I was a fan of Dent's last book and while it remains my favorite, I still had fun with this one. I am not sure the main relationship made any sense, but it was charming.

THE SETUP kept me guessing until the very end. I appreciate characters who get in their own way, and Mara certainly does! She's both frustrating and lovable, and I found myself rooting for her on her quest for self-improvement, for epic love and to save her charming beachside town's beloved landmark. The best love stories truly start with loving oneself. Highly enjoyed this one!

What does it mean to follow your dreams? To move ahead when things don’t go as you’ve planned? Mara Williams wants a date with destiny, and big romance like the movies she adores, but is blind to see and trust in the good things right in front of her. Pop this one in your beach bag for a perfect summer read! Thanks to Penguin Random House and NetGalley for my ARC!

Thank you to G.P. Putnam's Sons for my NetGalley ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Genre: women's fiction, romance
In one sentence: Mara finds herself impersonating a fortune teller when she meets "the one", and she has three months to make herself into the perfect woman for him.

I loved The Summer Job, so I was really excited to read this one. Mara and Josef's meet cute was hilarious, and I enjoyed getting to know her. However, she was a frustrating character who made terrible choices - and it felt like it took way too long for her to figure things out. I appreciated the character growth at the end of the novel, but it was too little, too late for me. I think my expectations were too high after The Summer Job.

If you like romcoms with messy protagonists, you might like this one more than I did!

Once again, Lizzy Dent delivers snark, wit, beauty, and a fantastic bingeworthy novel! I love exploring the world with her characters and seeing what sorts of shenanigans she is going to get them into this go around. Her novels are always so atmospheric and full of knowledge! I look forward to reading anything Lizzy Dent writes.

After starting this one, I realized it wasn’t my style- I really wish NetGalley had some kind of preview option so I didn’t have to leave half reviews like this one…

Mara Williams doesn’t make her own decisions. Everything she does is based on her horoscopes, and it becomes her way of life. After getting a palm reading and being told the she would meet someone imminently, she then has to work out who she is and whether to trust herself or continue to leave her decisions up to fate.

I found this book a little slow at the start, but once I was into the story, I was hooked until the end. I will admit that I forgot while reading that Mara was 31, and it did feel like she was much younger based on her actions and the way she carried herself. I loved the romance, but I definitely wanted her to make a decision by the end.

You know what? I just need to stop reading Lizzy Dent. I really don’t enjoy her books that much. I keep on reading her books to see if I like any of them, and yet, I keep disappointing myself.

From the book's summary, the female character is trying to find her one while figuring out her life. But she is really messy throughout the book. I don’t find it appealing. I kept finding myself irritated throughout the book. It was not an enjoyable read.

Mara has to consult her horoscope before she makes any decision. She is convinced her destiny is in the stars. We start out on a trip to Vienna she was supposed to take with her best friend Charlie, but Charlie just had a baby and cancels. Mara goes to have her fortune told and is told her "one true love" is imminent. The next thing she knows the fortune teller goes into labor and leaves Mara to close up her shop but before she can a gorgeous stranger walks in to have his fortune told. Mara pretends she is the fortune teller and tells him his destiny is in Broadgate and her name is Mara and he'd find her in August when he was on a tour stop with his orchestra.

When Mara gets home she meets her new flat-mate, Ash. They slowly get to know each other as she sets out on her self-makeover in preparation for the musician. New hair, clothes, hobbies, etc. She starts realizing what a catch Ash is while still insisting the musician is coming and they were meant to be.

As expected, she has to decide between the reality of Ash and the possibility of Jo, the musician. He (Jo) posts that he is about to "find his destiny" and she is torn between thinking she should go and meet him, just in case, or choosing Ash. Ash definately wants her, the way she is. Jo doesn't actually even know her so he's all possibilty, but it's possibility she's built up in her mind and clung to determinedly. Who will she choose?

Thank you NetGalley, G.P. Putnam's Sons and Lizzie Dent for the advanced readers copy of this book. I had recently read The Summer Job when I saw the listing and was very excited to get access.

I firmly believe Lizzie Dent will be an autobuy author for me from now on...just one request...I love a guy with a Scottish accent.

Ok, I can appreciate a heavy reliance on astrology. I'm low-key into all that "woo-woo" stuff and there was a solid two-year period of my teenage years that I memorized entries from a dream dictionary and considered becoming a tarot/palm reader.

BUT there's a fine line and I think this book has the best of intentions to stay on the right side of that line; however it's a really close call! I love a bit of escapism and even magical realism as long as it flows well and the flighty decisions and reliance on these things felt a bit misplaced here.

Mara is a confusing character for me. Actually, everyone was a little confusing, I'm sorry to say. I really, really wanted to enjoy this book and I DID but just not as much as I had hoped. This is a good option for a mindless beach read I'd say!

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of this ebook for review!

I really enjoyed this story. Mara’s growth as a character was very well done; she went from a very immature 30 year old to a (semi)confident woman with a life, and I was rooting for her through MOST of the story. I think the book tackles a lot of hard topics for young adults-women in their 30s, and I’m glad that the problems resolved in a meaningful, non-cheesy way.

I actually enjoyed this more than The Summer Job, and am excited that the author already has book three in process.

I received an advanced copy. All thoughts are my own.

I found that this book was a little hard to get through, to the point where I considered not finishing it. I decided to push through hoping that the storyline would pick up the pace, but that wasn't the case. I found Mara to be a little weird for obsessing over a guy she had spent less than a day with, but her character did develop later in the book. The relationship between Mara and Ash was sweet, but pretty predictable from the start.

Thank you @netgalley and for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

🔮Summary🔮
Mara is in a rut. Her best friend Charlie is married with a child. She feels like a disappointment to her family after she didn't complete film school. She works as a bookkeeper for the local beachfront pool club, but has kept herself distanced from her coworkers. What was supposed to be a girl's weekend to Budapest with Charlie turned into a solo trip for Mara after Charlie's daughter got sick. While in Budapest, Mara, who believes in horoscopes, astrology and fate, decided to visit a fortune teller. When informed that she would meet her love imminently, along with other clues to his identity, and they will be together after she fixes some things, Mara meets Josef, a cellist with the Vienna Symphony, who comes into the fortune teller's shop and Mara impersonates her. Determining he is her fate, Mara gives him his fortune that his fate is in her town and he needs to meet the woman of his dreams when he's in England.

Back in Broadgate, Mara begins to makeover her life. Haircut, new wardrobe, making friends, saving her pool club to fix herself up before Josef potentially visits in August. But then Mara has a new roommate, Ash, and starts questioning her belief in fate and the stars because who she thought was her destiny may not be who she wants to be her destiny.

🔮Review🔮
This book had a cute premise, but it fell a little short. Mara was not a likeable character. She seemed very immature and her dependence on horoscopes was a little much. The side story about her changing relationship with Charlie didn't seem to come to any resolution, and the same as the one with her parents. She and her parents seemed to end in a good place but there was a lot that needed to be said and done that didn't happen. Ash was a giant teddy bear of a MMC but I didn't feel any chemistry between him and Mara.

***Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review***
A decent romance that focused on finding yourself and not being afraid to put yourself out there.

For some reason, I just could not get into this book. I found that Maura was hard to connect with and somewhat unlikeable. I was not a fan of her attempt to revamp herself and her life for the sole purpose of winning a man. Far fetched and a touch disconnected from reality.

Unfortunately I just couldn’t get into this one. I wasn’t a big fan of the character - she seemed kinda whinny. I ended up DNF-ing it at 20% sadly. Just not for me. :(

Thank-you NetGalley and Publisher for the chance to review this ARC.

The Set Up was pretty fun.
I wasn't the biggest fan of Mara but she grew on me that's for sure.
I thought the book was fun and a cute summer read.

I felt a little set up with this book 😂

Mara impulsively tells everyone in her life she’s about to meet a guy - all because a psychic said she would meet her soulmate and a cute boy walked in right after. The whole book I keep waiting for this boy to show up, but of course it’s one of those right under your nose type situations.

I didn’t really connect with Mara. It took me a long time to read this book because I couldn’t resonate with her, but I wanted to know what happened in the story. At the end though, it just felt a little lackluster of a story for me. It was hard to believe the ending based on how intent Mara had been with fate and destiny.

Another wonderful book by Lizzy Dent. Review to come.

I cannot write more right now but I will absolutely return with a full review.

Promise!

4 stars for a fun and refreshing rom-com~

I enjoyed this one, and it definitely was not entirely what I was expecting - but that ended up being a good thing, because in a way it created a whole new trope for romance/romcoms. It was a fun adventure from start to end, with a sappy but cute ending. The ending, however, did seem a bit more predictable.

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC!