a complex, likeable character. She is hard-working, focused and passionate. She is also self-conscious, self-deprecating and sometimes a little too independent. For me, there is something very endearing about these reclusive and shy characters. They repeatedly pop up in books that I seem to connect with on a deeper level.

The opening of the book, and the continued focus on astrology, star signs and the idea of fate definitely give this book another layer of originality. Personally, I’ve always enjoyed reading starsigns and although I don’t follow them to the letter like Mara does, I did enjoy how this element played out in the book and drove the narrative forward.

I also loved the setting. Broadgate, and reading about the lido in particular, was quite nostalgic. I grew up in a town with a disused, failing lido and it was through the determination of the local community that we now have a beautiful, successful and modern lido for all of the local communities to enjoy. So this element of the storyline really struck a chord with me too.

The romance storyline is quite dramatic at times and you are definitely left with a building sense of anticipation, and trepidation almost. I was definitely #TeamAsh and I found myself speeding through the book in order to find out how it would unfold.

In summary, this has been an addictive, endearing and heart-warming read. I have loved seeing Mara’s growth and journey. Lizzy Dent is a talented storyteller & I can’t recommend her books enough!

I loved the blurb for this, could not wait to get my hands on it! It was a really fun read and i could really relate and root for the characters! I'm not dying to re-read it but it was a lovely refreshing read.

Wasn't sure about the initial storyline but ended up not being able to put it down. An incredibly warming, sweet story. Particularly loved how the issues of friends with baby, and not being close to parents was handled.

It’s tricky reading a second book of the author you previously enjoyed because the expectations are high. The Summer Job was a great and witty read that made sense even though the premise was wacky. In case of The Setup, unfortunately, the premise didn’t work for me. I didn’t connect with the characters, rolled my eyes at the excessive amount of astrology chat and Mara embellishing her relationship with basically an imaginary boyfriend.
All that being said there were some good moments and characters, such as Ash. The portrayal of her relationship with Charlie also felt accurate to me, as a 39-something reader who experienced old friends drifting away. The community surrounding Mara was sweet and I enjoyed how she managed to assimilate herself eventually. However it all felt slightly rushed and all the happy turns of events felt unrealistic.
I think it was good for what I picked it up for - a quick read by the side of the pool.
I would be curious to see what’s next for Lizzy Dent because I will most likely pick her next read up, too!

Mara believes in Fate and Destiny and all that jazz so when a fortune teller predicts the love of her life will soon find her and the next person she meets is a super hot classical musician Mara thinks Destiny falling into place. Unfortunately he doesn’t know who she is but through Events Mara contrives a way to meet him again if Fate allows and It’s Meant To Be. But then in walks Ash her unreasonably handsome and sweet new housemate and Mara begins to think Fate might be wrong.
This was on the whole a lot of fun, Mara is however a hot mess of a heroine and I did find myself becoming supremely frustrated with her but she came good in the end and of course Ash is Too Good for This World.

She has a plan… Fate has other ideas 🔮
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Mara Williams reads her horoscope every day - but she wasn't expecting to be in a whole other country when destiny finally found her. Just as a fortune teller reveals that her true love is about to arrive, a gorgeous stranger literally walks into her life. And now Mara is determined to bring them together again . . . Surely even fate needs a nudge in the right direction sometimes?
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But while Mara is getting ready for 'the one', the universe intervenes. Her new flatmate Ash is funny, and kind, and sexy as hell . . . There was no predicting this: it's as if her destiny just arrived on her doorstep. So will Mara put her destiny in fate's hands - or finally trust herself to reach for the stars?
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I am loving this read so far, currently reading and listening along to the audio book! Thank you to @vikingbooksuk for kindly sending me the ARC. This book was such a breath of fresh air, since finishing it I’ve picked up Lizzy’s book The Summer Job in hopes I love it as much as this!

Having never read anything by Lizzie Dent before I was curious about this one! I ended up really loving it. The main character was frustrating at times but who isn’t! It was funny, relatable and just a feel good book overall. Thankyou so much for the ARC!

It took me a while to get into this book and the storyline was, I believe a little far fetched at time. Mara seems to decide all her life choices by reading her horoscopes and when a fortune teller tells her that she will meet her true love she spends the rest of the book preparing for the meeting that she believes she is going to meet her mystery man. I did enjoy the background story surrounding Mara’s job and her efforts to save a community centre, and enjoyed Mara reaching out to others in order to expand her personal life. It was an easy read once I got into it, even if I struggled initially.

I enjoyed this book, I liked Mara but sometimes felt frustrated with her. By the end of the book I was rolling my eyes and almost shouting at her for being so ridiculous! Great characters, lovely story.

Whilst I enjoyed this book, I found Mara quite difficult to connect to, and consequently found myself struggling to finish this book. I think as somebody who does not place much importance on horoscopes, I found the reliance on them throughout the novel tedious. However, this is a book I would recommend to friends who love romance and horoscopes, just sadly one that I did not connect to personally.

Thank you to the publisher, author and NetGalley for sending me this arc.

Dent's "The Setup" is an absolutely well-written piece of escapist fiction; not that relatable, yet fast-paced and full of character.

This book was sweet but uneventful. I liked the storyline but didn’t connect with the characters. I did like the small town vibes

I really enjoy this genre and The Setup had all the elements I love in a good rom com- a likeable heroine, interesting cast of characters and a small town setting. This was an enjoyable read but for some reason I wasn't fully engaged with the plot or the heroine.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC.

After reading The Summer Job last year I was really excited to get the chance to read The Setup and was hoping for some more outlandish fun, what I got was something a little different to that but still very enjoyable.

I think what I struggled with a little was Mara, at the start of the book she is a very closed character, for reasons that become clear the further you read, but I think it does make it hard to have that connection to drive you into the rest of the book. She can’t seem to make any decisions for herself and relies quite heavily on astrology to help her with what direction her life should go in, she has a moment of spontaneity at the very beginning and then it feels like she becomes a bit obsessive and delusional at points.

Having said that the more I read the more I understood Mara and could see how she had come to this place in her life and I appreciated that in her quest to fix things so that she could be ready for love; as her psychic reading had told her she would need to; she starts to get to know more about herself. The changes she makes gives her the confidence to open up to people more and start to build a community where she lives rather than be closed off and afraid of forming attachments.

As she starts to come out of her shell and open up to people is where the magic of this book starts to show, I loved the lido and the friends she makes there and that they all band together to try and make things better and keep it going. Of course, I have to mention Ash in particular, it is not an in-your-face attraction, it builds slowly and has a few hiccups as Mara isn’t sure whether he is her destiny, but he is such a lovely character. He is patient, kind and driven but in a very quiet way, the kind of guy that is always looking for ways to be helpful and make things better but without being showy about it.

Whilst The Setup did take me a little while to get into, I did eventually get absorbed into the story and was loving the antics that the team at the lido got up to trying to get one of their own elected to council member, and whilst they were not quite as lighthearted to read about I liked that this book explored the changing relationships that Mara had with her parents and with her friend Charlie who’s life is taking a different path than Mara’s. At the end of the book I was left with that warm, fuzzy, hopeful feeling of contentment and enjoyment, and I’m looking forward to seeing what Lizzy Dent comes up with next.