My sincere thanks to Avon and Harper Voyager as well as NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read Work In Progress by Kat Mackenzie. I give my unbiased opinion of it in the following review.

Alice Cooper (yes, that is her name) impulsively books a trip to the UK for a literary bus tour. She's always wanted to go there, and she really needs to get away after finding out her boyfriend has been cheating, and her job is no more. Little does she know that the bus tour is for women only and not just any women, but women of the grey haired and full of wisdom variety. There is also the tour director and bus driver Robbie who she had an altercation with at the airport. Let's just say it was pretty much hate at first sight. But since the money has already been spent, Alice decides to go with it and make Robbie's job more difficult every chance she gets. Who knows, it could be fun. Right?

This was a cute book. I loved how Alice became friends with all the ladies and how a few of them kind of took her under their wing. While the banter between Robbie and Alice got too be a little snarky and mean at times, it was fun to see them learn how to be friends while keeping their humor most of the time. There were a lot of literary references, with each chapter heading stating the book the bus tour was exploring at the time and if Alice had read it or not. I was wishing I had photos of the places they were touring. I was not familiar with all of the books referenced so sometimes I felt a little disconnected from the story because I wasn't able to relate to the tour the characters were on. All in all, I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to friends who enjoy a rom com with Scottish or UK setting, or who just love a good rom com.

This overall has a very “Hallmark,” over-the-top, borderline “cringe” feeling throughout. They’re enemies, but there really is no basis for it so it feels a bit like they’re arguing for the sake of arguing. Alice is a bit insufferable and I couldn’t really root for her. Her attitude was off-putting, and it just brought everything down. Overall this just wasn’t for me. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to provide my honest review.

3.5/5 🌟 Big shoutout to NetGalley and Avon for the eARC!

This one took me a bit to get into but once I did, I enjoyed the (bus)ride. Alice is a budding character that was a little to on-the-nose in fairy tale land to begin with, but I suspect that is what author Kat Mackenzie was aiming for. The women of the bus tour added such fun to the story, which made me recall all of the fun times I had with my grandmother's friends growing up!

As for the romance aspect, Alice and Robbie were a totally believable couple, but it was *very* slow goings for me for them to get to that space. At times I found myself enjoying the relationship between Alice and the ladies more than with her and Robbie.

Either way, Mackenzie's debut novel was a good, solid read. Again, thank you to NetGalley and Avon for this one!

When hating each other is a form of foreplay. So many good insults were thrown between Robbie and Alice, I loved their chemistry together. All the quirky ladies in the tour group were fantastic and hilarious. I laughed many times and had a great time. The writing was great it really set the scene into the bus tour throughout the UK.

It took me a little time to get into this because their banter was too close to the line of just being mean, maybe even crossed it a few times but I did eventually get into it and was rooting for our main characters to figure their stuff out. I absolutely loved the setting and now I too want to go on a 3 week tour of the UK with a handsome Scottish bus driver.

This book is absolutely everything to me!!! I am typically an Emily Henry type of girl and I struggle to find books that have the same amount of humor and romantic connection between the characters, but this brought me all of that and more! By the time I finished this, I had happy tears streaming down my face and felt like my soul had just gotten a warm hug.
Now, I've never been to Scotland before, but this book was so descriptive, I almost feel like I really have. It is so rare to find a non-romance book these days that puts so much effort and love into the world-building, but I was so glad that this did because it really made it all the more magical. I absolutely adored every single side character in this as well, and loved that each one of them had their own little quirks and personality.
Don't even get me started on the romance in this... for something with very little spice, there were PLENTY of scenes that had me giggling and kicking my feet!! And the banter!!!! The MMC and FMC start off as enemies (kind of), and the way they argue back and forth is hysterical, especially as you watch their relationship grow.
I think the moral of the story here is that I desperately need to book a three week bus tour of Scotland with a sexy Scottish bus driver and a bunch of older women, because honestly that seems like the perfect solution right now. I am so impressed with this and absolutely cannot believe it is a debut novel (I was devastated when I finished this to learn that there were not MORE Kat Mackenzie books that I could not immediately devour).

Thank you to NetGalley, Avon and Harper Voyager Publishing, and Kat Mackenzie for this ARC!

This was a fun read with colourful cast of characters (loved our eclectic mix of older ladies). Decent chemistry between our two leads Alice And Robbie, though I did find some of the bickering a little childish. Overall an enjoyable read 3.5 🌟

The premise and idea of this one was super cute to me - unfortunately it fell pretty flat.

I struggled to get invested in the characters and story - it was too dialogue heavy and all felt pretty obvious. I just wanted it be better.

Thank you Avon and Harper Voyager as well as NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book! All opinions are my own.

First let me say that I absolutely adored Work in Progress. It is a perfect travel romance full of fun banter, lots of mishaps and the sweetest happily ever after.

Being impulsive is not Alice’s strong suit but when her life starts to fall apart she decides that the only way to face it is by leaving her comfort zone behind and embarking on an epic adventure -- a three week, all-female, literary bus tour across Scotland. But nothing could prepare Alice for the worst travel day of her life, the destroyed luggage, the rickety old bus she is expected to travel on, the seasoned travel companions who are far from the jet-setting thirty-somethings pictured on the website, and the tour guide who is nothing short of infuriating. Determined to see things through, Alice chooses to take a leap of faith and is rewarded with a life-changing experience that she will never forget.

You know that I love a good slow burn romance but it was the relationship that Alice formed with the women on her journey that won my heart. My favorite scene in the book was when in honor of Alice’s birthday each of the women told a story about a time in their lives when things didn’t go as planned. Their stories and the connections made were so heartfelt and beautiful. As Alice says, “There was so much wisdom there, so much laughter and pain and so many things that I wanted to write in my notebook and never forget.”

This book was such an amazing gift and I will absolutely be running out to get a physical copy for my shelves. If travel romances are your thing, then this one is a must read!

Quotes that had me

“I was going to Eat, Pray, Love the crap out of this! But rather than mediation and moderation in an ashram in India somewhere, I chose tea, castles, and book chat in Britain.

“Happiness comes from within, so fill yourself up”

“I fell forward into their stories, feeling their joys and sorrows along with them: my friends, my role models. Then I gathered each one into a hug and tried to press all my gratitude into them”

“Still healing -- yes. Still a mess -- maybe. But a beautiful mess who was learning to adapt, who was learning to take life for all it had to offer, to be able to learn from the hardships and move on.”

Read if you like

Slow burn
Travel romance
Enemies to loves
Amazing characters
Found family
Forced proximity
Mostly closed door spice
Main character growth

thank you to the publisher for an arc and alc!

it’s crazy how i’m finding so many scottish romances months before my trip with my bestie… coincidence?? i think not!!

i absolutely loved a work in progress: from the literary tour with a gaggle of super cool older women (and a dog!), thrifting after our fmc’s whole suitcase gets pooped on…, and of COURSE our beautiful scottish mmc who is the literary tour’s guide, how could i not eat it up?

while a work in progress was definitely a romcom, it had so much depth thanks to the cast of characters sharing their lives and lessons.

the one thing i could have done less with was our fmc alice being petty towards the mmc robbie… like enough, he wants you babe 🙄✋🏼

as for the audio, the narrator did a fantastic job!

the premise was very interesting, unfortunately the main character was probably was one of the most annoying and immature main characters I've ever encountered. she was infuriating and not in a good sense, I gave her a chance for a few chapters but I just couldn't keep going. she just felt like the embodiment of the stereotype of american tourists abroad that want things to go their way.

Thoroughly enjoyable debut! The FMC’s voice was saturated with humorous internal and external sassy comments and reflections, which grabbed my attention well from the outset. I would call this a cozy enemies to lovers since they were more adversaries without any truly contentious feuds other than the initial meet cute/misunderstanding. The character’s depth was revealed throughout the plot well, and wove in their core struggles effectively. I loved the Scottish setting, which felt immersive.
I gave the spice 2/5, but there was fun sneaking around mixed in.
Lastly, I LIVED FOR the cast of assorted wacky grandma figures!!

ugh this was such a dream!! an absolute love letter to thr UK, the setting was so visceral i truly felt like i was along for the ride and dare i say she leans more on the women’s fiction side with a hint of romance? best genre confirmed >>

Behold my fellow enemies-to-lovers stans. This book is going to dethrone all your previous ones in this trope & become no. 1.

Alice makes the first impulsive decision of her life - booking a flight to the UK for a three-week, all-female, literary bus tour. What could possibly go wrong? A- an arrogant, smug travel guide B- fellow passengers over the age of 50!

Wow. I can't express how deeply satisfying I found this book to be. This story reminded me so much of Leap Year, the movie & Gigi, Listening by Chantel Guertin; 2 of my absolute favorites.

Alice's nourney of self-discovery was amazing. But what was even more amazing was the chemistry between her & Robbie. Top tier banter paired with sizzling chemistry made them my favorite couple ever. I mean, despite being closed-door romance, this managed to be hot af. I loved each & every scene of them together.

I appreciated the character development throughout & I adored the side characters so much. They were such an important part of the story, with each of them contributing something. I'm gonna think about this one for DAYS.

<i>Thank you Netgalley and publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.<i>

3.5 stars

Overall, I enjoyed Work in Progress. I loved the premise and liked the characters for the most part. I loved the group of old ladies the most. They brought warmth to the story and provided a lot of hilarity. I adored the main hero, Robbie, who was a sweetheart. There was a lot of miscommunication between Alice and Robbie, which I didn't love, and I was often baffled by Alice's behavior. Lastly, all the literary references made my bookloving heart happy. Work in Progress is a solid romance debut. I am glad I read it.

For any woman in their mid 20s to 30s who feel lost. 4.5 ⭐️

Alice Cooper has had a tough few months. In an effort to find herself and escape her wallowing, she books a 3 week tour of the UK! Books, food, history and female friendship? Just what Alice needs! Except when she turns up, it’s a gaggle of old ladies and the rudest grumpiest Scotsman as a tour guide. Things don’t always go to plan, but sometimes life is what happens when we’re busy making plans.

Thoughts and Spoilers:

I ADORED this book. It took me a little bit to get into (mostly because I’ve been on a fantasy kick right now) but once I was in I was struggling to put it down. This book was genuinely hilarious to me. The amount of times I was silently shaking with laughter trying not to wake up the boyf? Too many times to count! The dynamics between Alice and Robbie was so fun. The witty flirty banter and verbal sparring? Every time she made up another name to call him I cackled. Though I’m usually a fan of dual POV, I loved that this was only in Alice’s POV because as the reader you sense the longing from Robbie but can tell that Alice is a little clueless to how deep Robbie feels. Plus Alice’s internal monologue is genuinely hilarious! In regards to Alice feeling lost or behind cause life hasn’t gone to plan, I thought her journey was so beautiful. Slowly finding happiness in unexpected ways and finding herself again.

The found family aspect with Alice and the ladies was especially lovely! Alice doesn’t dive too deep into her own family life and relationship with her mom, but you can sense that she needs more support and she gets it from all these quirky characters! I also find sometimes when authors write characters from different countries/cultures, they can become a caricature, but I didn’t feel that way while reading this and I say that as an American dating a man from the UK! I may also be biased cause of my relationship but I swear some parts of this book, was like looking inside my brain!

Thank you Harper Collins and NetGalley for an ARC! All opinions are my own!

This is a really fun, enemies to lovers rom-com with an entertaining storyline and laugh-out-loud banter. When Alice needs a fresh start, she books a literary bus tour through the UK. But instead of the hip 20-somethings she's expecting, she finds a group of octogenarians and a hot bus driver. I especially loved the other women on the tour and wish there had been more time getting to know them. Thanks to Netgalley and Avon for the advance digital copy!

This has such a strong opening. I love when travel-frazzled Alice Cooper “meets” the snarky, Scottish man, Robbie, in the airport. All she wants is to start her three week UK vacation, but nothing is going as she planned. Instead of being on a bus tour with people her own age, she finds herself with a bunch of elderly women led by…who else…the rude Robbie!

Alice and Robbie’s chemistry just jumps off the page. So good. They have the perfect banter, too. I enjoyed their blossoming love story. It is very believable. Plus, the meddling, but sweet older ladies and their stories and advice are all wonderful.

Thank you to Avon Books for the advanced readers copy and final copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A warm, sexy, laugh-out-loud rom-com about a woman who, desperate for a fresh start, books a literary bus tour across the UK that consists of a lively group of elderly ladies plus one infuriatingly handsome Scottish driver. - from Amazon

Sometimes a book comes along and you don't know you need it until it is read or listened to, this is one of those books. I laughed out loud several times and said oh no a couple of times. It was a great, easy, fast read and I enjoyed it so much! The characters are ones you want to meet and become best friends with. Not to mention the trip itself, that is something I need to add to the bucket list! Not the oh no parts, just the fun getting to know these women parts. Thank you Kat Mackenzie for writing a book I needed to read. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

I was totally torn about this book! The premise was really fun and overarching themes and setting complimented the romance. I giggled a lot and had a great time, there were just some things I couldn’t look past that made me really think about how I would rate this book.

The setting and adventures that took place in the story were fun and exciting! I love everything travel related, especially travel related romance, and this bus tour was a whole adventure. I’m a classical literature fan so imagining myself on a literature related bus tour through the U.K. with this crew was a treat in itself. The pacing was perfect for a travel novel, we spent a decent amount of time in each place and it never felt rushed as travel romances sometimes do.

The secondary cast of characters were a hoot and I loved that they were all little old ladies. It was really heartwarming to see how they embraced Alice and how they shared their wisdom with her. One of my favorite things about this book was when Alice would have a bonding moment with one of the ladies that provided her with some insight on where her life was heading or what she should do next.

Unfortunately I just couldn’t get over how immature our lead Alice came off from the first chapter. She’d get mad over the silliest things and pouted a lot which made it a challenge to relate to her. I think this was a missed opportunity for character growth from her. I would’ve loved to have seen her character mature over the span of the novel but it seemed like she never really grew up. I’m also not a big fan of the miscommunication trope, and there was A LOT of that happening here. Way too many assumptions on Alice’s part!

The ending was really cute and tied the story up in a nice bow, which I did enjoy. I loved that I wasn’t sure who she would end up with at the end of the book. I could’ve seen it going a few different ways and was rooting SO hard for one particular character to end up with her! I won’t spoil the ending but I did love the little bit of suspense at the end.

Thank you NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager- Avon for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!