DNF twice. Too much infodump, and then the main character started making dubious decisions just to set up the conflict in the plot. Neat premise, though.

Once again I have fallen head over heels with an Amanda Radley book, is anyone really that surprised?

Reclaiming Love follows two characters who I rooted for from the very beginning, each had her own secrets and issues to work through and I absolutely loved watching them do so, while falling in love themselves too. Both were written distinctively and given their own unique voice and yet both worked well, blending together throughout the book without feeling jarring.

A soft, lovely book that’s definitely one to re-read whenever I’m in need of a little comfort boost.

Any romance novel chockful of tropes has to use them well, and Reclaiming Love is an amazing use of the fake dating trope. A rollicking good time.

Two lesbians enter a Scottish island....

Just kidding. Kind of.

Sarah, a go-getter type, has been tapped by her company to run a top-secret experiment. That experiment? To see how a small underwater data center concept works. It's been placed into the waters off the island, and connections run to a shed behind a small house,where she is to stay for the duration of the experiment. he house is something probably described as "quaint" in real estate speak, and it is - but it needs a lot of work.

Enter Pippa, the island's resident handywoman. She agrees to start repairing all the things that need repairing, and there's quite the list. Each thinks the other is a bit rude/standoffish. Always a great start.

Things are progressing well on the house until Sarah, who has told her mother that she's gone to the island with her new (also nonexistent) girlfriend, finds out her mother decides this is a perfect time to come visit and meet. Sarah knows this is a disaster in the making: one, there's no girlfriend, and two, her mother would certainly not like the offshore data center.

Desperate, Sarah asks Pippa to stand in. Pippa, dealing with the death of her wife, tells her no, she can't do that. But she will take Sarah up to pick her mother up from the ferry. After listening to Sarah's mother, she suddenly steps and introduces herself as the new (fake) girlfriend.

Sarah's mother is a real piece of work, and not a Very Nice Person. But Sarah and Pippa keep up the charade, and naturally start falling for one another. This is an age gap romance, so bear that in mind.

There are a variety of goings-on, and eventually Sarah's mother does her main thing, which you'll recognize when you see it. Sarah and Pippa have some issues, Sarah's mother leaves, Sarah and Pippa....well, you'll have to read it.

Not a bad way to pass a couple of hours, but as I've said before with Radley's books, they tend to end a bit too abruptly for me.

Four out of five stars.

Thanks to Bold Stroke Books and NetGalley for the reading copy.

Set in a cosy setting in Scotland it's the perfect book for Autumn. Tech wiz Sarah and handywoman/architect Pippa make a truce and fake being a couple for Sarah's mom to protect Sarah's work.

It was a nice read and I enjoyed Pippa being all protective of Sarah.

This storyline was very interesting.
Sarah moves to a very quiet house in Scotland to work on a top secret project that could possibly save the world. The company she works for put her up in this house that is anything but modern. She needs someone ASAP to help her with a multitude of projects with the house. She is able to find that person in town, Pippa. Pippa is more than happy to have a steady job at the house. Sarah has told her mother than she and her girlfriend have moved there to get away from the city, which is very far from the truth. Sarah's mom tells her she is stopping by for a visit and Sarah is left to scramble to find a way out of this lie.
She enlists Pippa's help. Pippa is going to play the girlfriend and she and Sarah spend a lot of time getting to know each other so they can pull this facade off. There is also the small detail that Sarah's mom is an eco-terrorist and if she finds out why Sarah is really there, it will blow everything.
An interesting read and romance to boot!
I would recommend.
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

When I pick up an Amanda Radley romance I've come to expect a well-thought-out story, well-developed and believable main characters, well-rounded side characters, a believable plot... and above all, terrific romance.

This book doesn't disappoint on any of those things. Due to the setting and a few other things, it would be easy for some of the characters to come off more as caricatures but none do. They're all believable, and they have their faults and good qualities. I was rooting for Pippa and Sarah from the beginning right through to the end. What was extremely enjoyable to me was that all actions were very much driven by established character motivations. Amanda also did a superb job of explaining some extremely technical things in such a way that it didn't pull you out of the story at all, which is not always easy to do.

It was very enjoyable to read this story, especially right now when some of the subject matter is such a concern at the moment.

It was an absolute joy to read Amanda Radley's latest and I am looking forward to her next book.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the arc ebook.
This book is just lovely, a light, easy and really enjoyable read. Great, likable characters (with the exception of the mother!) It's fun and refreshing.

This book made me want to pack up and go live on some island far away from everything and everyone. This was such a cute story and I really enjoyed our MC's growing closer while navigating their past and present. It's an easy and quick read with all the fun tropes. Fake dating, just one bed,.. and both MC's were very likeable.

Romance and technology

This is the first book I have read by Ms Radley; now I have to find the rest! I thoroughly enjoyed this romance, set on an island off Scotland. It makes a great change from the usual, with female protagonists, interesting technology and scary eco-warrioring. Great choice for your beach bag when you're tired of the 'usual'.

Thank you to the publisher who lent me an e-arc via netgalley. This review is optional and my own opinion.

You think YOUR mom is bad…Sarah Campbell’s mother is an actual eco-terrorist. It’s bad enough her mom thinks if you aren’t actively trying to save the planet, you’re trying harm it, but Sarah might also, just happen to work for a company that isn’t known for being the most eco-friendly company. But Sarah is trying to change that from the inside!
Sarah has been sent to live in a tiny, run down cottage, in a remote village on the coast of Scotland to lead testing on a new project that will change the game in her industry. Her cover story to her extremist mom is that she’s fallen madly in love, and is moving to the country to be with her girlfriend.
Enter Pippa Kent. A retired structural engineer and handy-person who moved away from all the hustle and bustle of the city and the memories of her deceased wife. Pippa and Sarah get off to a rocky start but Pippa’s fix-it skills are necessary to renovate the cottage she’s living in.
Pippa and Sarah’s friendship is progressing at quite a clip when Sarah’s mother says she’s coming to town. In a panic, Sarah convinces Pippa to pose as her live-in girlfriend so her mother won’t discover the real reason she moved to the quiet hamlet. You’ll have to read the book to find out how it ends. 😏


Thanks to @netgalley for the ARC copy of Reclaiming Love by Amanda Radley. #lgtbq #lgbtq2ia #pride #gay #sapphicreads #lesbianromance #queer #queerbookclub #queerbookstagram #lgbt #wlw #lesfic

3.5

Reclaiming Love is a sweet, cozy novel that fills you up with a warm, fuzzy feeling and it was exactly what I needed when I read it. The book follows our main character, Sarah, who is moving to a remote Scottish island, to work on a secret project for her company. She works for a big tech company, and she loves it - but the job's causing big strife between Sarah and her impossible-to-please mother, who's an eco-activist. To placate her mother she lies, saying she's moved there to live with her girlfriend (who doesn't exist). Her company has provided housing, but it's far from perfect - the house is in terrible shape. This means Sarah has to find a person to do the repairs, and that's how she meets Pippa. They get off on the wrong foot but soon form a friendship. Pippa's moved to the island after her wife's death several years ago. Everything's going great, until Sarah's mother decides to pay a visit, to meet her daughter's girlfriend. Desperate, Sarah begs Pippa to play the part of her girlfriend, and that causes many emotions to rise to the surface.

This is a really sweet book, following the two characters, Sarah and Pippa. Even though their relationship starts off shakey, it is obvious there's attraction between them from the very beginning. Both are carrying their own baggage, Sarah's got previous failed relationships hanging over her, and her mother's impossible standards she fails to meet, and Pippa is still grieving her late wife, who she loved dearly. They both appear to be closed off, and the presence of Sarah's mother forces them to drop some of their walls and face their feelings. I enjoyed their relationship quite a bit. It was very sweet and tender, I enjoyed seeing them interact and they had good communication - which is always great to see.

Another plotline follows Sarah's job, and subsequently her relationship with her mother. Sarah's great at what she does, which is the cause of many arguments with her mother. Her mother, who sees Sarah's company as the enemy, pesters her about finding a new job at every turn. Even more so, she criticizes everything Sarah does, and is in general, very unlikeable and frankly, emotionally abusive towards her. Her mother's appearance, causes fallout both in Sarah's personal life and her job, as her mother turns out to have ulterior motives for visiting. I felt like the novel did a great job of showing what living with a narcissistic parent is like, and how sometimes there's no conversation to be had that could fix that. However, there is something that feels slightly unfinished in their relationship, as it's not brought up again after Sarah's mother leaves. I understand their relationship probably won't be repaired, however, the ending seemed slightly rushed as this was still a loose thread that was left, and part of the reason my rating isn't higher even though I enjoyed the story a lot.

All in all, this was a sweet story that follows two characters learning to live with their baggage and learning to accept they deserve happiness and love. I really enjoyed reading about Sarah and Pippa's relationship and enjoyed both of their POVs. It's a quick read, I devoured it in one sitting, and I would recommend it to anyone who's looking for a quick and feel-good book. :)

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review.

3 stars. Sarah Campbell is working on research about a new server that would be underwater. She has to work on a small Scottish island where she can put this server underwater and remain undetected from groups that are wanting to destroy it, groups like the one Sarah's mom is a part of. When Sarah's mom comes to visit, Sarah has to get a fake girlfriend, Sarah had told her mom that she is on the Scottish Island due to finding a new girlfriend. Pippa Kent is the girlfriend she finds who is a handyman on the island., Pippa helps Sarah fix up her little shack.

I did not like the plot with Sarah's mom being a radical environmentalist, I found it more annoying and frustrating than anything. I love fake relationships turned real, but the parts with her mother were annoying and made me not enjoy the book as much. Overall, it was a cute little story as it was two people who did not expect to fall in love who did. I enjoy the author and her stories and I liked the characters in this book expect for the mother. This book was easy to read and I would recommend it if you like the author.

Just an all around 'take me away' read-also I now want to move to Scotland at least for a little while <smile>.

The main characters, Sarah and Pippa, had me loving them right off the bat. I am also a sucker for the fake dating theme, so in my mind, I knew I was going to love this story right from the start. I also loved the age gap so I basically read this book in one sitting. Ms. Radley's writing from both perspectives of the MC gave me such insight to the characters and the environment they lived/worked within, I felt I was right there with them.

There are some great drama parts courtesy of the mother, which I for one really really disliked, which I believed I was supposed to, another great kudos to the writing! Learning about Sara's work also gave the story some unique flavor, again very robust writing so you not only get a good romance, but also depth to the storyline that make it to me more than just a traditional romance novel.

I received an ARC through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, but would have written the same opinion if I had come across this author on my own.

To see my Amazon review, it is under CC-Here is to living in Scotland

• Small Town Romance
• Familial Issues
• Age Gap

Sarah moves to a quaint Scottish island, Celfare, in hopes of starting a new location for data centers. Upon arrival, she finds the place she’s supposed to call home in a state of disrepair. Pippa is the only qualified handyperson on the island and starts working for Sarah for home renovation. After a bit of misunderstanding, they become friends… with feelings? Sarah’s mother comes in for a visit and she’s under the impression that Pippa is “Natalie”, Sarah’s fake girlfriend. Naturally, Pippa rushes to fake move in with Sarah. Sarah’s mother is hypercritical of her daughter and Pippa is hellbent on reconciling them.

I enjoyed this book for the most part. Pippa being so protective of Sarah was endearing. Sarah considering Pippa’s feelings was refreshing. I dislike when characters assume each other’s thoughts and feelings with communicating. Another thing is this book over states how important these data centers are and how Pippa is done with love. Otherwise, it’s a traditional sapphic slow-burn novel.

#ReclaimingLove #NetGalley #AmandaRadley #BoldStrokesBooks #eArc #ARC

<i>Thank you to Amanda Radley, Bold Strokes Books, and NetGalley for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.<i>

NetGalley ARC Educator 550974

Trigger warning: Narcissist parent

A delightful, one sitting read dance novel. How does one conduct an experiment to save energy and fix up their old house? Well Sarah is hoping to prove the world wrong concerning her project and keep her narcissistic mother at bay. Pippa is the handy person that helps with her house and mom issues.

I really enjoyed their romance, the nosy towns women and absolutely did not like the mom.

A fun fake dating theme with data centres and environmental activists comes together in this relaxed and easy-to-read novel by Amanda Radley.

This book was pretty well balanced on the work-life spectrum. Part of it was about Sarah and the data centre, while the rest focused on Sarah's developing relationship with Pippa. The residual creates havoc as Sarah's mother enters throwing work and life up in the air.

I enjoyed all of it. The back story of Sarah's work was quite interesting and seems to have foundations in fact rather than fiction.

3.5 stars

Reclaiming love brings together Pippa and Sarah for a sweet age gap romance. Although these two were unlikely to meet, circumstances bring them together.

Pippa has lost the love of her life and has made the decision to remain alone, forever. She left her old live and moved to a remote island.

Sarah loves her work, she lives for it and has little room for anything else. When a secret research opportunity brings her to a remote island, she meets Pippa.

At first, the MCs clash, because of their different personalities. As the story goes on they grow closer and eventually fall for one an other.

Unfortunately, I did not feel very much chemistry between the MCs. I think it’s because a lot of the story is spent on renovation, work and family trouble. I learned and felt much more of the relationship between Sarah and her mom then I did between her and Pippa. I wish there was a bit more time spent on their relationship. Although, it’s there, i wished for more. There is also no steam, which is completely fine but I feel it may have helped building up that chemistry.

I overall enjoyed the read and would recommend.

*** ARC generously provided by publisher on NetGalley ***

With a great setting, and plenty of chemistry, and a story you can picture, I highly recommend this. Another great Amanda Radley. Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book

First I would like to say that fake/pretend is my favourite trope!

So when I read that Amanda Radley had a book with this trope, I had to read it. The book follows Sarah as she moves to Celfare, as small Scottish island, for a ~secret mission for work. The cottage she's staying needs so much repair and that's when she meets Pippa, the handywoman that's gonna help around. I really liked their building relationship, as usual with Amanda Radley's books, it's dual POV and has an age-gap between the characters.

The classified project Sarah works on has to do with her corporation, Swype, a big name in industry, but viewed as a villain by Sarah's mother. It is explained in the book what it does, the impact it has etc. Since it's a made up company, I have no idea if the things described there would make sense in real life, and it honestly doesn't matter to me because this is a work of fiction.

The drama, and fake/pretend part, starts when Sarah's mother, ecoactivist, arrives at the island to supposedely meet Sarah's girlfriend - who doesn't exist and that's when Pippa enters. I wish we got to see more of them "pretending". I also really liked how Pippa defended Sarah to her mother. I absolutely despise her mother, but at the same time I wish we got to know more about her - I feel like she was kinda brainwashed by Martin, which in no way excuses her actions towards her own daughter.

After everything that happened we don't get to see more of her mother. I wasn't expecting a redemption on her part, because such as life, not always it has to have a happy ending. But I still wish we knew more of the aftermath.

Not my favourite Amanda Radley book, but I'm glad I read it and I would recommend it.