The people within the reading community who said we should avoid pandemic-related plots might have been on to something with Lockdown on London Lane by Beth Reekles.

A shame, really, as romance is a coping mechanism many readers turn to in times of turmoil. It’s why I read so many books about teenagers in high school while in high school. Something about having your most miserable experiences projected back at you in the form of romantic fantasies can be so healing. Lockdown on London Lane is in no way a harmful take on the global pandemic, but it doesn’t add anything meaningful to the conversation.

The plot could have taken place during any lockdown — a biohazard leak, a royal visit, or even a fictional virus — and the plot would not change. This rom-com believes it’s doing us a favor with this candy-coated take on the Covid-19 virus. Unfortunately, the opposite proves true, with embellishments fictionalizing the very pandemic and its protocols the book wants to embrace. It intends to use the pandemic as a plot device but doesn’t want to commit to much else beyond a reason to keep an apartment complex sequestered.

So if the preference is to fictionalize the events of the pandemic, why not offer readers true escapism in the form of a more creative lockdown scenario? Perhaps it is the lack of interesting romantic pairings that makes digesting this setting so difficult.

The book boldly uses multiple narrations; bouncing around the apartment building to check in on different couples. It is a stimulation overload, and readers will struggle to differentiate who is who. All the female protagonists speak in sentences that end with multiple exclamation marks and keeping storylines straight leaves little room to debate how swoon-worthy the men are. The apartment dwellers’ features are laid out early in an assault of descriptions, making it a feat to remember each person’s distinguishable qualities.

So the few BIPOC and LGBTQ+ characters included in this bloated ensemble are lost in the mix.

Lockdown on London Lane bites off more than it can chew with this revolving door of couples. But, on the other hand, narrowing its sites to two or three couples may have proven for a more substantial character study in captivity, one with more romance. So while apartment hopping is a fun notion, it makes connecting with a larger group quite tricky.

The bridal shower, the one-night stand, and the isolated Twitch streamer prove interesting enough vessels for this story when given the time to shine. This novel works best when it finds a way to showcase the underlining good of humanity beyond wanting to kill each other for chewing too loudly. There’s a beauty in embracing one’s flaws when forced to face them for a week in close confinement. The adorable cover and promise of light romance in a time of suffocating grief will undoubtedly appeal to curious readers for this reason.

If you are willing to overlook its shortcomings and enjoy this book for the fluffy surface-level fun it is, you may just be able to make it out of the lockdown with a better outlook on the residents of London Lane. But for this reader, there is not enough romance or depth to these characters to justify spending a week with them.

Finding comfort in covid times is appealing, but Lockdown on London Lane’s execution is far too good at dredging up the uglier feelings associated with lockdowns. If we as storytellers are going to romanticize the pandemic, we need to do better than this.

I adored this book! I've had no problem reading about the pandemic while living through the pandemic; others might however, so if that's you then this may not be the book for you.
It had contemporary romance vibes and had an overall positive tone to it {no pun intended!}. I liked the characters and all the stories. This was a fun book and I'd definitely recommend it.

Beth Reekles’ first adult novel (correct me if I’m wrong) was even better than her YA novels. I couldn’t put it down - funny, clever and entertaining, it took the pandemic and twisted it into something nostalgic, cute, and full of community.

I didn’t finish this book, I found it quite hard to get invested in the characters as they felt like they lacked depth and weren’t very well drawn. The premise is fun but I felt like we had to wait a while to see the payoff.

Lockdown on London Lane was a sweet look at lockdown love. There’s the couple separated by lockdown, new couple forced together, a one night stand, and bridesmaids holed up together working on wedding prep. Each story is sweet and unique. As someone who did not enjoy the pandemic I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this book!

This is a fun read about a group of tenants that are forced into quarantine because someone in the building tested positive for the virus.
Each chapter is written from a different tenant’s perspective which makes the story more interesting. I really liked how the characters interacted with each other and how they learned something about themselves and their relationships, whether it was good or bad.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wattpad Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Cute and enjoyable read about being locked down at the very start of the pandemic. Enjoyed meeting all the various characters and their problem that they had during lock down. Lots of learning and figuring out life they had to deal with.

This was a great book about people forced to talk to each other and being in lockdown. I really loved it because it gave a good story to go with the COVID shutdown.

This rom-com was fresh and entirely too relatable which is why I think I would’ve enjoyed it more had they all been stuck in the apartment building for any other reason besides the pandemic. I don’t know if it’s just too soon for a covid-19 related book. With that said, this was an enjoyable read that was quick and full of delightfully fun and quirky characters…. Except for Apartment 22; that sounds like my absolute nightmare. 😅

The story of what happens when you spend the night somewhere you probably shouldn't, when you are just a few minutes late getting home, and when you think you are head over heels in love until you have to spend a longer amount of time with the person. These are some of the problems the characters face as a lock down forces them to stay put and stay away. I liked the concept of what happened behind closed doors after lock downs went into effect. An interesting and sometimes humorous take on a serious subject that so many endured together. Recommend for readers who want to get an account of how and what these fictitious characters did to survive forced living in close quarters.

Slightly too early in my opinion for a Covid romance book, I didn’t fall in love with any of the characters but the setting was charming and the idea was cute

Really enjoyed this cast of characters. It was definitely relatable to present times during our covid pandemic. Some people may think too early for a covid romcom. I enjoyed it!

I was worried to read about a book that has occupants of an apartment building in lockdown especially since most of the people reading this were in some sort of lockdown. But this was a fun, quirky read. I really enjoyed all the romances. I do recommend this book!

**3-3.5 stars... This rom-com was so cute and entertaining. A much needed break for me after reading several heavy books in a row. It was a good palate cleanser. Unlike most people, I do not mind reading stories related to Covid, especially if they are charming and funny. Overall, I enjoyed the diverse cast of characters and found their situations interesting, relatable, and funny. **Thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for my advanced copy.

Overall, a decent read. I liked learning about all the different characters/relationships/dynamics. But, overall, this was a very mediocre read to me. The writing was just average (lots of typos and things in the final print), there were a lot of annoying characters that I wanted to skip over after a while, and there were some relationships that just felt like they didn’t need to be included. Definitely forgettable and just a quick read if you’re looking for a palate cleanser.

I just got done reading Lockdown on London Lane by Beth Reekles and it was so fun! When a London apartment complex goes on lockdown after a case of Covid, residents soon find themselves in interesting situations to say the least.

I loved the alternating POVs and felt like Reekles did a great job making each character unique and interesting. I noticed a few negative reviews mention the characters were bland or boring, but I didn't see that at all personally.

This obviously isn't a some life-changing masterpiece of a novel and it isn't supposed to be. It's a fun, light read and I think that's exactly what so many of us need right now.

This book was so cute! I loved it so much and couldn't get enough. One of my favorite books of the year so far, and definitely want to read more from this author. Beth Reekles is great!

This was a sweet and relatable rom com following the interrelated stories of the occupants of an apartment building at the start of the pandemic. Maybe because it's still so top of mind, I would have enjoyed this more without the reason for the lockdown being covid. The characters and setting were absorbing and fun to read. Thank you for the advance copy!

LOCKDOWN ON LONDON LANE was a light hearted, enjoyable read that tackles love and life in the time of COVID-19. I really enjoyed the overlapping stories and multiple view points here. Compared to other similar books I’ve read recently, this one had a great premise and some relatable characters but ended up being a bit forgettable. Still an entertaining read.

Beth Reekles has a fun, easy to read voice! I will look for other novels by her in the future!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC which I received in exchange for my honest review.

This was not what I was expecting. I really am not sure what I expected from this book but I was quite bored with most of the perspectives in this novel.

Lockdown on London Lane is a story told by many different people that are stuck in this apartment building because of COVID. The concept sounds amazing but the execution not so much. A lot of the tenants in this building had boring perspectives or nothing profound to say about life or love. I think the only POV that I actually enjoyed was Imogen's because she actually went through some character development.

Overall, I did not feel connected to most of these characters and pretty much skimmed the last few chapters because I did not care how they all ended up.