Cover Image: The Gin Lover's Guide to Dating

The Gin Lover's Guide to Dating

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Member Reviews

A pleasant, easy reading story set mostly around a gin bar in a hotel.

Liv has recently lost her PR job, having expected a promotion but instead been shown the door due to a management reshuffle.  She has trouble finding a new job but ends up accepting a job from an old boss she bumps into by accident, who now runs a 5-star hotel and is looking for additional staff to work behind the bar in his new gin bar.

I did find Liv a bit immature at times, she was supposedly a high-powered career driven sort of person, but had no idea about money or how much she did/didn't have in her account and seemed to just spend money without thinking about it, until she lost her job and had a bit of a shock.  Her friend, Dylan, who is always around, was a bit more grounded than her, but they'd both come from quite a hard upbringing in the same estate.

I enjoyed the second half more than the first, and once Liv started an online blog (with lovely gin recipes!) and started to change the direction of where she thought she wanted to be in life the story got more interesting.  The hotel/bar characters were great - I felt very sorry for Josh, who Liv didn't treat very well, and really loved Spanish Reyes, who worked in the bar with Liv, she was a warm and very funny character.  Most of the characters were interesting but I just couldn't really warm to Liv, which was unfortunate as she was the main character!

It did finish a little bit too abruptly for me, but there could definitely be a sequel in the life of Liv to see what she gets up to next.  A pleasant, easy read.

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This was an awesomely cute and comical book. I was it all in a weekend and loved how you could just indulge yourself in it. Liv is a very likeable and relatable character and you find yourself willing her to succeed.

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Here is a great laugh out loud book, it’s well written and story is well put together.
Thank you to both NetGalley and Orion publishers for gifting me this book

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A solid romance novel by a very talented author. I felt the main characters were smart and capable and really cared about their fate. Very well written and insightful.

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I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

So though I'm not a fan of gin this book sounded like it could be pretty fun and it was certainly an enjoyable read. The characters were fun and they did feel pretty real.

But it wasn't perfect. The blurb talks of the blog on dating but it didn't appear in the book until almost halfway through. And the romance was even later than that. I didn't struggle to get to that point as the friendships and everything else were good but it wasn't quite what I expected.

Still, this book was a clever little grab from the recent gin trend and I'll definitely recommend it!

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This book has more ups and downs than a yoyo. However, all the way through you are rooting for the MC as she peels off the layers of her childhood, navigates a new work role and finds time to date and run a blog. Modern life is exhausting!

There's delicious Gin recipes to enjoy and plenty of great supporting characters. I must admit I did guess the twist but this in no way distracted from the enjoyment as it all unfolded to the climax. Enjoyable.

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Be warned - YOU WILL WANT COCKTAILS WHEN READING THIS BOOK! Not because it's a bad book and you need something to help you get through it! But because of the drinks mentioned in this book. Have a bottle of gin nearby! I thought this book was the perfect book for a girly book club that spend more time on the wine then discussing characters! It's easy to read and engaging so should be a winner.

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Three and a half stars.

Liv has a high-flying job in PR and marketing until she is made redundant following a merger at her firm. It turns out that the job market has got a lot tougher in Edinburgh since she got her dream job and desperate to save her home she gets a job at a swanky hotel in the gin bar. A keen observer of others Liv finds the customers an endless source of entertainment and uses her powers to 'read' their behaviour. When her BFF from the estate suggests she tries to monetise her observations in a blog Liv begins to intersperse her observations on her customers with recipes for delicious gin cocktails.

I devoured this feel-good novel with cocktails on a business trip to Stockholm, apart from an insane desire for a delicious gin cocktail I found this a great escapist romance. I thought the romance was a bit obvious but I liked Liv trying to decide between the seriously hot toy-boy and her online commentator - style over substance.

Overall, if you like a good cocktail and a funny romance then I think you'll love this - at the very least you'll get some recipes for lush gin cocktails!

I received a free copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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