Thank you so much to NetGalley and Jackie Fraser for providing me with a complimentary digital ARC for the Beginning of Everything coming out September 26, 2023. The honest opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I received this directly from NetGalley, so I checked it out. I enjoyed another book by this author, but this one didn’t really work for me. I thought the initial setup was a little odd. Jess just got out of a bad relationship, but she ends up sharing a place with a guy she doesn’t even know. Seems a bit odd. I definitely wouldn’t be that trusting. And I’m also not sure why he was willing to give her a place to stay basically for free. There was also some cheating involved. I’m not into that trope. I don’t like anything about it. Before that, I was enjoying the book despite the set up. I thought maybe I would be into the story. But it didn’t really work for me.

First off, I am so glad to read a romance with characters in their 40s. It seems a rarity and is so refreshing. This book is so good. Rediscovery is never easy and as "middle aged" it seems impossible. I love how the relationship between Jess and Gethin unfolds. Hope is not lost. What a great story of how starting over is possible at any age.


Thank you for the opportunity to read this arc for my honest review.

I received this story as an ARC from NetGalley.

The overall premise of the book is a bit unbelievable. The idea that a woman leaving an abusive situation would agree to live with a man she’s only just met? And that a man who finds a woman squatting in his new home would invite her to stay? A bit far fetched, but once I accepted that this book required some suspension of reality, I found myself truly enjoying it. I found both characters to be extremely genuine and vulnerable, particularly in their sometimes nervous conversation with each other. The dialogue in this book is perhaps my most favorite part; the author used it so effectively to build the relationship between the characters in a relatable way. I also particularly enjoyed the inflection in their speech patterns, ending so many of their thoughts, both spoken and internal, as questions. It did so much to fully transport me to Wales. Overall, I found this to be a sweet and endearing read. I can see the unrealistic perfection of the situation to make a great Hallmark movie!

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for providing me with this advance copy.

This is not a light-hearted romance, but a character-driven story of a woman overcoming the hardest time in her life while learning to love again. Gethin was a delightful male love interest and friend, and I enjoyed his goodness and patience. Jess was stuck for so long, and watching Gethin help her break free was beautiful and exhausting.
I will say I preferred the lightheartedness of the author’s previous book, but I still enjoyed reading this one and finished the last half in one sitting. If you’re in the mood for a heavier friends-to-lovers story, this is definitely worth reading. Thanks to the publisher for the advance copy.

Like Jackie Fraser's first novel, THE BOOKSHOP OF SECOND CHANCES, I truly enjoyed THE BEGINNING OF EVERYTHING. Fraser does a wonderful job of creating a warm, cozy place for Jess Cavendish to start her life over and to meet a man who's kind, funny, and a little lost.

Jess and Gethin are an absolute delight, their growing friendship a thing readers will love to be witness to. There's a bit of a requirement for readers to suspend disbelief when Jess and Gethin meet and become roommates, but I was okay with that. Their back and forth banter is fun, though I did have to go back and check quite a few times to see who was talking. But, truly, these two characters who find themselves in their mid-forties, finding their person is a wonderful journey with lots of laughs and a few tears.

The Beginning of Everything by Jackie Frasier is the second novel by this author. The setting is in Wales. The main characters, Jess and Gethin are both in a place where they need to start over.

Jess Cavendish has spent her life moving on and trying out new adventures. However, her latest boyfriend made some choices that affected Jess’s ability to stay. She left with nothing but a backpack with just the barest essentials. She made up her mind, chose a place to move to, and was camping out in a cemetery when she discovered an unoccupied house. She lives there while working hoping to save up enough for her own place.

Gethin has decided to move back to his hometown to start again. In anticipation of the move, Gethin bought a house that needs work. Meanwhile he has been staying with his sisters until the new job starts.

Gethin was shocked to find someone staying at his house. Jess was horrified to be found and ran without any supplies. When she returns for her supplies, she finds a note asking her to stay, but Jess is not taking charity. They were able to come up with an understanding and she helped him redo the house. Slowly they became friends and eventually roommates. The story does not stop there.

Second chances and hope are key elements in the book. Jess and Gethin both have a chance to start again, but trust and opening up to another is hard. I really enjoyed the storyline. It is the characters of Jess and Gethin as they find their way forward with each other that really makes this a book to read. The Beginning of Everything by Jackie Frasier is a really good read.

I have really mixed feelings about this book. I was really excited to read it and was intrigued by the premise. I was thrilled that the main characters were in their 40s--I'm finding it really hard to relate the 20-somethings struggling to get by in NYC that seem to make up the bulk of current literature. And for about 30% of the book I was engaged--I enjoyed the hopeful note of it, and the positivity that Jess brought to the story made up for the implausibility of her situation.

But by 40% I had enough. If I'm being honest, truly nothing happens in this book. It's a lot of tea making and shopping for couches and...Lego building. And with the exception of the reader being told early on that Jess is running away from a Toxic Situation, she faces no adversity for someone squatting in a guy's house. Said guy takes her in immediately and all his acquaintances/friends/family (with the exception of his sister's Monster's Inc-like "I'm watching you" line) have zero questions about this rather questionable arrangement.

The writing is good and all, and the characters likable (maybe too likable, if that's a thing), but this just ended up not really working for me. It pains me to say, but this book is a bit...boring.

Thanks so much to Penguin Random House/Ballantine for the invitation to read this ARC through NetGalley in exchange for a review.

This one was so refreshing. Both Gethin and Jessica have been through rough times, but renovating a house together is just what they need. The way this evolved from homeless to housemate, friends to lovers was absolutely perfect. I also enjoyed this wasn’t the usual 20-something romance. The fact they were both in their mid-late forties and had to start over was both realistic and inspiring. This book was a breath of fresh air!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. Let me start with the positive: I’m delighted to read a romance with characters in their 40s. Now for the rest (I don’t like writing this type of review, but being honest here is kind of the deal). The premise of this book is ludicrous. A squatter in an empty house ends up continuing to live there when the owner moves in, decorating with his money, gardening, teaching him how to cook. She has major trauma in her past (maybe she should go to therapy?). Her landlord (reminder - they met because she was squatting) brings her into his life, introducing her to his friends, meeting his family, helping her get a job, eventually helping her get a car. I mean…WHAT. I can’t even wrestle with all of the savior complex ickiness I felt here, even though he is written as a very kind, genuine character. And then they finally talk and everything’s fine? I can’t.

Jess had serious emotional issues and has run away to Wales. She is squatting in an abandoned house when the new owner shows up. She runs away, but comes back for her abandoned items. There is a note attched to the items inviting her to stay. She is unsure but feels she might accept the offer.
Gethin makes the deal with Jess. They worked together on furnishing the house. Jess teaches Gethin cooking. They slowly become friends, but Jess still fears and doubts her emotions after all that has happened to her before she moved to Wales.
Read and learn about these emotions.

The premise of The Beginning of Everything is that Jess leaves behind her former life including an abusive boyfriend. She wants to leave that life behind but doesn't know if she can escape. She travels to Wales and finds a recently sold house which is not occupied yet and decides to stay there, after camping in a cemetery. Due to her limited funds, she plans to stay just until she can get on her feet. But she has spent most of her life living in rundown apartments or house shares, so she doesn't mind that the house is empty. She starts working as a dishwasher at a local establishment. Unfortunately, the new owner of the house stops in one day and finds Jess. In an unusual turn of events, Gethin and Jess strike a deal that Jess will help with the renovation and decorating of the house in exchange for room and board. Gethin has moved back to his hometown after he and his girlfriend broke up. His ex-girlfriend is a local celebrity on a television show so he had been living in a luxurious house. As things with the house progress, Jess and Gethin find that they have many things in common. Once Jess is able to afford it, she insists on paying rent to stay in the house especially after Gethin moves in. Her past continues to haunt her as her attraction to Gethin starts to grow, but she begins to see that her life could be better. I thought it seemed unrealistic that Gethin would allow a total stranger who was squatting in his home to then stay there and help with the decorating. But Jackie Fraser continues with the theme of new beginnings and to look for the positive and hope that life can bring in the telling of the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for the opportunity to read and review the ARC.

Gethin is not happy when he finds Jess squatting in the house he just bought and is planning to renovate but he senses there's a good reason- and she eventually tells him. She left her abusive relationship with virtually nothing and she's trying hard to bring herself back. This is as much about Jess's taking charge of her life as it is about the slow grow friends to lovers romance. These two build their relationship while working on the house (great details) and it's not always easy. Yes it's highly unlikely (and frankly unwise) that someone would allow a squatter to stay on and yes it would have been good to have more details of Gethin's family issues but that said, I found myself caught up. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. Good storytelling makes for a good read.

Jess Cavendish is running from a bad relationship and down on her luck. Needing a place to stay, she finds and unoccupied house that has recently sold and takes a chance on camping out there for a little while. Enter Gethin Thomas, the owner of the house, and a quick, unlikely friendship is struck. The two hit it off immediately and instead of finding somewhere else to stay, Gethin and Jess become housemates and their friendship starts to take hold.

The Beginning of Everything is a very well written book with a lot of emotional baggage and drama that makes for a good romance, but it wasn’t fully for me. I did like the characters and how their later in life relationship unfolds, but I couldn’t get past the fact that Jess basically breaks into Gethin’s house and becomes a squatter and he just rolls with it. There are so many things in this scenario that don’t seem right or realistic to me, but to each their own. I think the story played out nicely, but I just couldn’t get past how their friendship started. Overall this was a good, quick read that I could see many people enjoying.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book!

The Beginning of Everything is a story of rediscovering yourself and how important that is. I really enjoyed how this was a story of a couple in their 40s getting a second chance at love. I really like adult romances and showing that you can experience love at all stages of your life. Sometimes I struggled to like Jess and didn’t support the decisions she made. The book is slow paced, but very well written.

Thank you to #netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I think this book was just too slow for me. I actually liked the story and the characters, but it took too long for anything to happen. After Jess runs away from a bad relationship, she finds herself living in an unoccupied, recently sold home. When the owner Gethin finds her, instead of getting upset, he tells her that she can live there if she helps him decorate the house. When Gethin eventually moves into the house, he tells her that she can stay for a small fee. Over time they build a friendship and trust, which eventually turns into more. Will they both be able to move on from the scars left behind by past relationships?

Thank you netgalley for my advanced reader copy.

This book wasn't necessarily bad but I lost interest from the very beginning.
I thought of dnf-ing but skimmed through a lot to want to know the ending.

Safe to say this wasn't a book for me.

<i>Thank you Netgalley & Publisher for the arc in exchange for an honest review.<i>

The Beginning of Everything was a book that checked so many boxes for me and I was equal parts happy as I was reading it and sad when it ended. The story was one that just makes you feel good and you find yourself giving the main character a nudge to do the right thing, make the right choices, and just do the thing already!
Jess has left her old life behind for a chance to start off fresh. This comes with much sacrifice but it’s necessary to struggle to get to a place that she created all her own. Jess goes from sleeping in a tent and working as a dishwasher to squatting in the sunshine house. Just like Jess the house is empty and lonely and in need of a second chance. The plan is to sleep in the home until she’s saved up enough money to get her own place but when the house sells and the new owner discovers her that plan is cut very short. Jess flees the scene but when she goes back for her belongings she discovers a note from the owner telling her she can stay.
Jess is torn between feeling like a burden and also having such a connection with the home that she can’t bear to leave. Gethin doesn’t know who Jess is or what has put her in this situation but his heart goes out to her and he wants to help in any way he can. His brother struggled and for Gathin this is his way of feeling like he could make a difference. Seeing the home through Jess’s eyes, having someone who cares and sees beauty in the little things is refreshing.
The two will strike up an unlikely friendship that benefits them both on different levels but will also teach them the importance of second chances, fresh starts, and the value of love and friendship.

I wanted to like this one. It has some great elements, like how often do we get a romance story with people in their 40s? But there are many things about this book that grated on me, first of all was Jess.
I don't expect everyone to have it together, but she just seemed so immature and unwilling to take the steps she needed to in order to get her life on a decent track. Yes, she was in an abusive relationship, but the way she deals with it is just odd. Her martyr syndrome got old quickly.

The lack of communication between Gethin and Jess is frustrating. So many of their misunderstandings could have been avoided with very simple conversations, or how about they just not make assumptions about each other, that would help too.

Don't even get me started about the cheating. Blah. Automatically took away one star. Don't come at me, I hate it.

I spent way too long reading this book that honestly wasn't even that long. I should have stopped reading but I'm a completionist.

Lots of people have loved this one, go check out their reviews if you think you might like it. This reader didn't.

I really liked the concept of this but couldn't get into it--the voice just really wasn't for me and I found myself getting lost in the narration too many times. I also had some trouble with the pacing, in that most of what I read felt either too fast or too slow, and I struggled with bouncing between those two. I can definitely see why people may be drawn to this book, it just wasn't for me.

I loved this so much. It was a new and refreshing take on this type of story. Gethin and Jess were adorable together. It was nice that they weren’t 25 years old and acting a fool. Two people over the age of 45 falling in love rather slowly. All the while reminiscing about fun times and old habits.

I would have gladly read many more hundreds of pages of this book.