This was such a fun read and 100% a book you should have on your summer holiday list for sure! There were some fantastic characters in this book and I have never read a book with horoscopes being included so much, which brought a different aspect to the book.

I loved this book! Our heroine Mara is an adorable woman who comes out of her shell - she works at the Broadgate Lido and gets involved in the fight to save it. Of course there is romance too, just an all round great book.

Wasn’t sure about this in the beginning and thought it was a bit silly as Mara goes to on her own to Budapest and ends up in the caravan of a clairvoyant to get predictions about her future. When the clairvoyant has to rush to hospital to give birth Mara dresses up as the clairvoyant and when in walks an attractive young man, Josef, Mara tells him he is going to meet ‘the one’ when he visits England. Josef is a musician who is touring Europe and so tells Mara he will be in England later in the year The clairvoyant had predicted a tall man who uses his hands and told her she needed to sort herself out and all would be well. Mara is full of insecurities and consults her horoscope for everything she does and decides that, based on the clairvoyant’s advice, she needs to reinvent herself. She lives in the Kent seaside town of Broadgate working in the accounts office of her local leisure pool. She has one friend who also lives in Kent, but they have been drifting apart as Charlie is now married with a baby and doesn’t have the time she used to for spending time with Mara. Mara acts on the clairvoyants advice in making changes and this is where the book starts to come alive as Mara struggles with many aspects of her life but manages to take on a project that matters to her and in the process makes friends. The reader is left guessing to the end as to whether Mara will get together with Josef, who she had told to come to Broadgate on a certain date on his UK tour to meet his destiny – aka Mara or Ash, her dependable flatmate! Other than the slightly daft beginning I enjoyed The Setup. Mara is complex but lovable and all the other characters shine through. There are wider issues in this including the difficult relationship she has with her family which brings another side to the story. The ‘will she, won’t she’ aspect of the book kept me engaged as I wanted to know what happened until the very end. Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me an ARC of this book.

I loved this book, it was the perfect light easy read that took me a few days to finish! Definitely lived up to my expectations. I will definitely be recommending this to everyone for the perfect summer read!

Overall I enjoyed this one. At some points in the book I wanted to tell Mara to “open her eyes and don’t waste it!” When you get that invested in the characters, you know you are onto something good. A nice easy read that has a good ending, what more could you ask for?! I definitely recommend. Thank you #netgalley

I really enjoyed this book about a young woman who relies on horoscopes to avoid making her own decisions in life. Some nice themes of friendship explored and a nice if somewhat predictable ending. Some parts of the story I felt were still unresolved - maybe a sequel is in the mix? Would read this author again.

Ooooh this is my second book by this author and is it too early to already say I’m a huge fan? Reading this was fun, joyful and engaging- more please!

On a trip abroad to Budapest, Mara goes and gets her palm read. The reader informs Mara that she needs to change some things about her life in order to prepare to meet her dream man very imminently. Mara then poses as a fortune teller and tells a man, Joe, that he should come looking for a woman named Mara in a bar in England in August. She believes in fate and that it brought them together so they could start a relationship.

Most of Mara's friends see the huge flaw in the plan but she can’t be swayed in any other direction. There are moments where she comes across as nearly unhinged and downright stalkerish in her obsession with a man she doesn’t even know even though she thinks he is the one she will be with forever. She truly believes in fate and destiny and because of this she is crippled with being unable to make decisions and riddled with indecision at every turn.

This was a cute story overall, though Mara was a little annoying at times because she was always looking for answers anyplace but herself—though that was really the whole point of what she needed to work on!

I like that alongside the romantic relationship aspect Mara also was dealing with a long-time friendship that had changed and her relationship with her parents. Although there is the start of a resolution to those two aspects, I would have like to see little more of the resolution of those. I also liked the smaller town setting and the whole idea of community.

Review of The Setup by Lizzy Dent

I really enjoyed The Summer Job so was very excited to read Lizzy Dents latest Book The Setup. The Setup follows our protagonist Mara, a woman letting her horoscope and her idea of fate rule her life. This was a wonder easy read rom com book. I really enjoyed it was would recommend.

This was a light and enjoyable read, ideal for round the pool or on the plane this summer. Rom-com isn't my usual genre (usually go for something with murder or corruption) however thought I'd read something a little more uplifting.

The story centres around Mara, who is a kooky millennial woman struggling to find her place in life after a tough breakup and as her best friend settles and has a baby.

Mara is spiritual and a hopeless romantic waiting for the universe to match her with 'the one'. I won't give too much away but the story very much questions what true love is and does it look like a Hollywood movie (which, by the way, she watches a lot of!)

One thing I loved about this book was exploring the different kind of relationships with people in her life. New flatmate Ash who is a genuinely good guy, her work colleagues who think she's 'unique', her mum who she has a really strained relationship with and, of course, best friend and new mum Charlie.

As a 30-year old woman who doesn't want kids I found this so relatable and the relationship between best friend Charlie and Mara echos the dynamic of many friendships between women who have been friends since their teens.

Mara's relationship with her mum was one of my bug bears with the book. I felt like Mara was unnecessarily distant from her, citing her high expectations. Yet when we meet her mum, this doesn't come across at all.

One of the things I loved about this book was the way Broadgate was described. The feeling of a small town, stuck in its ways and Mara trying to navigate this, really hit home for me. It felt suffocating and welcoming at the same time. The Lido sounds so old fashioned in a charming way and the community spirit comes across strongly.

To say I don't normally enjoy romance novels, I read this one pretty quickly! It wasn't a page turner by any means but it was certainly a fun, light read with some great character development and scene setting.

Another great story and cast of diverse characters from author Lizzy Dent. But it's the dynamics and banter between them, particularly the team at the Lido, that makes them all so real and likeable. Much like #TheSummerJob this was funny with highlights being realising the life drawing model is actually your boss, having an allergic reaction to eyelash extensions and getting mobbed by seagulls. But, I also loved the little life lessons such as "everyone is someone else's heartache" and learning to trust yourself. I loved it!

Mara is quite a lonely girl. Her friend who she shared a flat with during university and after has moved away, married and now has a child. Mara feels very left out and misses Charlie. Mara decides to move close to Charlie but that did not help as she is consumed with her daughter and trying to keep things together. They decide they need to get together and book a short trip to Budapest. Mara is delighted and excited. Charlie cries off and Mara decides to go on her own. While she is wondering round she comes across a fortune teller and decides to find out what her future has in store for her. A tall dark handsome man is imminent and all will fall into place. The fortune teller is heavily pregnant and goes into labour asking Mara to lock the door when she leaves. Who walks in to have his fortune read. A tall dark handsome man, Flustered she tells him his fortune and says his life will change with the meeting of a woman in August in England. Mara heads home with her head in the clouds knowing that this man will turn up and will be her soul mate. Charlie is very worried that Mara has put all her eggs in one basket. She has a new flatmate who happens to be a tall dark handsome man. The story continues with the constant waiting for August and also wondering if Ash, the flatmate, is the one. I think it was obvious from the story that Mara would end up with who she did but it was a fun read to see what happened. I enjoyed the way she ploughed through her life and became more and more extrovert which her job helped her do as other colleagues would not let her stay on her own and really brought her out of her shell

Very funny, A horoscope obsessive who actually believes and lives by them who whilst on holiday sees a fortune teller and is told that she will find "the one"
to do this she needs to work on herself and basically fix things, this involves her appearance, friends and family.
we follow her journey that will make you laugh and sometimes infuriate you.
A bit of a predictable ending.
I have read such good reviews about another of Lizzy's books and look forward to reading it in the future.
I would recommend it to a younger person.

I enjoyed Lizzy Dent’s first book, so looked forward to this one. I wasn’t disappointed; it was a really enjoyable no-stress read. Even though the ending was a little predictable, that didn’t really affect my response to the book. I thought Mara was a well developed character with an interesting back story and you’d want things to turn out ok for her (no spoilers!) but some of the other characters would have benefited from more background. A perfect beach read rom-com and I’ll look forward to Lizzy’s next endeavour!

I really enjoyed this book & it kept me pulled in waiting to see what the future held for Mara, the lead character. Mara has something happen in her past which has shaped her future & the way she behaves. She believes in the horoscopes & relys on them to help make decisions. This book is quirky, funny & at times emotional but most of all, its a book well worth reading.

This book follows Mara, a sagittarius who truly believes in fate. We follow Mara as she embarks on a journey to become herself before the date she set to meet her soulmate.

I really enjoyed this book! It was cute and quirky and as an astrology nerd myself, I loved reading that aspect of it.
Some parts were sad to read but Mara always came out on top because of how strong she was.

I'm obsessed with Ash, he was an angel. All the side characters in this book really felt like important parts of the story and it definitely would not have been the same without them.

Overall, I rated this book 3.5 stars and would definitely recommend!

I adored this book, it was very light hearted and an enjoyable read. The plot was obvious and a bit cringeworthy in places but it made me feel happy and joyous and that is all I wanted. Plus, this is set local to me and I enjoyed the local references Dent made. A very entertaining Summer read.

I knew what I was getting going in because I had read her other novel, and sometimes this kind of book is exactly what you need: fun and not too emotionally demanding. I really liked the setting here; it was nice to be in a new non-London environment, with a vaguely Geordie protagonist!
The premise was slightly eye-roll worthy but the characters likeable and the experience enjoyable.
When I got to the end I actually found myself curious to find out what the mysterious Joseph might have been thinking!

Personally this book didn't do it for me, I liked the blurb and thought this book was going to be a good one. Then the main character lied and pretended to be someone they weren't and I lost alot of interest as I'm not one for this kind of behaviour. I'm sorry I could not finish this one.

Quirky. Unique. Fun.
I loved The characters in this book. The friendships and relationships felt so real. I will be highly recommending this to my customers.