I had high hopes for One Bed by Joss Wood based on its intriguing premise, but unfortunately, it didn’t quite hit the mark for me. While the story had potential, I struggled to connect with the characters, which made it difficult to fully immerse myself in their story.

My biggest issue was with Gibson. His rude demeanor and commitment-phobic tendencies made him so unlikeable. It felt inconsistent when, after resisting commitment for most of the book, he suddenly decided in the final chapter that he wanted to be in a relationship with Bea.

Bea deserved so much better. Her warmth and patience were wasted on someone who, in my opinion, didn’t demonstrate enough growth or effort to earn her love. Gibson’s lack of grovelling only amplified this sentiment, leaving the overall feeling of their story, anticlimactic and unsatisfying.

Let me start by saying I loved the cover of this book and I liked the idea of the plot and I'm always up to try a new author.

I loved the setting, I mean who wouldn't a greek island? and I liked Bea immediately and the way her character grew through out the book was very well done, and Golly, well she could have had a lot more of book and I wouldn't have minded one bit. These were all the best bits for me.
Gib, well him I didn't like so much, I didn't feel like he came across very well and as the Main male lead, he left me a bit cold.
I would recommend it just for the female characters .

One Bed starts slowly, with a focus on setting the stage and peeling back the layers of Bea and Gibson’s personalities. Their dynamic builds gradually, and the chemistry between them evolved slowly - That can be a good thing but in this case also felt a little slow to get into a relatively long romance book overall.

However, the characters’ growth and the progression of their relationship seemed relatable but just felt repetitive at times. Bea’s sharp humor and Gibson’s guarded demeanor created a nice balance of personalities though.

✅ Bea Williams, 30, author with writer’s block & Gibson Caddell, 35, works for his family business
✅ they are both in Greece on vacation
✅ for romance reasons, there’s only 1 bed
🌶️: yes

A very fun romp in Greece!

This book is sweet with a little bit of spice. But I will say I didn’t love how vulnerable the fmc was when the MMC wouldn’t give her anything in return. I know it was part of their relationship arc to work through that but their relationship felt very immature to me because of it.

Although I enjoye dthe story, I found the characters a little hard to connect with. Would have loved more of the godmother in the wiritng.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

i’d give it three and a half stars if i could ⭐️

as it’s title suggests ‘one bed’ is filled with all the well-known and well-loved romance tropes. it’s fast-paced, with a cast of quirky and interesting characters, set against the warm backdrop of santorini (a drastic difference to the current uk weather scene.) i liked the romance, though their conflict wraps up rather quickly and i’d have liked to have seen more of their growth apart before they came back together.

Bea, an author who writes under a pen name, is organising a fabulous retirement party for her godmother Golly and
Gibson is a CEO in need of a holiday. It turns out they are both staying in Golly's cottage on her property in Santorini, the problem is there is only one bed. Is that really a problem? Not when these two are instantly attracted to each other, but Bea and Gib get to know each other more as the party planning proceeds and they spend more time together. They agree it's a holiday fling but neither wants it to end.

As the story progressed I was more and more interested in Bea's character, she had initially been so focused on her past relationship with her ex that once she started to see what it could be like with Gib, someone who cared about her, who treated her well, she started to feel her worth and stand up for what she wanted both for a relationship and for her future as an author. Gib has his own past issues that are holding him back from wanting a relationship, but they both deal with their issues although not always before hurting the other.

The other characters in the story were charming and it was wonderful to read their friendships alongside the main story. I'd recommend this book to anyone wanting a good holiday romance!

This is a good light read for me! I enjoy the writing although sometimes I het confused on the perspective of the story, I think I’m just not used to the style but it is very easy to understand!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this book! It was a fun read. I need more of the Godmother though! She was a hoot.

I expected this book to be a light-hearted and entertaining romance featuring chickens with a hint of intrigue. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a predictable and cringeworthy experience.
The main character, Bea, is helping her godmother Golly, who is hosting a party in Santorini. Although Bea usually stays in the guest house, Golly has also rented it out to a friend named Gib, leading to an awkward situation with only one bed available, leaving one of them without accommodation.
Surprisingly, it takes Bea until three-quarters of the way through the story to realize that Golly set up their meeting. Given Bea's close bond with her godmother, this revelation felt quite obvious. As Bea and Gib's relationship develops, the narrative becomes increasingly uncomfortable. Bea's innocence and lack of experience often prompted laughter, as their interactions fluctuated between declarations of love and brief romantic moments. The dialogue felt disjointed and unconvincing, undermining the potential charm of a romantic getaway.
While the setting initially seemed believable, it quickly lost its appeal and could have taken place anywhere. Santorini vibes were lacking. Overall, the book did not meet my expectations..

In terms of romance, I couldn't connect with the characters, I couldn't feel their chemistry. I understand that this was supposed to be a “one bed” trope, but I just couldn’t get behind the reasoning for their forced situation. And their past situation too. Why couldn’t Gib have stayed with his father at Golly’s cottage rather than with a younger girl that he’s never met before? Thank-you for the opportunity to read this book though!

I have so much to say about this book! Firstly, I thought the playlist with the Spotify code at the beginning was such a cute little touch. I love when books have an accompaniment to listen to either whilst reading the book or in between picking it up and putting it down - the songs on that playlist were also 10/10!

The scenery description in this book was really wonderful. In some romance books, I sometimes feel like there's an emphasis on character development and the romantic action so I really appreciated how well Wood set the scene. It felt very Mamma Mia coded (which I LOVED!) Even some of the imagery 'sandpaper on his soul' were just *chef's kiss*. Saying that, there was still heap loads of character development in decent depth too. I loved Golly from the jump, she's the quirky godmother who has such a free and wild spirit which was really. fun to read. My favourite piece of life advice from Golly: 'you can't do epic shift with basic people'. I also thought it was super clever to have Golly as the string between Bea and Gib, they both related to Golly in different ways but it felt very in Golly's character that these two would be connected via her huge web of contacts.

We also got to know Bea inside out, the dual POV was a massive help in actually hearing Bea's thoughts but I also think her personality shone through the pages consistently throughout. It would've been good to have some headers just as it would sometimes take a bit of adjusting or reading a couple sentences to realise which POV I was reading each time, Regardless, Bea's humour is fantastic. One of my favourite quotes from her POV is 'Instead of helping her to change the flat tyre, Bea was pretty sure he (Gib) could just pick up her car and walk it to Golly's villa' - hilarious! She is wise beyond her years, my favourite quote of hers is 'I have to live in the world the way it is, not the way I want it to be'. I also loved reading a female character who has a healthy relationship with her body and body image - I always find that really comforting to see examples of that especially in romance fiction.

Her having pubic hair was also a pleasant surprise to veer away from classic body hair standards that feel like can pop up. Saying this, Gib's reference to liking the relaxed Bea with 'messy hair, makeup free face' does imply that in her down time it's okay to not wear makeup but that when she's out and about she should. Bea is quite insecure and I wish this had been developed a bit more. Her double life as Parker did add an interesting dimension to the plot, but I never really understood why it was so important to her that no one knew she was Parker.. Also the plot point with her ex and her mum was really wild, but I felt like neither her ex nor her mum was that central to the plot so it just felt a bit random for something so dramatic to be mentioned without greater context throughout the book. The dual POV was a great choice as I felt like we got a fully rounded narrative especially when it might've been otherwise confusing during moments of miscommunication/character separation.

Gib and Bea are such different characters which was really refreshing to read and also helped distinguish their voices from one another. However, Gib was not my favourite character. There were a couple instances in which he was super unlikeable such as when Bea makes him breakfast and he refuses it...Regardless of his emotional baggage I just feel like that's a mean and disrespectful thing to do. Also he openly admits to having commitment issues, why does the MMC have commitment issues? Major red flag. It feels like his commitment issues are treated as a valid excuse for treating Bea poorly. When he can tell she's falling for him, Gib rationalises it by thinking 'he couldn't promise her anything more' than sex even after she's been so giving to him. Even when he tells Bea 'I don't do relationships, I don't do commitment' I didn't feel sorry for him that he couldn't commit it just made me annoyed because Bea deserves better than a dude with commitment issues. Also when Bea tries to communicate with him, he gets all defensive and accuses her of interrogating him *red flag alert*. His alexithymia was an interesting character trait but was skimmed over so quickly that it didn't add as much to his character development as it could've. Also Gib does come across as a bit of a womaniser ('He loved women's lingerie, loved taking it off even more') which definitely didn't help him out. Don't even get me started on the excuses he makes for treating Bea poorly, he tells her 'because you are so much better at it (opening up) than me' - then he should get better or let her find someone who can do what he can't? I found it frustrating when it's admitted that 'Bea deserved...well, she deserved everything. But he (Gib) wasn't the guy to give it to her' - this felt like a pivotal point that quickly got overshadowed later on just because Gib returned.

I also really didn't like how mean he was. When Bea asked why he wouldn't let her in, he responds with 'why should I?' And even when she tries to explain that she's opened up to him, his retort is 'you gave it to me, I didn't ask for it' - so rude! The only redeeming moment about Gib was when he said 'spending money on books is never a waste'.

I LOVED the spicy food scene. It was so funny and such a unique scene that I haven't read in a romance book for a while. The book felt reading for that scene alone it was just excellently done. Another strong point of this book, is Wood's ability to write sexual tension and have the build of it feel so effortless. This also extends to the sexual chemistry which felt really genuine and sweet. It got a little too spicy for my liking but it was well written. There are some empowering moments such as when Gib asks for head and Bea politely declines it, which didn't make the sex scenes feel male dominant.

The pacing did feel a little slow, I'm not against slow burns but after they start sharing the bed I just felt like the general momentum slowed down and not that much happened in the plot until later on. Also some of the wording was a tad confusing 'his eyes now looked like the badly congested roads on a satnav map' - I don't know what this means? Equally, when Gib asks Bea 'can I make you come with my teeth' I winced a little, that sounds very painful. The wording of 'she'd gather the pieces of her sliced and diced heart' also felt a bit bumpy.

Some of the spice did leave a bad taste in my mouth. Notably, when Gib says to Bea 'sorry I was miles away, thinking about fucking you'. This made me a cringe a little, if a guy I was into said that to me randomly I would run a mile. Also when Gib holds Bea's chin and 'forced her to look at him' this also grossed me out a little. Also maybe it's just my dislike for Gib, but when Bea is having a writing block and he says 'come to bed, I'll inspire you' I wanted to scream out of ickiness. Similarly, when she's trying to type an email and he's holding her right hand on the bulge in his pants - ew!

There were some areas of the plot that felt a little unrealistic for me. Firstly, it felt unlikely that Gib would only be able to take holiday exactly when Golly's birthday bash is. Also his aversion to birthday parties felt a little random and therefore a bit unnecessary. It also felt like a super unlikely coincidence that the island would simultaneously be hosting a wedding at the same time as Golly's birthday, during off peak season, and thus the whole island would be booked up. Also, with Gib paying a lot of money to stay at Golly's it didn't make sense to me why Golly couldn't just refund the money back so he could stay somewhere else as Gib is clearly not super keen on sharing a room with Bea (at least not initially). Also later on when Gib realises that Parker is Bea, it felt a bit unrealistic as he essentially realised by himself without any further clues along the plot, so why did it take him so long to realise?

The main reason this book isn't getting higher than 2 stars was the dynamic and relationship between Gib and Bea. Their relationship felt toxic and unhealthy in places. Gib treated Bea pretty poorly, for example the aforementioned Gib leaving after sex and not staying for breakfast, and I didn't like that that scene in particular was framed as being both Gib and Bea's fault when Gib was clearly in the wrong. Even when Gib goes back home, there's an expectation that Bea should 'run after him' even though he should be the one choosing her! Also Gib calling Bea 'Bea baby' didn't feel good - even 'Beaby' I think would've been a better pet name. Also when Gib tells Bea that he can't commit to her and that he can't give her more than their final week together, she has sex with him?! Eventhough she already wants more than that and she is falling in love with him, it feels a weird way to react to being told something that I'd imagine would be at the least a little disappointing. Gib constantly undermines what's going on and thus invalidates Bea's feelings ('it's not supposed to be this serious', 'why couldn't we have had this and maybe when I made it to London, we could've hooked up again?'). Also, there was an undeniable amount of sexual chemistry between Bea and Gib, but very little room for any other form of chemistry. It would've been nice to see a bit more banter or friendship between them.

Finally, the ending wasn't for me personally. It felt like Gib consistently has commitment issues and then towards the end they magically disappear and he is able to commit to Bea which just felt like a negative message to end the story on. If either characters have commitment issues, they should work on those issues first they shouldn't magically disappear. All in all, a book with incredible potential but there were a couple plot points that felt unrealistic and Gib just wasn't a likeable MMC.

I thought this was going to be a fun chicken flick book with a bit of sauce. It turned out to be a predictable cringe fest with laughable dialogue.

Golly is Beas godmother who is hosting a party in Santorini and Bea is helping to organise it. Bea always stays in the guest house, but Golly has also rented it out to a friend called Gib. Oh no! And there's only one Bed and nowhere else anywhere for one of them to stay.

So it takes Bea until three quarters of the way through to click that Golly set them up. Really?! Considering how close Bea is to her godmother I thought that would have been pretty obvious.
So Bea and Gib have been set up and once them two are getting it on it's just so cringey to read. Bea is so naive and inexperienced I found myself just laughing at the ridiculousness of it all. The dialogue between them both is awful, one minute they are in love and next it's just a fling. It's just all really silly and naive and doesn't suck me into a world of a romantic exciting holiday. The setting was believable in the beginning but quickly fell apart and they could have been anywhere.

It just wasn't great.

This is my first read from this author and sadly based on this novel, I won’t be reading anymore. I didn’t enjoy anything about this book apart from the Santorini descriptions. I felt there were a lot of works as, but the book just never really moved on. I know others have loved it, but it wasn’t for me. Thank you to NetGalley, Harper Collins UK, One More Chapter and the author for the chance to review.

This book had a really good premise and I loved the setting. The characters were a bit hard to connect with, though, so I found myself putting this book down and not being excited to pick it back up. I wanted to love it, it just wasn't for me.

When Bea, a reclusive author, goes to stay with her godmother she realises she is going to have to share her bed with Gibson, a fellow house guest. So begins their will they won't they story against the backdrop of Santorini.

It was the Greek setting that did it for me. Reminds me of a relaxing holiday.

But in terms of romance, I couldn't connect with the characters, I could feel their chemistry.

I adored Bea, I thought she was stand out character with her humour and wit, and how she opened herself up to Gibson.

I really liked the story but I don't think I was vibing with the writing style. I would definitely give this author another shot with another book.

Bea is in need a of a well deserved vacation and her Godmother's owns a Greek island retreat which she thinks will be perfect place to enjoy some R and R. She is going there to relax, forget about work and have some me time but it turns out the universe has other plans for her. When she gets to the island she is face with her childhood friend Gibson and they are forced to share 1 bed.