Rating: 3.5 Stars

She fell in love via audiobook, but will this auditory attraction translate to real-life?

A sweet and fun premise. Following her parents death, Gigi finds great comfort in the audiobook of the story that brought they together. She saw it as some sign from the universe that narrator could be her soulmate. Laugh if you will, but this was a woman who owned a romance bookshop. Love was her thing. Her wonderful friends surprised her with a trip on which she hoped to meet this narrator, but obviously, things don't go according to plan.

The strengths of this story were the fun travel descriptions and characters. Who wouldn't enjoy a church tour of England? Guertin did a great job with the descriptions and made me feel I was riding right along with Gigi. I felt, at times, that the supporting characters and their stories were even better than the main event. It was interesting getting to know them all, and there were quite a few surprises in there too.

I struggled a bit with what I thought I would enjoy - the romance. Maybe it went down the one path for too long? Or perhaps, I wanted it to take a turn sooner? Whatever the reason, I cannot pinpoint it, but I can assure you that I was thrilled with how all played out.

A great ending which concluded with lots of love, healing, and joy left me with happy and smiling.

<i>*Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review *</i>

Gigi, Listening was overall a cute , non-spicy romance, but somehow the characters didn't draw me in quite as much as I would have loved.

The parts about England confused me, as some were spot on like related to some of the locations but some felt off - like there's no way would a Brit question someone for being on holiday for 10 days, insinuating that this was a luxury, as most British people do regularly take vacations, and also no way someone in Taj's kind of work could afford a two bedroom flat in Chelsea?

Gigi has won my heart! She owns a bookshop, is grieving the loss of her parents, and travels to England to meet the man she's fallen in love with for his voice (on her fave audiobook). What a great set up! Of course, things don't go exactly to plan and that works out just fine. Loved the love story, loved the side characters (Francis especially). I'll be rereading this for sure.

Super charming. A bookstore owner travels to meet the so-called man of her dreams. This was so much more than a romance, but a journey of self discovery after a heartbreaking loss.

Bookstore owner travels to England to meet the man of her dreams or so she thinks. Fun, witty and full of romance. This journey through England was so fun to read. Started off rocky for me due to the main characters whining but things progressed well and I got really hooked.

I admit that I initially was a little put off by the premise of "Gigi, Listening," as it felt awfully silly. However, this novel was absolutely charming. I quickly fell for Gigi, Taj, and the wide-ranging cast of characters of this story. Chantel Guertin did a fantastic job of crafting well-rounded, dynamic and engaging characters who drove a completely adorable romance.

Escape is a big reason I came. Escaping the sadness of my story - of never again having my mom and dad in my life. Of knowing that anything that happened in the future would never be something I'd get to share with them."

This story was more than just a romance (no spice), it was a journey to self discovery after a unspeakable loss.

We follow Gigi the expert on all things love. She reads them, sells them in her romance bookshop, and she spends hours dreaming up her own meet cute with her favorite audiobook narrator - Zane. She's convinced Zane is her soul-mate. For her 30th birthday, her friends gift her a trip to Europe. What do you know, Zane is the tour guide!

Maybe I can just shut everyone out for the next ten days and pretend it's just the two of us after all. Just him and me, together.

I mean she is obsessed! She mentions her love for Zane in almost every paragraph :/

So Gigi's misguided quest for love takes her on an adventure through the English countryside on a 10-day bus tour. But as Charlotte says "mishaps makes memories" and that's exactly what happens! Aboard the bus we meet a cast of characters. We get an in-depth description of these characters and I honestly really enjoyed it.

The bus tour takes Gigi all over England and I really enjoyed the picturesque landscape. Gigi was adorably sweet and I loved journey to growth throughout the book, however, it took her a while to reach that point. At times she was so busy pining over Zane that she wouldn't let herself enjoy the moment - aggh it was so frustrating.

It wasn't a perfect romance, but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. It's a perfect vacation book!

CW: alcohol, dementia, death of a parent, grief, injury/injury detail

This book was so fun! As a rom-com lover and Anglophile, this was a delight to read. Lots of heart is infused into the plot. I grew to love each and every one of the tour group members and felt invested in all of them finding their own happy endings, whatever that looked like. If you're in need of a mental vacation to England, this is a perfect read. Equal parts breeziness and emotion/tension, both internally within each character and externally within the various group dynamics. I would recommend this to any of my friends, and look forward to reading more by this author in the future!

Loved it! - pack your comfy clothes and shoes and embark on a 10 day English countryside bus tour with a bunch of unique characters. It starts a little slow but once Gigi’s on the plane, across to London, it’s full steam ahead. I loved all the literary references and the travel info related to the itinerary destinations of the Spires, Shires and Shores tour. This was a one day, didn’t want to put it down, read for me.
Thank You to NetGalley, Kensington Books and Chantel Guertin for the opportunity to read this ARC and escape across the pond.

Cute (and slightly unhinged) romcom. The story follows our main character who has fallen in love with a audiobook actor’s voice and decided he is the blueprint. The only issue? He has no idea she even exists. The solution? She takes a trip of a lifetime across the world to try and find him.
Quirky, fun & quick read full of a great cast of supporting characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

an expert in the romance genre, but a fool in love, is our titular character gigi rutherford: book store owner, and our next relatable fictional woman. harbouring a crush on an audiobook narrator allows her friends to surprise her with a ten-day tour through england's picturesque cities and counties for her thirtieth birthday, led by the said crush. when late for this tour, she has no choice but to join another before they intercept, where she meets three other tourists that soon become friends, and a disgruntled bus driver, taj, with whom sparks fly with.

with developing chemistry with taj, and the eventual meeting with her crush leading to all she thought she ever wanted, what ever will she do?

gigi, listening is where character development shines. each character is fascinating to some degree, and their shared journeys mean that they are easy to love, and root for, making for a very enjoyable story.

- 3.5 stars!

This is definitely the romcom for book fans!

I absolutely adore Gigi, especially her love for stories and reading. From the first chapter, Gigi is 100% plugged in!

And I love seeing her experience new things (riding a bike!) and finding herself. She's open-minded, and a good friend, and deserving of all the good things.

"You're always trying to take away my coffee." ☕️😂

(And she deserves the coffee and books!)

Gigi runs a bookshop and is in love with an audiobook narrator she's never met. For her thirtieth birthday, her besties give her a 10-day bus tour in England (she lives in Michigan). The tour company is owned by Zane, the narrator she's so excited to meet. But when she arrives in London for the tour, she discovers Zane hasn't shown up. As disappointed as she is, she climbs aboard, and the trip turns out to be a lovely romantic surprise after all. I have to say the book was slow, with too many characters and too much banal travel description. Also, the main character is quite immature for 30.

This was a nice little romantic read. Gigi, a bookshop owner, has recovered from a failed romance but is not ready to find a new love. Actually she already has. She has fallen in love with the voice of the narrator of an audiobook. His internet image shows a pretty cute guy who leads tours in England. So, as a 30th birthday gift, her friends buy her a ticket for the tour.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for an egalley of Gigi, Listening,

Oh man, where to start with this book. It was a delight from start to finish.

Gigi is turning 30 and her life doesn't look anywhere close to how she imagined it would, but she is ok with that. She has a great group of friends, is running a romance bookstore, and has Zane who narrates the audiobook that brought her parents together. Except she's never met Zane in person - she just listens to his voice night after night.
When her friends surprise her with a tour of England for her birthday it comes with the added bonus that none other than Zane (the ZANE!) is leading the tour. 10 days to spend riding around the English countryside with Zane - and 15 other strangers - to see if there is a spark between them. But nothing goes right from the moment she steps foot on English soil. First off, she's late to the bus. And Gigi is hungry and jet lagged and met with the final straw of Zane has been called away for a family emergency. Resigning herself to a mediocre trip, Gigi settles onto the bus to suffer through the next 10 days. But as any romance reader should know...love finds you when you least expect it.

3.5 stars

I was SO excited about this book, but I ended up having mixed feelings about it. As a romance lover, I liked the premise and the fact Gigi owned a romance bookstore and was quick to defend not only her preferred genre, but also her love of books in general. I loved the details and descriptions of the places they traveled to. That was the best part to me, especially since I’ve been to several of the places they visited. I enjoyed the cast of characters and how each of them had a distinct personality, along with something to teach Gigi.

Part of my issue was that I didn’t particularly like Gigi. While I ultimately appreciated her growth, it took her a really long time to get there, so her ‘redemption’ wasn’t the triumph it could/should have been for me personally. She had an incredible opportunity literally handed to her - a FREE trip to England - but all she could do was whine that Zane wasn’t there and wonder when he was getting there and not enjoy herself because, you guessed it, Zane wasn’t there. I kept wanting to reach through the pages and shake her, and I admit there was a lot of eye rolling while reading. I understand her disappointment, but there were times I felt like I was reading a YA book because she seemed more like an infatuated teenager than a thirty-year-old woman who owned her own business and had been living on her own for years.

As I said, I did ultimately appreciate Gigi’s growth. She learned a lot, she took chances, and she stopped thinking only about herself long enough to realize the error of her ways and make things right. While this wasn’t my favourite book, I did enjoy it for the most part and would recommend it to those who love travel romances, books featuring book lovers, those who enjoy enemies to lovers, and anyone who enjoys a big cast of loveable characters that give found family vibes.

I thoroughly enjoyed this one! Definitely wasn't expecting podcasting and audio books to be a recurring theme for books in 2022-2023, but not mad at it!

Gigi never met a meet cute romance she didn’t love. For her 30th birthday, Gigi’s friends send her on a trip from her her romance bookshop to England. Does she find her meet cute or a crabby bus driver? Fun story.

As far as romances go, such an original concept. Bookish Gigi swoons over the audiobook narrator, Zane, and embarks on a voyage to meet him. Except, he's not there when she arrives in England and has to endure a trip with a bunch of bonkers tourists. This book is absolutely fun!

But here's the thing...what I liked most about Gigi was she was the type of girl who'd choose books over dating, but then would be bold enough to pursue her soulmate whom she'd never met IRL. As far as witty MCs go, she's as fun and neurotic as they come. :)

I love this book--and I think it's the perfect roadtrip or vacation companion!

I enjoyed the story though I did have a hard time with some of the immaturity from a 30 year old. Gigi’s obsession with Zane seemed unhealthy as well but it made for a good start to the tale.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.