This book was awesome! Such a great read. I cannot recommend it enough! This made me want to ditch my day job and become a flight attendant. Ava and Jack’s story was sweet and fun to read as an enemies to loves books is.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝:⁣⁣⁣⁣
◘ Appealing cover.
◘ Easy to follow and a super quick read even if I didn't enjoy it.
⁣⁣⁣
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐚𝐝:⁣⁣⁣⁣
◘ Why do authors have their heroine super short? I'm so sick of the main girl being tiny, like that's a redeeming quality that needs to be mentioned constantly. Like being short equally means you're quirky and feisty.
◘ Ava was so fucking annoying. I hated her from the beginning. Her arc didn't compensate for her nitpicky, irritating personality. Her actions did not justify her means and she was a bitch to James. She threw away her engagement to Alexander faster than you can say 𝗵𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗴.
◘ Not even a spoiler as you learn in chapter one. Her fiancé is a controlling jerk. Oh, so you meet a hot guy and then all of a sudden remember your fiancé is an asshole? You call off your engagement because your man wants you to quit your job? It doesn't work like that. That was so effing unbelievable and frustrating.
◘ INSTALOVE. 𝗛𝗘𝗟𝗟. 𝗡𝗢.
◘ Tried too hard to be funny. It had some moments that could have been good, but it was ruined by predictability and the typical romcom routine
⁣⁣⁣

*Spoiler alert* -I was drawn to the description of this book, however, there are some key omissions that weigh into the character/plot substantially ie: her engagement. If I am being honest- I quickly grasped that her disdain for Jack was one of attraction, but also disdain due to bias, or maybe more. So much of the book was spent outlining this dynamic (kinda felt like beating a dead horse after awhile), could have been substantially shorter. I was intrigued by the lifestyle, adventure, colleagues (all great personas), but really by Belize, and the outcome. Let's be honest - we all needed to hear more about how well Jack & Ave are getting along. Admittedly, really liked Ava, but found it difficult to believe that someone who spent her life frustrated by such unpredictability, would so quickly move on from a broken engagement. Overall a good read--I still want to know more about what's next! Thanks to netgalley and Putnam Books for the advance copy in exchange for an honest opinion.

I LOVED this book. I’ve been so in the mood for light, fun, summery reads lately, and The Layover definitely fit the bill. I’m really impressed that it’s a debut, and it goes to show that writing what you know really works. Like Ava, Lacie is also a flight attendant. I really love books about flight attendants, probably because it’s a career path I wish I’d taken. I love everything about airports, flying, and obviously travel, so of course I also love to read about it. Enemies to lovers is my favorite trope, too, so all in all this book was just right up my alley.

Jack and Ava were so good together, even in their “enemies” scenes. The banter was top-notch, and I loved the food competitions. Who else really wants to try seafood nachos after reading this?

Make sure to add this one to your summer reads list, either by the pool or at the beach! Or, you know, indoors protected by air conditioning.

You know those books that you don't want to read because you don't want them to end? This is that book. Described as The Hating Game meets The Unhoneymooners, this lives up to those expectations. I'm also a sucker for any travel to a tropical island. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ pick this up for your summer vacay.

Review for The Layover by Lacie Waldon
Rating : 4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Layover is about a stewardess named Ava that decides she wants to leave her career to marry her fiancé and finally settle down. As she approaches her last flight to Belize of her 9 year career, she realizes she’s boarding with the one person she never wanted to confront again, a retired pilot & now steward named Jack. Ava and Jack had met before at a bar years prior and something happened that led Ava to despise men like him, charming, charismatic, and gorgeous. What she didn’t expect was liking hating him so much.

This book is a great book to read on vacation! My friend Brook and I said it sort of reminded us of The Hating Game with way less steam. I think if you like books with a TON of character growth then you’ll love this one. Ava discovers a lot about herself being around her crazy coworkers. Jack seems to bring out this free side of her that she hadn’t experienced in a long time. In all honesty Ava wasn’t my favorite character, she sometimes frustrated me with the way she was going about certain situations, and the way she treated Jack, but I also understand that she had to be a certain way too. Jack is totally swoon-worthy & I love the way he bickers with Ava and just wants to be with her. I also really enjoyed the side characters Gen & Pilot Pete. They were really funny and just made the story that more enjoyable.

Thank you @putnam for the ebook in exchange for an honest review 💗

A lot can happen on a layover; Just ask Ava, the heroine of this book. She is ready to settle down with her stable fiance and love in one place. After a lifetime of travel an adventure, she wants to put down roots. Part of putting one roots means saying goodbye to her flight attendant job. But she's going to do one last trip, and she's looking forward to a tropical layover. But then Jack Stone is also working the flight. He may not know it, but Ava's got a grudge against him (Even thought they've hardly met before, she definitely knows who he is). It doesn't matter how charming he is or how much he makes her question her decisions (or her grudge). And then the one day layover turns into two (mechanical difficulties) and it ends up being a layover that could have a major impact on her life.

I loved Ava and Jack and their shared layover in Belize. I loved the sense of adventure and openness to travel and experiences. There was also some wonderful self-reflection and growth (which I love!). And the side characters were great! It's easy to tell the author has a love of travel- I want to grab my backpack and hit the road!

I enjoyed this rom-com about finding love in unexpected places. Ava, on her last flight as an attendant was ready to begin the rest of the her life with her new fiance Alexander. In a series of unfortunate events that throw off her "structure" , she discovers that everything in her future that she was so excited for wasn't what she truly wanted, which included her fiance. The storyline was a little predictable but I enjoyed some of the small twists and turns in the story, especially with Jack. It was also interesting how Ava tried to run so much from her upbringing, but realized that she wasn't truly living until she embraced it.

Although this book is fairly predictable, The Layover was a fun, easy read. Ava is ready to go on her last trip as a flight attendant before she settles down and marries her fiancé Alexander. Growing up with nomadic, hippie parents has left Ava wanting a predictable life which she finds in the perfectly scheduled, determined, wanting to do the same thing everyday of his life Alexander. Then Ava goes on her last trip as a flight attendant to Belize. What starts out as 24 hours in paradise turns into 48 hours that will change her life forever. She meets Jack Stone and make real friends for the first time in a long time. Ava has to decide if she really wants to settle down and sit at home and wait for Alexander, or if she still has a need for life on the road. With great supporting characters - fellow flight attendants, pilots, other “wanderers” - Ava questions everything she thinks she wants.

Well written and fun! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy of this book.

Enemies to lovers while stuck on an extended tropical layover sounds like a great start to a romance. In the case of The Layover. however, there is more than meets the eye. And for me, that was not a good thing.

I recently saw someone talk about they don't like how "enemies to lovers" has come to encompass everything from "mild dislike" to "literally on opposite sides of a war". After letting that idea simmer for a bit, and reading this book, I have to agree with her. The synopsis for The Layover definitely sets up as enemies to lovers, but not only is that an oversell, but it also leaves a lot of information out.

My biggest issue with this book was that I felt like from the synopsis to the actual book was a big bait and switch. The synopsis hit all the romance hot points, but failed to mentions some key aspects. I fully understand that these might not be issues for everyone, but they were pretty solid stumbling blocks for me. For starters, the synopsis does not make it clear that this is a workplace romance. Ava and Jack are both flight attendants. And as for Jack being Ava's "nemesis"? Yeah, that's actually a trope I can now solidly say I do not like. They aren't enemies, they don't even know each other. In all their time working for the same airline, this is literally the first flight they have ever worked together. But, one night, two years ago, Ava came to the conclusion (without evidence) that Jack played an integral role in her most humiliating night ever. Jack, however, has no idea that Ava has been harboring an every growing hatred of him ever since. That's not enemies... that's not a nemesis. That's a woman with one hell of a grudge based on conjecture. I've read this trope before and I didn't like it them either. I just don't feel that it lends itself to a good connection between the MCs, let alone a romantic one. And it leaves me feeling bad for the guy, who never did anything wrong but has to endure the wrath of a woman scorned.

But the most egregious omission in the synopsis that had me turned off from page one. Ava is engaged. For half the book. I can absolutely guarantee that I would never have picked this one up if I had known that going in. I guess I appreciate that Ava and Jack did not begin their relationship until Ava's engagement was over, but that also means there was little to no romantic connection for literally half the book. And then that leaves the former fiancee as a very forced plot device. By the time the engagement is broken, the fiancee is made out to be basically emotionally and mentally abusive. It did not feel genuine in any way and, for me, was a very distasteful conflict.

The only redeeming part of this book was Jack and Pilot Paul. They are both great guys and I enjoyed them greatly. Jack deserves so much better than Ava.

Thank you to NetGalley and Putnam for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Layover was fun to read this while on a plane! Ava's a flight attendant and she's on her final trip before she puts down roots since she just got engaged. Of course she's working with a flight attendant she's had a secret grudge on. When a mechanical issue grounds their plane in Belize and she gets an extra night in paradise but she begins to serving guess everything...

This was cute but I struggled a with Ava's character. I didn't love that she was engaged in the beginning and she seemed like such a pushover and didn't knew what she wanted. It took way too long to get into the story and it's kind a romance but not really. I loved Jack's character and seeing the behind the scenes as a flight attendant. It was a fast and quick read but I was overall underwhelmed and it wasn't the cute enemies to lovers I was hoping for.

I've come to realize that I'm really not a rom-com kind of reader. I pick apart all of the logical plot holes and the unrealistic ways that I think the characters behave. That said, this is a pleasant read, but nothing particularly memorable.

I love Belize. I have traveled there six times and am counting down the days until my seventh trip. I am very intimately familiar with all aspects of traveling there, as well as the geography of the country. So when I saw that this book featured a flight attendant with a layover in Belize I was all in. Unfortunately, I couldn't make the narrative match anything I know about the country. The airport is in Belize City. So I'm assuming from that fact that the flight attendants were spending their layover at a hotel in Belize City. Traveling to anywhere else in the country would be a very long bus ride or involve a small plane ride. Yet...many of the activities that are talked about are only available in certain areas that they would have no way to access from Belize City (The bioluminescence tour is only out of the Hopkins area, which is nowhere close). I suppose that if readers aren't familiar with the country they will just go on their merry way and enjoy the ride, but I just couldn't do it.

I understood Ava's desire to have a settled life after the way she grew up. However, she seemed like a strong, independent woman that wouldn't just let her fiancé steamroll her. The more she described him the worse he seemed. When I described it to my husband he said "This sounds like the plot of every single Hallmark movie--woman engaged to a loser, encounters a former boyfriend/enemy/coworker and they fall in love when the woman finally figures out her fiancé is a jerk." He's not wrong, that's pretty much what happens in this book.

For all of that, it's still a fast-paced, cute beach read. If you can lay aside the clichés, it is enjoyable.

In this debut novel, Ava is a recently engaged flight attendant about to embark on her final working trip as a flight attendant. Urged on by her future husband, Alexander, she is planning to set down roots in Chicago. As a bonus, there is a coveted 24-hour layover in Belize. Ava’s excitement is dampened when she learns Jack Stone, someone she’s avoided for years, is working this trip with her.

Jack is clueless as to why Ava does not like him and seems amused at her chilly behavior. After their plane breaks down and they are forced to stay another 24 hours in Belize, Ava contemplates her true feelings about her career, her past, her relationships, and her feelings for Jack.

This is a slow-burn enemies-to-lovers romance, and I was engaged from beginning to end. I have always been fascinated by the commercial air industry, so I enjoyed a peek into the pros and cons of life as a flight attendant.

Ava is a great co-worker, has a keen sense of adventure, and is prone to making snap judgments. She has her work routine regimented with precision, but her personal life is all over the map. The unexpected delay gives her time for some soul-searching and making self-discoveries. I wish there were a deeper dive into her lack of true friendships and her nomadic life as a child.

Ava and Jack have a funny, competitive streak that stays with them from take-off to final landing. I laughed at their clever back and forth banter and absolutely adored their co-workers, Gen and Paul.

✈️If you enjoy breezy island romances and want to feel the warm sand in your toes, then I recommend you add this book to your beach bag before the captain has turned on the fasten seatbelt sign!

Ah this book was so wonderful! It has all the things that make up such a heart warming rom-com! The characters were so well developed and the chemistry just sizzled off the pages! Make way for Lacie romance world!

I just finished this book last night, and if you are in search of a good summer rom-com, this may be the book for you.

While I found the takeoff (see what I did there) a bit slow, I could not put this book down once I hit the halfway point! It’s just what I needed to really get my summer reading going. I found myself frustrated that we didn't know the full reason why the main character Ava disliked her coworker SO much and till later on in the book. I think I would've been more on her side had I known sooner.

Overall though, this is a fun and easy summer read. Now if only I could find myself stranded in Belize for a long weekend getaway…

Ava’s only dream in life was to be settled down. After living a childhood of whimsy and travel she longed for a family that had roots in a neighborhood and lasting friendships.
.
She’s finally ready for those dreams to come true. She is engaged to be married and ready to settle down in Chicago. After ten years as a flight attendant she is quitting her job and on her last flight.
.
However, her last flight does not go as planned. She is stuck with the handsome, yet cocky former pilot turned flight attendant, Jack. A short layover in Belize turns into a weekend after some issues with the plane. A weekend in paradise is perfection unless you are stuck with your arch nemesis.
.
This rom com is so much fun, a total vacation read!
.
Thank you #NetGalley and #GPPutnam for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

This was a sweet summer read that many readers will probably love for the tropical destinations, the laugh out loud anecdotes pulled from the author’s real-life flight attendant adventures, and the sweet romance.

It just didn’t land for me. I was turned off by what started off looking like it would be a love triangle (it wasn’t, there’s no cheating - but it takes to 60% of the way through to realize that). After that I struggled to really connect and sympathize with Ava. Jack was a great hero and I liked the side characters a lot. This is the debut novel from Lacie Waldon and I will definitely read her future work, but this one just wasn’t my favorite.

Thanks to NetGalley and Putnam Books for the early copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I was kind of surprised how much I love The Layover. It was such a refreshing romance read. I know some will be hesitant to read since there were a lot of mixed reviews but trust me, I totally fell in love with it. It's such a refreshing yet relatable romance read. We try to hide that the past does not define us but in some parts they do just like Ava in The Layover. Ava was a character that was surprisingly refreshing. She tried so hard to be a stable person because she had a tough childhood. Yet she is drawn in discovering new cities and new meaning. She may not notice at first but along the way she will. And she will discover that people are not who they are. Side note, I know people were mentionally that she was emotionally cheating but she was not. They broke it off (thanks goodness) before she started to get to know more of Jack.

This book centers Ava: a flight attendant about to get married and quit her job on her very last work trip. Going to Belize on a layover (hence the name), Ava creates bonds and relationships with the other crew members. And it all goes from there. Waldon did a good job of her plane descriptions (probably because she was a flight attendant herself!) and as a frequent flyer, I loved the realness of the book. Additionally, her descriptions in Belize and her little vignettes about the relationships Ava had to others were quite well done. She did a great job with character development with a fairly short book.

While this book was enemies to lovers, which I normally enjoy, that enemies to lovers plotline fell a little bit flat for me. I feel like the build-up by Ava was fake, she was TOO against Jack from the beginning and didn't even talk to him. Yes, I do recognize that Ava had reasons to be mad at Jack, but she wouldn't even talk to him. Regardless, it was a very fun summer read and I would definitely recommend it in the category of contemporary travel romance.

This cover is so cute! I was looking forward to The Layover but unfortunately I felt it was a little too women's fiction and not enough romance for my tastes. I may try again at a later point but for now DNF.