A really enjoyable read which shows that who you think is right for you isn’t always correct. I am going to look for more books by this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and HQ Digital for providing me with a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

I wanted to like this book. I honestly did. The cover and the description made it seem like a cute and promising rom-com. In fact, I'm pretty sure even the writer thinks she wrote one, based on the acknowledgements, but it's honestly not that at all. Looking at that cover, it genuinely looks like the romance with Fred is going to be the central part of the story, but we get through over a quarter of the book before we even get to the "arrangement", and a third of the book before we meet Winifred, as the kind waitress who catches Edi's eye (we don't even get her name for longer). I think if they advertised the book as it actually is...well, I might have still read it, I might not, but at least it'd be more honest.

This book is so much about Edi and Rowan. Honestly, I'm really annoyed that Barnes chose that name for Edi's fiance because it's one of my favourite names, but after how much this dude is name dropped, worried about, or directly on page, I'm a little sick of the name. To say nothing of the character himself. The dude seemed like an irredeemable prick. Let me preface this by saying that there is nothing wrong with <i>ethical</i> non-monogamy in a couple, but that's not what we get in this book. He just kind of starts off as a slightly overbearing guy, and proves himself to be worse and worse as he demonstrates he's a liar, hypocrite, homophobe, and general shitstain. And the flashbacks show it's not even a new thing. It's exhausting that Edi spends so much of the text defending him and downplaying what he does 'so others won't think bad of him', AND that we have to get a 'you're my best friend' hug as their last scene together...um, Edi, did you experience the same story as the readers?? He is <i>not</i> your best friend...he's not even in your top five.

Edi's actual friends, and their relationship with her, is probably the highlight of the book. It's nice to see positive female friendship so in depth in the book, though I do agree with a couple other reviewers about there being too many of them. I probably would have pared it down to maybe three, max. Also, the stated importance of loving oneself by the end of the story were great. All the points I'm giving the book are for these factors.

For the little bit we get Fred, she seems like she could have been a cute, empowering, wonderful character, but in the end, she was really more of a prop or a macguffin , which was a great disservice to her.

Als0, what was with all the seeming dismissiveness of the existence of bisexuality? I don't know if it was intentional or not, but we get one mention of sexuality being fluid, another throwaway touching on it when they create Edi's dating profile, and one use of the word 'bi' (notably by the douchey fiance in judgy disgust) and the rest of the time we get shit like 'you're at least part gay', and a whole lot of either/or type talk, which in a book releasing in 2022 seemed very outdated. The casual transphobia that others have mentioned was also annoying, but felt like it's sadly par for the course for England these days.

I don't know the writer's sexuality, and honestly, it probably shouldn't matter, but it honestly feels like this is a straight person's idea of what queer readers want to read.

TL;DR: High hopes of the description/cover dashed by the execution and/or actual intent of the story.

I was expecting something very different. This was not a Sapphic romance I thought it would be from the blurb. Putting this fact aside, this was a very slow book. I did not enjoy the beginning of the book and how everyone around Edi treated her. Maybe if you get into this book without any expectation you will like it and actually enjoy it, but that was not the case for me.

This book is definitely not your typical romance. But while I may have been expecting something different, I still very much enjoyed the story. Edi may not have wanted to take a break as her fiancé asked for but she decides she might as well take advantage of it. What happens during that break is less about romance and more about personal growth. I loved watching Edi bloom as a woman supported by her fantastic group of girlfriends. And while the ending wasn’t quite what I expected, it was definitely satisfying.

3 Stars.

This book took me some time to get into, but around 40% it became a bit more exciting to read, in my opinion.

Edi has been with Rowan, practically, forever, so their engagement is no surprise. They have always been a constant in each other's life. While they start planning for their wedding, Rowan starts thinking (with the help of his father) that maybe there are other experiences (read: girls) out there that he wants to explore. Before committing himself to forever to Edi, as they've already been committed since childhood, basically, he wants to see what else is out there. He comes up with a plan that they both can stay engaged but have 3 months to "take a break" and explore the options that are out there. This sounds like a nightmare to Edi, but in her mind she either says yes or she spends her life with him knowing that he wanted to sleep with other girls.

So Edi says yes, and Rowan goes straight into it. It's easy for him - this is something that he truly wanted. Nevermind the fact that he already cheated on Edi before, so he's had more experience than she did. Edi has no idea how to date, how to meet anyone, so she goes to her best friends for help. She still doesn't know if she actually wants to date other people, but she allows her friends to make her a dating profile and give her some tips.

Edi goes on a series of dates. One of these dates is with a man who says that a woman with a penis would be "next-level deception," so... casual transphobia that is just disregarded. She keeps wearing out her engagement ring, even thought about doing so on dates, and she's just a mess. But then she keeps running into this woman, when she's trying to figure out how to meet people, when she goes on a work excursion, and there is slight flirting (she thinks? she has no idea!), so she calls her.

The way this book was written makes it sound like it is a sapphic romance, that she meets a woman and it changes a lot for her and makes her want to question her engagement. While there's some small sapphic romance details, it's not heavy. I don't think it was as advertised, which is what I was really interested in, so it was a bit of a miss for me.

Edi does take the break to really pay attention to herself and really focus more on her, since she's not having to make the decisions for both her and Rowan anymore. It feels like there's a lot of just moving past moments that could be crucial plot points, if they were developed that way. Another thing that felt kinda messy were the flashbacks. There was just a chapter with a "Before" heading, and I had to piece together exactly what "before" was, especially since it seemed like it could range from months ago to years ago. The use of them did make sense, as we got an insight into the past that was necessary, but execution could've been a bit better.

The characters were pretty one-dimensional, but there was some growth in Edi along the story. The true love, here, is the friendship. Edi's friends are supportive and loving, but don't take any shit. They're all slightly different with who they are and what they want in life, but do tend to blend together at times.

Overall, it was enjoyable, but the description did make it sound very different. We get to see Edi's journey through finding herself and being herself, which is a gem, but it's heavily diluted by Rowan and their relationship, when the blurb (and the cover) make it seem like it's more of a sapphic romance.

I have mixed feelings on this book. Like many other reviewers have mentioned this is not a romcom, it's a breakup novel, which i didn't actually mind it just wasn't what i was expecting. I enjoyed reading the book but there was never a point were I really wanted to read it, i kind of had to force myself to sit down and pick up my kindle.
Things that i did enjoy:
- Edi as a character, i just really like her
- Faith, Edi's friend, i honestly would not have been mad if they had ended up together
- When Edi finally dumps Rowan, he was a complete and utter dick
The bottom line is: if you want to read a romcom this is not the book for you, but it is a good book.
Thankyou to Netgalley for the ARC of this book.

Really good read! I liked the vibe of this book and it kept me entertained and I finished it quickly. I do think it may have been described wrong, and it's more of a coming of age/sexuality story than an lgbt romance. The ending was a little too realistic for me, and I really wanted a more Rom Com story.
I did love the humor in the the story, and all of Edi's friends were hysterical

TW: transphobia, homophobia
A sometimes sweet but at times very problematic story that touched on many topics but explored none fully, and included white characters exclusively.

There were some funny and cute moments in this book but some...statements... really left a bitter aftertaste. An example for that would be when the protagonist was on a date with a man, she went through one of her dating apps, her phone dropped and her date saw a dick pick of someone on said app. Edi (the protagonist) then goes on to say "I mean, obviously, that's not mine" (why obviously?) to which her date replies "Well, that's a relief. That would be next-level deception".... and Edi literally does not care that he said this at all???? Being transphobic wasn't a dealbreaker but that he went on dates with other women was. Something else I thought was weird was when Edi told her friends, she couldn't pick only one of them to be her maids of honor because that would be "the sort of shit the patriarchy wants". How? Like, that seemed very much like performative feminism, something that goes to repeat itself on and on throughout the book. Something else that bugged me was when Edi told her fiancé she didn't want to sleep with him because she was on her period and said that it was a lie "every woman" told "at one time or another" as if it was normal? If she has to pretend to be on her period for her fiancé to not sleep with her, then there is genuinely something wrong there. Also, I hated how Edi had a queer best friend but was still with her very much homophobic boyfriend/ fiancé, who constantly tells Edi she has to be straight and that being straight is the only "normal" option. He also mentions that you "turn" gay and even though she diasgrees, Edi stays with him the whole time and wants to "just leave it".

Also, I expected something completely different from this book. It seemed like a fluffy, wlw romcom but there was like 10% of the book that was just about Edi and her love interest spending time together. I did not feel much chemistry between them and I also did not feel like Edi really liked her. There was still times I did like the two of them together, especially Edis love interest, though.

This could have been a book about exploring ones sexuality but this topic was talked about too little and too superficially. This could also have been about a break up but there was only one chapter about it, really. Maybe this could have been a romantic story but the love interest was introduced far too late in the story, there was not enough of both Edi and the love interest together and no genuine feelings came across for me- from either of them.

All in all, everything positive about this book is overshadowed by all the problematic things and because I couldn't forget about them, I couldn't enjoy this book.

🫖 BOOK REVIEW 🫖

PUB DATE: MARCH 2022

Synopsis: Edi Parcell thought she had life all planned out, so when her childhood sweetheart proposes a three-month break to date other people, she’s shocked. Unexpectedly back on the dating scene after years with the same guy, this is the first opportunity Edi’s had to think about what she really wants from life – and love.
When she meets Winifred, her world is turned upside down. She never expected to have feelings for someone else, but now she’s met Winifred she can’t stop thinking about her. As the months pass, Edi is shocked to realise she’s not sure she wants her old relationship back at all – not now there’s Winifred…

Review: So my initial thoughts for this book were much more negative than they are upon finishing. There were lots of people to keep track of and a rollercoaster of a timeline. But I think the backstory was important so I understand why it was there. Eventually though it all just blended together seamlessly and I couldn’t put it down. The perfect LGBTQ rom com, featuring an MC still discovering her sexuality, and a lot of empowering feminism. If this was the authors first first-com, excuse me while I got read the entire backlist of psychological thrillers. (New fave author for you @whiskersandwords__ 😏)

My sincerest thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for my review.

This is an own voices review.

4/5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#bookstagram #tbr #reading #bookstack #bookpile #rainbowshelves lgbt #queer #queerreads #sapphic #sapphicbooks #igreads #readingcommunity #bisexualpride #bibliophile #ownvoices #lgbtbooks #lgbtbookstagram #queerfiction #discoveredunder10k #fiction #bookworm #bookaddict #readingcommunity #bookish #aussiebookstagrammer

Thank you NetGalley and HQ Digital for the ARC! Here's my honest review.

Overall this was a decent read.

The story focuses on Edith (Edi) and her longtime childhood boyfriend/newly appointed fiancé, Rowan. They're officially engaged for a short time before Rowan proposes a break where they see other people for a few months to make sure that they're not rushing into marriage. Upon Edi reluctantly agreeing Rowan jumps into the dating field leaving Edi to begin to rethink everything about their relationship.

As soon as he proposed the break I was so angry on Edi's behalf. I can't even begin to count the amount of times I was yelling at my phone, "WHY WOULD YOU PROPOSE IF YOU WERENT SURE??!!" I absolutely hated Rowan. He's just a bundle of red flags and every time she mentioned something else that he did I wanted Edi to break up with him more and more. Despite this I really enjoyed getting to see Edi grow and become more confident in herself and I absolutely loved the relationship she had with her friends. I wish I had such supportive friends to be completely honest. I also really liked how this book ended, I like seeing people decide to focus on themselves instead of a relationship especially when they haven't had a chance to do so before.(I won't lie, I'm still rooting for Edi and her to officially get together but I completely understand and respect the decision that Edi did make)

This book isn't really a RomCom (more like coming of age), there isn't as much romance as I was expecting and the moments that were romantic seemed a little fast paced. There were a lot of flashbacks as well or fade to black moments where I wished there were more details too but I enjoyed reading this.

Thank you to NetGalley and HQ Digital for the advanced copy to review.

I think this book’s biggest problem is that the marketing is super off. I would not classify this as a rom-com. What romance there is in the book is lacking. Overall, it was a pretty dull read.

This book was marketed as a Sapphic, post-break-up rom-com. It failed in all regards. This is about Edi and Rowan breaking up and Edi’s friends supporting her. There was little romance with Edi and Fred and even then, it was sparse and lacked chemistry. The plot was slow to the point that this book was borderline dull. Overall, this book was underwhelming, disappointing and the marketing was a lie. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

A case of bad advertising?
The cover, the blurb, and the title all scream sapphic romcom. But this is actually more of a literary novel about coming into terms with your sexuality, celebrating friendships, and of course, a break up. The writing was easy to read and is very British. I even had people with voices with the British accent in my head. Structurally, the plot is sound but the characterization felt a little off.

I might have enjoyed it more if it had been marketed to me properly.

3.5 stars rounded up. I really enjoyed reading this--it would have been 4 stars if i didn't think, based on the marketing, that it was going to be a rom-com. It felt more like a queer 20something coming of age, which i LOVE, with a really strong cohort of feminist friends which i always want, but it didn't feel like a romance novel. Also i appreciate the consistent reminders that heterosexual men bring women down.

Going into this book, I was definitely expecting something along the lines of a woman who thinks she's straight and is engaged to a long-term boyfriend meeting another woman who sweeps her off her feet and causes her to reassess everything. While that isn't an entirely incorrect description of this book, I was pleasantly surprised at how much of the focus was actually on Edi and her friends. This book was a love story and I firmly stand by that, but it was a love story about female friendships (and what better kind is there?). I won't deny that a part of me was hoping Edi would fall madly in love with Fred and leave Rowan for her, but I'm not mad about her breaking up with both Rowan and Fred and deciding to focus on herself first.

Thank you to NetGalley and HQ Digital for the advanced copy to review.

I couldn't stop reading it! I really like where the story was going for Edi but wanted more of Edi and Fred in the book.

I don’t agree with classifying this book as a romcom.
Is there a book category for coming of age when the characters are actually all already ‘of age’? Finding yourself, power of friendship etc etc. If this book had been sold to me as a general contemporary fiction story, I would have gone in with different expectations and enjoyed it far more. Don’t get me wrong, there is a dating plot line in here, it just doesn’t seem to be the main focus of where the story goes.

I am here for Edi, and her journey. I am *more than* here for her group of friends. They all bring their own perspectives - with group chats, gossip, nights out and in - they are awesome and I loved them. Every one should be so lucky as to have a ride or die group like that.

Now Rowan. Rowan was a collection of red flags that I spent more time wishing I could set on fire with the power of my mind than anything else.

Because of my reaction to him (and his family, honestly) it was a bit hard for me to get into the book at the start. But I kept on reading, and before the half way point I started to really enjoy it and I *am* glad I continued to read on. It’s a very interesting story.
(but I still wouldn’t call it a romcom)

Thank you to NetGalley and HQ digital for the advance copy to review

I was lucky enough to receive an advanced reader's copy of this from NetGalley and HQ Digital and passed the couple of issues I had with it, this book made me laugh out loud. The synopsis had me initially thinking that Edi and Rowan would break up just a few pages or chapters in. That we would meet Edi's new love interest and that we would watch her grow into her sexuality. AKA the perfect sapphic story. 80% in they were still together, shutting each other out emotionally until they finally did break up, and I was frustrated. As a reader, you spend more time with Edi and her friends instead of Edi with Fred. Luckily, Edi and her friend group were funny and quick-witted, making the book thoroughly more enjoyable. 

While this book could’ve been such a fun sapphic rom-com, it ended up being kind of disappointing. Not that I was rooting for someone who flirted with Edi even after seeing her engagement ring. Furthermore, Rowan and his friends (except Monty sometimes) were assholes. Especially Rowan, who was a homophobic and transphobic asshole, so having him there throughout the entire book was unpleasant and annoying. He ruined the book for me. 

Overall, I thought this book was well-written but poorly executed and marketed. It could've been so much more, and the author could've pushed Fred and Edi's story instead of anything related to Rowan. I still have a lot of hope for Charlotte Barnes' other releases, so I'm not giving up just yet.

I found this book was slow to start but after a few chapters the story gets going with a rather interesting twist. The way the author has written the story from Edi's perspective makes you feel empathy in her situation. As someone who married her high school sweetheart, the questioned faced in this story are ones I have previously worried about, whether I would be enough for my husband, however unlike this couple, me and my husband have never thought about a hall pass. This story is easily relatable and a good read.i think my only downside would be the amount of friends Edi has. I understand the role of faith and lily and Betty to a certain extent however I couldn't warm to molly and cora.

This is not a sapphic romance, it's a story of a really bad break up between a man a woman who have been together since children. It also has an open relationship kind of strange which I personally didn't enjoy.
The wlw "romantic" plot doesn't start until the middle of the book and it's kind of not enough for me.