The Love Square by Laura Jane Williams is the story of Penny, who is unlucky in love until she finds herself meeting three different men, all interested in dating her. I enjoyed that this book was a twist on a love triangle. It was both funny and sweet, and an overall enjoyable read. I liked reading about Penny's interactions with each of the men and seeing how different each relationship was. I also really appreciated the infertility representation in the novel. I loved Penny's back story, and that she was a strong and independent character who felt real. The pace of the story was good, but I thought that it took too long for Penny to decide how her happily ever after would look. Additionally, the scene transitions in the novel were a little abrupt and I did have to re-read a few sections because I the change was disruptive to my reading. I would recommend this book if you are looking for a light romantic comedy with a strong heroine or if you are a fan of books with love triangles.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon for this ebook. This did not affect the contents of my voluntary review. All opinions are honest and my own.

This was an awesome read. Fast-paced but still well developed. I loved the exploration of different types of romantic relationships. I have already recommended to friends!

I had a very hard time getting into this and DNF-ed at/around 100 pages. I struggled with remembering the characters and investing in the plot, and eventually decided to set it aside.

This was definitely not my cup of tea. Penny was an annoying character and I wasn't impressed by the handling of the other love interest. Also, didn't enjoy all the app talk. It dates your books authors. That app won't always be popular.

Life can be messy.
I enjoyed this book. It was unexpectedly different to the contemporary works out there. I give mad respect to the author for taking the risks she took. I think the book accomplished what it set out to. I think the take away for me was no matter how messy life can get its only temporary and if you keep striving to find your own happiness you will eventually get there. In the meantime enjoy the journey.

Started off on a great note. The way the main characters was cute and how their romance progressed felt natural. However, when the "love square" situation arose, I was not a big fan. A lot of the characters' actions and words seemed out of character. How the story was resolved was satisfactory. My only issue was with the climax. I feel there was enough conflict without adding two other love interests for the main character. Left a lot to be desired.

Loved the dynamic between the characters - was a fun, quick easy read, though the plot could have been a bit more engaging.

The Love Square started out so well. I loved Penny’s character and felt I could relate to her. The second half of the book fell flat for me. I didn’t like Penny’s treatment of the men in her life, and it didn’t feel realistic. I felt like I needed to find out whom she would chose so I finished the book. I liked the writing and would certainly read another book by Laura Jane Williams.

Thank you to Laura Jane Williams, Harper 360, Avon, and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Penny Bridge has had too many bad dates, too many scrubs who just want to hook up, and too many guys who aren't interested in a long-term, serious relationship. She's a 30-year-old breast cancer survivor and chef who owns her own adorable London cafe, and she's ready to move on from dating guy after guy to settle down, have a baby, and get serious with her life. But guys haven't been getting this message.

One day, Penny's normal bread supplier is out sick, and a handsome Italian man delivers her bread instead, dropping his number and waiting for Penny to call him. After discovering that he's a renowned pastry chef, they strike up a whirlwind romance that's practically perfect in every way, from the food to the sex to the lazy snuggling days. But events ensue and Penny eventually has to say goodbye to him, her cafe, and London to help run her father-figure's pub in the English countryside. There, she meets a showy, sexy blonde guy who grew up in the same small town as Penny, but is now the tour manager for some of music's biggest names, including Penny's all-time favorite, Lizzo. After he has to say goodbye and get back on the road, Penny strikes up a romance with the pub's wine supplier, a divorced and great-in-bed Indian guy. So, who is Penny going to pick?

Strong Mamma Mia vibes here. No, there's no grown-up daughter searching for her dad, but there are three handsome men, all different in their own ways, competing for our main character's affections. Mamma Mia does a considerably better job at making you guess who might be the winner - in this book, it's blindingly obvious from the very start. I didn't even like the other two options, either as characters or as love interests.

She meets all three of these people within a very short time span. I guess that's what makes it more interesting - that she immediately has to choose one (also, why wasn't there an option to just choose no one??) - but I almost prefer the way it's done in Mamma Mia or Definitely, Maybe - where the main characters meets three different people during a different time in his or her life, where they're more shaped by the circumstances of what's going on and what they're looking for in that moment. It's a different premise for sure, but I think that makes it harder to guess which of the three the main character will end up choosing and places each love interest on a more even playing field.

Part of what usually kills a romance novel for me is lack of chemistry and character development, and the latter is what got me here. Penny and her love interests had a little bit of chemistry, but other than their occupations, I couldn't actually tell you the differences between each love interest's actual personality. They talked and acted sort of similar to each other, and Penny's chemistry and banter with each of them wasn't very convincing. Even the journey to get to Penny finding the one she wants to be with is not satisfying - that person turns rather rude and inconsiderate towards the end, and that's extremely unattractive to me.

Thank you to the publisher for the ARC via Netgalley!

This book did leave me feeling empty at times and with a sense that Penny didn't love herself and was trying to employ someone to do the job for her. While not a reflection of the author, I did feel like Penny's growth and understanding of a valued relationship could've been explored more.

so i really wanted to like to read this book, but i just really didn't . i think it was far too overhyped for me personally. but that doesn't mean you shouldn't try it!!

This one kinda fell flat for me, but it sarted so strong! I was really loving the down-on-her-luck main character Penny. The London chef meets and instantly clicks with Francesco, but a very promising relationship is cut short when Penny is called out of town. In her new town, she meets and starts relationships with two other men. Then Francesco puts himself back in the narrative and you guessed it — it's a love square.

It was all just kinda eh for me. I did want to know how it ended up, and i think I more or less liked the ending Penny got. But I was kinda annoyed at all the characters in the book at different points, so that made it a little less gushy of a romance.

Soooo, I wasn’t the biggest fan of this one. I felt like it had a lot of potential, but I just couldn’t get that into it. Penny kind of annoyed me and I feel like when you don’t really care for the main character, it makes enjoying the book difficult. Overall, the book was just okay. I felt like there was nothing that really stood out to me and at times, I felt like the story dragged on. My favorite thing about this book was that there was a happy ending but that’s not saying much.

I was expecting this book to be a cute romcom, and it is not. It deals with some heavy topics like loss of a parent and IVF. I felt like the author threw in all these themes and they weren’t necessary. There is LGBTQ representation, but it’s thrown into just one part of the story, which made it seem like another theme the author wanted to just throw in. The perspectives were hard to follow because it switches from one person talking, to another, into another point of view. The characters aren’t super likable, and Lizzo and some other real life celebrities are thrown in there which I found weird. Did the author get permission to include them? I thought this story lacked organization and focus overall and should not be mistaken for a rom com.

I was not able to get into this book, I DNFed it around 10% because I just did not enjoy the writing of it, maybe it was not for me but definitely did not enjoy it

A cute and quirky English friends to lovers romance filled with cooking, lots of relationship mishaps, and two cooks falling in love. Even though Penny drove me bonkers, the over all character driven charm of this book made it a delightful and quick read.

Penny has always known what she wants, but when tragedy strikes and throws her off course, Penny gets inserted almost overnight into a situation that is less than ideal. She finds herself away from her restaruant, without her best friends, and stuck working for her uncle in the countryside. And to top it all off she ends up in a relationship with three different men. Whatever will Penny do?

I really loved the English setting, the sense of humor of each character, and the exploration of each relationship. The best part of this romance was Francesco, who wins all the best book boyfriend awards. The only negatives were Penny’s constant assumptions about Francesco and the use of “they” when one person is being referenced. The “they” was a bit confusing with Charlie’s character. Even with the unconventional aspects of this book, it was still an easy and enjoyable read!

It's love at first sight for Penny and X, two chefs and kindred spirits whose whirlwind romance gets cut short by a yearlong separation... and complicated by a couple of new suitors in the life of our once perpetually single heroine.

Verdict: breezy and fast-paced, with more mature and professional leads than most light romances, and a resolution that could have benefited from offering more detail toward the end.

In the age-old tradition of rom-com heroines, Penny has historically been unlucky in love. After experiencing the prototypical series of guys who are dicks, not interesting, flaky, or scared off by circumstance, she's concluded that love may not be in the cards for her.

Unlike the majority of rom-com heroines, she's nearing thirty and has everything else in her life together. She's opened and runs her own dream cafe, lives above it in her ideal London flat, loves her friends and family, and has survived a battle with the same cancer that killed her mom. The only thing left she wants is motherhood. So Penny has been considering single parenting and surrogacy - necessitated by her past cancer treatments, which made her unable to to carry children - when a handsome Italian chef visits her cafe.

The two hit it off and spend a month falling hard for each other, only to be separated when she's called away from London and her beloved cafe to help her ailing family members. In a romance genre classic, a minor misunderstanding and major miscommunication splinter their relationship further, leaving room for Penny to welcome new prospects into her life. Suddenly the girl who somehow never had a relationship is juggling men, and of course it all comes to a head at an inopportune moment. Because of course it does. You knew it would.

You already know what this book is and where it's going. Most of it is exactly what you think this genre has to offer. And it's a fast, light read, which I appreciated as a pure contrast to the other ARC I was reading.

Does it offer anything special though? Hard to say. Well, one small thing I like specifically is that the characters are all slightly more mature adults and established professionals. Penny and all of her love interests exist in a different life stage than I usually find in romance novels, which is refreshing. =

Another differentiating facet of the book is our leading man's flaws. He gets hurt, he lashes out. He's not quite an idealized love story hero, he's just a degree or two more humanized, even though in most ways theirs is the idealized love story. The relationship is perfect fluff, but our leads are often surprisingly imperfect. They're flawed but strong people, and despite everything, they're healthy for each other.

A third notable aspect that I liked (but almost hesitate to mention) is the incorporation of diverse sexualities/gender identities and ethnicities among secondary characters. The reason I'm reluctant to make too much noise about it is because the author so gracefully doesn't make any noise about it; these characters are all just quietly living their lives together. This is the kind of representation that really works, partly because it doesn't constantly point itself out. Which obviously makes me reluctant to ruin the effect by being the one to blatantly point it out.

For all the nice qualities that this book has - and there are plenty, including the three detailed above - it's not as emotionally satisfying as I want it to be. The end payoff is pretty limited. It gives you the happily-ever-after outcome you expect from the genre and not an iota more, leaving me feeling oddly lacking still in true fulfillment.

TL,DR: A breezy, quick read whose charmingly imperfect leads make for a story that is enjoyable yet hampered by the quickness of the conclusion. Worth a read if you have a soft spot for books about chefs, cancer survivors, love triangles, queer-friendly communities, or accomplished professional characters.

I really wanted to love this book but it was just an “okay” read for me. I liked that the characters were imperfect but I wish there would have been more personal growth sooner in the story. I really like how the author dealt with infertility, as someone who suffers from infertility seeing it realistically portrayed means more to me than I can tell you. I also loved the representation of someone as non-binary!

I love the relationship that Penny has with her sister and with the other side characters. Unfortunately, the romance(s) did not hold my interest.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for the copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a cute and witty RomCom! Poor Penny, stuck in the ruts of everyday life until she meets the perfect man. Scarred by past experience and a new family trauma, Penny sets off on a new adventure and meets another man, and another. The strong female lead, and the inclusivity of all types of relationships make this book the perfect love story.

I really wanted to like this one because a romance was just what I needed, and this seemed quirky enough from the summary.

You see, our main character Penny was so desperate because she couldn't keep any man she was texting for feedback a jerk who ditched her mid-date for Tinder. Suddenly, she starts meeting guys, one after another, who actually want to be with her.

2.5.

It's that, for a book with that summary and that title, it took more than a third for the second man to show up and the third one only comes around midway—read this line again after finishing the book because I'm too proud of this. It wasn't just slow-paced, I felt the conflict didn't keep me interested enough either and nor did the romance.

So why am I giving it the average rating?

Although I'm not super into slow-paced reads, this had some good points. I understood Penny and could even relate to her. She's hard-working and can't have children anymore, but she's frozen her ovaries so she could one day. Even though she isn't getting any younger, she can't even keep a partner yet, how can she feel ready to be a mother when she's all by herself? I also liked how her family built, it's quite heartwarming, to be honest.

Also out of the three, I liked two very much and it's impossible to hate the third one, although I could never see him as a powerful contender. Because of the pacing, though, her final choice is obvious from page one. The question was actually whether she'll end up with him or alone, which with a better formulation of the book could have made for something entertaining—watching Penny getting into the whole conundrum and ultimately finding out more about herself. Maybe the publisher thought this had been overdone and pushed for the square idea?

I feel this is a book for slow readers, to be honest. You get to enjoy each stage Penny's love life goes through, as it snowballs into the climax. I can't speak from a slow-pace book lover perspective, but I don't think many will find this one a 5-star read. At the same time, I can't find much fault either. It's a cute story, that simply lacked something more but that will surely make you feel good by the end.


Honest review based on an ARC provided by Netgalley and Edelweiss. Many thanks to the publisher for this opportunity.