Member Reviews
3.5⭐️ - the premise of this book made me pick it up. The beautiful friendships between the 8 flatmates of the warehouse kept me reading it. Each of the 8 individuals had their own voice and quirks and character, which can be hard when the core of the book revolves around two roommates being love interests.
Unfortunately, the friendships brought me more of the warm and fuzzies than the romance did. While I can appreciate the theme of finding yourself and making mistakes along the way, I felt Henry made too many to be redeemable. Of course the nature of the book made for the interactions between the two main characters to be more fast paced, but it seemed Henry was making mistakes at every turn and Lucy continued to forgive him. There was just too much disappointment to forgive - or maybe I’m too jaded!
Overall I did enjoy so much of this book, but I will remember the friendships more than the romantic relationship.
**Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of this book. All views represented in this review herein are my own and not a reflection of NetGalley or the author.
A London setting with the main character who works at a floral shop?? And a found family theme?? Very poetic. The story itself was great and I loved the characters (besides Henry) and setting. I do think as a debut the writing was a liiiiitle choppy. The love story in this wasn't really necessary in my opinion. But I will definitely read the author's next novel!
The two main characters "live" together, except it's a large shared warehouse with lots of other roommates, and he's not there most of the time because he travels for work (and wants to leave London altogether). I can see the potential for a romcom here, but felt NO chemistry. I wanted to be charmed by the found friendships, but they all seemed forced and underdeveloped (POOF! we're BFFs! I plan my life around you!" doesn't work for me. Maybe it's my inter introvert who would find living with several strangers who wanted me to hang out with them and have superficial conversations a *living nightmare*). Something about the writing kept me reading, though, so I'd be willing to give this author another try.
Weekends with You by Alexandra Paige had well-developed characters and an engaging plot. It was an awesome read. Highly recommend!
**Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for the e-ARC. All opinions expressed are voluntary and my own.**
Lucy and Henry are falling for each other, but the catch is that Henry is only in town one weekend a month because he’s a photographer who travels all over the world. This was such a cute concept, but I felt like the execution left something to be desired. It’s a short read, but very long chapters, since it’s one chapter per weekend. I loved all of the roommates and their weekends together; we love a found family! I liked Lucy, but Henry was so immature and annoying. He kept waffling back and forth about what he wanted and couldn’t make up his mind, and I honestly couldn’t understand why Lucy kept giving him chances. There was also a really late third act breakup, and then everything was resolved way too quickly. This book definitely felt like a debut 🙈 it was such a fun idea, but it could have been done better.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Avon for the opportunity to read before pub day. ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. WEEKENDS WITH YOU is out now!
Lucy works at a flower shop and loves her job. But lately it hasn’t been paying quite enough for her to keep her apartment. Her best friend Raja has an opening at the warehouse where she lives with 7 other roommates. Little does Lucy know that moving in with them will change her life for the better. Being an only child, Lucy has never shared a space with many people. But when she moves into the warehouse, it’s like she finally found where she belongs. The only problem is that she is falling for one of her roommates, Henry. But Henry is only there one weekend of the month because of his job as a photographer. Their on again off again flirting and relationship status begins to wear on Lucy just as things at work start going south. With an eclectic and endearing cast of characters, Weekends with You is the perfect summer read. The roommates are friends that become family to one another and their monthly Warehouse Weekends are documented in monthly chapters. I loved the timeline of the book and the way it was written. The characters are fun and are good friends to one another..
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
This book is both cute & somewhat frustrating. The characters - 8 flatmates living in a warehouse - is pretty crazy but each of their different personalities work well. I thought the idea of Warehouse Weekends is creative on Paige's part especially with the activities the flatmates come up with.
My frustration stemmed from the attraction between Lucy & Henry. They have an instant attraction. Of course, they are opposites but I very much enjoyed how their individual creative personalities show themselves - Lucy has a strong talent for creating beautiful flower arrangements & Henry's photography is breathtaking (but in order to discover how, you are going to have to read this for yourself.)
The story goes back & forth so many times with Lucy & Henry trying to figure a relationship out that it becomes somewhat exhausting. And I think that this makes the story a little slow moving. There could be more depth to the story & I would have loved to see Lucy experience some more relationships (I really wanted to see more of Oliver; it was a bummer).
If you want a quick, easy & cute read then you should read it. I will still recommend it. It is not a bad story/book and there are plenty of things to entertain. Just be prepared to have Lucy & Henry go about their relationship very, very slowly.
I liked the premise of weekends with you. Lucy moves into a warehouse apartment shared with 7 other people, and once a month they have warehouse weekends, each planned by a different roommate. It sounds fun, it sounds like something I would have loved right out of college. I really love how the author created a little family. I didn't love how toxic one of the relationships was. I won't spoil which one, but three month of April was incredibly frustrating to me, along with the ones that followed. Didn't love the ending or the choices that were made either. Ah well, it was well-written and a fast read.
After moving into a warehouse flat with seven flatmates, Lucy Bernstein is struggling to keep her feelings in check for Henry, a hunky photographer who lives down the hall for one weekend each month. Told through the lens of said one weekend each month, Lucy knows that becoming entangled with Henry could lead to heartbreak, even as she finds a family with the rest of her flatmates.
The premise for Weekends with You is so strong - structuring the story around the antics of the eight flatmates for one weekend a month is so creative and had great potential. However, even despite this great potential, this romance fell very flat. It’s been quite a while since I rooted so hard for two people to **not** end up together. Lucy and Henry were both incredibly frustrating and lacked any amount of self-awareness. I could not wait to stop reading about on-again, off-again romance, laden with miscommunication and delusion. The six flatmates really saved this book for me. There are moments where Paige’s writing was beautiful and really well done - hopefully her main characters benefit from her talent in future novels.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Avon/Harper Voyager for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.
This was a great book and I'll be purchasing it for the library.
This was a cute story about two roommates who fall in love with each other over one year. They grow and support each other.
I found Henry very selfish and a poor communicator. One of my pet peeves in books is when adults fail to communicate clearly. Overall, this was an easy read but will not leave a mark.
I loved so many things in this book-found family, flowers, and a London setting, so I think that's why I enjoyed it so much. I liked the dynamic between roommates. The romantic aspect of the story was a fun read as well, I just felt like the 8 roommates were the best part!
This was such a good romance book. I loved the storyline and the character development. I would definitely recommend this book. I did read it in one day!
I liked the Insta attraction between Lucy and Henry, but the longer the book went on, the more I hated Henry. He was a dolt man child who couldn't commit. I was more invested in the relationships between all of the roommates and their phenomenal Warehouse Weekends! Not to mention LOVING the flower shop and Lucy’s incredible arrangements. I was fully hoping for Oliver to come back in the end but, alas, Lucy’s happy ending came with the wrong guy (kind of like choosing Ben over Noel IYKYK).
The writing is fantastic, flows well and feels like it spend many a moment on a beautifully organized storyboard before coming to life. Lucy was great, I admired her and her qualities, her character development felt right.
Enter Henry. This insufferable bastard ruined the entire book for me. I kept wanting to yell at Lucy that she DESERVED BETTER but alas, she could not hear me.
I liked this book, but found it to be rather long! I enjoyed the characters and getting to know the side characters as well as the main couple. I found my self getting mad at both Lucy and Henry and how they treated each other on the relationship navigating. I like that the boon had a happy ending- and can only hope that Lucy & Henry had a long health relationship after the rough start…. Would happily read books based on the other characters to get to know them better!
Lucy is an American living in London and working in a small floral shop. Flowers are her happy place. When her living circumstances change she moves into a large loft with her best friend and a handful of roommates. They’re a lovely eclectic group who all become each others chosen family. Then she sees/meets Henry, who is only home for one weekend a month and wow. The fireworks are real and she falls fast and hard. We join them al on there experiences over the year of him being home only one weekend a month. A nice read.
The minute Lucy meets Henry there is an instant attraction. She is drawn to him and is not sure how to handle it. Everyone knows that you should not date your flatmate and her new room in the warehouse where her best friend lives is a great landing spot for Lucy. The truly unique situation is that Henry only lives there one weekend a month. The rest of the time he is a traveling photographer. When he comes home, the eight residents have a celebratory weekend. A slow build romance that includes misunderstandings, miscommunication, and a lot of tension. This is a closed door romance and is safe for most reading tastes. This is author Alexandra Paige's debate novel and I look forward to what she releases next.
3.5 rounded to 4
"Weekends With You" is Alexandra Paige's debut novel. It is centered around Lucy Bernstein. Lucy lives in a flat with seven others, and each month, one of the roommates organizes a group outing that brings everyone together. Lucy, of course, gets involved with one of the roommates who is NEVER home (and she can do better) because he is a traveling photographer. The book is told in months and shows how she navigates the complexities of their long-distance, on-again-off-again relationship while also struggling to keep her flower shop thriving.
Tropes:
Forced proximity
Second Chance
Found family
Friends to lovers
Long distance relationship
Florist x photographer
Arc received from the publisher; all thoughts and opinions are my own.
Happy Pub Day to @alexandrapaigewrites!! I was lucky enough to get an advanced copy of this one (thanks @prbookgirl!!) and what a delightful debut!! I’m about halfway through and it has been the perfect escape.
Lucy is a twenty something florist in London and she’s floundering a bit - the flower shop where she works is barely hanging on, and she just found out she has to move. When we meet her she’s moving into a unique living situation - a flat with seven others. Once a month the roommates commit to spending the weekend together.
I love stories that are told in a unique way - and this is done by visiting our characters that one weekend each month. We learn the nuances of each - especially Henry who is only in London that one weekend each month. He and Lucy seemingly hit it off right away, but his work travels makes things difficult.
This is such a sweet story of finding yourself and dealing with the twists and turns of life. I can’t wait to finish it tonight!!
Congrats, @alexandrapaigewrites!!! May this be the first of many wonderful stories you share with the world!