I loved The Layover.
But I really disliked FROM THE JUMP.

This romance revolves around a small group of friends, who met their freshman year of college, and are still best friends 11 years later.

There are two issues here:
(1) This friend group is toxic in many ways. I hated most of them.
(2) These characters are written as if they are 18 years old and not in their 30s. This book is written in then-and-now format and all of these people act exactly the same way in both time frames. They are immature, petty, jealous, and needy. I wish I were joking when I say that they still sometimes speak in the secret language they made up in college. They are business owners and professionals now and they talk in code with each other. Nooooo.

Of the much too large cast of characters in this book, there was literally only one that I liked. Every other character actively annoyed me. It was just hard to read.

FROM THE JUMP might have worked if the timeline was condensed and it was billed as a YA novel, but as it is I just can't recommend it.

𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚: ⭐️
𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗠 𝗟𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗟: Rated PG-13 / Only 1 descriptive sex scene, may have harsh language.
𝗧𝗥𝗜𝗚𝗚𝗘𝗥𝗦: past homelessness, identity theft/robbery
𝗙𝗘𝗘𝗟𝗦: 3/5 - You will definitely feel some feels.

I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a fun read. It shows the reality of life with the ebbs and flows of people coming in and out of our lives, loss, fear, and change. It helps you realize things about your life in a lighthearted way. Quick, keep you wanting more read with surprises along the way.

The most dreamy book!! I am a sucker for friends-to-lover stories, and this one grabbed ahold of me quick. This was a slow burn but it pairs well with Liv learning how to really embrace herself and step out of her comfort zone. Special Thanks to G.P. Putnam's Sons, Lacie Waldon, and NetGalley for giving me an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

More Like 3 and ½ Stars !✨

A huge thank you to NetGalley and Putnam Books for my advanced copy of From the Jump!

I liked this one.
It kept me entertained.
I listened to this on audio. Brittany Pressley did an awesome job. ( She always does )
This book was an easy listen while multitasking which I appreciate.
I really enjoyed the story.
I loved Liv as a main character.

Why this book isn't 5 Stars-

The romance and the dynamics of the friend group in this book. I wasn't attached to / didn't really care for the other characters outside of Liv.

Overall- Middle of the road. Not bad but also not worth recommending to everyone.

This was a fun easy read. The characters were enjoyable and had build up throughout the story. Their relationship was fun and had me invested in finding out where things would go. This is definitely a rom-com fit for anyone that wants a breezy read without any heavy emotions.

As much as I enjoyed Lacie's debut novel, this one just wasn't for me. I didn't find the relationships between the characters believable, and I thought the story was one I've seen before. I did like the main character's growth throughout, but otherwise, this was just another romcom.

This is one of those books that you pick up from the bookstore for a vacation and then suddenly when you are sitting on the beach you realize you are sunburnt because you spent the whole day finishing it. It is absolutely adorable with a perfect message that sometimes we want is outside of the scope we typically set for ourself. I also am a sucker for a cute friends to lovers so that was a plus.

This friends to lovers romantic comedy is down right perfect! Lacie is an incredible author and her sophomore novel is a hit! I really loved these characters and how she took them on this journey! Can’t wait for the next one!

I thought this was such a good book! I loved the storyline and was engaged the whole time I was reading it. I loved the friendship in this book, it felt so real. I recommend checking it out!!

I really enjoyed this book! I was such a fan of Lacie's first book, The Layover, so I had high hopes for this one. I read this book on a 4 hour flight and it was the perfect escape. Such a fun and quick read.

Makes me want to go back on vacation. Such a fun breezy cute book. Thank you to Putnam for the gifted ARC my honest review.

From the Jump!!

I loved this one, the romance was SO cute! The main characters are very 3-dimensional- I wish I could still read about them to see how they’re doing. Effortless writing and dialog. Absolutely heartwarming without being cheesy. FRIENDS TO LOVERS ROMANCE.

This is my first novel by this author and already looking to back list her other popular books. If you’ve read, please let me know.

Ty @netgalley for the ARC & sorry for the late review lol.

4 stars!

I did not enjoy either books by this author. Just like her first one I found this lacking in chemistry and characters that I cared about. I won’t be ready more from her.

This was super fun and cute! I’d recommend to lovers of romance novels. It was lighthearted and one of my fave tropes

As always Lacie made me laugh and this book was fully of wit and fun. I loved the overall lesson of the book but the characters fell a little flat for me. I couldn’t connect to Liv but loved Deiss, swoon!

This is a fun and lighthearted friends to lovers romcom. Liv is such a relatable character that I felt very drawn to. So many of us do what we "should" rather than what we really want, just to be less complicated.

The friendships that Lacie describes in her books makes you feel so immersed that you feel like you are part of the group. Additionally the growth she shows within the MC is inspiring. You truly see/feel the personal growth of Liv as well as the growth of the friendship to a relationship with Lucas.

Reading this book was a nice escape but at the same time a stark reminder that we shouldn't live life according to others expectations but rather live the life we want for ourselves without holding back.

Read this book if you like: Friends to lovers, close friends groups, guy that doesn't do relationships, a bit steamy ❤️‍🔥

Liv Bakersfield always says yes. She is used to living her life in “shoulds.” Be fit. Be financially responsible. Be your best self. She's an overworked graphic designer that's stretched so thin that she’s about to miss yet another vacation with her beloved group of college friends. When Liv finally decides to start saying no, it feels good. She even quit her job and hopped on a plane to join them in South Africa.

Liv expects a fun easy vacation with her best friends. Such close proximity makes everything more complicated when she realizes her feelings for her emotionally unavailable friend Lucas Deiss. Her friends constantly talk about keeping the friend group together so she's afraid to try anything.

Once they get back to L.A., Liv discovers a lot of crazy things happened while she was gone. She ends up going right to Lucas. With the trust of the people she loves most on the line, Liv must decide between doing what she should and risking everything for what she shouldn’t want.

I really loved this book. I loved watching Liv's growth as the book progressed. This was fun, sweet, and a little steamy. There were multiple members to the friend group but they weren't confusing. The characters were all likeable and well developed. I highly recommend this one!

Huge thank you to NetGalley, the author. And Penguin Group Putnam for the gifted e-book! ❤️

This book was an easy read for me! I flew through it. It’s about Liv, who feels the need to be absolutely flawless and independent, as she learns to say no and let loose. It has a really wonderful found family (minus one particular friend who was pretty atrocious the entire book, but somehow gets a free pass anyway). I enjoyed watching Liv find the confidence and safety to really be herself. I found a lot of the characters kind of hard to relate to or get emotionally attached to because so many of them are putting on a brave front, and I struggled to connect with them well enough. Liv was so nervous and fake for so much of her friendships that it was really hard to buy in to them as genuine and deep. Lucas went from 100% aloof and detached to being this heartfelt and caring person and it just didn’t work for me at times. I did love the banter and tension between Liv and Lucas though. And Alaina was one of my favorite characters, as small as her role was. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC to review!

In From the Jump, we meet Liv and Lucas Deiss, two long term best friends with a friend group of besties who vacation together every year - except for Liz! Our main character is obsessed with doing everything she "should" do and not at all with what she *actually* wants to do. I'm sure any of us readers that have anxiety can relate - I know I could and it's what pulled me in right from the start.

But then Liv has a "come to her maker" moment of clarity (with the help of a new friend) and she ends up joining her friends on their vacation halfway around the world at the absolute last minute. And that is when she starts spending more time with Deiss (he goes by his last name most of the time lol) and the end up in the same room during the vacation. Deiss and Liv have great chemistry right from the start and the attraction between them was sooo obvious. But WAIT - the entire group makes a pact to never date one another because they can't possibly risk ruining the group.

I'm not going to lie - that felt a little silly - but also incredibly relatable because we all have things we don't to risk changing in big ways. But due to some very unfortunate circumstances, Liv ends up staying with Deiss after the vacation. They, of course, try their hardest to not fall for one another but helllooo close proximity and friends-to-lovers.

Throughout the book we see Liv regularly work on herself - she becomes a "no" woman (instead of "yes") and really starts to dig deep to identify what she wants in life. There are some entertaining missteps, relatable changes, and a whole lotta growth along the way. And during all of it she has Deiss as support (for the most part).

It's a swoony, light hearted read that is perfect for summer! I can't wait for Lacie Waldon's next book - I have a feeling it will be just as swoon worthy!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC! All opinions are my own.

An honestly great follow up the Layover. I really enjoy the genre so I was pretty predisposed to dig this read but still ranked really high for me. Highly recommend