A quickie with a good story. If you like books with alternating views then this one should be very easy to keep up with and he may very well enjoy it. I won’t say that I particularly hated the mother but I will say that I have some strong feelings in which I genuinely am never recovered from them even at the end of the book. My heart did not soften to her however it doesn’t take away from the fact that it was a good book so I encourage Mimi to read the story. I think part of my strong feelings toward her says a lot about how the author has written the character and convinced us to feel so negatively toward her.

Reading With Love from London was like an afternoon curling up on a rainy afternoon with a cup of cocoa. It was heart warming and immediately drew you in with Val and what she was going through with the loss of her mother and separation from her husband. I love that it was so much more than a love story between a couple. There were many layers and ultimately it is a story of a woman taking chances and becoming her best self. The book reads like a movie and I really enjoyed it. I will definitely be reading more titles by Jio in the future!

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballentine Publishing for an e-ARC of this title in exchange for my honest review. I've been reading Sarah Jio since her first book, and I was so happy to see a new book soon to publish.
Valentina hasn't seen her mother since she was a child, when her mother left her, to be raised by her father. Now an adult, Valentina learns her mother has passed, and she inherited the book shop her mother ran in London.
The alternating timelines were spot on, and I loved this book more as time went on. It was a love story to books, relationships of all kinds, grief, and changing a narrative.
Through a scavenger hunt of sorts, her mother has led her down a path that will give her the true story about why her mom left, and more about the woman she didn't get to know.
I adored this book, and I highly recommend it.








Valentina and her mother have a complicated past. Now that her mother is deceased, it is time for Valentina to learn the truth about her mother and her reasoning for leaving Valentina behind. many years ago.

I love Sarah Jio and this book was long awaited! She is a master at constructing a story in two different timelines that always come together seamlessly.

Valentina hasn't seen her mother since she was a child. Her parents got divorced and her mother moved back to London, while Valentina remained in the US with her father. Her mother returned home to London, and to her dream of owning a bookstore with her friend Millie. Many years later, Valentina learns that her mother is deceased and that she has inherited her mother's bookstore. Valentina is a recently divorced librarian, so she decides she will move to London to try and save her mother's bookstore.

Little does Valentina know, her mother has planned all kinds of surprises for her. She has left behind clues that take Valentina on a scavenger hunt throughout Primrose Hill. She is able to meet many of the people who her mother loved the most, and who loved her mother as well. She is able to learn about her mother's life in London, her bookstore, and her friends.

I love these characters and their complicated history. I love reading about characters who love books. The bookstore setting was magical. The multiple timelines tied together seamlessly. I was heartbroken for Valentina and her mother - for all the time they missed together. The sense of community in Primrose Hill was palpable and all of the characters came together as important parts of Valentina's story.



Valentina and her mother have a complicated past. Now that her mother is deceased, it is time for Valentina to learn the truth about her mother and her reasoning for leaving Valentina behind. many years ago.

This was a new author for me and I really enjoyed this book! I loved the characters and the story line. Highly recommend if you are looking for a light, upbeat read.

Thanks netgalley for allowing me to read this one

It was a super quick read I loved it and the story was fun to read also sarah Jio is an amazing author

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for allowing me to read an Advanced Reader Copy of this book.

With Love from London is a quick, entertaining read in the Woman’s Fiction genre. Valentina is reeling from her recent divorce and her mother’s death, Abandoned by her mother when she was a child, she learns she has inherited a small bookstore in Primose Hill in London. This book has dual timelines and switches from the daughter Valentina to her mother, Eloise.

I enjoyed the tone of the book, Sarah Jio builds a cozy world for her characters to live in. It’s almost like a Hallmark movie with some conflicts but nothing too super heavy.

Many thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this title!

It was like Christmas morning, realizing Sarah Jio was releasing a new story… she’s always been pure magic in my eyes. Her latest is no exception, with all the trademark warm and cozy feels I’ve come to love over the years. A dazzling 4 stars!

This was a fun, quick read. That being said, there were parts of the book that I wasn't a huge fan of.

Starting with the good: Valentina, Millie, and Liza all were fun and interesting characters. I wish the the last chapter were a little longer so there was a little more time to see what the future held for all of them. Valentina especially shined as a strong, yet sympathetic character. The book starts when she's had multiple things go wrong in her life, and I admired her determination to work through things and find her own happiness. These three characters really shined for me. I also loved the librarian-turned-bookstore owner premise (but maybe that's just because I'm a librarian!)

On to the bad: I really didn't like Eloise. I couldn't get over the fact that she (seemingly) abandoned her child, and then never contacted her again. Even though it's explained later in the book, by then it was too late and I had already spent most of the book hating her. I get that the author was working up to the big reveal but to me Valentina's story was interesting enough that if they had revealed earlier on why her Eloise left, I think it would have worked better. I also felt like the book had too many clichés and was too predictable.

Overall, this was a fun read, it just wasn't the best fit for me.

I really, really enjoyed this book. I love a good woman's fiction story, and this one includes the love of books at the same time.
A great story, that's chapters go back and forth from mother to daughter as their stories unfold and reasons for a lot of things come to light slowly as the book develops and the characters emerge.
Eloise and Valentina, are mother and daughter, who become victims of circumstances beyond their control. Separated when Valentina was around eleven and her mother went back to England, leaving Valentina in California with her father.
Now in her 30's in the midst of a divorce, Valentina receives word that Eloise has died, leaving Val the deed to her mother’s Primrose Hill apartment and the Book Garden a shop her mother always wanted to have.
Val leaves for England, to settle her moms estate, and falls in love with the setting and people.
It was so fun to follow Val and her moms journey through notes and beloved books, to at last give us a wonderful view into their lives and loves.
I thoroughly, recommend this book to those who love a good story full of romance, mystery, books and a bunch of fascinating characters.
I would like to thank NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine.

This description of this book had my interest and also the fact that I loved “All the Flowers in Paris.” This book is written in dual timelines which aided in moving the plot long and developing our relationship with both of the main characters as well as the others. As the story unfolds, we see the mother’s never ending love for her child despite her circumstances. Both timelines have love stories and the reader begins to root for the correct pairing to occur. The author blends these two stories seamlessly together as Valentina begins a new life with the help of her mom’s letters. While being both sad and joyous, this book is one to be savored! ( With love from this reader!)
#WithLoveFromLondon #SarahJio #NetGalley

This book! This book was written well, chapters go back and forth from mother daughter.

This was one of those books you wanted to keep reading past your bedtime but also wanted to savor each page.

Very well done, I believed I was in the Book Garden, and the park, and the cafe, great descriptions.

I love libraries and book stores. And a story set in London, what's not to love? A young inherits a bookstore from her mother who mysteriously left her when she was 12. What happens next is a story of secrets and forgiveness. A sweet novel to savor and enjoy

Wow! This book. This was special and rare and I am definitely a little sad it is over.

I won't lie - I requested this arc on NetGalley because I liked the cover and it was set in London. I went in totally blind and this easily will be one of my favorite reads of 2021. This had that special mix of raw and real, but sweet and warm. I absolutely loved the journey Jio took us on with dual narratives of Eloise in the past and Valentina in the now.

I very intentionally slowed myself down while reading this, because I didn't want it to end, but I also wanted to absorb all of the magic. The mother/daughter dynamic was not idyllic or even pretty. However the story weaves together the heartache in the now with the "why?" from the past and it was just beautifully done - dare I say it was even poetic?! Yes...I dare say it!

I'm sorry you have to wait until June to pick this up, but just hit pre-order now, so come June 30, 2022 you are ready for a little dose of magic set in Primrose Hill!

Thank you so very much to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the opportunity to read this special book early. This was my very first read by Sarah Jio, but it will absolutely not be my last!

I absolutely LOVED this book. When I read the description, I didn't think that I would love or hate it. I couldn't put it down. I wanted to take the day off of work to finish it. In the note from the author, she spoke about wanting this book to feel like a warm place to be, and that is what it was.

As someone who loves books and small bookshops, my heart was full when reading about Val and Eloise, and Millie and Lucy. The story is told from Val and Eloise's story, you learn more about Eloise as time goes on, and it helps develop an appreciation for her character.

I haven't cried at a book in a while, but this one sure did it. I felt so strongly towards each character and wanted them all to succeed and be happy in the end. I will be buying a paperback copy of this when it is published so I can re-read!

I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This one was a little outside my normal choices, but it was a nice little read. Loved both the London and bookstore setting. This would be an easy one to recommend to someone looking for a light read.

This book is a literal work of art. I was sucked in by the end of the first chapter, and already emotionally invested in the second. Sarah Jio's writing style is brilliant and heartbreakingly beautiful. The portrayal of grief throughout the journey of Valentina's self discovery felt vividly real. It has been a long time since a book made me want to slow down and soak in every detail and "With Love from London" accomplished that and so much more.

ARC kindly provided in exchange for my honest review.

4.5 stars

An achingly beautiful story about Valentina, a divorced librarian from Seattle who inherits a quaint London bookstore from her late mother Eloise, who disappeared abruptly more than 20 years ago.

The chapters alternate between two separate timelines: 2013 in Valentina’s POV, and 1968-2013 in Eloise’s POV. I sometimes find books with multiple timelines hard to read—and even annoying—going back and forth. However, Sarah Jio manages this device so masterfully, it absolutely worked for me this time. I was practically flying through chapters, eager to find out more from both Valentina and Eloise as the story unfolded.

I loved Eloise’s literary mystery scavenger hunt for Valentina to learn more about her sudden disappearance and life after. It was profoundly sweet and heartbreaking, several times I felt the tears threatening to burst forth. The romance subplots in both mother and daughter’s stories were equal parts swoon worthy and heart wrenching. This book is more Women’s Fiction than romance per se, but the fated mates trope features prominently.

Stunned, teary-eyed but also comforted like being nestled into a warm bear hug; this is how I feel after finishing <i>With Love From London</i>.

If you are a hopeless romantic even when life throws you set down after set down, if you are a lover of books, and a lover of people who <i>LOVE</i> books, you won’t go wrong here.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House for providing me with this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

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

I enjoyed reading this book, it is a bit more serious then your average romance.

This was heartbreakingly beautiful story and hit very close to home for me. I loved how the story unraveled between a Valentina and her estranged (and deceased) mother by alternating between timeline from Valentina’s present to Eloise’s past. What also kept my interest in the story is that the reader discovers with Val the mysteries of her mother through a scavenger hunt left behind for her to uncover her mother’s greatest loves and memories. With this scavenger hunt and the little bookshop Eloise left for her daughter, I fell in love along with Val with the charm of Primrose Hill and the people that brought life to it along with Eloise’s heart. I truly will never forget this story!