Although this book was what I would consider "cute," I had a very hard time getting into it, and found myself picking up other book instead. I wouldn't say the book is bad by any means, it just may not be for me.

This was a fun light read. Gigi has fallen in love with an audiobook narrator. Her friends give her a trip to England where the narrator is a tour guide. Gigi has this idea that when they meet it will be love. But when Zane the narrator isn't the tour guide she's crushed. Of course things don't go to plan and she has to roll with it. Don't analyze this book too much. Just enjoy the journey of meeting new friends and maybe a love interest. I enjoyed the book.

I don’t know what the right word is to categorize this book, but one key takeaway was that it’s essential to understand yourself. Gigi is a complicated woman and honestly, was really annoying but in the end, I grew to love her. She was a passionate woman and one of my favorite things about her was that she ran a romance bookshop. I also loved the side characters because they were hilarious.

The novel starts with Gigi going to England to meet the love of her life. She listened to a book and she fell in love with the narrator. Was that weird? Yes, 100% but for some reason, I was rooting for her. When she gets to England, nothing goes her way but I loved that she got to discover herself. She was living instead of pining and she met amazing people.

I loved Taj. His subtle dry humor was the best part of this book. The other side characters really made the story more tolerable. I think everyone that Gigi surrounded herself with grew and learned. There were some serious tear-jerking moments. Towards the end, I was so excited for these characters and most of all I was happy Gigi found love.

This short review is an injustice to the story but I hope you guys get a chance to check it out. Be on brand and listen to it just for fun!

Thank you to the author, Kensington Books and NetGalley, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a quick, fun read, but with a high cringe factor built in. I wanted to love Gigi, bookstore owner and expert on romcoms, but herself hopeless at love - but she didn't make it easy. Could it be that she has totally unrealistic expectations? That she's more than a little OCD? Well, except in regards to her makeup - she goes to bed with makeup on so often, and then gets up and puts on *more makeup* to hide the mess?! And what is this falling in love with a voice nonsense, particularly when that voice belongs to a man who's a complete prat IRL? The ending was tied up in a neat bow, and of course Gigi ended up with the not-at-all-a-prat who was around the entire time. The side characters were well-written, and the story as a whole worked because of their interplay, but it could have been so much more.

I love a great slow burn, but this one might have taken the cake with my patience. The thing is if I usually wait a long time for love declarations, that means there is either good angst or great steamy moments in between to hold me over.
I was able to step away from my unfair expectations at several times throughout the book and when I did, I truly enjoyed the witty writing. I also think the premise would make for a great RomCom movie as well. I think where it fell flat was that it either needed steamy scenes on paper, or a bit more feelings detailed to help keep me invested as a reader.
I would def recommend to my friends that love a quirky story and also love closed door romance which many people do!

Fun weekend read, maybe a bit slow at parts, but still worth reading :)

Read for…
-wonderful side characters (Francis was my fave)
-all the book references
-coping with grief
-love triangle

What a charming story!!

Gigi owns a romance bookshop and loves a good Happy Ever After. Her parents had the best meet-cute and Gigi loves listening to their favourite book, not only because it's a connection to them, but because she's fallen in love with the narrator's voice. A simple google search and she discovers he's also a tour guide in England. So, she takes a trip across the pond in order to spend 10 days in his company and hopefully orchestrating a meet-cute of her own.

This book has some great supporting characters, all of whom will worm their way into your heart. It's a story about friendship, about dealing with grief, family dynamics and letting go of the past. Gigi's trip comes to life so vividly that I want to follow her itinerary!

Thank you Netgalley for approving my request to read this book in change for an honest review.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I love how it ended unexpectedly because I know we would have thought that she’d pushed through with Zane. But Gigi ending up with Taj was amazing and her short journey to him was giving me all the feels. Plus I love that Gigi and Lars, finally decided to collaborate and make this parents’ bookshop something they can be proud of.

full review: https://wandersbetweenpagess.wordpress.com/?p=7646

DNF at 45%.
It seems like a clever concept, but I was bored to tears.
I was hoping for much more.

Gigi, Listening by Chantel Guertin is a book that I really wanted to like. It had everything in it that I like. A woman who runs a romance book store, a ten day tour through the English countryside, an eclectic group of travelers. But unfortunately it didn't work for me. It's the story of Gigi who runs a romance book store, is obsessed with Zane who is the audiobook narrator of her favorite audiobook and is in love with love. When she is gifted a bus tour through the English countryside led by Zane by her book club members, she embarks on an amazing trip but is disappointed when she realizes that Zane didn't show up.
The book started out really strong. I loved the bookstore, the book club, the other travelers and the brooding bus driver and it went downhill from there. I really liked the descriptions of towns, the architecture, nature etc. I loved Gigi's friendship with Charlotte and was very invested in Charlotte's relationship with Angus. Also, there is a biking tour along a Sycamore lined road, pizza making in the middle of a forest, description of great food, punting with a three time national champion and a lot more. But I didn't like the romantic aspect of the book and after a while the entire thing stopped being interesting for me. There was too much emphasis on her liking for Zane. Even in the midst of the most beautiful moments, the focus is on his absence and that was not fun to read. The book did pick up in the last twenty percent. But it wasn't enough to salvage the entire experience.
However if you simply want to read a nice book about traveling through the English countryside, then you can try this one.
✨
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an e-arc. All opinions expressed in the review are my own.

Ngl, this book didn’t exactly wow me from the start. It had to work to keep my attention, but by the 30% mark I was in.

Although I found the plot of this book a little bit cringy at first (I had a lot of secondhand embarrassment for Gigi), as it went on, I grew to really love the characters and Gigi’s development. The writing style resonated with me, and although the set up wasn’t my favourite, I still found myself engaged.

There are a couple of small twists I didn’t see coming, and was pleasantly surprised by their reveal. At one point, a side character had me sobbing. And the (actual) love interest was the perfect balance of grumpy, sweet and funny. In fact, the whole cast of characters were fun to read about and they all felt like a family by the end of their tour.

This is a closed door romance, but I didn’t feel like it was lacking in any way. I enjoyed watching Gigi fall for the main love interest and I found their story to be pretty authentic (compared to the “soulmate” storyline at least).

I recommend reading if you enjoy lighthearted, clean romances. But I do encourage you to stick with it if you aren’t loving it in the first third of the book.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advance copy in exchange for my unbiased review.

Ok, so we all have at least one book boyfriend ( or two or four) but, have you ever listened to an audiobook and become wholeheartedly attracted to the narrator's voice?

📖 Well, meet Gigi Rutherford. The quirky romance bookstore owner who loves love, and settling down for the night to the smooth sounds of Zane Wilkinson in her ear, narrating the very book that brought her late parents together. Swooooon.

When Gigi's friends surprise her for her birthday with a 10-day coach tour across the Engligh countryside, guided by none other than Zane Wilkinson, Gigi leaves her bookstore behind and flies across the world, ready for her very own meet-cute moment. Only when she arrives, Zane is nowhere to be found, called to a family emergency and Taj the bus driver has Gigi questioning everything.

💭 Thoughts:
Gigi Listening is a slow-burn romantic adventure with a very strong sense of place. Touring around the UK with Gigi and the group was such fun, with a balanced cast of side characters that kept things moving.

While the story was more about Gigi's journey of self-discovery than falling in love, I enjoyed the undertones of navigating grief and the evolution of Gigi's character throughout.

Thank you to @Netgalley & @KensingtonBooks for granting me an eArc of Gigi, Listening (Alt title: Two for the Road), publishing 28 March

I was not the reader for this book. I think many will enjoy but I just wasnt into it! Maybe at another time I would enjoy it more.

Is it strange that my biggest complaint about this book is the decision to have two very different titles for the same book for two different, yet similar, markets? I know this is not a rare occurrence, as there are often books with varying titles in North America and the rest of the English-speaking world. But this is the first time I have encountered this in North America. When I first came across the titles, there was no indication they were the same book until after I requested both from NetGalley. Goodreads only recently added a note about the different titles and for which country they were.

While I enjoyed the supporting cast of characters, I found Gigi to be a bit too much. I understand she's on a trip of a lifetime, and she's struggling to hold on to her parents, but she is extremely controlling and naive. Are we sure she's 30 years old?

The descriptions of the various places they visited in England were wonderful and made it easy to picture. However, the description of the bus itself felt clunky.

Overall, the first third of the book felt slow and sluggish. I was tempted to DNF it, but I pushed on. Ultimately, I would say this is a 3.5 out of 5.

A sweet ode to the romance genre and to audiobooks in particular. This really is a great book for book lovers- Gigi owns a bookstore and there are tons of references to other books, and readers who have ever found solace in the pages (or sound waves) of a book will relate.

This was a feel-good, beautiful story.

GiGi is a hopeless romantic who lives life by strict rules. She inherits a romance-only book store after her parents die in a car crash. When her friends' believe that she needs a break, they chip in to buy her a tour of England, hosted by her favorite audiobook narrator, Zane. During the tour, she meets eccentric background characters, and finds love in more ways than one.

I loved learning so much about England! I felt like I was on the tour with GiGi and could visualize each stop and each character as they were interacting. There were even little side mysteries that added fun elements to the story. The overall theme of the story became more heartwarming as it changed throughout the book.

My biggest reason for not giving this 5 stars was because it seemed like GiGi was OVERLY obsessed with meeting Zane and for seemingly only superficial reasons. Yes his audiobook had special meaning to her (I won't spoil what that is), but it became creepy with how she would describe him and her feelings towards a voice.

Overall, this is a cute book, suitable for any age, and anyone who likes books about self-discovery through tragedy.

The biggest thank you to #NetGalley and #KensingtonBooks for this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I really wanted to like this, but I just couldn't get into it. Thank you for the opportunity to read it early!

I received a complimentary copy from Kensington books and all opinions expressed are entirely my own..

Gigi Listening is the perfect read for romance readers and audiobook fanatics.. This is one spicy read that follows Gigi who gets a trip of a lifetime to meet her favorite audiobook narrator. She unfortunately fails to meet Zane initially so she is stuck with the widowed and chatty Charlotte; Francis who is obsessed with trivia; Jenny(who likes true crime and Ta the driver. Chantel introduced us to quirky characters that are lovable, relatable and quirky. Gigi was a romantic but I felt that the book needed more banter and a twinge more humor.

*I received a free ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

I REALLY enjoyed this book! While somewhat predictable, the entire story felt like both an adventure and a warm hug. This book took me longer to read than most simply because I found myself looking up the various settings and getting myself really immersed in Gigi’s experience! I loved that with this book I got to go on a mini vacation (without the jet lag!)

I’ve been contemplating how to write this review, to show much I truly enjoyed it. I received this ARC and was intrigued by the story - Gigi, a bookstore owner, is in love with an audiobook’s voice. Obsessed even. So for her 30th birthday her friends surprise her with a trip to England to meet him. Yes an odd premise but it works. The story lured me in and kept my interest with each page which included the diverse people she meets on the bus tour, the audiobook stranger and the rude (but hot) bus driver. Not to mention the glorious landscape and landmarks she discovers on her trip through the English countryside. It made me feel like I was there, experiencing it with her. The emotions that ebb and flow throughout the book is just magic. I also enjoyed the various romance books and authors that she mentions throughout - she knows her stuff and has the same taste as me in that regard! It was definitely a 5 star book in my mind. A must read for any romance lover. It was a fabulous romcom that I fell in love with and I look forward to reading more from this author.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.