With Love from London by Sarah Jio was a good read. I'm a big romance reader and was excited for this one. However, I was left disappointed as there isn't as much romance in the book. I wouldn't even classify it in that category. This is more of a journey by the lead Eloise. It takes us through her youth, marriage, motherhood, and reconnections of people along the way. Overall a great read but don't be expecting the romance.

I received an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I've been a fan of Jio's books since The Violets of March. I'm thrilled that her more recent books have been better and a return to her signature style, if not an actual improvement.

With Love from London is really a love story between mother and daughter on two different continents and time periods. Eloise is from the East End of London and in the late 1960's, a sales girl at Harrod's of London. She falls in love with Edward, but timing is not on her side. She marries Frank, an American business man who promises a comfortable life but no passion. They eventually have a daughter, Valentina but circumstances prevent her from raising her past the age of 12. It's definitely heartbreaking and infuriating the truth that is revealed.

Valentina is a 35 year old librarian in Seattle and getting through a divorce when she finds out her estranged mother passed away and left her a charming bookstore in the Primrose Hill section of London. She leaves behind her life in Seattle to settle her mother's estate. Val doesn't expect to fall in love, but she does with the bookstore, with a possibility of a new life and discovering her connection to her late mother. I liked the supporting character Liza, Millie, Eric and others.

The book keeps the reader going from Eloise's life in America in the 1970s and 1980s raising her daughter and feeling disconnected from her husband Frank, who belittled her dream of owning a bookstore with her best friend Millie. I really could not stand him or what he did. Unfortunately he passed away before Valentina could learn the truth behind the separation.

There's a cute scavenger hunt that brings mother and daughter together again in a way, and a literary "mystery" behind the notes written in a beloved book. The person behind these insightful notes was pretty predictable to me but I still enjoyed this sub plot. Valentina and her new friends fight to save the bookstore from closing and raise money to pay the taxes. Will it be enough?

4.5/5☆ release 2/8/22

I really enjoyed the novel, With Love from London. A love story between Eloise and her daughter, Valentina, and a book about truths, friendship, a love for books, and the unbreakable bond of a mother's love. I was at tears by the end.

Thank you, NetGalley, for an advanced copy of this book.

Thank you to Netgalley and Ballantine Books for the opportunity to read and review this book prior to publication.

I picked this up as a bit of an escape from the heavier books I am reading at the moment, and I was immediately sucked in. Valentina is a librarian in the US and she inherits her estranged mother's bookshop (and the two flats above it) in London upon her mother's passing. Recovering from her own failed marriage, she sees it as an opportunity to escape and to try to understand why her mother left so long ago. This is a dual timeline story with alternating chapters from her mother's POV. Valentina follows the scavenger hunt her mother prepared, which takes her to meet many in the neighborhood and get to know important people in her mother's life. This book is a book-lover's dream, with so many references to the power of books, favorite books, the importance of a bookstore in a community, etc. But it is also heartbreaking as Jio explores Eloise's and Valentina's grief. I had a couple little issues with things in the text, but overall this was a huggable book! 4.5 stars.

I enjoyed this book, but feel like it’s a little misleading to call it a romance. There is some romance involved, but it’s not really the main plot line. There were some things about the plot I just found tragic…..Edward married, but always loved Eloise. How sad for his wife! Also, Eloise and Edward “fall in love” after going on a single date? I honestly hate that kind of thing in books. Eloise continued to write to Valentina every day until she turned eighteen, so she obviously had their address in Seattle. Why wouldn’t she track her daughter down? Why wouldn’t she after finding out her ex husband died?
This was a sad, but hopeful story that’s very well written l just not my ideal kind of book.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for providing me access to this eARC for my honest opinion!

With Love from London shows us Eloise’s journey through youth, marriage, and motherhood, alongside Valentina’s story as she reconnects with both her lost mother and with herself. This is a story of timing, love, friendship, loss, grief, hope, and the ties that connect us in every season of life.

This is was my first time reading Sarah Jio’s work, and I’m looking forward to reading more!

Many thanks to Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine and NetGalley for the complimentary copy of this work.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC for an exchange for an honest review.

It was a slow start for me, and it just didn't grab me. Still an enjoyable read and would recommend this to anyone who likes alternating POV's between mother and daughter, bookstores, and a London setting.

A book about a girl who loves books, does it get better than that? Valentina is such a lovable character. I could not put this book down! She goes on a journey to discover who her mom truly was, while trying to make a better life for herself. This is the first book i have read by this author, and i am very impressed! I will definitely be checking out some of her other works. Well written, highly suggest the read!

Sarah Jio has a way of drawing readers in - right from the get go - and that has not changed with her newest novel - With Love from London.

It’s a tale of - do you really truly know the truth about your parents? Or do you believe everything they tell you as said truth? We are introduced to Val as she learns her estranged mother, Eloise, passes away and bequeaths to her, her London bookstore.

In a dual timeline novel Sarah Jio takes us through Eloise’s history - and Val, in the present. The dual storyline really helps fill in the questions Val had about her mother and gives readers a rich character history. All of Val’s questions she has will be answered - as she uncovers her mother’s past and what she wants for her own future.

With Love is a story filled with family drama, discovery, and love lost and found.

Thank you NetGalley and Ballantine Books for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

Oh Sarah Jio..... How I love your books! With Love from London is a heartwarming story of Valentina and Eloise, a mother and daughter. Eloise left Valentina when she was only 12 without explanation. Valentina was only told she went back to London. As an adult, Valentina has made a great life for herself. She has her Instagram following and her library science degree. But she has her failing marriage to deal with and now she hears of her mother's death. Val has inherited her mother's bookstore in Primrose Hill. (That is where Jio drew me in, Primrose Hill. I would love to be in this bookstore and this cute little town.) Here in Primrose Hill Eloise has prepared a scavenger hunt for Valentina. Eloise wants Valentina to see just how special her little town is and the people in it. That is also where Valentina learns the truth about her mother and exactly why she left all those years ago.
If you haven't read any works by Sarah Jio, you are seriously missing out. Her books are amazing and the sweetest romances evolve from the stories. With Love from London is just what I needed. I will always recommend Sarah Jio's work and will always look for her other adventures. Somehow Sarah Jio's book settings are always the perfect little towns I would love to visit. I can not wait to see what other books Sarah Jio has waiting in her imagination. Special thanks to NetGalley, Sarah Jio, and Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine Books for the advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest opinion.
#WithLovefromLondon #NetGalley

I have never been disappointed by a Sarah Jio novel! The setting of this one made it extra magical - it doesn't get much better than a bookstore in a quaint London neighborhood. Alternating storylines can sometimes get old, but Sarah Jio uses this style perfectly to show what events led Valentina to the country of the mother who abandoned her. This was a quick but very satisfying read, and I look forward to Sarah Jio's next book!

Here is the thing, my literal dream is to one day own a tiny bookstore. Do I think it'll ever happen? No. Does that stop me from having that dream? Also no. Getting to read a book with a setting that is much like my dream I had high hopes, and Sarah Jio did not disappoint.

The only reason this beautiful work did not receive 5 stars is because I found the beginning a bit slow. Told through dual timelines of daughter and a mother who left her when she was young. The way in which Jio wrote the two timelines helps the story flow seamlessly, each segment of Eloise have just enough to tie to what Val was having to face or discover in her own timeline and gave us even more insight into why Eloise did what she did when she left.

The romance in this book is almost a subplot, and I mean that in the best possible way. So often you find women, like Val, who are coming out of a failed marriage that it’s the love interest that sets them on the path of self discovery and realizing what they deserve, but in With Love from London, it was her mother. Sent off on a scavenger hunt to learn more about the women she didn’t know leads Val on her own path of realization of what she wants out of life, and who she wants to be. And I think that’s beautiful.

This book will no doubt find its place on my bookshelf when I’m able to purchase a physical copy to revisited in the future. The friendships and self discovery the characters go through makes you want to know more, keeps you turning the page. I found myself sad when it was over, but happy with how it ended. I look forward to more from this author.

WOW, what can I say about this wonderful book? Let me start by saying that I love Sarah Jio books and it has been a while since I've read one by her. When I sat down with this one, it simply felt like I was sitting down with an old friend. So if you have a few hours to spend with an old friend, preorder this one today.

This is a story of love, friendship, books, heart break, books, mystery, lost love, books, and everything in between. I whole heartedly recommend this to just about anyone.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Ballantine Books for this advanced readers copy. This book is scheduled for release February 8, 2022.

Where do I begin to explain how much I love this book? Is it in the colorful, quirky neighborhood of Primrose Hill in London, the city of my heart? As a passionate reader, is it in The Book Garden, a charming bookstore owned by Eloise and inherited by her daughter Valentina? Perhaps it’s in the dual timelines from Eloise’s and Valentina’s points of view, Eloise’s starting in 1968 when she meets two men, one the love of her life and the other who is responsible for both her greatest joy and the incomprehensible cruelty behind her unbearable pain, and Valentina’s in 2013 when, at age 35, she’s facing divorce and the news that her mother has died, the same mother she hasn’t seen or heard from in 23 years. Ultimately, it is in the colors of the rich tapestry Jio has created with her stellar ability to weave together the multiple threads of love: romantic, maternal, obsessive, platonic, eternal, unrequited, and bibliophilic.

Although, at times, it’s heartbreaking to read about Eloise’s lonely life in Los Angeles under the thumb of her controlling husband Frank, Jio’s choice of the split timelines enables readers to see the parallels between hers and Valentina’s lives: the seemingly insignificant use of scavenger hunts which actually bring the story full circle, the chance encounters at the Royal Automotive Club where men come to their rescue in different but life-altering ways, and, most importantly, the books that provide solace to both Eloise and Valentina. Eloise often spoke of the lifespan of books, meaning the number of people who would read them, and it’s in the rediscovery of these shared stories through Eloise’s final scavenger hunt that Valentina learns the truth about the mother who touched so many people’s hearts and, from handwritten notes in the book she and her mother both loved the most, that she finds a new love of her own. Recommend to fans of Susan Meissner, Tracy Garvis Graves, Kristin Harmel and anyone who enjoys dual timeline novels.

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Ballantine Books through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this title.

I’m a longtime fan of Sarah Jio. Her novels always warm my heart and make me cry. This was no exception. It was an easy read, the characters were like able, and their situation interesting. I also appreciate how this author writes light, romantic stories without talking down to its reader. It’s cozy, not hokey

I have read and loved everything by Sarah Jio and this book is no exception. The dual timeline is engaging and interesting and the setting of London is absolutely magical. I loved my time with these characters and can't wait for the rest of the world to experience them!

If you love books, bookstores, and romance, you will love this book which brings American Valentina, to London to take over her estranged mother’s bookstore and along the way find her mother’s love, find herself, and find romance. Great quotes from books and a fun scavenger hunt.

Val, a recently divorced American finds that her mother has left her a bookshop and an apartment in London. She hasn’t seen her mother since she was twelve so this comes as a huge surprise. But she goes. The book is written in dual timelines, using chapters from Val’s perspective and times interspersed with chapters from Eloise’s perspective and times. We learn their stories and secrets through their chapters.
This is a delightful and beautiful novel. It is the type of book you dread ending while at the same time find joy in being able to read every page. It is all about discovering, discovering lives and relationships and love. And about journeys.
I would recommend this book to my patrons.

This is the first Sarah Jio novel I have read and as soon as I was done, I ordered all her other books! I love finding new authors and With Love from London did not disappoint. It was so good that I powered through it and was horrified when I was finished….I just wanted to live in the story forever.

LOVED THIS!

My first book by this author and I absolutely loved it. I will say, after losing my dad two years ago it did have a little bit of a trigger affect on me. But the book was so good that I was able to move past my feelings and enjoy it. The fact that Valentina inherits a bookstore and it was in LONDON was like a dream of mine! Being able to read a book about one of my favorite things (bookstores) and in my dream location made this a 5 star read based off principle alone! The viewpoints switching kept the book interesting and I feel like it gives the book some mystery to it. Like what will so and so feel about this. I can’t wait to read another book by Sarah Jio and would love to have the physical copy of this book.