Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Annie was excited about marrying Alexander, but was shocked when he left her at the alter. Annie decides to say to every opportunity she is offered. I enjoyed the chemistry between Annie and her friend Patrick.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for letting me read an e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Lucky Escape is an enjoyably fluffy rom-com read, but at times the storyline felt just a little too predictable for me to rate it higher than 3 stars. I have really enjoyed all of Laura Jane Williams’ books, and I do really like the fact that they all cover themes of finding your own happiness and learning to love yourself, but I think sometimes this narrative can feel like it’s being hammered home a bit too much? That’s definitely what I felt was the case with this book.

The portion of the book where the honeymoon takes place is super enjoyable to read, and the flirty tension between Annie and Patrick is great. I was a bit disappointed by the last third of the book when they return from the honeymoon, and then the plot threads seem to get a little bit messier. The final-act conflict between Annie and Patrick felt too easily resolvable and inconsistent with how well there characters had been communicating previously.

However, despite these grievances I would still recommend The Lucky Escape as an easy-to-read escapist (literally) romance.

The Path Of True Love Never Did Run Smooth❣️

Annie is jilted on her wedding day, her now ex contacts the wedding planner to give his excuses. After trying to come to terms with what's happened, memories of how she and Alexander met, their past, Annie needs to decide what's next... After bumping into a face from her past, Patrick whom she knew from her childhood, a night of free flowing conversation and alcohol, Annie agreed to take Patrick on her non honeymoon. With a start of the new day and a clear head, Annie's not so sure this is a good idea. After much deliberation, Annie decided to go with it, and the story unfolds from here...

The Lucky Escape is full of highs and lows for Annie, events over time eventually making her take a look at her life and stand up for herself, where the old Annie would've let it go. A great read with humour, romance and heartbreak, a book you can lose yourself in. For me this is my favourite book from Laura Jane Williams so far, would be good to read a sequel to this to see where the main characters go. Look forward to reading more from this author.

I DNFed this- it was not my favorite and I couldn’t get into the story. I feel like the plot moved fairly slow and I had a hard time relating to any of the characters.

What a fun read! I started reading The Lucky Escape in the days surrounding my decision to postpone my own upcoming wedding due to the ongoing pandemic - and what a welcome relief it has been from that stress! The Lucky Escape has excellent character building, and transported me from the same four walls I’ve seen nothing other than for the last 11 months in the snowy UK to the heat of Australia. I felt I was on my own luxury holiday with Annie, experiencing the wider world again - such a treat. A little slow to pick up, it took me a while to get into, but once Annie got on the plane, everything fell into place and began to race along (something I recall feeling when reading Our Stop a few years ago too). The Lucky Escape is perfect reading for a pandemic year, and one I’m certain people are going to find a lot of comfort in. Would definitely recommend.

This was a fun read. I really liked the situation that Annie is put in right at the start, it leads to a great character arc through the course of the novel. I also enjoyed her moments with Patrick and found myself smiling through reading them.

This was such a fun story with an unexpected theme. The main character goes through a period of growth and its nice to see her move from people pleasing victim; to a confident independent woman. Original idea that really works!

When Annie is left standing at the altar on her wedding day she thinks that she has lost everything that matters. A chance encounter with an old friend and a honeymoon to take are impulsively seeming like a good idea. The holiday most people could only dream about in Australia turns into something more magical as friends become more. Can this become real when they get back home to England, or was it really just a holiday romance?

I was so glad to get approved for Laura's third book as I really enjoyed the previous pair; and I must admit to not being disappointed with The Lucky Escape.

Jilted outside the church, with her groom letting the wedding planner break the news, Annie is understandably devestated and struggling to piece her life together without Alexander, her college sweetheart and The One. When she finally tracks him down, Annie realises that things may not have been as perfect as she'd first thought and she starts moving on with her life. When she meets Patrick, a man from her past life as a theatre kid, Annie throws caution to the wind and drunkenly invites him on the honeymoon her not quite mother in law has insisted she still goes on.

Armed with the persona she thinks people want to see, Annie starts to come out of her shell, the more time that she spends with Patrick, the more she realises that she has been hiding her true self away.

This book was funny, heartwarming and at times a tad cringe but it was afantastic read. The second hand embarrassment was real several times haha. Definitely recommend this one, it is the perfect holiday read!

Oh my goodness - what a lovely book. It takes you from the emotional lows of being left at the altar to the beautiful skies of a honeymoon without a husband. The book is well told, with a witty input of humour as the trip around Australia puts the couple into new and awkward situations. The happy ever after in romantic terms is never guaranteed and it almost doesn't matter! The journey that Annie goes on, ably assisted by mad friends and an adorable little sister is worth it whatever happens to Annie and Patrick!

Another wonderfully charming romance from Laura Jane Williams. I absolutely adored this and ended up reading it in two sittings!

The Lucky Escape was an unexpected favorite. While I generally have a hard time connecting with characters living across the pond, I felt an immediate pull from Annie and Patrick. Who hasn’t been dumped or felt they needed a drastic change in their lives? While most of us haven’t dealt with a tragic end to a relationship, I connected with Patrick’s calm demeanour and quiet optimism. His apprehension diving into a new romance was relatable. I thoroughly enjoyed the easy banter, Australian honeymoon and blossoming romance. I found the story uplifting and heartwarming. A good 4 star read.

3 stars!

I thought this book was a little slow and lost direction at times. I wasn’t a huge fan of Annie, the MC, so I think I had a hard time becoming fully invested. It starts with Annie getting left at the alter by her fiancé and then she goes on her honeymoon with a man from her fitness class. She used to go to camp with him and he always had a thing for her. The trip was pretty decent but when they returned from their ‘honeymoon’ it got pretty boring for me.

Overall, it was a quick read. I needed something light after a few heavier books!

Thanks Harper Collins and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Escapist reading at it’s best!

The thing I love about Laura’s writing is it’s pure escapism when you need it most.

And while I loved the lucky escape, I almost find myself liking her earlier work, The Love Square more as there was more conflict and interest in that story.

In this one we go from wedding to honeymoon and back again without much really happening.

It almost reads like a script for a movie rather than a novel and things just happen too fast to be plausible.

A good read but not quite for me.

Vacation in Australia with a hot new man friend? Sign me up! I only wish I had been summering in Australia while reading!

The Lucky Escape captured my attention from the start, and I flew through it. I personally enjoy romance novels with some depth past just the romance and The Lucky Escape delivered. The characters have different traumatic experiences in each of their pasts, but each learned to grow as a human and move forward with their lives and each other.

The only reason this was a 4 star for me was that I found Patrick to be whiny and annoying towards the end. He was doing SO well, but his attitude toward Annie and the things in her life about 75% of the way through was frustrating. But that definitely could just be me and my strong-willed, not-to-be controlled attitude.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this book to all my romance lovers!

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon for this ARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

3.50 stars
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TW; Death of a spouse, Ending of engagement, Sexual Content, Challenging parents, Self-doubt
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Annie has it all and she's about to marry her college sweetheart Alexander, the last thing she expects is to be left at the altar on their special day. Without communication, Annie is left in the dark about what on earth happened and what went wrong. After a reunion with Patrick - who used to attend her summer drama camp and a chance to live the honeymoon, she's missing out on, courtesy of her very apologetic in-laws Annie finds herself jetting off to Australia with Patrick.

It was so fun to see these two reconnect after years of not speaking, although I felt like the outcome would be a little predictable of them falling for each other while on vacation, it was still a fun concept. It's not every day you get to take a honeymoon with someone who isn't the man you've planned to marry! I have to applaud Annie's character, as I think she handled the situation very well - she also had an amazing support system including her sister, her work wife, and the core fore.

This was a cute read, I'd read it if I were on vacation but it felt like the book was divided into 3 parts; before Australia, Australia, and after Australia - and felt like sometimes the flow of the book was a little off!

I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review, all thoughts and opinions are my own!

I loved Our Stop so had very high hopes for this and Laura didn't disappoint!!
This was such an adorable book and I could have kept reading for hours (housework ceased for the day in this house!!)
It was the perfect book to escape with and I just loved the scene setting it really transported me!
Cant wait to read more from Laura and her witty sense of humour!

Laura Jane Williams does it again! I adored Out Stop and equally love The Lucky Escape. As Laura says in her acknowledgements, it really is the perfect book for escapism. Commercial but has nuggets of wisdom and life advice tucked in there. It’s the book I’ll be telling people to read in 2021 because we all need some love and lightness like this.

The build-up to actually getting to the vacation took longer than expected, but I understood why the author did wrote it that way. It did help with establishing their relationship and characteristics and made it different than a traditional romance book to me. However, I felt there was a lot of repetitiveness in both of their behaviors which got to be annoying at points.

I have to say I was quite disappointed with the book overall. After reading The Love Square last year, I was hopeful that this would be a fun and interesting read too.

The premise is definitely one that caught my attention. Annie had been left at the altar by Alexander, her college boyfriend. She reconnects with a friend from theatre camp by chance, and thus begins a whirlwind romance. It's pretty clear that Patrick and Annie are going to end up together, especially when he dares her to go on her honeymoon, not alone, but with him! And she actually does!

Annie annoyed me a lot. I felt her character lacked real depth. And her professional life is written very poorly. Is she a theoretical physicist? Why is she in a corporate setting then, is she in R & D? What was her motivation to become a theoretical physicist?? Nobody in the world would choose that as the easy or good career choice with lots of opportunities. It felt like very lazy writing, giving her a fancy job, that has no basis in reality or even a fabricated reality.

The honeymoon was the best part of this, as we got to travel (while being stuck at home). That was some lovely escapism. But Annie and Patrick didn't have a lot of chemistry in my mind. They seemed better as flirting friends. And Patrick's whole life philosophy didn't seem as cool and revolutionary to me as it did to Annie. How did he get three weeks off work for that honeymoon too!!

Overall, I had trouble getting through this book. With more attention to the details of Annie and Patrick's lives, it could have been a great one. Like why did Alexander's parents pay for this exorbitant honeymoon for her, and then we never really see them later on (except when Alex mentions they miss Annie). I'd have liked to see that reunion and see their relationship, rather than just being told repeatedly how much they love Annie. Since their input into the storyline was so huge, it would have made a lot of sense to show them interact with her.

I am grateful to the publishers for providing an ARC via NetGalley.