Under the Influence by Karina May fell short for me. I know this is the author's debut novel, but the writing style, pacing, and lack of chemistry between the lead characters made me want to put this down numerous times. It was a short read though and I was surprised when I'd made it to the end. I kept expecting more to happen between the two leads, especially since this is categorized as a romance. It should really be considered fiction or women's fiction instead based on the FMC Louise's journey to self awareness and finding her purpose. I'll also say that this is incorrectly marketed as an enemies-to-lovers romance; at no point in the book were the two leads even close to being considered enemies! All in all, this short novel felt a bit bland and left me wanting more from the story, especially the romance.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for this eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Unfortunately I did not enjoy this novel due to its bland characters and slow storyline.

I am sorry to say this because the cover and the blurb were too cute to pass on but i Just didn't like this at all? neither the characters nor the writing. Everything felt forced, i was reading what was happening but not comprehending it. honestly i expected better, i don't know i just disliked their interactions in general.

This book meanders back and forth between Louise and Blake both native Australians trying to figure out what they are doing with their lives. Blake is trying to get clean water in Peru and runs a business to help people get access to basic human rights. He stays there and away from his family because as a child he believed his father wasn’t an honorable man and chooses to keep his distance as an adult. Louise is working at a bank and feels unfulfilled and she believes it’s because she isn’t a mother. Both of their perceptions get flipped on their heads when they go on a journey to Peru and learn a lot about themselves and each other.

This is a very solid middle of the road quasi romance story. I don’t necessarily feel like it completely hits all the spots to be considered a romance but that’s mainly because the love story wasn’t the main clincher of the plot. I felt like for both main characters they were doing more soul searching than soul mate searching. Louise is dealing with a heartbreak and Blake is mourning his fathers death. That doesn’t leave a ton of room for lots and lots of romance.

The premise of this story is an intriguing one and I enjoyed it. I just wish the romance had been more fully developed between our two main characters. I could have used more of a spark to really highlight their chemistry and make my heart beat just a little faster. As a chick lit though I do think it does a lot of great things. I personally appreciated that she didn’t miraculously become a mother at the end after her failed IVF. She learned about herself that she doesn’t need to be a mom to be happy with her life and I think that’s truly great representation.

I was captivated by the cover and blurb of this book and especially because of the female main character's name, which was Louise Lane. On top of that, she had an upper hand on Blake Goldfield, the bartender whom she met at her office party, because she was the one who was going to decide if his loan should be approved to keep his father's restaurant afloat, being in a huge amount of debt. But I couldn't help but feel that the part was glossed over. The plot was cute. I liked the idea of Blake and Louise touring the sites of Peru together, but the ending was definitely disappointing. It was more of a telling rather than showing, and the side characters also failed to leave much of an impression on me tbh.

I struggled a bit at the start of the story as I found it a little repetitive but enjoyed it more in the second half. I like how Louise grew as a person as the storyline progressed and how sweetly everything ended up at the end. A slow burn romance, nice short read and cutesy moments.

I grabbed this one because of the cover and I am so glad I did. This was such a cute story. I think that if you are just looking for something simple and cute with a little drama and some romance than check this one out.

I had read about 5% of the book when I realised that I liked neither the characters, nor the writing style, and that I would not end up enjoying this book. Since I feel guilty dnf‘ing ARCs I decided to skim through the book until the end though.

As I already mentioned, I didn’t like the main characters.
The heroine Louise spent a gap year in Germany over 15 years ago, and she won’t let the reader forget about it. It was annoying. She also drinks a lot of alcohol during the book, and while I personally don’t care wether a character drinks alcohol or not, the amount of it seemed a bit excessive here.
The hero, Blake, was incredibly judgemental of everyone, which made him absolutely unlikable for me. I also felt like he had a bit of a white saviour thing going on, and while the heroine comments on it during the story, it doesn’t really get addressed in a deeper sense.

So overall this book just really wasn’t for me, and had I not been given a free copy I wouldn’t have bothered to finish reading it.

DNF at 15%
I went into this book expecting a little cute romance as what it was promoted to be, but it got very boring very quickly and I dislike the main character, who’s only quirks are that her name is Louise Lane, named after a comic character, and that she wants to do everything the right way, marriage and then a baby, which was a little boring to read. The writing style was not very interesting or hooking and I’m a little disappointed.

Under the Influence by Karina May is a well written, sweet story that I devoured.
The atmosphere of this book was just amazing.
I felt like the story was unique and had everything in it to kept you on your toes. Charming, sweet, and so moving! Such an incredible romance.
It’s a smart read and a completely engaging story.

Escape Publishing,
Thank You for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!
I will post my review closer to pub date.

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, from Escape Publishing and #NetGalley. Thank you for the opportunity to preview and review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

Fun plot, a tad slow though. I hoped for more overall, I wasn't completely unsatisfied. I won't recommend it immediately, but I will recommend it.

I was looking forward to reading this as it is Karina's debut novel, it has a cute plot is perfect for a travel lover witrh the references to Sydney & Peru.This is definately a light easy read perfect for holidays however after about two thirds in i began to loose interest and found the ending disappointing. I didn't love or dislike this book but all and all it is a fun read.
Huge thanks to NetGalley & Escape publishing for approving me to read this ARC in exhange for my honest review & congratulations to Karina May on her debut novel.

Read: Kindle
EastCorkBookLover

This book was a very cute read. It started off a little slow for me, and I was missing that connection and chemistry between the characters. However, I did enjoy the travel aspect of the book. It was a nice Escape from reality!

This book had a bit of a slow start and a lot of background information to read through to get to the heart of the plot. The saving grace for me for this book was the romance plot, but it took over 60% of the book to really get into the romance part. I did resonate with Louise having fertility issues as I have PCOS which comes with fertility issues, but the end of her journey was a little discouraging. I feel like she never really did find herself, but instead just reinvented herself with Blake.

Thanks to NetGalley and Escape publishing for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was very interested in this book when I read the plot. It did not disappoint, but I felt like the ending was a little off. Also, I would have liked it even better if the side characters were more present than just existing in the background leaving them without much of an impression.

Overall, I enjoyed it as it was light, with great pacing and beautiful sceneries.

Recommended if you like travel novels but unfortunately this didn't do it for me. Interesting prose but quite cliche character development.

"'I mean life really can be a lot, can't it?...The balance of it all. Knowing how much of it we should be living for others and what part we're allowed to keep to ourselves--- for our own dreams.'"

This was a cute read. I was drawn into the synopsis and liked the idea of a story that involved traveling to Peru!! Though the premise was cute, the book fell a little flat for me. It was slow to start, but halfway through, it picked up a bit, but I still didn't feel 100% invested. Each of the main characters had their own set of personal problems, so it was nice to see how their characters arcs would patch up by the end.

Rating: 3 out of 5

A truly smooth and cute romance book! I read it last night while I couldn't sleep and it entertained me a lot.
The 2 protagonists are really cute together and I also loved the fresh and light writing style.
The plot was cute, I liked the idea of Blake and Louise touring the sites of Peru together but the ending was definitely and unfortunately disappointing.
Recommended for those who enjoy travel-romance.

Thank You NetGalley and Escape Publishing for providing me the ARC in exchange of an honest review.

3.25/5 stars!

I was captivated by the cover and blurb of this book and especially because of the female main characters name, which was Louise Lane. On top of that she had an upper hand on Blake Goldfield, the bartender whom she met at her office party because she was the one who was going to decide if his loan should be approved for keeping his father's restaurant afloat, being in huge amount of debt. But I couldn't help but feel that the part was glossed over. The plot was cute, I liked the idea of Blake and Louise touring the sites of Peru together but the ending was definitely disappointing. It was more of telling rather than showing and the side characters also failed to leave much of an impression on me tbh.

Thank You NetGalley and Escape Publishing for providing me the ARC in exchange of an honest review

I was really excited to read this book as the premise sounded entertaining. The book started off well, offering promise for a contemporary rom-com but unfortunately, the book did not deliver for me.

I really enjoyed the local references in Sydney but for me, the characters did not quite develop fully so I was not fully invested in the plot.

The book is light, and entertaining, with lots of travel. Recommended for those who enjoy travel-romance plots.