I’m not sure what I expected but this was not it in the best kind of way. This book was an emotional roller coaster. I enjoyed finally reading a romantic story where the main characters aren’t in their late teens or early 20s. It felt raw and real and healing. I especially enjoyed the dialogue and chemistry between the characters. This book was fantastic!

I really enjoyed the journey that Jess takes throughout this book. The way she acted as a survivor of abuse and dealing with what seems to be PTSD was believable and to be expected. I don’t think any faster pace would have been realistic given her situation. This book read like a real life situation with the miscommunications and starts and stops that can be expected when recovering from harmful past relationships and trying to establish a new life and trust again. I also really love reading about complex characters that are middle aged or older and Jess definitely falls into that category. I think anyone who has had to start again, recover from any kind of harm or grief and try to find joy in the small things and risk hoping again will enjoy and see themselves in this book. My only struggle was the pace and some of the conversations I felt could have been edited out.

This was adorable! The plot was unlike anything I’ve read before, but it was the sweetest friends to lovers/ slow burn story. It’s about a homeless woman who lives in an abandoned house until a man buys it, and surprisingly lets her stay. It was a very real story, and not too sappy or overwhelming. I really enjoyed it.

Imagine two of the most polite (almost to a fault?), slightly awkward people you've ever thought of. That is Jess and Gethin. I think I liked this book, it certainly held my attention anyway. It's written in what feels like a sort of stream of consciousness style. It aligns with my own nervous energy thoughts so maybe if you also have nervous thoughts this will be enjoyable to read?
I like the main characters but boy do they make some frustrating decisions. I do understand where everyone comes from, but be prepared for a SLOW burn.

Jesse finally runs from an abusive relationship having been planning her escape. She ends up in a tent in a cemetery until it gets to cold. She finds an empty house which just sold. The house was cold but it was better then a tent.

Eventually Gethin, the owner, shows up and catches Jesse. She starts to run but he stops her. This is their story.

This was an enjoyable entertaining story. Some laughs, some tears and some sighs.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advance review copy in return for an honest review.
This was a heart warming love story but the beginning of the story is kind of hard to get behind. It just seems unrealistic that a guy would be okay with a homeless person living in their vacant house and then letting them actually live there when he moves in. That being said I loved the slow burn romance of the 2 main characters and watching their story unfold.

NetGalley provided me with a copy of The Beginning of Everything to read and review.

Honestly, this fell flat for me. Jess finds herself homeless after leaving an abusive relationship. She finds a house that isn’t being lived in and breaks in and “lives” there. She mostly uses the place as shelter and charge her phone.
Eventually the owner, Gethin, goes to his house to look at what renovations he’d like to do to find someone has been living there. You’d think he’d call the police or keep this person from living in his house but instead he leaves a note for Jess that he would like to help.
They end up living together which is odd to me since I’m not remotely trusting but it seems to work. My main issue is Gethin. I can appreciate not wanting to push Jess since he has a small idea of what she’s been through. But he also could have been more forthcoming with his thoughts.
The whole book we know bad things happened to Jess but it’s left unaddressed until the end so most the book felt stagnant. I liked reading Jess and Gethin build a trusting friendship but most the story was flat.

I want to rate this a 3.5. I had to think a bit about how many stars to give. This is a friends-to-lovers read with a second chance at love. Hopeful and resilience. The premise of the story sounded good, but I had some issues with how the two main characters acted throughout. Once their past has been revealed, I can somewhat understand the story lines a little better. Overall, I did enjoy reading this book about two middle-agers starting over with their lives. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

We all hear a lot of hype in social media about slow burn romances... I'm not sure I'm into that. Give me all consuming passionate intense love.

Jess is a forty-something woman who had to escape from her last toxic relationship. She starts over, broke and homeless, until she finds a vacant house where she decides to stay while she saves some money for renting her own place. One day, the house's owner, Gethin, shows up and gets surprised to see a woman living in his house. He's kind and tries not to scare Jess, but she runs away anyway, leaving all her belongings behind. When she comes back to gather her things, Jess finds a note where Gethin offers her to stay in exchange of her helping with some renovations. Jess hesitates and doesn't say yes right away, but where else is she gonna go?

The pace of this book was a little too slow to my liking, not a lot happens in the first half of it. Then, when something finally happens, we don't really see any consequential events, it's like the whole thing gets shut down. I understand the main character has a lot of issues she has constant internal fights over but it gets a little repetitive after a while.

I did like some parts of it. Gethin's kindness, seeing Jess getting out of her own way, the numerous friends she makes. Just the romance part of it was meh.

Thank you netgalley and the publisher for the e-arc.

The Beginning of Everything is a slow-burn romance with middle-aged characters. After Jess escapes an abusive relationship, she finds herself seeking shelter in a vacant house in Wales. When Gethin (the new owner) discovers Jess, he invites her to stay as a boarder instead of putting her out on the streets. The two develop an unlikely friendship that in time turns into much more.

It was hard for me to get over the fact that Gethin let a total stranger stay in his house and help him renovate it. It felt really unrealistic to me, otherwise, I might have rated this book higher. The plot is what makes this whole story unique, though. I've never read anything like it. The writing is so good. Jackie Fraser is great at writing dialogue. She uses a lot of broken sentences and ellipses that make the characters feel so relatable. At the same time, I could see how some readers might find that distracting and hard to get through.

This would be such a great beach read. The characters and plot develop slowly. It’s meant to be savored. There’s ongoing tension throughout the book and it’s all very predictable (in the best way) how it will end. Unfortunately, the resolution comes a little too late in the story and it left me wanting a bit more. For Jess and Gethin’s lives to be so messy, things tied up a little too neatly.

This story is about fresh starts, healing trauma, found family, resilience, hope, and so much more. It’s a tender and heartwarming story. The Beginning of Everything isn’t your typical romance but it will draw you in from the first chapter and you’ll be so glad you spent some time with Jess and Gethin.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the advance review copy.

Another well written book by Fraser. Her books get better with each one. Loved this story! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher!!

DNF at 20%. I tried really hard to get into this one, but I just couldn't. I didn't love the writing style, there was something off about it and there was a lot of unnecessary dialogue that could've been omitted. I felt zero connection with the characters, and sensed no chemistry between the leads. Mostly though, I just find the whole premise completely implausible. I don't see a man finding a random stranger in his home suddenly offer to let this person continue to squat in his home - again, stranger, someone he does not know at all! I also don't see a woman - who is escaping an abusive situation, and most likely would be struggling to trust men in general - being ok staying in a house with a random man who she does not know! No, I find it completely unbelievable that a woman escaping an abusive situation would trust a man that easily, much less a woman who has no past with abuse trusting someone this quickly in this situation.

I usually read YA or 20-ish age books, so this is my first time reading about someone who is that age that stabbed me in my chest because I can actually relate with the characters, though their situation is a bit unrealistic on the part that he let her stay in his house even if she is a stranger. But from my hopeless romantic side, it is very inspiring for people who have had the same experiences as them.

It gives hope to the readers that even after having the worst incident of their lives, there are a lot of things to discover after letting go, and someone who will give you unconditional love and friendship.

The Beginning of Everything is set to be released on September 26, 2023.

I had a fun time. The location was a breath of fresh air and the characters/romance were interesting

Many thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately, this book didn’t do it for me. I had trouble relating to Jess and found her to be incredibly immature. At the end she mentions needing therapy, but that it was too expensive. I would have liked to have seen her take action on that in the book and for the author to have provided an affordable opportunity for her. There are resources for women who have been in her situation and those should have been explored.

Although the premise was interesting, it didn’t play out in a believable way. And finally, this has been mentioned by other reviewers, but there is a complete and total abuse of ellipses (…) and question marks. Imagine Mr. Darcy and Hugh Grant in Notting Hill narrating the book. No complete sentences or thoughts, terrible communication and self-deprecation ad nauseam. Don’t get me wrong, I love those characters and their famous monologues are desperately romantic, but an entire book of this type of dialogue with no chemistry was tedious.

“The Beginning of Everything” is a contemporary romance book by Jackie Fraser. This book started off interestingly - Jess, a woman in her 40s, is escaping from a bad relationship. She has literally run away from home and, thus, is homeless. She finds an unoccupied house and decides to squat in it while trying to build up savings from a job. Meanwhile, the owner of the house, Gethin, also in his 40s, comes to check out his newly bought house. He decides to let Jess live there and help him fix up the house. Over time, they learn about each other.

I had a problems with this book. I found the maturity level of both Jess and Gethin a bit unrealistic for 40 year olds. The two seemed more, at times, to be like teenagers than, well, mature adults. Gethin is also a bit beyond the complete and total nice guy - him wanting to help Jess was fine, but he goes so overboard that it was bordering somewhere between creepy and naive. Jess is practically handed a car … she’s given a job … yet she’s always questioning everything. This relationship just seemed unrealistic. Additionally, they both seemed to act like best friends - opposed to being in a romantic relationship. I understand that the writing style is up to the author, but I also found that to be problematic - there were so many ellipses and so many sentences ending with question marks that it became distracting. I found myself losing interest in this book at times, though stuck with reading it because I kept hoping it would get better - or more interesting. I did find the information about house restoration interesting. Overall, I think this book is somewhere between a 3 and 3.5 star review for me. I really wanted to like it more than I did as it sounded interesting.

I snagged this book from NetGalley for a slight change of pace. While I would categorize this book as romance, it focuses on the hardship, growth, and love a person can find when they least expect it. Although I didn’t personally relate to the characters situations, they were written in a manner that allowed me to connect with them.
Overall Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️/5 (fade to black, but much more focused on emotion than the heat)
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Beginning of Everything by Jackie Fraser is a delightful novel, telling the story of Jess, who left an abusive relationship and Gethin, the man whose house she is squatting in before he moves into it. When he suggests she stay there and help him renovate the house, she is hesitant, what would compel him to make such an offer? Their chemistry is undeniable but is either of them ready for a relationship? Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

When you hear people talking about a book that they loved so much they couldn't put it down, this is most likely the book they will be talking about. WOW, what a great read. I loved it. I just want to give it a big hug and never let it go. Highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone! My patrons will LOVE this.

Absolutely fantastic plot! Could not put the book down once I began reading it. Cannot wait for it to be released. I will recommend it to everyone I know!