Slow burn friends to lover with a high strung woman in the lead. This was cute probably 3.5 stars. Nothing amazing but a cute beach read. I liked the friendships and a woman discovering how to open herself up.

This was an easy, lighthearted quick read. It took me a little bit to get into it but flew through it after that. This was a fun summer friends to lovers romance. I enjoyed Lacie’s first book The Layover and this one did not disappoint either. I enjoyed Liv’s journey of self-acceptance and seeing her relationship with Deiss evolve. Overall, this was a 4.25 for me!

This book was SO CUTE! I loved Liv and totally felt the whole yes girl part. I can't complain about the setting either. This was the perfect summer read.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC!

All this book was super cute!
5 friends who have a pact to see each other once a month and go on vacation. When liv decided to stop following rules and goes for it, she joins her friends in South Africa and her world begins to change however with a couple set backs she doesn’t know if she did the right things and worries maybe all the rules mean something.

This book made me want to live and go for life

From the Jump is the sophomore novel by Lacie Waldon. Full of found friends, friends-to-lovers romance and self-discovery, this was such a fun read!

I loved the relationship that Deiss and Liv built and couldn’t help rooting for them. Liv also stole my heart as she starts to come into her own, learns how to set boundaries, and starts living the life she wants!

I also love a story about found friendships and the group of friends in this story are great and reminds me of some of my college friendships🙂.

With witty dialogue, a fast paced storyline and multidimensional characters, I would definitely recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin for an e-galley of From the Jump.

Lacie Waldon captures my attention from the first page. I loved The Layover, and Waldon did not disappoint with From the Jump.

This was a comedy of errors from start to finish. Liv has a plan. - a plan that, once executed, will let her live her life to the fullest. However, when everything goes off rails, Liv decides to join her friends on their annual vacation. But as the errors continue racking up, Liv wonders if saying no and making spur of the moment decisions was for the best. However, her friend Lucas becomes a failsafe for Liv as she tries to get her life back on her track.

I loved this book so much!! I loved Lacie’s debut The Layover last year and I think I love this one even more! It’s a friends to lovers romance between two members of a long-standing five-member friend group, and I loved the friendships just as much as the romance. The main character is going through a lot of life changes realizing doing what she’s “supposed to do” isn’t making her happy or fulfilled and I loved going on that journey with her! Highly recommend!

In From the Jump we get to witness Liv grow from a work and success focused woman to discovering what in life will really make her happy. Throughout the non-linear timeline we get to glimpse Liv's childhood with a narcissistic mother who could not be relied upon to provide Liv with what she needed, to a college student where she finds a group of four friends that become her new family to adulthood and work-life.

After college, Liv is leading what she feels is a successful life. When life throws her a curveball she decides to break from her normal and meet her college friends on their annual vacation that she typically is too busy working to attend. On the trip Liv explores how growing up has challenged the once idyllic group and also she allows herself to let down her guard and explore her romantic feelings towards Lucas Deiss.

I really enjoyed the storyline, seeing how the group weathers the conflicts that arise and especially liked watching the relationship between Liv and Deiss progress.

I enjoyed Lacie Waldon's debut book and I was excited to give From the Jump a try! I was especially intrigued by the setting in South Africa. Overall, the story was okay and I enjoy Lacie Waldon's writing style. But there were some things about this book I wasn't a fan of. Though I'm not sure I can really place my finger on what those things are. That being said, I'm excited to see what she writes next and I'll definitely give it a chance!

Thank you so much @PutnamBooks & @NetGalley for giving me this eARC in exchange for my honest and unbiased review (Release Date | 19 July 2022)

SYNOPSIS | Liv met her five best friends at college and each year the group takes an exotic vacation together... except for Liv. She didn't grow up in the same affluent lifestyle as them so she often feels that she isn't worthy of being included or financially stable enough to go. This year she decides to throw caution to the wind & joins them in South Africa.

WHAT I LIKED:
- the focus on the friendship group & found family trope
- big fan of the will they / won't they friends-to-lovers vibe

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
- Liv was the least interesting out of the friendship group yet she is the main character
- the story just didn't hit me in the feels like I wanted it too
- the ending felt really rushed & unsatisfying
- the actual trip to South Africa was such a tiny portion of the book (& there wasn't really any flashbacks to their other yearly vacations)

Thank you NetGalley and Putnam books for the gifted copy in exchange for my review!

If I’m going to be honest, for me when I was initially read this book I was very much uninterested in the story. But it was close to the release date so I listened to it on audiobook. It made the story much more enjoyable for me. I feel like the storyline was good but the beginning was so rushed around and then boom she’s been robbed and all of this happens before the half way point of the book. Then the last half of the book was very slow. I feel like the beginning and the trip to Africa was just a complete disaster and I could have predicted it was all going to go back from the second she decided to book a last minute trip.

I really do wish Liv and Diess had more chemistry. I felt that they were cute but they felt way more like friends just trying too hard to find chemistry.

The characters were enjoyable and their relationships were supportive! That was a redeeming quality to the book. However I didn’t like Simone’s character. She came off very entitled and snobby. Phoebe and Macs relationship was so toxic to me. The relationship to friendship and back and forth is so not good for people mentally.

I think I liked this book overall but I don’t think that I will be reading this again.

Rating: 4/5 Stars


Liv Bakersfield has always lived her life exactly “by the book”. Job, boyfriend, finances - she’s always done what she should and only taken calculated risks. When Liv finally gets the courage to stray from the books she finds herself on a vacation of a lifetime with her best friends in South Africa.

As we get to know Liv and her best friends, we meet a cast of likable characters who are nuanced and growing in their own way. When Liv and her friend Lucas find themselves living together after their Africa trip, they start to question whether or not they’ve always been friends or maybe something more.

From the Jump is a wild ride from beginning to end - a highly unrealistic storyline and a character is slightly out of touch with reality (and in some cases common sense) - but it works. I really loved the romp in South Africa and the translation to real life in LA. Lacie did a great job at making the characters all work in their own specific way.

Thanks to NetGalley, PENGUIN GROUP Putnam / G.P. Putnam’s Sons and the author for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Synopsis: Do you struggle with being a person that always says yes? Are you a person who lives your life on the "shoulds" instead of what makes you happy? Liv, a graphic designer, is stretched thin because her chronic trait of being a yes-woman, all until she decides to say no and become spontaneous. Her friends embark on a journey to South Africa, and what better way to practice her new plan to say no more often and take back her life by quitting her job, and jumping on a plane to join them! Filled with incredible self development, friends to lovers romance, and a newfound adventure ahead of her, this books follows Liz as she begins to take back her life and put herself first for once!

Thoughts: This book was a pleasant surprise and definitely caught me off guard. I originally requested it on @netgalley after reading the synopsis and was genuinely intrigued. Fast forward to weeks later when I finally decided to read it, forgetting the synopsis, and going in blind, I expected a lighthearted rom com, but this book is SO much more than that!

Liv, as the female main character, is such a strong role model and the character development she underwent throughout the book was absolutely amazing! I loved it! I truly enjoyed the overall theme of learning to saying no and doing what makes you happy instead of what you should do. It's solid advice that I can appreciate and use as a reminder for my day to day life.

Liv's relationship, both romantic and a friendship, with Deiss was definitely swoon worthy! Their friendship was so admirable!

Read this one if you like:
✨️ Friends to Lovers
✨️ Forced Proximity
✨️ Strong female main character
✨️ Self Discovery

Thank you @netgalley and @putnambooks for an eArc of this fun summer read!

I loved this group of friends, the life they live together, and the relationship between 2 friends-to-lovers. The story starts with Liv forced to make some changes and take some chances in her perfectly ordered life. It’s not easy for her. At all. But she gives it a go. Deiss refuses to take any relationship beyond friendship or hookups and he has his reasons. Valid reasons. Once they finally admit their attraction to each other, all bets are off and a brand new future awaits - but only if they will make the jump. This story and characters are so well written I felt like I was right there with them every step of the way. Hopefully this friend group will have more books in the future. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC to read and review. All opinions are my own.

In From the Jump, the most put-together character goes from workaholic to hot mess. Going on sabbatical from her job, to vacation in Africa with her college friends, and returning to a dumpster fire, it feels like our heroine Liv lives nine lives in just a few chapters. When Liv has nowhere to stay upon her return from her last-minute vacation, she shares the apartment of long-time friend and crush, Lucas. Finally taking time for herself to reevaluate what she wants, she realizes that may include Lucas... and not the job or life she left behind.

Despite a stressful start to our story, I love to see a unique turn of events and a long-time crush finally come to be. There's a flash of celebrity element that I don't want to spoil--but it's a fun plot twist I certainly didn't see coming. I think this book is even better that Waldon's first, and I have hopes for even more strides with another!

Thanks to Putnam for my eARC and finished copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

5 stars - 8/10

Thank you Netgalley & Putnam Books for the e-book of From the Jump!

I was SO excited to read From the Jump after absolutely adoring Lacie Waldon's other book The Layover, but sadly this one was just okay for me. The main character Liz was just so unsure of herself that sometimes it drove me absolutely crazy! Deiss was adorable and I loved him, but overall this story and the group of friends felt quite juvenile..and that made the story just a little too slow for me. I also expected more of the book to focus on the friends trip that Liz finally decides to go on, but was disappointed to find out that it was really just a small portion of the book! I will definitely still be looking forward to Lacie Waldon's next book though!

From the Jump is my first book by Lacie Waldon. When I saw the gorgeous cover and read the synopsis of a getaway romance to South Africa, I quickly cross-check with Goodreads and saw that my friends rated it highly, so it was a no-brainer to give it a try.

An easy 5 star read for sure. I loved Liv as a main character and Deiss is irresistible. I sped through this book and really enjoyed the writing. I cannot wait to read Lacie Waldon's next story.

Super cute romance! This was my first Lacie Waldon book and I really enjoyed it. I do wish it was a little spicer, it was a little tame compared to the romance books I’ve been reading lately.

Liv always does what she’s supposed to do. At work she does what she’s supposed to do, she stays late when asked (when no one else does), she takes the crappy projects when asked, and she allows her work to change her creative work into cookie cutter deliverables. She works out everyday like she’s supposed to and she eats what she’s supposed to. She decorates her apartment like the magazines tell her to and she dates who the blogs tell her she’s supposed to.
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𝗨𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗹 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻’𝘁.
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She’s sick of never eating food she likes, never doing projects that stoke her creative juices, and most importantly never getting to spend time with her friends.
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The close circle of friends offers an amazing variety of dynamic characters. The interplay of relationships and emotions was just the right amount of drama. The relationship between Liv and Lucas was a delicious rollercoaster.
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If you like:
✅ Sweet HEAs
✅ Getaways to Africa
✅ Secret celebrities
✅ Self-discovery
✅ Friends to Lovers
Then you definitely have to read this book!

This was the perfect way to finish off summer by being transported to safaris and motivated by Liv’s transformation.