Thank you @netgalley and @williammorrowbooks for a copy to read that comes out November 17!.
Josh is all set to propose to his girlfriend. Then on the London Eye, when he gets down on one knee she rejects him. In a series of events, he ends up home with his parents, alone and unemployed. He decides that he is not making the best choices so he decides to start to flip a coin to make all his decisions. What does he have to lose!
I’m excited to get more into this one. It is different to have a rom com entirely from the male perspective. As I am reading I’m realizing most books usually are from a female perspective (or at least the ones I have read) 🤷🏻‍♀️. So far it has had me laughing a few times.

The Flip Side
A Novel
by James Bailey
HarperCollins Publishers
You Like Them You Are Auto-Approved
William Morrow Paperbacks
General Fiction (Adult) | Romance | Women's Fiction
Pub Date 17 Nov 2020 | Archive Date 12 Jan 2021

Another new author for me. I think I liked the idea of this book, better than the book. I lost interest after a while and it did not hold my attention. Thanks to HarperCollins Publishers and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.
People who want a light read might like this.
3 star

In one day, Josh lost his girlfriend, his home, and his job. Questioning his capacity to make good decisions, he decided to let the flip of a coin take the guesswork out of things. But when it came to "Sunflower Girl", would Josh trust the coin or his heart?

This book started out with a savage break-up, but it was wrapped up in humor. That was pretty much how the entire book went. Josh was in such a life-limbo. He sort of lost everything and had to start again, but he was stuck. However, through all his "UGH" moments, I was either smiling or laughing, because the book was very amusing. I loved the characters and all their quirks, and the antics and shenanigans often had me laughing out loud. I must admit, though, that it really picked up for me when Josh met Sunflower Girl.

His search for this mystery woman was a real turning point in the story. Running all over Europe looking for her was great and all, but it was also a time of growth for Josh. These experiences and the people he encountered in his search had an impact on him. It was satisfying to see him make some progress in his life. Josh was definitely a different man at the end of the book than he was at the start, and I enjoyed tagging along on his journey.

Things I Loved!

🗺️ Traveling
🙋 Pub quiz
😊 Fantastic friends
🐰 Jeremy
👴 Pap
🤣 So much whimsy and wit
💑 Sweet romance

I had a wonderful time following Josh as he tried to get his life on track. He suffered some losses, failures, and embarrassments, but he also learned a lot, had the support of family and friends, and found "the one". Chuckles and giggles abounded as I read this story which was filled with tons of humor and lots of heart and left me with a smile on my face.

So cute. Exactly what I had hoped it would be. Guy has broken heart and decides to let a coin flip determine the outcome of future decisions for one year. There is some romance, some heartfelt family moments and goofy trivia friends. It was a nice story and having it set in Europe made it even better!!!! I will recommend to fans of happy rom coms!!!

This was cute. It had a fun premise. It didn't hit AS hard as I would have liked for it to in the romance aspect.

He has planned it all, proposing to his longtime girlfriend on the London Eye, has the ring, is down on his knee, and does she say yes? Nope, she turns Josh down, so naturally, he walks away from the relationship both heartbroken and embarrassed. But that wasn’t Josh’s only problem, he also worked for her dad in his hotel’s, so naturally, he lost his job and his apartment along with his girlfriend, and unfortunately finds himself back home living with his parents. He also realizes he is not good at making decisions so he decides to flip a coin for the next year for every decision he has to make.

While in London watching a friend run a marathon, he sneaks into a museum where he meets the girl of his dreams, but as they are in the crowd outside making their way to watch the runners, he loses her in the crowd. He doesn’t know her name or really anything else about her, he only knows that she lives out of the country and works in an English bookstore close to a museum that has one of the five Sunflower paintings by Van Gogh, so she becomes “ Sunflower Girl “ and he is determined to find her. So with the coins approval, and some prize money from a trivia contest him and his friends won, he sets out on an adventure across Europe to find her. His friends even make an Instagram account to help him along the way.

This is James Bailey’s debut novel and it is a great introduction. The thing I liked most about the book was the flip on characters. So many books have the heartbroken girl as the main character. Well, we all know that even the boys occasionally get their heartbroken and it was nice to see that point of view for once. The writing was fantastic, very engaging, and I was completely blown away by the humor in the book, so much so that I found myself more than once laughing out loud at the misadventures Josh got into along the way.

All the characters, from Josh, to his friends, to his family, Sunflower girl, even the odd cast of characters he meets along the way of his adventure are delightful and warm. The Flip Side is a heartwarming story of strong friendships and determination. You will laugh, and you will cry along the way, this book most definitely explores any and every emotion you can imagine in its pages.

The Flip Side by James Bailey follows Josh, whose entire life has just took a surprising turn. He was planning to propose to his longtime girlfriend who he was already living with and working with. When she rejects him, he has to move out, find a new job, and move back in with his parents. Josh decides one day that he is going to make all his decisions from then on with the flip of a coin.

I liked the idea of the coin flip. It’s a fun idea for a rom com.

I have mixed thoughts on the book. It was a sweet concept of a twenty-something year old boy chasing after love — but if I heard of this happening in real life, it’d be creepy.
The writing was ok, the characters were ok, but none of them really stood out to me as a strong character.

I liked the idea of this book more than the actual book. The idea for the plot was good, but the book fell flat for me and I ended up losing interest after awhile.

I really wanted to like this book -- it had such a charming premise & some good comparisons. As it started, I even liked the narrative voice. But I DNF'd the digital ARC at 23%. I just couldn't keep torturing myself with the whiny white guy narrative. I don't need more whiny dude books in my life, thanks.

And if this is truly a "rom-com," the romantic plotline was still missing as of 23%. I generally like to give books a bit longer to warm up for me, but I just can't with this one.

I thought the premise of this book was fun, but I found all of the characters to be unlikable. Sometimes this is the case in the beginning of a book and as the characters develop they grow on you, but not this time.

Josh is having a really rough time. His girlfriend breaks up with him after he proposes to her. He loses his job and moves in with his family. Thankfully he has good friends and a coin that he continues to flip to see his next move. When he meets a pretty girl one day while cheering on a friend, he decides to flip the coin to find her. What will happen when he travels to find this girl that he doesn't know her name! Will it all come together and will his life get any better or keep bringing him down? Was a cute a read that you are rooting for Josh to find what he really wants.

I am not used to reading romantic books with a male narrator, so I was excited to try this one. Unfortunately it left a lot to be desired. I found the main character frustrating and i honestly wasn't even rooting for him in the end. He just seemed boring and unrelatable. I did really like his friends Jessie and Jake and wish there had been even more of them involved in the book!

The Flip Side is a witty and clever story about a man who decides to let the flip of a coin determine his choices after the loss of his job, girlfriend, and apartment in one fell swoop. I found myself giggling throughout the book at the dry humor and funny situations.

This book has a fun premise. It's not often that you find a romance book set solely in the male's perspective. I really liked the idea of the main character flipping a coin to help him make choices in his life.

I didn't like that it didn't really fit my definition of clean. There were scenes where the main character called into adult phone lines. There was lots of drinking, and a little swearing.

The writing was well done. I really felt bad for the character that got dumped as he was proposing to his long time girlfriend, and subsequently lost his job and his living arrangements.

If you like a funny story where fate is left in the hands of a coin, then you will probably like this book. It just wasn't my cup of tea.

I wanted to like this more than I did. In a switch from having the tale of woe of a woman who is dumped and loses her job and apartment all on one day, in this book, it’s the guy. Josh’s girlfriend dumps him right when he had an elaborate marriage proposal planned. So he’s blown a lot of money on a ring and proposal and now lost his job and apartment because he was working for her father and living in her apartment.

So he has to move back home with his parents. He decides that, since he makes bad decisions, he’s going to flip a coin for all future decisions. He then spends almost all of the rest of the book constantly flipping a coin while he remains unemployed and living with his parents. It takes a long time for the love interest to enter the book and by that, I just didn’t care about Josh and his silly coin-flipping. And then she disappears and he has to embark on a search for her across Europe.

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book that I received from Netgalley; however, the opinions are my own and I did not receive any compensation for my review.

This was such a fun British rom com to dive into on a rainy Saturday. I loved the unique set up of using a coin toss to make every decision for him. I really enjoyed all the side characters and would love to spend more time in the world James Bailey created.

This was such a fun read and James Bailey's premise sets up for some truly hilarious moments. I read it in nearly one sitting I was so transfixed! More from James Bailey please!!

James Bailey's debut is the awkward rom-com 2020 needs. The Flip Side opens with our intrepid hero, Josh, proposing to his long-term girlfriend Jade while attempting to celebrate NYE on the London Eye. Unfortunately for Josh, Jade's planning on breaking up with him and leaving him for the older guy she's having an affair with. Rather than finding himself fianced by the end of the night, Josh winds up losing his job, his flat, and his girlfriend.

He moves back in with his parents and decides he's been so bad at making decisions that he will leave all-decision making up to fate for the year by tossing a coin every time he has to make a decision.

This book is laugh-out-loud funny throughout. The dialogue is catchy, and Josh is just hilarious. The side characters really shine in this one, too – particularly Jessie, Pap, Nan, and Josh's mum. I confess it caught me off guard a bit because it doesn't completely follow the romance formula I was expecting, which certainly isn't a bad thing – but it did surprise me. It's more of a contemporary in that it follows Josh's personal journey for the first half, and isn't as all about romance as I was expecting.

Overall a very enjoyable read that needs to be made into a movie. The Flip Side releases in November, and it's sure to be a hit.

The Flip Side was a cute and humorous British Rom-Com! Set in Bristol, main character Josh decided to flip a coin for all his decisions after a break up leaves him single, out of work, and moving back in with his parents. After reading many female protagonist romance novels, it was unique and interesting to read one with a male protagonist. However, I did find the female love interest to be underdeveloped and a bit "manic pixie dream girl-ish". And I would have liked even more insight on Josh's friends and family. That being said I really enjoyed reading this cozy and funny book after a long day. It would make a cute Netflix movie!
Thank you to author James Bailey, HarperCollins Publishers, and William Morrow Paperbacks for an advance reader copy of this book. Reviews are all my own.