This book is the definition of an easy holiday read! It's not particularly memorable, but it's fun for the most part and you don't have to think too much when you're reading it. When Mara is on a solo trip she gets her fortune told, and of course it centers around meeting a man. So obviously when she meets Josef immediately she decides she's going to fall in love with him, and basically tricks him into meeting her down the line as a "fortune".
But of course, she then goes home and has to decide who she's really in love with. which man is truly her destiny. I didn't feel any particular sparks in this story, some romances just burn straight off the page and you can't help but root for love, but in this book I kind of wanted Mara to take a time out and work on herself for a bit. She's not the most mature character.

I'd recommend for a light plane or beach read but I wouldn't particularly be writing home about it. 3 stars!

Thank you for the advance copy NetGalley. I have heard really good things about the author and was keen to read a book by her. Even though I found this book had some interesting parts it didn’t really grab me like I hoped it would. I would still try other books by this author though.

Oh wow. I loved this book as much as, if not more than, The Summer Job. Mara is a complex, likeable character. She is hard-working, focused and passionate. She is also self-conscious, self-deprecating and sometimes a little too independent. For me, there is something very endearing about these reclusive and shy characters. They repeatedly pop up in books that I seem to connect with on a deeper level.

The opening of the book, and the continued focus on astrology, star signs and the idea of fate definitely give this book another layer of originality. Personally, I’ve always enjoyed reading starsigns and although I don’t follow them to the letter like Mara does, I did enjoy how this element played out in the book and drove the narrative forward.

I also loved the setting. Broadgate, and reading about the lido in particular, was quite nostalgic. I grew up in a town with a disused, failing lido and it was through the determination of the local community that we now have a beautiful, successful and modern lido for all of the local communities to enjoy. So this element of the storyline really struck a chord with me too.

The romance storyline is quite dramatic at times and you are definitely left with a building sense of anticipation, and trepidation almost. I was definitely #TeamAsh and I found myself speeding through the book in order to find out how it would unfold.

In summary, this has been an addictive, endearing and heart-warming read. I have loved seeing Mara’s growth and journey. Lizzy Dent is a talented storyteller & I can’t recommend her books enough!

I loved the blurb for this, could not wait to get my hands on it! It was a really fun read and i could really relate and root for the characters! I'm not dying to re-read it but it was a lovely refreshing read.

Wasn't sure about the initial storyline but ended up not being able to put it down. An incredibly warming, sweet story. Particularly loved how the issues of friends with baby, and not being close to parents was handled.

It’s tricky reading a second book of the author you previously enjoyed because the expectations are high. The Summer Job was a great and witty read that made sense even though the premise was wacky. In case of The Setup, unfortunately, the premise didn’t work for me. I didn’t connect with the characters, rolled my eyes at the excessive amount of astrology chat and Mara embellishing her relationship with basically an imaginary boyfriend.
All that being said there were some good moments and characters, such as Ash. The portrayal of her relationship with Charlie also felt accurate to me, as a 39-something reader who experienced old friends drifting away. The community surrounding Mara was sweet and I enjoyed how she managed to assimilate herself eventually. However it all felt slightly rushed and all the happy turns of events felt unrealistic.
I think it was good for what I picked it up for - a quick read by the side of the pool.
I would be curious to see what’s next for Lizzy Dent because I will most likely pick her next read up, too!

Mara believes in Fate and Destiny and all that jazz so when a fortune teller predicts the love of her life will soon find her and the next person she meets is a super hot classical musician Mara thinks Destiny falling into place. Unfortunately he doesn’t know who she is but through Events Mara contrives a way to meet him again if Fate allows and It’s Meant To Be. But then in walks Ash her unreasonably handsome and sweet new housemate and Mara begins to think Fate might be wrong.
This was on the whole a lot of fun, Mara is however a hot mess of a heroine and I did find myself becoming supremely frustrated with her but she came good in the end and of course Ash is Too Good for This World.

She has a plan… Fate has other ideas 🔮
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Mara Williams reads her horoscope every day - but she wasn't expecting to be in a whole other country when destiny finally found her. Just as a fortune teller reveals that her true love is about to arrive, a gorgeous stranger literally walks into her life. And now Mara is determined to bring them together again . . . Surely even fate needs a nudge in the right direction sometimes?
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But while Mara is getting ready for 'the one', the universe intervenes. Her new flatmate Ash is funny, and kind, and sexy as hell . . . There was no predicting this: it's as if her destiny just arrived on her doorstep. So will Mara put her destiny in fate's hands - or finally trust herself to reach for the stars?
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I am loving this read so far, currently reading and listening along to the audio book! Thank you to @vikingbooksuk for kindly sending me the ARC. This book was such a breath of fresh air, since finishing it I’ve picked up Lizzy’s book The Summer Job in hopes I love it as much as this!

Having never read anything by Lizzie Dent before I was curious about this one! I ended up really loving it. The main character was frustrating at times but who isn’t! It was funny, relatable and just a feel good book overall. Thankyou so much for the ARC!

It took me a while to get into this book and the storyline was, I believe a little far fetched at time. Mara seems to decide all her life choices by reading her horoscopes and when a fortune teller tells her that she will meet her true love she spends the rest of the book preparing for the meeting that she believes she is going to meet her mystery man. I did enjoy the background story surrounding Mara’s job and her efforts to save a community centre, and enjoyed Mara reaching out to others in order to expand her personal life. It was an easy read once I got into it, even if I struggled initially.

I enjoyed this book, I liked Mara but sometimes felt frustrated with her. By the end of the book I was rolling my eyes and almost shouting at her for being so ridiculous! Great characters, lovely story.

Whilst I enjoyed this book, I found Mara quite difficult to connect to, and consequently found myself struggling to finish this book. I think as somebody who does not place much importance on horoscopes, I found the reliance on them throughout the novel tedious. However, this is a book I would recommend to friends who love romance and horoscopes, just sadly one that I did not connect to personally.

Thank you to the publisher, author and NetGalley for sending me this arc.

Dent's "The Setup" is an absolutely well-written piece of escapist fiction; not that relatable, yet fast-paced and full of character.

This book was sweet but uneventful. I liked the storyline but didn’t connect with the characters. I did like the small town vibes

I really enjoy this genre and The Setup had all the elements I love in a good rom com- a likeable heroine, interesting cast of characters and a small town setting. This was an enjoyable read but for some reason I wasn't fully engaged with the plot or the heroine.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC.

After reading The Summer Job last year I was really excited to get the chance to read The Setup and was hoping for some more outlandish fun, what I got was something a little different to that but still very enjoyable.

I think what I struggled with a little was Mara, at the start of the book she is a very closed character, for reasons that become clear the further you read, but I think it does make it hard to have that connection to drive you into the rest of the book. She can’t seem to make any decisions for herself and relies quite heavily on astrology to help her with what direction her life should go in, she has a moment of spontaneity at the very beginning and then it feels like she becomes a bit obsessive and delusional at points.

Having said that the more I read the more I understood Mara and could see how she had come to this place in her life and I appreciated that in her quest to fix things so that she could be ready for love; as her psychic reading had told her she would need to; she starts to get to know more about herself. The changes she makes gives her the confidence to open up to people more and start to build a community where she lives rather than be closed off and afraid of forming attachments.

As she starts to come out of her shell and open up to people is where the magic of this book starts to show, I loved the lido and the friends she makes there and that they all band together to try and make things better and keep it going. Of course, I have to mention Ash in particular, it is not an in-your-face attraction, it builds slowly and has a few hiccups as Mara isn’t sure whether he is her destiny, but he is such a lovely character. He is patient, kind and driven but in a very quiet way, the kind of guy that is always looking for ways to be helpful and make things better but without being showy about it.

Whilst The Setup did take me a little while to get into, I did eventually get absorbed into the story and was loving the antics that the team at the lido got up to trying to get one of their own elected to council member, and whilst they were not quite as lighthearted to read about I liked that this book explored the changing relationships that Mara had with her parents and with her friend Charlie who’s life is taking a different path than Mara’s. At the end of the book I was left with that warm, fuzzy, hopeful feeling of contentment and enjoyment, and I’m looking forward to seeing what Lizzy Dent comes up with next.

The SetUp is just glorious. Funny, heartfelt, and life-affirming.

Mara suffers from crippling indecision and an incurable addiction to the idea of love - sweeping, romantic movie love.

So in June, when she visits a clairvoyant in Budapest who tells her she is to meet a man imminently, and when that man appears in the form of Josef, Mara gives fate a helping hand and arranges for him to visit Broadgate in August, by which time she vows to have fixed all the broken parts of herself.

But in fixing herself, Mara is also forced to face the pain of her past. And little by little, she recaptures her spark. Forming a bond with her work mates, she brings the community together to save the town's Lido. And in her flatmate Ash, she discovers kindness, acceptance and patience.

So why does she still feel compelled to meet Josef?

I was imploring Mara to see what was in front of her, and to start believing she deserves the joy Ash would bring her.

But does she?

Read The SetUp to find out!

Enjoyable summer read about Mara whose life evolves around horoscopes. Warm and witty at times following Mara as she looks for love full of humour and the characters are really likeable.
Thanks to NetGalley & Penguin General UK for a advanced copy.

Headlines:
Car crash heroine
Setting up 'v' serendipity
Wit and warm

The Set Up was an engaging contemporary read with wit and warmth. The protagonist Mara, took some time to get to know and like but she was worth the investment. She was definitely a complex character with some issues that Dent explored well.

This story took the reader from Budapest to various interesting locations across England. Everything Mara did came with a check on her horoscope to see if that gave her direction. I'm not a fan of horoscopes but I managed to rub along with that element.

The plot built to an impasse of setup versus serendipity and I was here for the serendipity of the housemate. You have to read to find out where Mara ended up.

Thank you @vikingbooksuk for the #gifted review copy.

I'll be sharing my full review on the blog tour.

This is another uplifting book by Lizzy Dent. The Summer Job is still my favourite book by Lizzy but I enjoyed this one too. In a world full of anxiety, this is a good book to escape into - Mara has a summer of changes ahead of her.