A pure escapist novel which has been a great read during these bleak times. Birdy Finch decides on the spur of the moment to take her best friends job in a Scottish Highland hotel to escape her dull life in London but it doesn't turn out how she envisaged and she has to learn a lot about wine to pull it off. At the hotel Birdy meets an interesting range of characters who she comes to care about especially a good looking chef is beginning to come out of his shell and sees the best in Birdy.

A laugh out loud tale of finding the place where you belong.

A bit ambivalent about this book. Birdy, or rather, Elizabeth Finch, takes a job which is originally meant for her best friend Heather. Not just any job, but that of a sommelier at a high end hotel in Scotland. She knows nothing about wine, or much else to be honest.
I found that I didnt like her, her attitude, her swearing, her lies. I know that they wwere supposedly the result of a traumatic childhood but.......
However, midway, things began to change, and as she took the job to heart she began to be a more rounded personality.
It was all a bit improbable really, but quite a light enjoyable read.
Thanks to NetGalley for a chance to read and review this book.

Birdy Finch is happy flitting from place to place, no roots, no job, the only true consistent in her life is her childhood friend Heather, a world class sommelier who has taken a temporary contract for the summer leaving Birdy nowhere to stay. Heather’s plans change abruptly, and she asks her friend to contact the hotel to cancel her contract and to make her apologies. However, with Birdy’s partying taking over as usual she forgets her friend’s request and decides to use it to her advantage, surely, she can ‘wing’ being Heather for 3 months in the middle of nowhere and Heather being non-the-wiser? This is a very funny, sometimes cringeworthy tale of love, life and growing up? Great read.

Birdy takes a job in a hotel that her friend didn't want to do but she doesn't know anything about being a sommelier and has to wing it. Ok book but didn't think all the swearing was necessary

A lovely unexpected story set in Scotland. This book follows Birdy who often attends events as her best friend, sommelier Heather until she takes this too far and takes a job on her behalf. A book filled with great characters, mouthwatering food and superb scenery. Thank you netgalley.

This easy-to-love story is one that deals with life-swap and mistaken identity themes in a slightly left-field way that's easy for anyone to empathise with, even if they haven't done anything as extreme as the heroine Birdy Finch, who finds herself impersonating her best friend Heather, a talented sommelier, at a struggling Scottish countryside hotel - although she doesn't know her Picpoul from her Lambrusco Bianco. While laugh-out-loud funny, this novel also explores the struggles of the two girls and how their bad choices stem from unresolved pain. Birdy's father was an alcoholic and her mother prioritised his needs over her daughter's, and Heather has an obsessive craving for love and sense of emptiness that starts to make sense towards the end of the book. Anyone who's ever worked in hospitality will understand the struggles and joys of the events which the author captures beautifully, and it just made me want to return to those food-and-wine-soaked nights - except maybe not as a waitress! Five Michelin stars to Lizzy Dent, and long may she keep serving up these books!

Absolutely loved this book!! A lighthearted story about the perils of telling a fib and what happens when you try and get out of it. Really funny read. X

Fun! Especially when James is Sam Heughan in your head.

4.5 stars. I really enjoyed this, it was an enjoyable read.

Witty and yet uncomfortable, I binge read this book in two sittings Reading Buddy's lies and deception made me squirm but also laugh out loud at her social.awkwardness wrapped.up in innuendos. Funny, romantic, sad with a great setting. I would have been very happy to have been sat on a beach reading "The Summer Job" by Lizzy Dent.

Thanks so much to @penguinukbooks for letting me read an advance copy of The Summer Job!

The Summer Job is, unsurprisingly, about a summer job: Elizabeth Finch, nicknamed Birdy, decides - in a moment of absolute madness - to pose as her best friend Heather and work as a sommelier in a remote Highlands hotel for the summer. I have like absolutely zero knowledge of the Highlands - went to Aviemore six years ago, that's it - so I can't speak for the accuracy of this setting, but you know I'm always looking for Scotland-set books that aren't depressing/crime/full of stereotypes and this pleasingly delivered.

Anyway, I really liked The Summer Job! Fictional stories where people pretend to be other people give me the absolute fear but I overcame my inner awkwardness and thankfully enjoyed this. The hotel setting is great and very convincingly portrayed, the characters are all likeable and the romantic lead, James, is one of my absolute rom-com faves. He is just so nice, and I liked how there were no weird misunderstandings and annoyances littering their path. Once you get over the admittedly ludicrous premise, this is a very engaging rom-com and I enjoyed bingeing it in two addicted sittings.

This seemed like a light, fuffy read, but it became à gradually heavier and more poignant as it went on.

I have to say, the lighter part at the start didn't particularly work for me, I was too anxious about all of the lies Birdy was telling and the pickle she'd got herself into as she told lie after lie. I think it was intended to be witty and funny it it made me feel on edge and uncomfortable and felt far fetched, but I pressed on and I warmed to Birdy as she dialled down the crazy and knuckled down to succeeding in her job and understanding herself a bit better.

The Scottish hotel setting and the foodie stuff was vivid and great escapism but the romance did nothing for me, I didn't get any feels from them. I was more invested in seeing Birdy mature and find her niche so I was a bit disappointed by the end that felt quite abrupt and not especially satisfying for me.

This would probably suit if you were looking for a beach read but I didn't love it I'm afraid.

Thanks to the publisher via netgalley for my arc.

Elizabeth ‘Birdie’ Finch is a loser, she can’t hold on to a job, she’s got no money, no where to live and Tim the worlds biggest douchebag for a sort of/not really boy/friend semi casual hang/ bootycall type relationship thing. What she does have is Heather her best friend, provider and all round good egg who is also a top sommelier that wears her romantic heart in her fragile sleeve for douchebags to peck at.
When Heather takes off for the Summer searching for that elusive thing called love, Birdie finds herself borrowing her identity and blagging her way into a new job that turns out to more than she bargained for. What could go wrong?
This review is totally biased because I am Scottish and this is a bit of a love letter to the west coast so obviously that 5 stars alone. I don’t need to be told how great Scotland is because I’m from there so there was a lot of head nodding at how beautiful Birdie found everything. Yes. Yes indeed. Aside from that however this is a really fun read. Birdie starts out as a cocky mess that I wasn’t entirely sure I liked but slowly we stripped her back to the fundamentals and I grew to love her just like everyone else.
There’s also horses in it which is never a bad thing especially when accompanied by Bret the hot horseman and his Heathcliff hair and shovel sized hands. Yes James can make killer cheese on toast but come on, who wouldn’t want a man who could cold poultice your twisted ankle at a moments notice?
Despite this serious error of judgement on Birdie’s part I was routing for her the whole time, she is a good woman who sometimes gets it spectacularly wrong but she sticks it out and tries to make things right this time. Good lass!

When Birdy's sommelier friend Heather wants to back out of a seasonal job in Western Scotland, Birdy offers to call on Heather's behalf to get her out of the work. But Birdy somehow forgets to do so before it's too late, and instead she decides, 'Screw it, I'll go in Heather's place.' We follow her during this summer in rural Scotland as she pretends to know anything about wine.

This one wasn't for me. If I hadn't been kindly given by the publisher the opportunity to read it, I would have DNF'd it at around 30%.

It's funny, Birdy and I are the same age and have the same parental baggage, but we couldn't be any different. I couldn't believe how high the stakes were and how long it took her to care, to realise the weight of her actions and to stop dicking about. I expected shenanigans going into the book, but this was next level. There were so many people relying on her and for the longest time she barely felt guilty about leading them astray.

I also had issues with the love interest. Until halfway through the book, the only thing he saw of Birdy were lies and innuendos. Not an exaggeration. Everything out of her mouth is lies and innuendos. Obviously this is later explained away as part of Birdy's attachment issues, but it's not a very convincing start to an attraction between them.

Still, give it a try. Might be the right summer read for you.

I was expecting something of the Kinsella genre when I ordered this book, but although it didn’ t have the lighthearted zaniness of a Bloomwood, it had its own charm. It was a little tense and a little more emotionally charged than I expected, but I really enjoyed it.

The characters also had solidity and realness, and created an emotional connection to the reader.

Well recommended for an evening’s entertainment.

An absolute gem of a book! I loved it. The characters were so well developed and I felt a connection with each and every one. Each character had their own hidden heartbreaks, which combined in a beautiful way to create a story that made me want to laugh out loud and cry in equal measure. Highly recommended!

Elizabeth Finch is on a downwards turn & her life is going no where. Her best friend Heather is a sommelier but her head's turned by Christian & follows him to Italy, not taking up a new job at a hotel in Scotland. 'Birdy' (Elizabeth) decides to pretend to be Heather & take the job! The story unfolds & its a good read. The descriptions of Scotland are wonderful, the characters & Birdy are likeable. Recommended read. Enjoy!

The summer job is a lighthearted tale. Birdy masquerades as her friend Heather and replaces Heather in a summer position at a revamped Scottish hotel. The only problem is Heather is a well-renowned wine connoisseur and Birdy knows nothing about wine.

Dodging bullets left right and centre, Birdy avoids scrape after scrape and even manages to negotiate a summer romance.

The Summer job had me laughing out loud at certain chapters and its perfect escapism.

A lighthearted rom com, perfect for the beach.

Birdy is a lost soul, trying to find her place in life and going to extreme lengths to do so. You can’t help but pity her and eventually root for her.

I wasn’t enthralled with this book at the beginning but it really grew on me and I didn’t want to put it down. Romance isn’t usually my genre of choice but this debut is definitely worth a read.

Thank you to NetGalley / Penguin / Viking for the advance copy.

I received an ARC of this book via Penguin and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Description

Have you ever imagined running away from your life?

Well Birdy Finch didn’t just imagine it. She did it. Which might’ve been an error. And the life she’s run into? Her best friend, Heather’s.

The only problem is, she hasn’t told Heather. Actually there are a few other problems…

Can Birdy carry off a summer at a luxury Scottish hotel pretending to be her best friend (who incidentally is a world-class wine expert)?

And can she stop herself from falling for the first man she’s ever actually liked (but who thinks she’s someone else)?

My thoughts

Before I even read the first page of The Summer Job, I knew it’d be a book for me. From the fun cover, to the early comparisons to The Flatshare I was hooked. Luckily, when I started reading, I realised it lived up to the pre-empted high.

The book follows Elizabeth “Birdy” Finch, a woman who doesn’t have her life figured out. She’s in a (not very fulfilling) relationship with Tim, doesn’t have many people she can’t rely on and is about ready to leave her life behind….which she does. Except, the twist? She’s taken her best friend’s job (and her identity) to spend a summer in Scotland. Wild, right?

Birdy was hopeless, unsure and didn’t really think much through as the book rolled on. Saying that, she was a relatable, funny and likeable character on the whole – when I wasn’t cringing over something she’d done, I was laughing with her, or feeling sorry for her. I think Dent did a brilliant job of crafting a main character that you root for, even though she did make some stupid decisions, she’s only human like the rest of us! Not only this, Birdy has substance and a story behind her – which led to sensitive broaching of important topics like alcoholism and neglect.

I think, having spent months cooped up indoors (with the promise of further afield getaways getting less likely by the day!), everyone’s desperate for escape which Dent definitely provides in The Summer Job.

I’ve been to Scotland before (though I think I spent a good portion of that time dodging rain, watching Braveheart and drinking!) and Dent brilliantly captures not only the weather but the lush sprawling landscapes, what the locals you run into might be like and this beauty that you just don’t get in big cities.

Another thing which I thought was brilliant about this book was the characters. I loved Birdy straight away, there was something Fleabag-esque about her but with a sensitive edge I think a lot of us will relate to. Then there were the other characters, from her annoying boyfriend Tim, to her loyal best friend Heather, to the charming chef James and all her other co-workers. I think Dent did a brilliant job of creating characters that were instantly likeable and familiar, though I wish Heather’s character was more developed – I kind of felt like the other characters were given more energy and time and I wish Heather, who was important to Birdy and her development throughout the story, got the same.

The Summer Job would’ve been brilliant for sunbed-lounging, cocktail-sipping holidays but – considering there isn’t much of that happening in 2020, for a lot of us – we’ll have to make do with reading this by a warm fire with plenty of snacks. It’s a cosy, sweet read with humour, heart and a serious side at times. I really didn’t feel ready to let the characters go when the book ended but I know that, whatever Dent’s next project will be, I’m ready for that.

"As I walk back to the cottage, I wonder about the Skype interview with Heather. Did they have one? They couldn't have, or Bill would have known straight away. In fact didn't he already comment that I didn't look like my cat picture?"

Imagine a case of mistaken identity / fraud - I'm still not sure which, the result of a drunken greeting at an award ceremony where you're pretending to be your best friend for a fun night out. This is how Birdy's dilemma starts, her best friend Heather has gone to Italy in pursuit of a man and left her with a name badge to attend a wine awards ceremony - harmless you'd think!

A few pages in, I thought 'this would make a really good film'. It's light=hearted chicklit, sweet but not too saccharine, and the characters are all really likeable which make it a perfect, quick read. Birdy will have you shaking your head in frustration at times but you do feel for her. With Heather having gone abroad to pursue a relationship, she is completely unanchored when we meet her (with literally no-where to stay), and she is subconsciously looking for an adventure and change in her life, deciding to just roll with the punches on a whim. She certainly snowballs into an unexpected situation!

I thought the themes were balanced really well, and there's more depth to the story, as both Heather and Birdy are at a bit of a loss, both in dire relationships and missing something in their lives, their strong sisterhood is what they seem to have relied upon to carry them through from childhood. There are also some bigger themes like alcoholism, and childhood neglect which give the characters in the book a bit more depth.

One of the things I loved about this book was it's portrayal of Scotland and its community feeling and people. It'll make you want to pack up city life and move there immediately! These are all people just trying to find themselves, their passion, and pride in who they are and what they do. The combination of this, and the setting of a failing hotel restaurant in Skye, and the mammoth task of faking it to make it as a sommelier make for a different, funny and engaging read.

"Maybe I don't even need a calling,' I say. 'Maybe I just need to be me for a while.''

Thank you to Penguin General UK and Netgalley for my ARC.