I enjoyed this when I read it, but in hindsight, I don’t remember that much. It was good in the moment but didn’t leave much of an impression either way. The plot wasn’t particularly unique, but I haven’t personally read a lot of books with this specific sequence of events before.. in my opinion, it’s worth a read if you’re drawn in by specific parts of the plot summary, but if you just want a romance book in general, this isn’t the one.

4.5 stars

This book surprised me in a fantastic way.

First, I don't remember the last time a book made me laugh out loud this much! The banter is top notch. Alice's voice brings humor and lightness to things in a charming way. Robbie is such a yummy character -- I would eat him up!

It feels like I've just been on this trip with Alice and all the women. The sense of place, the descriptions, the history is all so lovingly done. I want to go on a book tour like this with my reader friends.

Similarly, I feel like I went on the same emotional self-discovery journey that Alice did. It's very easy to identify with some or all of her story. And the way the wisdom and life stories from the other women weave in and out of the narrative makes it extra poignant.

The only thing I disliked is all the unfortunate events Alice suffers early on in the book. It felt a bit forced and unrealistic. And despite connecting with the self-discovery portion of Alice's journey, I didn't quite click with her as a character (and that's on me). I've just never understood this need to hit certain "milestones" in life by a certain age.

But seriously, go read this! I've already recommended it to a bunch of my friends. It's a bright spot in a time when those are harder to find.

<i>Many thanks to NetGalley, Avon, and the author for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.</i>

2.5⭐

LIKED:
- The setting & the premise. The idea of the bus your and whole basis of the tour was really fun
- The old ladies. Having a gaggle of old ladies as a support system is something I always love
- The goal of re-discovering oneself after a break-up or loss of some kind. I think that FMC (Alice) - doesn’t start her journey *quite* early enough in the book for it to be the most worthwhile, but I do still think it was a good journey for her to be on for the sake of the book
- The MMC (Robbie) was pretty charming and I enjoyed him (especially more than the FMC)

LOATHED:
- Alice, the POV character for the entirety of the book, is exhausting to follow. She’s outright mean for the majority of the first act of the book and it’s frankly very unpleasant. She is just a stereotype of an American abroad to the Nth degree and it’s just infuriating to read AS an American
- The "Bridget Jones" Tally was...not my favorite. Maybe it's just a generational thing, but I don't have a fondness for Bridget Jones. The tallies were...fine? They kind of spoiled what was going to happen in the chapter, which isn't the end of the world and has been done in the past. But these tallies were also under, like, a rule as well? It just made the start of the chapters really murky.
- The Tristan plot-line. Why is it there.
- The culmination of the story of Robbie’s mom and the WHOLE miscommunication of it all. This version of miscommunication is my absolute least favorite where someone overhears something, jumps to a conclusion without talking to the other party, and then just…festers in their wrong assumptions for the whole thing. It’s drama for drama’s sake and it adds so little
- Them being enemies of this caliber? Why was her attitude getting off the airplane and being rude enough for him, a businessman focusing in customer service, to hate her to this level? And they were *vicious* and I think it was for the sake of being able to truly call this an enemies-to-lovers which, to be fair, I do appreciate the effort. But I think it would have been more fun for them to have been more feisty than outright cruel

LONGED FOR:
- A bit more differentiation between the ladies of the tour. Some of them felt very distinct and then some of them I just kept mixing up or misremembering or forgetting entirely
- More of a hero’s journey design to the actual plot. This felt very meandering, even with the tour and it made the momentum a bit hard to get onboard with (pun unintended)
- This is a bit minor, but more exploration with Alice’s backstory outside of her past relationship. I wanted to know who she was outside that relationship and if it was something she didn’t know herself (which I believe it was), I wish that had been a bit more incorporated into the third act growth.

WILL I READ THE NEXT ONE? : Probably not

Thank you so much to the author and to NetGalley for an ARC copy of this book!

This was definitely a light, cutesy read and did feel somewhat too cheesy at times. But it is definitely lighthearted and quick to get through. In this book, you find Alice, who has just gone through a pretty rough breakup and drunkenly purchases tickets to a 3 week bus tour of the UK. I did thoroughly enjoy all the knowledge thrown in about UK landmarks and places they visited. It was fun to hear about.

Robbie is the leader of the trip and the tour guide, taking them around on their bus adventure. At first, he and Alice do not get along at all. But of course, they are enemies to lovers and end up all over each other during the trip around the UK. I did just find everything to be a little too cheesy and flowery at some points, but again, it was a cute quick read. 3 out of 5 stars for me!

Alice Cooper & Robbie! ❤️❤️❤️
Alice has had a rough handful of months. A drunken flight and tour booking leads her across the Atlantic and onto Scottish soil for the first time. She’s always wanted to travel but with literally nothing left to lose, Alice resorts to stretching her savings account to save her sanity. Her trip starts out like any hangover nightmare should but Alice finds comradely in the least expected souls aboard a tour bus full of older women well past their prime and a habitually annoying tour guide who just so happens to wear the heck out of a kilt.
Work in Progress made me want to befriend Kat. I was cracking up so many times throughout the novel because WHO SAYS THAT!?! Made me feel like I’d found a soul friend within the pages who also loves traveling and uses sarcasm as a shield/tool to make others laugh. I will stan Alice + dreamy Scottish tour guide forever.
Thank you to Avon Books and NetGalley for the advanced copy. All thoughts are my own.

In a word, this book was charming. First of all that cover is so amazing! It definitely sets the tone for the lighthearted and fun time that the story brings.

One of the strong points of this book was definitely the narrative; it was genuinely funny making me chuckle out loud at times. The MCs were great, but I also felt that the side characters had their space to shine and really added to the story. The author also did a great job capturing the beauty of Scotland.

I was so excited about the premise of this book and couldn’t wait to read it. Unfortunately I found the main character so intolerable and her hatred for the main male character so unfounded, I DNF’d 25% in. I’m sorry that I don’t have a better review, it just was not believable for me.

Thank you to the publisher for the review copy! I just couldn't get in the mood for this one, but I do love this author!

This book was such a joy to read! I felt like I was transported to the UK and was actually a part of this wonderful bus tour.

So well written, witty and entertaining.

It had so much depth and it was just beautiful in so many ways.

I will definitely read more by Kat!

I loved how this was filled with so much bookish tidbits and history and was done in such a fun way that was also so realistic that it made you feel like you were a part of this tour.

Witnessing Alice’s metamorphosis was such a joy and the romance aspect was wonderfully done.

I loved this book so so SO MUCH!

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Avon and Harper Voyager, Avon and Kat Mackenzie for giving me an ARC of this delightful book.

Work in Progress by Kat Mackenzie was fantastic! A+! My first by this author but not my last. The chemistry between the main characters was cute and I truly enjoyed the book.

Oh I really liked this one. The setting was beautiful and engaging, the side characters were endearing and hilarious, and the love story was adorable. I loved Robbie and Alice, I loved their banter back and forth and how it just all felt so natural. A great read.

This was a cute story with an adventure across the UK with little old ladies involved. The main characters fighting did get annoying after awhile and it was sometimes immature. Besides that, it was a funny and cute love story.

***Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC ebook.

“Work in Progress” by Kat Mackenzie (you wee beasty! I loved this!) is an incredibly witty, hilarious, and heartwarming romance about Alice Cooper, almost 30, and feeling completely lost in life. Fired, alone, and depressed, she finds herself on a literary tour hosted by Robbie Brody, her new sworn nemesis, along with a gaggle of charmingly quirky old ladies for company.

The adventures they embark on are pure magic, and the descriptions of the setting made me wish this was based on a real company (Kat, please confirm!). As Alice journeys through this experience, she opens up in ways that are both touching and delightful. The characters are endearing, and I found myself laughing, crying, and swooning along the way.

It was absolute perfection. As a side note, listened to the audio book as well--it was wonderful and I loved the different voices the narrator made up for everyone.

A must-read for anyone in need of humor, heart, and romance (open door, but maybe only 1-2 times)!

I wasn't sure how I would feel about this one as it's set during a tour of England and Scotland with a Scottish hero. A hero that I'm normally not a fan of. But I ended up loving the book and falling in love with Robbie before Alice did. I loved watching Alice find herself on this journey as well as new friendships. While dealing with her epic break up and her life falling apart.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are mine alone.

this is what a REAL rom-com is. alice and robbie had me giggling and kicking my feet the entire book.

road trip books are always so much fun to read and so entertaining when you actually learn things from it. the banter and romance worked really well together and made for such a fun read.

i really enjoyed alice’s journey in this book. her road to self discovery and healing felt so raw and relatable and was such a heartwarming part of this book.

thank you netgalley for this arc!

The general idea of this book held promise, and I'll start with the good because the description of the literary tour through the UK was so cool. I'm not a history person (at all) and haven't read a lot of British literature, but the author's writing of the tour activities and buildings really made me want to visit these places!

Unfortunately, this was a romance novel, not a tour guide, and the actual book missed the mark for me at nearly every turn ... The banter was not teasing or grumpy, it was weird and very mean for no reason and I had trouble believing that either of the characters would fall in love with anyone as rude as either of them was to strangers. The other ladies on the tour were overdone (like caricatures of characters rather than actual people), and the amount of weight each of them got didn't feel appropriately balanced/consistent throughout the book. Lastly, the chapter intros were more distracting than they added anything. I liked the idea of "journal entries" that I think the author was going for, but the actual blurbs didn't work for me and were more distracting/confusing than anything else.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publishing team for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Who doesn’t want to go to Scotland after a breakup? Alice’s journey was an easy escape from reality, and any girl who has dreamed about going to Scotland to reset her life will enjoy this book.

The character development and friendships in this novel were phenomenal. I loved how Alice grew to learn from and appreciate the women that she was on the trip with. I also enjoyed the descriptions of sites throughout England and Scotland.

I found this pretty slow and it didn't keep me interested until the last third. Maybe this partially had to do with the secondhand embarrassment I felt while reading some of this.

The romance ended up being pretty sweet, but the miscommunication frustrated me a bit.

I think if you like a slower-paced romance with the charm of travel and friendships across generations, you could be charmed by this novel. I enjoyed it enough that I'll definitely check out this author's future novels.

Okay, this book was an absolute delight—a cozy, funny, feel-good romance with the perfect mix of self-discovery, grumpy x sunshine tension, and a quirky, unexpected travel adventure. Alice was recently dumped, freshly unemployed, and maybe having a quarter-life crisis (relatable). So what does she do? Joins a three-week literary bus tour across the UK to reset her life.

The Problem? She expected a group of cool, book-loving women in their 30s… and instead, she’s surrounded by a crew of hilarious elderly ladies and one VERY grumpy but VERY attractive Scottish tour guide, Rory. Cue banter, forced proximity, and all the tension.

What I Loved:
- Legit LOL Funny – The old ladies? ICONS. The humor in this book lands, and I had so many laugh-out-loud moments.
- Grumpy x Sunshine Energy – Alice is chaotic but determined, Rory is gruff but secretly soft, and their dynamic?? Chef’s kiss.
- The Travel Vibes – Exploring the UK, visiting literary landmarks, and actually feeling like you’re on this journey with Alice? Perfection.

It took a minute to really get going, but once it did, I was hooked. I wanted more of Rory & Alice earlier on, but when it hit, it hit. This was a hilarious, heartwarming, wanderlust-inducing rom-com about finding yourself, unexpected friendships, and (obviously) falling for a grumpy Scottish man. If you love travel romances, slow-burn tension, and quirky ensemble casts, you NEED this book!

Now, who wants to go on a literary bus tour with me?

What an utterly charming debut filled with fun, sass, and banter.

Oh my goodness a rom com set in the beautiful Scotland. The chemistry between our main FMC Alice and main MMC Robbie took off pretty quickly from the start. We see this enemies to lovers slow build. I loved Kat's writing style and her personality really shows through her sassy and addicting writing.

All of the side characters are so like-able and I LOVED the side gang of older ladies that are on the bus tour with Alice and Robbie. I was dying on so many scenes in this book. From the first scene of Alice having a meltdown at the airport to the ladies trying to figure out the town that sounded like penis.

I loved how the author organically progressed the relationship between Alice and Robbie. It felt slow burn but the perfect way falling in love should be. I also really loved how we see Alice grow so much within herself and her outlook on life.

I really enjoyed this debut and excited to see book two from Mackenzie!!

Thank you so much to the author and publisher for my gifted copy.

4/5 stars