The Beginning of Everything was an enjoyable read. I would recommend any book written by Jackie Fraser. Happy Reading!

I received an ARC of this book courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and given freely.

This was not an easy book (surprised in this day and age there was no content warning), but it was warm and beautiful. I won't summarize the plot, but this will resonate with readers looking a story about second chances in life and love.

I'd like to thank Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Dell for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I think that if I could change anything about this book it would be the pacing. It was a little slow and I could lose interest at times.

The things I loved was the age and maturity of the MC's. It's about starting over. Getting out of bad relationships and making a new life for yourself. I think being the same age as the MC's is what endeared me to this book and them so much. It is a sweet romance. Definitely a take it slow kind of romance.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book, even though my review is ~3 weeks late 😅

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The writing style was different. Very frazzled. It really seemed like I was in Jess’ head and listening to her thoughts. But I still loved it.

It’s not often that you read about a 40-something year old woman that flees an abusive relationship, sleeps in a cemetary overnight, breaks into a home & stays there for 6 weeks until she gets caught by the homeowner, and him allowing her to stay!

Landlord/lodger to lover? One roof? It’s not quite a Second chance romance.. it’s more like they both got their second chance at love after leaving bad relationships. I love how they were friends first, and fell gradually, cautiously. I love how patient Gethin was. He was just so incredibly KINDDDD. It was almost unfathomable how kind he was, but that’s what makes him a book boyfriend 😅

Overall, 4/5 stars. Loved it.

Trigger Warnings: abusive relationships, mental health, briefly touches on topics of drugs.

I'm not often a friends to lovers fan but when Jackie Fraser delivers, I will gladly accept and adore every moment of it. Fraser crafts characters that are so emotionally vulnerable and real feeling. The struggles that both our characters face in their past and present work together to bring these two together in such a wholesome way.

I loved that are leading lady (and dude) was in her forties and not so young, I think adding to the middle-age characters needs to be more prevalent in the romance genre. It's cozy, feel good, and wholesome. The growth of strangers to friends was so beautiful to watch and the romance blossomed quite naturally and didn't feel forced. This is certainly an emotional read and guarantees a beautiful ending that leaves your heart bursting.

This story was unexpectedly good. Two lost people, one emotionally and one physically, end up finding themselves in each other. The story wasn't exciting or fast paced, but instead felt a lot like the cover, a slow, cozy read that made you want to savor the gentle flavor. I'll definitely be reading more by this author.

A super cute read that had me pulled in and entertained from the jump. Not my typical genre of preference, which is why I couldn't give it a 4 or 5 stars, because while it was a capturing read, it didn't blow me out of my seat or anything. I think this can be made for most audiences, and something to read if you're in a slump or need a break from heavier reads/series.

The cover definitely doesn’t match the heaviness that was in this story. It dealt a lot with depression and domestic abuse, two topics that hit an emotional button for many. But not only that, Jess, the FMC, is very flat. She just has no joy, excitement, happiness to her - she’s almost like a drifter so to speak. She’s also very, very trusting, which is highly unbelievable in today’s society, but a quirk about her that I wasn’t super excited about. Overall, not the worst book, but definitely not a happy, fluffy read. Thanks for the opportunity to read!

This is a wonderful woman's read, and I think it would be popular among a bookclub. This is a slower paced book, but for all the right reasons. It's not a book you sit and just read in one sitting. You read, you analyze, you discuss.. which again is why I think bookclubs would love this. There is tons of character development which is a redeeming quality for a book for me. It wasn't my favorite read, but it has heavy topics so I give it grace.

I don't know what I was expecting with this book, but I enjoyed the kindness that was exhibited throughout. I think the first reaction to someone squatting on your property is anger, not showing kindness and offering to let them stay there. Gethin recognized that Jess was struggling and needed support, and he was willing to offer that to her. Of course spending that much time with someone is going to lead to feelings, so the romance was not unexpected. I would have preferred that they just stayed friends, and I was not expecting to read a romance novel. But the ending was nice and sweet and I appreciate that their feelings were developed over an extended time, rather than an instant love.

I'm not sure this book was for me, personally. I wasn't a huge fan of the romance budding between someone who broke into someone else's house and was squatting there. It almost felt stockholm syndrome ish to me.

However, I do appreciate the importance of the abusive relationship and homelessness topics. It gives you a greater appreciation for what you have and how you can possibly help others.

I really liked this book, it was different than anything else I've read which was a breath of fresh air. I will be recommending this to my friends, and auto buy this author!

This sort of had everything I wasn't interested in. Cheating - an abuse victim immediately trusting someone after surviving abuse. It just didn't really click. Was it cute? Yes if we took away those aspects, but it felt like a lot of it was just a rant without any back bone. It's emotionally heavy, and I usually do enjoy those types of books, but it really wasn't done super well in my opinion.

This book, for me, was beautiful and heartfelt but not exactly my cup of tea. It was a stunning story about love and life and hope and resilience, but something about it just didn’t work.

The story has us watch two complete strangers renovate a house, become friends, have deep meaningful conversations and eventually fall in love, which was all very sweet and fun to read about. I think it just felt a little unbelievable at times and the writing was a little boring and too slow burn for me. I wanted to love it but sadly just liked it (and not even a whole lot).

I'm not really sure if it was a wrong time wrong book or if I just read this when I was sick and wasn't feeling it that much. Either way, I didn't love it as much as I would have liked. Yes, this did have some good, hard topics in it, which I did like. But I just felt like it could have been done a little better. I was bored a majority of the book, pretty much until the ending. If you are looking for a women's fiction read with a little romance, then you might be interested in it, but I wasn't in the mood for another one after just having finished one the day before.

Jess is running away from everything and would rather live in deplorable conditions than continue in the life that she's currently living with an abusive partner. When she finds an empty home near the cemetery she has been sleeping in and close to her job, she decides to squat there until she can afford to rent a room or find somewhere else to live. Her plans all change when the owner of the house finds her. She runs away in this instance as well and expects not even to be able to recover her belongings, but instead, she meets Gethin, who helps her by offering her his home. In their proximity, Jess and Gethin develop feelings for each other, even though they might not initially realize this. Ultimately, it boils down to this: will Jess keep her past from letting her live her life fully? It's a moving, interesting and thought-provoking romance of a victim of relationship abuse. It shows that she can move on and that it can be better.

The Beginning of Everything touched my heart. . Jess and Gethin became my close friends and I only wanted what was best for them. It started with Jess being on the run and hiding her past life. What could be so horrible that you can’t even tell friends where you are? And then her luck of stumbling upon Gethin’s house and him totally accepting her without questions. Watching their journey was the best part of my days.

This was such a memorable and heartwarming book! I loved the characers & themes including slow burn, starting over, friendships, healing, resilience, and hope. Despite the obvious generational difference in the characters to myself I was very connected to them. This story had me on an emotional rollercoaster. I would highly recommend this book to anyone.

I really, really wanted to like this. There’s nothing WRONG with it, but I just couldn’t get into it. No one had any personality and it didn’t catch my attention.

The Beginning of Everything by Jackie Fraser is the story of Jess and Gethin who are both in need a new start as the story begins. Many would find it difficult to believe that Gethin would just offer a stranger a place to stay but hey it's called fiction people! I enjoyed the lead characters and their personal journeys as well as their journey together. The author has a nice way of story telling and I will read future books.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the advance copy of this book. The Beginning of Everything is available now.