I honestly loved this book, but it's not the type of light, fun read I was expecting. There's sexual assault. There's loss and sadness. There's some xenophobia. The overall tone is more serious than Ranald's other works. Maybe that's not a surprise - the author's note at the end said she was writing it during the pandemic. So I get it. It's hard to be funny right now.

Alice grows as a person and finds herself and that's lovely. There's a great cast of supporting characters. If you're looking for an interesting, heart-warming work of women's fiction, this is the book for you. But if you want something light and funny, go re-read Out with the Ex.

TRIGGER WARNING: this book contains a sexual assualt
Alice has her career and love life sorted. But an allegation about her boss results in her losing her job. She immediately falls into a new role in a rundown pub, earning a pittance but much happier. Until her boyfriend Joe suggests they take in a lodger to help with the rent. Only problem is that he want his ex Zoe to move in...
As it turns out, Alice's life wasn't so perfect before. Her new permanent job was a result of a sexual assault that she was too scared to report and never told Joe about. This is gradually revealed over the course of the book and is a dramatic element that contrasts with the light hearted tone of the rest of the book.
Our sympathy is immediately with Alice as she tries to negotiate a change in career as well as her fears for her relationship with the arrival of Zoe. It is easy to identify with Alice's doubts about trusting Joe and Zoe but there is also a potential love entanglement for Alice which muddies the moral absolutes.
The plot is delivered through a humorous narrative which feels very natural and easy to read. The characters are all interesting and engaging. Despite the sexual assault, the majority of Just Saying is warm and feelgood, entertaining and enjoyable. The happy ending for a certain peripheral character left a tear in my eye...

This is an okay book. I wasn’t thrilled with it on a couple of points. I was expecting a more carefree read and it was a bit darker than I was expecting.

this was a fast, easy read. just saying is my first read by Sophie Ranald and i'll definitely be interested in reading more from her. i related a lot to some things in the story, but i did found some others to be bit off.

Ok the one thing I found irritating in this book is how much they all spend in pubs and drinking, and drinking, and drinking.
Alice is living with Joe and madly in love. She lost her job and so ends up working at the local pub.
While her and Joe are out they bump into his ex and not to long after that Joe tells Alice that the ex, Zoe needs a place to stay and can she be their roommate. Well I would have said HELL NO. But oh no Alice says yes and that was another of her mistakes. Later on we learn Alice has a secret and what happened to her was wrong but again , drinking was involved. I am not surprised Joe doesn't call her out for being an alcoholic. I mean really every single day. This was getting old real fast.
I received the ARC from NetGalley and Bookouture for review.

It's somewhere between 3-3.5*.
I enjoyed the book quite a lot, although if you'll expect something very funny and very romantic, this won't be it.
The romantic plot is a little bit different from what I'm used to read about in these kind of books - Alice and Joe are already together and happy in love.. or are they? Will their relationship survive Joe's ex Zoe living with them? Soo it's not about falling in love but how to stay together even when your significant other is going through a change. And as I said in the beginning - we don't get many romantic or sexy scenes, but I didn't mind it much.
Instead you get a lot of British words and slang :D.

My favorite parts were from when Alice was in the pub, working, meeting others, etc. I also liked most of the characters, except for Zoe.

There are many subplots in the story, one of them containing theme of sexual assault, so be warned if this is something you don't want to read about in your light-hearted rom-com (which I totally understand). From my point of view it was handled quite fairly but it's true it felt out of nowhere.
The ending was very quick.

Very much enjoyed this, Ranald is going from strength to strength. Great characters, fantastic dialogue, good plot. A fabulous, light summer read.

This sounded like the perfect easy Summer read and it was a good Summer read. I enjoyed the writing style and thought everything was paced really well so it was enjoyable and nothing felt too slow or rushed. I liked the characters, but felt one in particular was prone to self-blame where I felt she could have stood up for herself a little more (as I personally prefer however it did fit where the storyline ended up going).
But, it did feel a little cluttered sometimes - i thought there was too many small side-storylines that felt a little distracting or unnecessary and a few of them didn't feel totally wrapped up at the end.
I was really drawn to the cover of the book; but, the tagine and picture didn't end up fitting the story at all to me.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the e-arc of this book!

In this book we follow Alice as her world does a 180 twist.
She has a great job in a law firm, doing rotations in the different areas and she has been offered a permanent job. She has a lovely boyfriend, Joe, who she loves and who loves her back. They live in a nice apartment in London’s suburbs.
But one day, Alice loses her job and that weekend, they run into Zoe, Joe’s ex girlfriend. When Zoe finds herself in the need of an apartment to live in, Alice and Joe think it would be a great idea for Zoe to move in with them, to save some money from rent.
She starts working in a pub just to have something to do during the day, and she kind of falls in love with it.
Problems not only start appearing at home, but also at the pub and, as she thinks, almost every aspect of her life.
She will have to do a lot to get out of that hole she is living in.

The writing style was lovely, and even though i started reading it thinking that it was going to be all about Alice, Joe and Zoe’s relationship, that ended up being kind of the background of the story, and it was a kind surprise.

It jumps from the present to the past a lot, and that is something i don’t usually like, but in this book was well used and it gave a little extra spicy to the whole thing.

Oh, want a fun read. I knew that I will like this book as soon as I saw it and I am glad that I got approved for it. It was such a fun read. Modern settings and relatable characters. Each character has its own flaw but they carried it gracefully. They were just so relatable. It was a perfect blend of emotions, romance, jealousy (that comes under emotion I realized, but I loved the J-Factor and omg, it was so so fun) and humor. Do read if you want some fun read and take a break from monotonous life!

I was given this ARC by netgalley and publisher for honest review and opinion.
Three is a company but what about 4?
Alice meets Joe the perfect bf for her. They have a great relationship going on and she believes that nothing can go wrong in it.
Until one day they run into Zoe, Joe's ex. Something is up with them but she can't figure out what. Not wanting it to ruin the relationship they go on only for Zoe to reach out to Joe because she needs a place to stay.
Two goes to 4 quickly when Zoe moves in with her cat.
Alice finds that now she is competing with her to keep joe because everything about alice is showing that she is perfect.

This book was a little more serious than the cover leads you to believe. Alice gets assaulted at work by her boss and loses her licence to practice law. Because she needs $$ for rent, she starts bartending when her boyfriend Joe suggests his ex Zoe moves in with them to help with rent. Jealousy and self-doubt ensues as Alice discovers how perfect Zoe appears to be.

I thought this was an interesting book with some unexpected twists and turns.

It's about Alice, a lawyer-in-training, and how her life evolves into something completely different than her original plan. She's got a great boyfriend -- Joe -- who is kind and thoughtful and loves to surprise her with romantic gestures. She's got a great job working at one of the city's best law firms, and although she's still in the midst of rotation training throughout the firm's various departments, she's already been selected for a permanent position in the Intellectual Property (IP) department. She has a great little apartment with Joe in a nice area where they are close to restaurants, pubs, shops and grocery stores.

The author--Sophie Ranald--paints a picture of a perfect life at the beginning, but there's more here than meets the eye. Based on the promotional copy for the book, I thought I was in for a lighthearted and whimsical feel-good story. But a deeper issue lies underneath the story's outward appearance. An issue that slowly unfolds throughout the book.

We get a hint at the issue when Alice's perfect world comes tumbling down on the day she's called into the HR Department at her work and told that her position within the IP Department is no longer available, since the head of the department -- the man who offered her the position -- is being investigated for alleged indiscretions. She's invited to continue with the training program, but Alice knows that even if she continues to train, she won't have a job at the law firm, as all of the open positions have already been assigned to other trainees. In a daze, she leaves and wanders the streets toward her home, ending up at a redneck pub called the Nag's Head. This lowbrow, rough-and-tumble pub is the exact opposite of Alice's usual preference -- she and Joe usually hang out at the more sophisticated and polished bars frequented by young professionals like themselves.

Alice doesn't realize how much that stop for a beer at the Nag's Head will propel her destiny into another direction. A direction that makes her question her desire to work in the legal profession, her relationship with Joe, his true feelings for her (when his first love reappears in his life), and what she really wants to do with her life.

This book has been categorized as a "romantic comedy" but I think that's misleading. Yes, some of the book is funny. But to me, it didn't read as a lighthearted comedy. The situation that forced Alice from her job at the legal firm isn't a laughing matter, and the fallout on her emotions probably shouldn't be played down with lighthearted banter. She struggled with feelings of inadequacy and shame throughout the book. She questioned whether she was over-reacting. She was afraid to talk with anyone about the situation, including her boyfriend. She was able to work through it and find a new self-worth by diving into her job at the Nag's Head pub, but she suffered through it by herself, as I imagine most women in her place would also do.

She overcame, but I wonder how many women don't?

For me, I think it was a weird juxtaposition -- the idea of comedy against the earth-shattering incident that happened to Alice. The story was good and it is uplifting to see how Alice overcomes her self-esteem issues as a result of the incident. But, I wish that it wasn't tagged as a ' 'lighthearted read' and 'romantic comedy.' Those are misleading taglines. Readers expecting a breezy, upbeat romantic comedy might be disappointed because of the darker undertone of this story.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review of this book.

The most salient quality of this book, to me, was how real the characters felt. I wouldn't say I have been through similar situations but I could imagine myself in such a context and behaving like the protagonist did. I also liked that Alice, our main character, was self-aware of her flaws.

The author writes about relationships, personal growth but also deals with more intense issues. For example, she handled the #metoo movement quite well. Not to forget, the book is quite funny too!

Do not go into it thinking it's just a light-hearted romantic comedy - it has its dark moments too.

It's not the best book I read this year but I don;t regret reading it either.

I loved this book.

It took me back to my barmaid days, a great read with a feeling of nostalgia. Some of my best days were spent working in the pubs and this book had me wrapped up in those days.

Great summer feel good read.

An easy breezy read that was perfect for a day off from work. I enjoyed the story and the main character. The writing was fun, and I recommend this for a summer beach day!

Alice Carlisle's life is all starting to fall into place. She is on track to qualify as a solicitor with a job already secured at the end of her training. Dating Joe (also a trainee solicitor), living together and looking forward to the future. Sure the hours are long and Alice's heart isn't 100% in law but it's a respectable job.

A scandal at work involving her future boss leaves Alice without a job to go to once her training is over. It appears that Gordon has been sexually harassing female staff members and is currently under investigation. **Trigger warning for sexual assault references and the #MeToo movement**. Alice leaves after a meeting with HR to discuss her future which leaves her feeling shocked and overwhelmed. A passerby comes to her aid as she makes her way home and takes her for a sweet sherry. She ends up staying all afternoon and helping out behind the bar.

Whilst bar work might not have been what she had in her life plan, she is finding it more fulfilling than her time training to be a solicitor. With a drop in income, Joe suggests that they get a lodger to cover her share whilst she thinks about what she would like to do in the future. One problem, a big problem actually... It's Joe's ex-girlfriend from Uni, someone that he once loved - would he fall back in love with her whilst they are under the same roof.

I liked that the book touched on Alice having problems in most areas of her life, just like the rest of us. Although, whilst it was an easy-ish story to follow, I wasn't enthralled enough to want to see what happened next.

I was kinda disappointed that this wasn’t filled with humor as i expected. I also really didn’t like the idea of cheating on your significant other so i was kinda dreading it to happen.

But the writing style in this was nice, i wish i liked the story more

Couldn’t get along with it, posted an extract for the tour instead felt different to what the blurb described! Ended up not finishing it unfortunately just not my thing!

I loved this book!! Alice is let go from her lawyer job and decides to help out at a local pub. As she works at the pub more she adores it more. At the same time her boyfriend Joe runs into an old girlfriend, Zoe, and after talking with Alice, Zoe moves in with them because she needs a place to stay. Alice is suspicious of Zoe’s intentions. Joe and Alice run tin a bit of a rough spot as Joe can’t understand why Alice does not want to go back working as a lawyer and Alice becomes more emotionally invested in the pub.

The story is told from Alice’s point of view and for the most part is in the present. There is something haunting her from her past that has flashbacks throughout the story. I loved the feel and the writing of this book. I could picture the story happening in my head as I read it. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves Sophie Kinsella books. You will not be disappointed in this amazing book!