All the magic of a rom-com yet with characters that felt incredibly authentic, real and relatable. I really enjoyed this one! I don’t remember reading a rom-com where I identified with the characters so much that I found myself wondering if I was laughing and crying for them, the author or myself. Lizzy Dent poured her heart into this one and you could feel it all the way across the globe. Thank you x

ps. Also, hands down one of the best dedications I have ever read.

*** I received an early complimentary copy of this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own

Another one I enjoyed and raced through! Loved this tale of Mara, living in Ramsgate who stops relying on fate and starts believing in herself!

I really enjoyed the exploration of Mara's friendship with her work colleagues - and must admit was super jealous of her working in the lido ( though not so sure about the accounts ;)

I really enjoyed that Mara started living in the moment, for herself - not reliant on others for her happiness and wellbeing - and especially loved that she was a uber fan of the Before Sunset Trilogy!

I was very excited when I was approved to read The Setup, because I loved Lizzy’s debut The Summer Job so much. Happily, this book didn’t disappoint. The cast of characters is as strong in the little community of Broadgate as it was in Scotland with Birdie and co. When it was over, I was sorry it had ended, because I felt like I was leaving some good friends behind.

I so enjoyed the premise of this story, with the quirky beginning at the fortune teller’s and the inclusion of horoscopes, but what I really loved about it was Mara’s journey of discovery, her budding romance with Ash and the campaign to save the lido. I won’t say any more for fear of spoilers!

There was a lovely sense of place, and I felt like I’d visited Broadgate by the end of the book. The pacing was on point, and Lizzy’s ‘voice’ is witty, warm and sparkling. I can’t wait to read her next book.

Thank you to the publisher, author and Netgalley for the ARC.

Mara's past makes her so distrustful of her own instincts that she relies on astrology, movies, and other people's opinions to shape her life. While on an unexpectedly solo trip to Budapest, a visit to a fortune teller takes a surprising turn and leads to her meeting the man of her dreams, Maybe. If she can just set everything up perfectly...

Mara is an interesting, rounded, funny, and flawed character. While there are times that her insistence on making herself smaller and putting herself down became frustrating, it's clear that she knows why she is like she is, and the ways she tries to break free from her history are very well detailed. There is plenty of humour, both with Mara's colleagues and her new flatmate Ash, and the author also deals sensitively and realistically with the subject of how friendships can change as lives develop. The side plot of saving the Lido provides a subsidiary "will they won't they" drama to Mara's own life choices, and I liked the way it works out,

Lizzy Dent is a new-to-me author, and this highly entertaining tale means I'll definitely be looking out for more of her work,

Thank you to NetGalley for providing this advanced reader copy.

PLOT: Mara, the protagonist of the story, is a 31-year-old woman living a quite boring and average life. On a trip to beautiful Budapest, Mara goes to a palm reader. She informs Mara that she must makes some changes in her life; these changes will help her to meet her true love very soon. After a strange series of events, Mara, pretending to be a fortune teller, meets Josef. She believes he is her dream man, and tells him that a woman named Mara is his destiny. She tells him to meet her at a specific pub in three months from now.

This bizarre orchestration leads Mara to begin a new chapter in her life. She starts transforming herself to be the ideal woman for Josef. A makeover of sorts. During this reformation, she makes new friends, becomes interested in her work, and becomes closer to her new flatmate, Ash.

THOUGHTS: Lizzy Dent has done a marvelous job of writing authentic, flawed, and unique characters; main and secondary. Every single one of her characters is distinguished, and it is one of the reasons I really liked this story.
There are quite a few scenes that are comedic, which I really enjoyed. What I really loved is the relationship between Mara and movies. I can't describe how much I liked these scenes.
Mara can be quite annoying at times, but she is flawed, which leads to her whole arc.

This story is about catharsis, self-trust, love, family and friendship, and the author has done a great job webbing all these together.

I really enjoyed The Summer Job, but I absolutely loved The Setup - it’s such a perfect summer read! As with Loch Dorn in The Summer Job, Lizzy Dent writes close-knit communities so well - the supporting cast in The Setup is brimming with life, warmth and humour. I thought Mara’s journey to self-acceptance and love was handled deftly; she’s not the most self-aware protagonist (at the beginning at least) but she’s always sympathetic. Her growth is lovely to read.
And I found the fortune teller episode at the beginning of the novel original and hilarious - it sets up (!) the story so perfectly.

<!Without giving any spoilers away I highly recommend this book who doesn't love a book set in the Kent coast where I now live and the book could be set in places I know very well , about what Fate has in store for you and about amazing friendships you have at work and throw in true love but which one is Mara going to choose ? her flatmate Ash or Stranger she met once

I absolutely loved this book if fact I loved this book so much I have gone back and re-read it another 2 times. If you loved the Summer Job you going to love this book, I wish the author all the best with this book .

With thanks to Netgalley and Penguin for the arc of this book in exchange for this honest review

I love the cover of this, it sounded great from the synopsis and I was instantly drawn to it.
Unfortunately I didn’t find Mara the main character very likeable, pretty annoying to be honest and awful at making any kind of decisions. I loved Ash as a character and happy with the way the book ended but it went down a slightly strange path to get there.

The Setup by Lizzy Dent

As soon as I got approved to read this via netgalley I started it immediately and barely put it down, I just had to keep reading.
The story starts with Mara being on holiday and seeing a fortune teller who tells her that she will meet The One, but a number of things need to happen for it to all work out…
This is the incentive for The Mara Project, whereby she seeks to reinvent herself into a more polished version so that she’ll be “ready” for this future meeting. Some things are seemingly simple, like having her hair & nails done, whilst others, making new friends & work issues, are harder to navigate.
What I really liked about this from the outset was that Mara was just so normal - we are basically all Mara in that we think there are parts of ourselves we should change but that others would see as positives. One thing that’s important to her is her star-sign, and she reads it every day and can always see how it fits in with her life and if influences her decisions, sometimes to her detriment as she becomes a bit dithery and unable to make a choice without this guidance. This is not something I have any knowledge of, when people talk about something being in retrograde I just smile and nod, so I found it really interesting how Mara interpreted these messages and it wasn’t too overdone, as in, if you’re clueless like me you’re not going to lose any of the plot.
Whilst the central plot revolves around Mara “getting ready” it also explores relationships between established friends, making new friends, & repairing families that have drifted apart and does so in a way that allows you to see it from all points of view (even though Mara is narrating).
Mara is great because she’s flawed, she makes some really dubious choices (to an outsider) but as she continues on the Mara Project and starts opening herself up to new possibilities her influences become more real rather than words on a screen/page & her actions change & she starts seeing things in a new way.
No spoilers, but I thoroughly enjoyed all of her new friendships and the little community she becomes part of sounds idyllic. Anyone who loves a good makeover movie will be hooked on this, and it’s perfect for fans of Laura Kay, Laura Jane Williams, & Helly Acton.

A love easy romance / friendship / reinventing yourself type book. I flew through it as it was just so easy to read, a bit predictable but that doesn’t really take away from the enjoy ability of it. The characters overall are lovely, flatmate Ash is a dream, but Mara the main character made me want to scream regularly. Self pity, ridiculous notions around fate and meeting ‘the one’ based on a 5 minute encounter, acting like a teenager at nearly 30… I could go on! But overall I still wanted a happy ending for her, which is a credit to the overall story and Lizzy Dent’s writing I think.

An interesting story about learning to trust yourself and saving a lido. Set in Kent which I love . I could not warm to the main character Mara. You had a lovely love element. Ash was a nice character. A pleasant read

An unforgettable five-star read. I knew I was going to love this story as I adored Lizzy Dent’s first read, and I am a huge believer of Fate, so it ticked all the boxes for me, that being said I did struggle with Mara, she pushed my every nerve at times, but only at times, as much as I wanted to knock her head, I always wanted to pull her in for a massive hug and tell her we are all islands at some times. I think I struggled with Mara as I identified a little too much with her, that’s how real she is. I think part of what I adore so much about Lizzy Dent’s writing is how unintentionally funny the characters are, but they also have such depths that you can imagine them down the council offices having a big meeting or putting on a mummy and me session. I don’t want to spoil the story, but my goodness best ending ever, it kept me guessing as I will leave you guessing, its only fair. I really hope that this is going to be a hit of the summer, as it has all of the makings of being your favourite summer read, I know it is mine.

The Set Up is a story about Mara, a thirty one year old whose life is almost ruled by what her daily horoscope tells her. Star signs mean everything to her. This is Mara’s journey to find her true love as fate intends.
Devastated by something in her past, life now revolves around her daily horoscopes, and after a palm reading in Italy, which is pretty hilarious, she is convinced she has found ‘the one’ and no one is going to persuade her otherwise.
I really did want to shake Mara many times, but as we take her journey and she starts to like herself and make friends you only want the best for her.
The other characters are brilliant and add much to this story with great dialogue between them and at times conversations with a depth that has you the reader taking what’s said on board.
I’m a complete unbeliever in all this horoscope and astrology hocus pocus but nevertheless I could how Mara used it to try keep her life steady.
A really enjoyable read with a great finale but the who, what, where or when I’m keeping to myself.
My thanks to net galley and publisher for the opportunity to review this book honestly

I adored this currant and fresh twist on a love story. It is really well written, easy and fun to read and really feel good. It will leave you smiling from ear to ear. I really enjoyed it.

This was another fun read by Lizzy Dent.
Mara is forever basing her life decisions on her horoscopes. They feel like the only reliable thing in her life. And when a fortune-teller gives the details of her imminent future, she takes it all to heart.
But sometimes you have to learn to take life at face value.
Throughout the story, you could see how her personality develops and how she realised she was more worthy than she ever thought before.
She finds a niche for herself, and makes new, good friends, who help her to overcome a lifetime of self-doubt, and makes herself rather useful, too, with the local Lido, where she works.
The twist in who she would choose when it came to matters of the heart though... Joe, who she is apparently destined to be with, or Ash, who her heart is telling her to trust...
It was an enjoyable read.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin General UK - Fig Tree, Hamish Hamilton, Viking, Penguin Life, Penguin Business, Viking for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was very excited about this book after reading the summer job which I really enjoyed. Lizzie Dent has a cracking sense of humour and writes beautifully. Looking forward to more books from this great lady!

I read this in one day and not having read any of the author’s work I thoroughly enjoyed it despite questioning the author’s knowledge of geography (Corbridge is not on the Scottish border, nor would you drive past Coventry on the way from Kent to it and definitely not before hitting the M11!)

It’s a good romcom choose for a cozy summertime.
Mara was kind of annoying for me, and waaaay too crazy about horoscopes but fine. She had some choices that I didn’t like, but c’mon nobody’s perfect.
As a Hungarian I loved reading about my country and the insane thing a that can happen there.
And there is Ash (and Joe)
My heart picked Ash bc I’m a sucker for flatmates trope haha. And Ash was just too kind and perfect for me. I volunteer to be his girlfriend, ok Mara?
And Joe. Well, Joe is a cellist. But he doesn’t matter just Mara was silly again.
And I felt like the things just got interesting in the middle of the book. So i read it really slow because I couldn’t keep my mind on the sentences.
Thank you for the early ‘copy’ of this book. I’m grateful for it.

ps: I almost forgot. I absolutely adored the dedication. It’s one of my favorite.

Well written story& lovely characters. I loved that the characters are so down to earth.
Easy to read & page turner.

I am voluntarily reviewing a copy I received free from the author.

An easy read from Lizzy Dent's second novel. Perfect for a beach holiday post covid. Funny, predictable and much like a big hug.