While I loved the author’s previous book last summer, I wasn’t as much of a fan of this one. It is about a group of college friends, including the main character Liv. The cover seems to imply a vacation setting, but while the group goes to South Africa, they are only there for a short time in the book. I guess I just didn’t like Liv or the rest of the friend group and I didn’t feel that they were as close of friends even when we were told they were. I feel badly that I didn’t like this one more.

I have been struggling to find the words to properly review this book. So please, stick with me and read on...

First, let me start by thanking @putnambooks and @prhaudio for sending me this book to read/listen to and give my honest opinion.

SITUATION
Pub Day: July 19th, 2022
Publisher: Putnam
Genre: RomCom
📃Pages: 352
🎧Audio Length: 9hrs 18min
BACKGROUND
Liv Bakersfield is used to living her life in “shoulds.” Be fit. Be financially responsible. Be your best self. An overworked graphic designer, she’s stretched so thin that she’s about to miss yet another vacation with her beloved group of college friends. But when Liv finally decides to start saying no, it feels good…good enough to leap straight into quitting her job and hopping on a plane to join them in South Africa.

Amid the exotic landscape and unforgettable sights, Liv expects sun and safari animals and an easy time with her best friends. But such close proximity makes everything more complicated, especially with the emotionally unavailable Lucas Deiss. Their friendship is the only thing in her life that's still solid, and she vows to do anything she can to keep the group together. But once they get back to LA, Liv discovers that her leap of faith has become a freefall, sending her crashing into Deiss's arms. 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.
ASSESSMENT
📗Positive Results: Lucas Deiss. Read the book and you'll see there isn't really more to say there... He's your new book boyfriend. Then, there is a group of friends that have stuck together since college, meeting once a month. A group of friends who try to go on vacation annually. I mean, they sound like a great group of people. There are elephants. How can you say no to elephants?
📙Abnormal Results: Simone. I am not a fan. She isn't a nice person and I'm still not sure why she is part of their friend group... Every good story needs a character like this though, right? Well, this book has two because there is also the love-to-hate Mia.
Nursing Notes: At the beginning of the book, Liv is your typical just-trying-to-survive character. She's responsible and hard working, but it never seems to really get her ahead. Because of this, she is about to miss yet another vacations her friends are taking. This part made me want to reach through the pages and shake her - start living your life, Liv!

Thankfully, she listens because she quits her job (that doesn't appreciate her anyway) and books a flight to join her friends. She's late to the game so she's arriving after her friends and has some different accommodations. Thankfully, Lucas Deiss (who goes by Deiss) offers to drive to the airport (a mere 2+hr drive) to pick her up. Then the "hotel" she booked turns out to be... shall we say "less than ideal"... so Deiss brings her back to his hotel room.

Again, I wanted to reach through the pages and shake Liv, but this time because she's so damn obsessed with her makeup. Sure, I get it. Her mother screwed up her psyche at a young age, but I wanted her to actually let loose and be authentic. Praise be to God that the circumstances are not in her favor and she's required to "put on a good face" (did you see that? a makeup pun...).

My love of Deiss first began back at the bar Stateside, but his desire (or should I call it a craving) to see Liv's pure beauty really warmed my heart. It wasn't just about what he wanted though, it was about the way he made her feel comfortable being herself. He created an environment in which Liv's true self could still shine.

Cue the elephants. Imagine being in a one person tent and hearing a heard of elephants rummaging through the food left outside. Let's compare this to camping in the States and the bears growling outside your tent... Deiss to the rescue, but I'll let you read the book to know what else happens on the South Africa trip.

The best part of coming home from an amazing trip of a lifetime is climbing into your own bed after hours upon hours of travel. But where the hell is Liv's bed? Where is Liv's cat? And where is all of Liv's money that is supposed to be safely in her bank account? If she thought she'd hit rock bottom before the trip, she was dead wrong.

Liv's life seems to be in the dumpster and the dumpster was just lit on fire, except the reality is that the sparks that lit the fire were between Deiss and herself and all that heat? It's not from the dumpster being on fire... it's the sizzling sexual tension! And Deiss doesn't just prove to Liv he's an amazing man, he proved it to every female who reads this book!

I have so much more to say, but I can't give it all away. If you've read my review this far, you have to read the book... and then hit me up so we can discuss!!!

🎧Notes on Narration: Brittany Pressley is one of my favorite audiobook narrators. I love her cadence and her voice. I also love the way she narrates the male character's voices. When I see her name as the narrator, I'm confident I will enjoy the audiobook.
🗝️Key words: #ThisReadingNurse #FromtheJump #LacieWaldon #RomCom #Putnam #Travel #Friendship #FriendsToLovers

From the Jump was a great summer read! The first half of this book is a travel romance to South Africa, which made me want to go there ASAP. This is forced proximity and a friends-to-lovers romance between Liv and Deiss. I also loved their friend group, even though they had some strong opinions that caused some drama. If you want a fun wanderlust romance with some tight-knit college friendships, this is the book to read. I loved the narration and would recommend it.

Thank you, Penguin Random House Audio and G.P. Putnam's Sons, for my complimentary copies.

A fun, friends to lovers romcom. LIV has never joined her friends on their vacations because they weren’t on her list of things she could do. Finally she joins them on safari and has a wonderful time. I loved reading about the safari, I’ve always wanted to go on one.

While in Africa, she spends time with her old friend Lucas. Their friendship is important to her, and all her friends know that Lucas isn’t interested in a serious relationship. Once they’re back home, they start spending time together and it seems like maybe things between them could be more than just friendly. It goes against everything she “should” do. 4 stars.

QOTD: I’ve always wanted to go on safari, what’s on your bucket list

Synopsis:
A chronic yes-woman finally admits to what—and who—she really wants in this unforgettable and heartfelt romantic comedy, by the author of The Layover.

Liv Bakersfield is used to living her life in “shoulds.” Be fit. Be financially responsible. Be your best self. An overworked graphic designer, she’s stretched so thin that she’s about to miss yet another vacation with her beloved group of college friends. But when Liv finally decides to start saying no, it feels good…good enough to leap straight into quitting her job and hopping on a plane to join them in South Africa.

Amid the exotic landscape and unforgettable sights, Liv expects sun and safari animals and an easy time with her best friends. But such close proximity makes everything more complicated, especially with the emotionally unavailable Lucas Deiss. Their friendship is the only thing in her life that's still solid, and she vows to do anything she can to keep the group together. But once they get back to L.A., Liv discovers that her leap of faith has become a freefall, sending her crashing into Deiss's arms. 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.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/<id type="integer">4927290028</id>

I received a reviewer copy of From the Jump by Lacie Waldon from the Publisher Penguin Group Putnum through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

What It’s About: Liv Bakersfield has always played by the rules and lived under a tight budget despite her friends being less concerned with money. This can lead to her missing trips with her beloved friends and not getting to see them as much as she wishes. But one day she decides to stop what she should do and what she should want to do.

What I Loved: I thought this book was fun, I love a good novel of the perfect well behaved girl gone bad. I felt like the main couple had serious chemistry. I loved that a lot of the conflict comes from not blowing up the friend group and I love the former couple who maybe did. I liked the travel aspects of this book too. Camping with elephants? Sounds like a dream!

What I didn’t like so much: Okay, here's my thing. I found the characters kind of uninteresting even when I learned their backstories. I found Liv to be kind of the basic perfect girl who has perfect friends and a perfect personality and all the boys love her and I just didn't get any reason why or who she truly is. I also didn't totally love our world-crashing problem for the couple, I didn't buy it.

Who Should Read It: People who love a low-stakes friends to lovers tropes.

Summary: A good girl decides to go for what she wants not what she should.

From the Jump was the perfect pool read this summer! I enjoyed seeing Liv’s transformation from a people pleaser who couldn’t say “no” to someone who figured out how to live a life she actually wants and enjoys.

It has one of the funnest friend groups you’ll read about. I loved riding along on their South African safari vacation, seeing flashbacks to their college days, and watching them navigating the next stages in their lives.

I laughed a ton reading this, and seeing Liv and Deiss’s plot twists along the way was just delightful. Thanks to Putnam and NetGalley for a review copy!

Let me start by saying that the cover on this one made me wrongly think that more of this would take place on vacation. Also the cover gives the impression that said vacation is a tropical one. But anyway… that did not impact my overall ranking.

What did though was the fact that I just really didn’t like these characters. Simone was by far the worst but the rest weren’t much more likable.

On top of that the plot was a mess for the first half. Even though I thought the second half flowed better, it wasn’t enough to save the book.

Liv and Diess had some cute moments but I didn’t feel like there was enough for me to be convinced that they worked as a couple,

This was so much more than just a simple romance. Liv is a chronic ‘yes woman’ who is finally taking charge of her life and going after what she wants. Her character growth is inspiring and really made me think about ways that I could improve the quality of my own life.

I loved the found family group of friends. They have their differences and disagreements, but still treat each other as a family and work to be supportive of each other. Even as some members become more than friends, the relationship between all of them is so nice to see.

I’m not usually a huge fan of the friends-to-lovers trope, but this one was so well done. I loved that their friendship really grew before it became more and you felt their connection become stronger. I was hooked from the start.

Thank you to NetGalley, Lacie Waldon, and Penguin Group Putnam/G.P. Putnam’s Sons for an e-arc of From The Jump in exchange for an honest review.

Enjoyable summer read. When I saw the bright cover (even though.I try to not judge books by their covers), I had a feeling that I would be in for a treat. And this was a great escape. I liked the slow burn romance and the well-developed characters. Now if I only I could be reading from a beach!

Thank you to Putnam and NetGalley for this eARC!

Liv Bakersfield has lived her life under the mask of a yes woman, trying to make herself as palatable as possible for the people around her. But after a run-in with college friend Lucas Deiss forces her to rethink this tactic, she starts to realize saying "no" feels pretty damn good. Sure it lands her with six weeks of unpaid leave from work, but now it means she can join her friends on the annual trip abroad. Once her mask starts to slip, so does Deiss's and Liv will have to decide if keeping hers in place is worth losing the people she loves most.

The start on this one was a little slow for me and I think the flashbacks to the friend group in college could have been a little more dynamic and shown more of Deiss and Liv's interactions, specifically how they could have been falling for each other and not realized it. Waldon's imagery was impeccable -- I felt like I was in Deiss's shop and apartment, but it felt like some subplot lines were necessarily left dangling until the final pages. I also would have liked to have seen Liv interact more with her mom, at the very least deciding to keep things the same between them as opposed to not addressing it at all.

Overall, it was a low-stakes romance that was a perfectly enjoyable place to spend time!

I was kind of disappointed since I loved “The Layover”--I think it might’ve been the group dynamics here that threw the whole thing off for me, for starters. It was quite chaotic.

After Liv begins her anti-Shonda Rhimes’s “Year of Yes” (which involves learning to tell people “no”) in the face of another disappointing job assignment, she runs off to South Africa to finally tag along on the annual group trip she has never been on these past 11 years (why couldn’t the other four members of this group plan a trip Liv could actually afford all this time??). Then we add child stardom, devastating break-ins, a record store concert, and a neverending ripple of All the Feels in general among the group, that can’t be overcome despite a pact that nobody will bone anybody else lest it ruin the dynamic. There’s so much grinning and flirting you kinda wish they would collectively bone to see if it gets out of their systems. (Two of the five already had been a couple, with a disastrous break up, that creates an undercurrent of tension throughout the book.) And if these people are as close to Liv as she says they are, why haven’t they bothered to talk and hang out with her more than once a month? Liv sees what she has been missing once she has more time on her hands and makes an effort, then covers up her feelings about it with an “it’s fine, we’re all here now. No really, it’s fine.”

Yet when one of the five completely loses it over Deiss and Liv dating? To Deiss: “She’s not like us. She doesn’t have anyone else. When you drop her, she’s going to end up all alone.” Another: “Are you happy now? You’ve ruined everything.”
Uhhhhhh, way to go, Besties! Sorry, but there could not be enough apologizing to fix that for me.

Sorry--this book just didn’t do it for me.

Liv Bakersfield is the “yes” girl and is a workaholic who is about to miss a trip to South Africa with her friends, only something inside her just explodes and she unexpectedly says “no,” which lands her jobless and on her way to South Africa to vacation with her friends. When she gets to South Africa, her friend Lucas Deiss picks her up for the long drive back to her Air B&B, only her accommodations are not what she expects and she needs a new place to stay. Deiss comes to the rescue… again and again as Liv navigates her new unfamiliar life both in South Africa and at home in LA.

This book was adorable! I was expecting the whole book to be about the trip to South Africa, but was surprised to see that it went even further. I loved all the scenes in Deiss’s record shop - it gave me a lot of Empire Records vibes. The characters were all well written and added a lot to the story, and I found myself laughing out loud a bunch with the personalities and conversations being had. If you’re looking for a fun summer read, pick up this book!


⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you Penguin Group Putnam and @NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book!

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A great friends to lovers romp that gives you all the feels. Good chemistry between the leads. A delightful slow burn, the pay off is a little lacking, but still worth the read. Low steam level, but still fun nonetheless.

Having read the author’s first novel, I was excited to get this one. I also liked the idea that it was going to have travel again. This said, the author missed some opportunities in South African portion. The having her MC come home to a mess could have also led to some other outcomes that might have led to a so steamy scenes, but again it didn’t. A solid 3.5 stars. Great summer read, so grab for your next plane trip. Thanks for the ebook ARC from NetGalley.

𝘼 𝙘𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙞𝙘 𝙮𝙚𝙨-𝙬𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙖𝙙𝙢𝙞𝙩𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩—𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙤—𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙪𝙣𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙛𝙚𝙡𝙩 𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙘 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙙𝙮

Lacie Waldon is a super close friend of mine and a super talented author. I’m so happy to have been able to read her next book early… trust me, you’re not going to want to miss this one.

If you’re looking for the perfect summer read, From The Jump is for you.

In this book, we follow a group of friends who meet in college and stick together to create a strong friendship. Each year this group takes a vacation, and this year they are heading to South Africa.

Liv, always saying “no” as she’s too serious, decides to go on this vacation as she has extended time off work. However, when she gets there, she has to share a room with Deiss and things begin to escalate… one problem: they all had promised not to engage in romantic gestures…

Lacie always knows how to create strong character development. Her writing flows so well and makes it easier for the reader to connect with the story.

I really enjoyed the strong friendship. I loved how supportive they were of one another and the banter between them. I love the whole idea of stepping out of your comfort zone and making the best out of life. Also, Deiss made this whole story so much better!

If you’re wanting to take a fun adventure on a safari, make sure to check out this book. It was the perfect summer read and such a joy of a story.

Again, congrats Lacie Waldon on your new book. I’m so excited for you and for everyone else to read this!

Thank you so much G.P. Putnam’s Sons and NetGalley for my free review copy, all thoughts are my own.

A quick read about a group of friends from college that stay close throughout the years. The story mainly follows Liv and Diess with the rest of the group as supporting characters.

I liked that it was a friend to lovers trope, but wish Liv wasn't so tense and oblivious to her worth for part of the book. It could have had more depth with the blooming will they or won't they relationship, too.

3.5/5⭐️

A fun sweet story that is an easy and quick read. Perfect beach/vacation read! This is my first from Lacie Waldon, and I'm excited to read more. The timing of my picking this up was also serendipitous. I usually go for a romance or lighthearted story after a thriller or mystery, and this was the perfect pallet cleanse!!

From the Jump by Lacie Waldon was a cute, fast read.

Liv has coped with a tough childhood by following many self-imposed rules as an adult, dictating how she approaches money, diet, exercise habits, dating, and home decor. Then one day she just... stops doing what she thinks she's "supposed to," thanks to a coworker who gently tells her that she can say no.

Due to her new approach to life, and some unforeseen circumstances, she winds up spending more time with her college friends than she has since college. While I thought they were a fun group, it took me awhile to be able to tell them apart, and ultimately I just didn't care a lot about their bonds. Part of the major tension has to do with maintaining their relationships, but I wasn't sure how any of them became the only "best friends" Liv's got -- after all, it was a coworker she'd never spent time with outside work who led her to living more happily, not any of her friends. Somehow none of them quite picked up on how she's been living her life, or they dismissed it as par for the course for "the Ice Queen?"

Which is to say, I did care about Liv and was glad she stopped being so hard on herself. I also really enjoyed the onset of her romance -- love some will they/won't they tension, not to mention scenes of a couple getting closer while spending more time together.

Sooooo…. I read this in one sitting.

I loved this one from start to finish. It held my attention the entire time and the romance was one of my favorites (and this is coming from someone who normally doesn’t like the friends to lovers trope).

So good.

This is a super cute and sweet book that's perfect for summertime. Good characters, good storyline and good message to follow what you want, not what you believe you should be doing.