The premise of this book is great, but the execution fell short for me. For one, it took way too long to get to the meat of the book, and the journey to get to that central story wasn't that enticing. I felt like a collection of good ideas that didn't quite come through because the details weren't spot on. For example, the final straw for leaving her job is that she feels threatened by the player she is doing PR for because he is accused of asexual abuse. When she lets her boss know this is why she's leaving, he's fine with it, but just a few pages before he was telling the player he wouldn't get away with abusing his position. It didn't make sense that the same character would have these opposing reactions. Then in the US, it just felt like situations were contrived. There's an implausible mixup when she requests tea and gets iced tea instead because she didn't specifically ask for "hot" tea. Then there's the time she notices a difference in work culture, where her new American co-workers don't work late. In sum, the writing itself was good, the premise was promising, but the details didn't feel genuine and distracted from the story.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A romance about reinventing yourself in a completely different place. The move here is from London to Salt Lake City, which is quite a shift. One of the best parts of the book is the sense of place. Arches National Parl makes a couple of appearances, and you get the sense of what living in SLC is like. The female friends are also lovely.
The biggest downside to the book is that the hero is completely forgettable. I finished the book and couldn’t remember any character traits besides him being sporty.
All in all, feels like a lesser entry in the genre of British women reinventing themselves and finding love.
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Abbie was a divorced single woman who currently hated her job. A little nudge from here and there, she finally decided to change the way she was living now. So when she got a job to Utah, she accepted it even though it meant moving halfway across the world from London. Her job was going so good. She loved the place. Had some new friends and finally had a perfect new boyfriend, Kyle after her ex-husband. Everything was going pretty smoothly until it wasn't. Her world fell apart so out of the blue that she didn't really have quite the time to grasp what's happening. She had to deal with the secret she had been holding onto since forever. But then, when she found the source of her downfall and messed up life, she confronted the person. Had her life back like the way it should've been.

Overall, it was an okay read. It had potential to be much better though!

*thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*
Half the World Away – the furthest you can get from home (on earth anyways). Abby, the main character, is currently coping with her divorce and dealing with some issues at her current job. Preparing for a fresh start, she decides to move across the world to Salt Lake City. This is a story packed with a new city, new food, new adventures! Need I say more?
This story was such a cute read! So, refreshing to read a realistic and unique romance book. It was nice to see a main character with so much confidence and independence! Abby takes on a new start in not only a new city but a new country, so she shows a great deal of courage by deciding to do this all on her own. Her character was one of my favorite things about this book.
Something that I felt like the author did such a good job with was describing the city and the American atmosphere. I have never been to Salt Lake City but with the authors writing I felt like I was right there with Abby.
One thing I didn’t like about the story was the miscommunication trope. This is more of a personal thing because I just get so frustrated with this and want to yell at the characters to just talk to each other for once. I personally feel that miscommunication is a bit overused in romance books, but none the less it was a fun read.
I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a fun romance read! Definitely worth checking out this author’s debut book!

This was just okay. I loved the idea of the storyline, and the initial reactions between the two main characters but the story just fell flat for me. I didn’t feel any sort of connection build around them at all.

Themes: Guilt, Past, Starting Over, Lies
Half the World Away follows Abby Potter, divorced and keeping a heart breaking secret, works as a publicist at a London Football Club. Tired and over her job, she gets a job offer in America. At first, Abby is not ready to leave her family and friends but when she receives some news she decides to start all over and needs a fresh start. Everything goes well for her, a beautiful apartment, loves her new job and even meets a new guy that intrigues her.

This story was very well written, the pacing was good in the beginning, towards the middle it started slowing down but picked up very well at the end. The plot was very predictable but the descriptions were amazing. I loved how the author described the settings that the characters went to, the bars, hiking places and restaurants. I love bands, bars and music so this was perfect for me, i found myself more intrigued on those parts.

I didn't love this book but i enjoyed reading about starting over, meeting new people, places, trying new food and getting help from a very difficult past.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me read this book in exchange for an honest review.

To start off, I wholeheartedly believe that for an authors debut.. this was not terrible. Though it was dreadful to finish, there were some aspects I did enjoy, but majority of the book I felt as if the deadline for this book was the day it was written. Their chemistry was dull and it felt a bit rushed. Throughout the book their lack of communication frustrated me. It’s so easy to talk things out!

TW/ Sexual Assault
I did find it very uncomfortable that the writing made it seem like covering up sexual allegations was an everyday thing and taking it so lightly. Not sure if that’s just my interpretation of the situation, but that did not sit well with me (imo).

Overall, it was very interesting to see the MC (Abby) go through different types of scenery and enjoying her fresh start.

this was a pretty good book for a debut. i loved pretty much all of the aspects of this book! i gave it an overall 3/5. if you’re looking for a cute rom-com about starting your life again, this is it. i throughly enjoyed Abbie’s journey and discovering who she really is and wants to be. the only problem i had is the trope i dislike most miscommunication!! i feel like most of their problems could’ve been solved by just talking with each other. it was so simple to fix.

What a fun ride!! The story of Abbie moving from the UK to the US to escape some past memories made me laugh and my heart heavy. I think that while this was a predictable book, it was a good story. Sometimes you need to read something that has boy + girl, with some drama and than a happily ever after. As an emotional person I thought Abbie was relatable and she wasn’t an annoying protagonist. I enjoyed this book and will be recommending.

Half the World Away

Rating: 4/5🌟

⚽️ Calling all football fans ⚽️

Abbie Potter is divorced and working a dead end job in London when the opportunity of a lifetime comes calling - all the way in America.

Her first day in her new home, she runs head first into Kyle Miller. He’s confident, gorgeous - and her co-worker.

As things start to fall into place for Abbie in a foreign land, she finds herself trying to figure out if living a happy and fulfilling life is really as easy as it seems.

I really enjoyed this! It was such a cute and quick romp with all the characteristics of a good romance novel - fun meet cute, a terrible plot twist, and a happy ending.

A great beach read for the summer! Thanks to Net Galley, Literally PR, the publisher and Rebecca Banks for the ARC!

Read if you like:
+ David Beckham 😉
+ Strong female friendships
+ Bend It Like Beckham ⚽️

Half the World Away is a light and enjoyable rom-com journey about new beginnings and self-reflection. It is very easy to tell that the author had a clear picture and lots of love for her characters. I found myself looking forward to each next scene and rooting for most of the characters as they grew and became closer to one another. This is definitely a romance and not a ‘smut’ book and I liked that the author chose to skip the detailed steam scenes. One of the main stars of the book is truly the setting, the detail and exploration of the nature of Utah became one of my favorite parts of the book. This is a nice easy read and a good choice for sitting by the pool or on the beach.

Thank you to NetGalley, Literally PR, and Rebecca Banks for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book was a total miss for me.

I found the story to be very predictable. You can see what's coming and who the antagonist is immediately, although it's supposed to be a surprise twist.

The characters are all very one dimensional. The good guy. The tattooed lesbian best friend. The mean girl pretending to be nice. The leads had no chemistry at all. I didn't feel their connection was genuine.

And, the hardest part of reading this book for me, personally, was the serious lack of research or knowledge of how American's speak. This book is set primarily in the U.S. Literally every single time an American has dialog in this book there are glaring errors. It's clear this author must be British. I find it surprising that an author wouldn't have an awareness of these speech differences. Americans don't say "Brilliant" in the same context that Brits do. They don't use the term "fit" when describing someone who is attractive (unless they were specifically talking about their fitness level and even then it would be very rare). They don't ever say, "You didn't see the best bit". Nor do they know the term "Dungarees". I could go on and on. This book is SO OVERRUN with these cultural speech mistakes that it's completely distracting.

Also, and this may seem nit-picky, but I live in Salt Lake City, Utah where this book is set and I was left curious as to whether the author has actually visited here. There is an all day date written into the book in which the male lead picks up the female lead at 3:30 am and drive from Salt Lake City to Arches National Park to watch the sunrise. Besides me just knowing this from experience, a 15 second google map search shows it takes 4 hours to drive that. No way is the sunrise as late as 7:30 a.m. I mention this because this entire book feels like a hastily written first draft that never had a Beta Reader, was never checked for accuracy, and was poorly researched.

It's also very important to state that there is a storyline surrounding Abortion in this book that I personally felt was not handled well at all. It felt to me as if the author wasn't quite sure how to approach and explore this topic.

Overall I think this book needed an editor, some research, some beta readers, and a few more drafts to write a story that felt genuine and complete. There are a lot of good ideas here, but none of them felt realized.

I enjoyed this book for lots of reasons. I liked the character of Abbie, and respected her yet felt sorry for her from the beginning. In a book like this, developing a connection with the main character is so important. I immediately wanted her to find happiness.

This book has a slower pace than what I’m used to but I think the character development was spot on and I thought Abbie came across as not only a likeable character, but a courageous and respectable one.

However, knowing Abbie as I felt I did after a few chapters, I really felt the slower build up of the romance suited the book. Kyle comes across as an average sort of lad, who enjoys the banter and the thrill of the chase a little bit too.

I loved the fact that this book me to a different setting and this definitely added to the romantic and escapist feel. The fact that we went to a part of the world I’ve driven past but never been to, and certainly never read about in a book before, felt really original. I would recommend this book to fans of romance books and books that focus on starting over. I would recommend it to fans of Zoe May, Olivia Spring and Paige Toon.

A good debut. As a wannabe Brit, I loved watching Abbie come to America, discover the beauty of the mountains, find a job she feels passionate about, and of course the hot and sweet guy.

I wish this book had much more dialogue. So many scenes felt superficial, lacking substance, due to the lack of feeling connected to the characters in that way.

A romcom, this rates 1 out of 5 on the steaminess scale.

Half the World Away is a fun, yet heartfelt dive into the life of Abbie, a woman struggling to overcome a few challenges. Taking a chance, Abbie leaves the UK to begin a job in the US. With the excitement of a new job, new friends, and perhaps a new love, she begins to feel at home in Salt Lake City. When a jealous co-worker has other plans, Abbie must decide where and who, home really is. I enjoyed (and admired) Abbie’s wit, spirit, and ultimate lack of fear.

Half the World away had so much promise but it was just not for me! My biggest issue with the book is that it is just so stereotypical and bland. I personally want a romcom to be unexpected, funny, fast paced and fun. This did not deliver any for me as I found the writing style to be diary like, more of an account of the day than a story.
I hope the book finds its audience and thank upu Netgalley for the ARC

This was an enjoyable story about starting over, and the protagonist, Abbie, is really someone to root for. I think lots of romantic fiction readers will swoon over her colleague, Kyle, too! Abbie is really down on her luck when suddenly an amazing opportunity to start over falls into her lap. But is her new life too good to be true? Perfect for fans of Paige Toon and Miranda Dickinson - in fact, this reminded me of ‘Johnny Be Good’ in some ways. For me, some of the details were a little too neat BUT it was a great comfort read.

This was just the story I hoped it would be! A romance with good chemistry. Good friendships and some fun humor. Abbie is about as far from her home as she can get, starting over in a new job. She's smart and successful, but not confident in her relationships. I would recommend this sweet, if predictable, story to anyone who enjoys romance.

First of all, thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted to like this book. The premise of starting fresh in a new place and succeeding is so promising. However, this book really fell short for me. I don't want to bash it too much, so I will keep this review short. The writing felt amateur, the characters were 2 dimensional, and the plot was predictable. I understand that this is a debut novel, but I just could not get into this book. I had to make myself finish it. I was bored from start to finish.

The dialogue in the book was so flat, and made the characters seem uninteresting and all the same. The most interesting character was Rose, and she was a side character. Abbie and Kyle were so boring. They were like cardboard cutouts. I could tell where the plot was going from the beginning.

The author also said some cringy things, such as "American Indian" and "OCD" as a descriptor for cleanliness instead of as a mental health term. There was a cover up of sexual assault at the beginning of the book that Abbie was complicit in. She knew it was wrong, but really did nothing to stop the cover up from happening.

Overall this book was a let down for me. It was cringy and boring.

TW: sexual assault, abortion

FIRST IMPRESSION:

Say "British" and "rom-com" and that's all the reason I need to read that book. And that's all the reason I needed to request this e-ARC.

THE STORY:


'Half the World Away' follows Abbie Potter as she finally sheds the old London life she is unhappy about and makes a move to Salt Lake City in the US. Things in London were pretty crappy for her and a final shocking announcement is all she needs to accept a new job offer in Salt Lake City. Not only does she make new friends and new bounds in her career, but she also meets all-American Kyle.

While she redefines herself and sets new goals in her life, Abbie starts to wonder if it's time for another go at some romance. But her rocky past relationship and her uncertainty about Kyle takes her on a whirlwind path of self-discovery.

THE GOOD BITS:

Abbie's journey of self-discovery is the best part of this story. She picks herself up like a champion and really works on herself and her future. I'll be lying if I say I wasn't empowered by her work ethic and passion.

I found Abbie's move to the US so relatable! I was reminded of my own experiences abroad since I love sightseeing and stepping into cafes/eateries as she does here. Those bits made me smile a lot!

There was quite a bit of amusing humour in here. The story wasn't as funny as I thought it would get, but the unexpected funny dialogue is what really got to me.

Violet is by far my favourite character! Her Irish charm and her being a boss of a best friend to Abbie really got me loving her with every scene she popped up in.

THE NOT-SO-GOOD BITS:

I wasn't very impressed or interested in the romance. There was a decent amount of fluff but no steam. That really bothered me for some reason. Also, it was so fast; even their fights are like split-second events!

The pace was pretty good in the first half of the story but it picked up way too much speed past the 50% mark. Each chapter went through events so fast that I was sort of speed reading to keep up.

Even though I loved Abbie's self-discovery journey, I was not a fan of her character. I found Abbie's self-destructive trust in other people very annoying. Rather than taking everything with a grain of salt, especially since these people are virtually strangers to her in the beginning, she ends up hanging on to their words like it's gospel or something, even when her own experiences prove otherwise.

The dialogue feels very scripted at times. I find it very hard to believe that people actually converse in full formal paragraphs even if they are British. Where are the pauses?

I did not like Kyle much as a romantic interest. He was a textbook good guy with way too perfect lines. He was literally carrying their relationship on his shoulders with all his romantic gestures and gifts.

FINAL VERDICT:

I had high expectations for Half the World Away by Rebecca Banks, but I was sorely disappointed by the end of it. Although it really did justice to Abbie's growth and some great characters, the writing and the main characters didn't really appeal to me.