I want to start by saying I have never seen Love Island, and did not know who Amber Rose Gill was outside of being the author of the book before I began reading it.

The book was good. There were certain scenes I felt fell a little flat, but overall the story came together well. The romance in the story, and the romantic storyline of all the characters, was typical. The main romance of the book was a classic strangers to friends to lovers trope.

My favorite dynamic of the book was the friendship between Samantha and her friends, specifically with Naomi. Without giving too much away, Samantha goes through this mini crisis in realizing that some of her friends have expanded from their friend group and Samantha feels "stuck" where she is. It definitely connects with readers who have moved away from their close knit friend group, feel distanced by the separation (physical, time difference, professions, goals, lifestyle, etc.) and are sometimes dragged down the rabbit hole of comparing their life to the lives of the people they are close to.

The overall mapping of the book was good. While there are travel blog "entries" throughout the story, I forgot that Samantha was actually writing a travel blog until the end of the story. The entire topic of the travel blog was referenced on the side of whatever was going on in the book and was not an actual plot point until the final section of the book.

I understand there are still a few phases of editing the book needs to go through, but there were a few sections I needed to read multiple times in order to understand - and sometimes breakup - long dialog sections.

On holiday for a friends wedding. Samantha meets the enigmatic Roman. Both dealing with the aftermath of failed relationships and friend obligations, they form an alliance.
When secrets are revealed bonds are tested.
I enjoyed this book. I thought it was fun and also funny.
I loved the banter between the characters.
A great summer read.

I am a big Love Island fan so when I saw Amber wrote a book, I knew I had to read it. It was a cute story, but for me it lacked so much. The main theme is supposed to be romance but there really wasn't much romance involved. The breakup in the 3rd act was predictable and anti-climatic. It would make an east beach read.

I am a huge Love Island fan so I was really excited to get approved to read Amber’s book. This was a really cute story, the characters were well written. The majority of the book was about Samantha having to attend her best friend’s wedding alone. It’s a tropical destination wedding so of course she meets the cheeky and irresistible Roman, who makes the wedding and vacation more enjoyable. I liked that the romance was not the main plot of this one. The perfect light summer beach read!

ust My Feelings* Rating: 3/5


Empowered Romance** Rating: 🆗 - We definitley need more romance books written by non-white authors! This isn't the type of book to redefine your worldview. That being said, it didn't promote toxic or unhealthy ideals. So ultimately, it gets the green light.


The "Did this book make me stay up until 4 am reading even though my kids wake up at 6:00 am" Test - No.



Just My Feelings Rating Breakdown:
I want to prefer that I was in a bit of a reading slump while I read this. So that definitely could've impacted my expereince with this book. But it was really hard for me to get into this book. I ended up doing a lot of skimming. The overall plot I liked and thought worked. It just wasn't until just before the 3rd act break up that I got into a flow with this book.


Empowered Romance Rating Breakdown

⭐️ Authentic Sexual Health 🤷🏻‍♀️ - I'm honestly not sure becuase I of my skimming.

⭐️ Awareness of Social Issue 🤷🏻‍♀️ - I'm honestly not sure becuase I of my skimming.

⭐️ Book Boyfriend + Main Character 🤷🏻‍♀️ - Again, with the skimming I don't think I fully got invested in the characthers.

⭐️ Representative Storytelling ✅

⭐️ Smash the Patriarchy 🆗 - I'd say this was mostly neutral while definitely written for the female gaze.




*100% based on how I felt while reading this book.

**A 5-point criteria rating based on how much this book empowers readers to better know themselves and live with more pleasure, passion, and connection in their lives. This is written from my feminist, sex educator point of view.


I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Gill's writing is engaging, and the characters are relatable and endearing. "Until I Met You" is a perfect summer read for fans of romance and travel. With a mix of heartwarming moments and unexpected twists, this book will leave readers rooting for Samantha and Roman's happy ending.

Our protagonists were fun to get to know. It was a little anticlimactic when we got to the thing that tore them apart, but it was a decently fun read.

I was curious about this one because I had no idea that the season 5 champ of Love Island UK had scored a book deal, let alone was interested in writing. I was intrigued by the concept of a vacation romance and found it started with such compelling language that just pulled me in. Told in dual points of view, there was something about this read that just moved slowly. It's fun, sure, I just didn't see this final product sticking out to me. It just seemed kind of lackluster and expected. That being said, I do appreciate the attempt and the diverse love story (!!!) but between the slow plot and the very, very secretive male lead, it just fell flat to me.

There wasn’t a single memorable character in this book. Nobody stuck out and everyone was so one-dimensional it was painful to read. Roman and Sam had NEGATIVE chemistry and I found all of Sam’s supposedly “amazing” friendships to be exhausting. There was too much drama for what was supposed to be a beautiful get-away wedding on a gorgeous island and I’m thoroughly offended that these people couldn’t get out of their damn heads to appreciate NATURE!!!

Also I was FUMING at how Roman just let Tara ruin everything he had with Sam. It just didn’t make sense and it made Sam and Roman’s relationship feel even flimsier than ever. This is absolutely not a couple that would last in the long run but I can’t bring myself to care at all.

Review in progress and to come.

I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review

I got this as an ARC from netgalley, all in exchange for an honest review of my thoughts. This was a pretty fast read for me, though I found myself not enjoying it much. While the layout was interesting, the actual writing was hard to get into. I noticed a few grammar mistakes and it just seemed quite messy. I like the idea of this book, but it just didn’t turn out right.

Thank you to the author Amber Rose Gill, the publisher Mills & Boon, and Netgalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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This book was not for me. I'm not really sure where things started going off the rails. I was excited to read it. The premise seemed cute. I was excited about the diversity. I read a grumpy/sunshine romance earlier in the year and was ready for another. Are my short sentences bothering you? Do you feel like these could be combined? Does this feel choppy? If so, I'm sorry. That's how this book reads.

Seriously though... the writing felt disjointed and choppy, with several very short sentences following each other where one sentence with a conjunction could have sufficed. This happened multiple times, throughout the book, consistently, so I don't feel like this was poor editing but rather just a deliberate choice. One sentence read, "Samantha wanted to laugh, so she did. 'Ha!'" Really, that is an actual direct quote from chapter five. I've got a few other notable highlights, such as "Naomi's stepdad, Gregory, was filthy rich." and "He was insanely handsome." Not to say the stepdad was insanely rich, no, that second quote is referring to our male protagonist. Still, it felt weird to read something so... plain, I guess. I hoped for something a bit more demonstrative? I like to be shown characteristics, not told. Someone's filthy rich or insanely handsome? Describe his 7 bedroom, 12 bathroom mansion and collection of Ferraris. Someone's insanely handsome? Tell me about his ocean-blue eyes, stubbled jaw, broad shoulders, and toned forearms.

The story itself was cute and does have a HAE, but I was completely lost in the writing style, and also Hugo. Oh, Hugo. I have about 25 (give or take) highlights dedicated specifically to this character. Hugo is gay. I feel like I need to be very clear and state as a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, my problem is NOT that he's gay, but rather that is this character's only personality trait. Here's two quotes from chapter three to set the scene, I think:
1. "Hugo's pronouns were he/him, but he was definitely one of the girls."
2. "'I got married for the political statement,' Hugo said. 'Yeah?' Jasmine said. 'I thought you got married for the health insurance.' 'That, too,' Hugo said. 'Good thing it's working out.'"
I'm sure these are supposed to be funny, but I don't really find them humorous. Every time Hugo popped up on the page, I couldn't help but groan. He was either there to make some witty quip, or argue with his husband. Unless it was towards the end of the book, then he was there to make a witty quip or be sweet with his husband. (The husband, by the way, has an entire scene in the book where he's upset he's being ignored by the group of friends, and then he's forgotten again.)

Other reviewers stated they DNF'd this book. I wanted to, a few times. I saw it through because I wanted to be able to offer a fair and complete review, and now I have.

The overall story idea was a great one. Love a destination wedding. Love ride or die friends. Love a whirlwind romance. But honestly everything was so messy. So many story line to keep up with. The friends tore each other down as much as they helped each other. When everything blew up towards the end, the main guy, Roman, didn’t fight for her. He never gave her anything idea of where he was at. He let her walk away, and then blamed her for leaving…
If you want a book with drama from all angles then this is it, you will for sure be entertained.
I just wanted Roman to fight for Sam. Once it all blew up, tell her how you feel show that you will fight for this relationship. Instead he watched it end. But luck for him he took her back!

Overall, this was a light and quick read. The central focus friendships, finding yourself, and finding love. it was a bit predictable but enjoyable. I found myself enjoying the friendships more than. the love story

This is the book to take on your beach vacation! This book had me seeing tropical locations even in my dreams. This was a perfect read and a perfect romance to escape to. A must read summer romance!
I just reviewed Until I Met You by Amber Rose Gill. #UntilIMetYou #NetGalley
[NetGalley URL]

As a Love Island fan, I was so excited to see Amber wrote a book! This was a cute reverse grumpy sunshine read. I read it on vacation which was a perfect vibe and I would recommend everyone read on the beach.,

I was skeptical of the authorship of Until I Met You, and while I think the writing wasn’t bad, it did feel clunky in a way that speaks to the version of co-writing happening here. I couldn’t get into this story based on the odd style that kept pulling me out of it.

I was excited and thought this rom-com had so much potential when I read the summary, but this just didn’t hit the mark for me. It felt rushed in places and a tad unrealistic, even for a holiday romance.
The main character, Samantha, was not a well drawn character, other than her ‘feisty’ comebacks and advice she gave her friends. Roman came across as a bit vanilla. I’ve walked away feeling like I don’t know either of the main characters all that well.
That being said, the story was easy to follow,- it could have been written better and left me with some questions. I would have loved to have seen the one and only sex scene not fade to black, I’m not saying it had to be top level fire, but just a little more than we got.
I am not the biggest fan of “insta love” scenarios like this but Gill did a great job of making it feel more realistic.
I did enjoy the wedding and Tobago setting of the book. It made it a good beach read.

It was a good book and really enjoyed it all and rooted for this couple to make it. Love it all. read it today you will not be disappointed.

Overall I can only say the books was fine but not for me. The representation was pretty much the only thing i liked about it but the enemies part felt really forced and there wasn’t enough of a foundation or explanation of why the main protagonist behaved and reacted which made her come off as entitled and over dramatic other than a person struggling to deal with their emotions.
Maybe at another time i’ll give it another try but the cliches, the soap opera/reality tv level reactions and character setup just kind of turned me off from pretty early on.