This was an adorable rom-com. It was an easy read, and I became invested in the main characters’ love lives. I didn’t like the beginning due to the obsessive day dreams the main character would have, and I even considered not finishing the book, but I am so glad I stuck with it! And, as a Michigan girl, it was fun to hear references to places I know!

I’ll be honest, i really wanted to slap some sense into Kat during the first half of the book 😂 she really got on my nerves when it came to Rory. He was soooooo sweet and deserved everything. The story progressed well though and i loved the friends to lovers aspect. The narrator was also nice to listen to.

You really have to like, or at least be able to tolerate, the MC to get enjoy a romance novel. The MC in this was inherently mean; I just couldn't root for her.

This one was far fetched from the very start. How do you see a man on a bus from your window and decide he’s your prince. It’s not even instalove or instalust. Instadelusion. I did not finish.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for this audio arc. First, I want to say the narrator did a great job. I think she nailed down the intricacies of the characters. I had a hard time getting into this when I first started this. The main character, Kat, in all honesty, seemed a little intolerable. The fake scenario she created in her head that she wanted to hold Rory to was hard to hear about. I do think after getting past her strange fixation on marrying British royalty, the book got much better. I enjoyed the growing love between the two characters, and as someone who studied in London, I enjoyed hearing city descriptions. Rory was a great character, and I'm really glad he got his happy ending. I didn't love Kat, but she grew on me as I continued the story.

This was such a cute read! I think many of us can relate to daydreaming about meeting a prince and falling in love at first sight only to realize that it’s completely unrealistic. I really enjoyed the narrator (except when she was doing the British accents - not the greatest). Definitely check this one out!

Love a book set in London - all the time every time.

This was super cute, enjoyable, easy to follow and felt frothy and fresh.

I couldn't even force myself to like this book. The main character was such a horrible person. I specifically remember her asking herself, "Does that make me a horrible person?" and thinking "Yes!"

She judges her love interest based solely on a look. One look. She creates an entire backstory for this man, builds his personality, and then is insanely disappointed when he doesn't live up to her perfect expectations of him being a literal prince. Throughout the first half, she's still comparing Rory to her assumption of what he would be life. It's a horrible thing to do, and she's a bad person for doing it.

The plot was sub-par. In predictable love stories like this, the characters are really the ones that make or break the book. Unfortunately, these characters break the story.

I was gifted this audiobook title from NetGalley and Dreamscape Publishing in exchange for an honest review.

Double-Decker Dreams had such a fun concept, that initially, I was super excited for. The story started out okay, with the MC of Kat being introduced. Kat is a 30-something-year-old who recently moved to England to work as a consultant for a big-time company. Her two goals in life were to become a partner at her job and to find a British boyfriend -> those were her two main personality traits. Already, this was a little off-putting for me, but I decided to continue reading on.
One day, Kat sees a stranger on a double-decker bus from her bedroom window and decides that he will be her next boyfriend. She automatically assumes he's hot, rich, and a prince and decides to stalk him for the next month. This goes on for a solid 15 chapters of her just being straight-up delusional. Finally, she decides to stop stalking him from her window and approach him in person - and (shocker) he's not hot, rich, or a prince. So she decides to treat him like trash.
Overall, Kat was a mean character in my opinion. I could not like her at all and that made me dislike this book a lot. I didn't feel any chemistry between her and Rory (the non-British prince who she thought would be named Alex) and found the book about 20 chapters too long. The only reason I am rating this two stars is because I genuinely did enjoy Rory's character and felt bad for him because he deserved better than Kat. I also enjoyed the idea of a strong feminine character, but she was just straight-up mean in my opinion rather than a girl-boss.
Also, not as important, but I feel as if the stereotypes in this book were just insane whether they had to do with Michigan (where the MC is from) or Britain. Overall, this book was not my cup of tea unfortunately, but I am grateful that I had the opportunity to listen to it, so thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Publishing!

I DNFed at 40%.

The narrator was good, no problem there.

The FMC at the beginning of the book was very much in obsessed stalker territory and tries to play it off as a funny quirk. There were several moments here that gave me the ick and frustrated me. She felt very sorry for herself when things were not as they seemed, with her ridiculously high expectations. I recommend this book to those with a higher tolerance for annoying characters and can get a laugh out of them. Probably a good beach read.

I do think the book was well written, so I would read more from this author as long as the MC is not like Kat.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the advanced copy.

Oh my goodness this audiobook was really cute. I enjoyed it from the very beginning, it just hooked me right in.

Double-Decker Dreams follows ambitious Kat while she is taking on London for 6 months as she works to be promoted as partner. Kat has worked her way to becoming a respected consultant and is expecting a promotion in her near future after taking a job that moves her from Michigan to London. While in London Kat hopes to prove herself as a great worker worthy of the promotion to partner and to find a dreamy British boyfriend.
While working from home, Kat spots a boy who could be her perfect boyfriend outside her window riding a double decker bus. After making intense eye-contact, it must be fate. Even-though Kat is well into adulthood, she still has this innocence and hope that young girls often experience and I really enjoyed that about her. After making eye contact with the mysterious man on the bus, she can't help but create a whole backstory and name for him, only to be disappointed when he does not fulfill her vision. This could be seen as Kat being childish, but I really liked seeing that side of her since her work life is so professional.
As for the mysterious man, Rory, he was the total opposite of Kat's vision and serves as a great friend for Kat throughout the story. He was friendly, nerdy, and just about the nicest person I think I have ever read about. I enjoyed his character and how passionate he was about his profession and his beliefs.
This book would be great for anyone looking to read an endearing clean rom-com with themes of dreaming and finding what you need as opposed to what you think you want.

TW: Workplace harassment

I was beyond excited when I was given access to this title by Lindsay MacMillan! Thank you thank you thank you Dreamscape Media for granting me access to this title.

I was granted access to the e-book, but somehow missed that the archive date was well before the pub date. I went to download it and was devastated. However, when I was granted access to the audiobook, I was geeked. That frown turned upside down! :)

The narrator for Double-Decker Dreams was great! I listen to audiobooks at 2x speed and it worked well with this narrator's voice and inflections!

Kat has been assigned to work in the UK for 6 months and while she's there she is determined to find herself a prince charming. Kat's life has been wildly driven by her career and now she's set on being promoted to partner after her stint in London. Work is a grind and Kat has only met frogs in London so far. That is, until she sees a man on a double-decker bus and knows he's the one for her.

Unfortunately, things are as they seem when Kat meets her Prince Charming, but as Kat opens up, she starts to see that maybe she's been looking for happiness in all the wrong places.

Kat was so unlikable to me for about 1/4 of the book. Even beyond that at times I found her shallowness off-putting, but I also saw a lot of character development over the span of the book and by the end I was rooting for her to find her true happiness.

DNF

The narrator chosen was ok voicing the main character. The story seems dry and I don't know if this is the narrator or the story itself.

I wanted to try and get through this book, but couldn't. The main character is written as a strong, career driven woman one minute, but then making up scenarios of a guy the next. This would be ok for a young adult book, but doesn't seem right for this character and story. The story seems slow moving and dull.

The writing overall is good and the characters seem well written, but overall I didn't care for the storyline.

Thank you for the opportunity to listen to this story.

This was a cute romance story.

I enjoyed the story, and in some ways related to Kat, the main character. I totally understood her desire to create a mental story wrapped up in a person she's seen in a public setting. I, too, love people-watching, and I, too, have made up stories about those people. Where she lost me, though, was her deep crush on someone she's never talked to, and her determination to meet him, fully believing in aspects of her created story.

Kat never gave Rory (the guy on the bus) a chance to be himself before she shoved her mental picture onto him. That part of the story wasn't great, to me. However, she does eventually get her head back into the right perspective and letting Rory flourish without her expectations.

I completely understood the third-act conflict, and it made sense in the context. One of my romance book pet peeves is when the third-act conflict is completely illogical because the book needs one for the romance formula.

I wish we could have had Rory's perspective throughout the book - I feel like his inner thoughts and feelings would have been interesting to unpack.

I liked the gentle critique of modern rom-coms in book and movie form, speaking about how they raise women's expectations to be constantly looking for those grand gestures and over-the-top dramatic expressions of love, when really they should be looking for a steady day-to-day kind of love.

Well worth the read!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an advance copy of the audiobook!

The following review was posted on my blog on Sunday, June 4th, two days before publication. It has already been posted on Goodreads and will be posted on Instagram soon. The blog post includes links to order the books and to its Goodreads page, so readers can add it to their to-be-read books.





“Back up and start at the beginning.”
“The beginning. (…) It goes like this: I fell in love this morning.”

Genre: General Fiction, Romance
Actual Rating: 4 stars
Spicy Meter: 1 fire emoji
Content Warnings: Discusses sexual harassment and uncomfortable working conditions.

I loved the audiobook of this book so much more than I did the physical, written version. I didn’t love how accents were written on the page (“Just go talk to ‘im, what d’ye have to lose?”? Yeah, that’s a no for me), but I was able to ultimately look past that and enjoy this sweet sweet love-at-first-sight romance.

This book is sold as only that—a romance, and a general women’s fiction read—but in my opinion it should be labeled under comedy as well, this was a big rom com for sure. The way Kat had these idealized conversations in her head were just hilarious and although yeah, it touched up on some inner, bigger problems, in true Lindsay Macmillan fashion apparently, I still think it was a bit more lighthearted than her debut romance novel, “The Heart of the Deal”.

I would recommend this read if you struggle with idealizing your partners or crushes and are looking to see that reflected in a main character—Kat was far from perfect (aren’t we all?), but it was so fun to follow her through her adventures in crowded London in search for her bus prince Alexander—spoiler alert, his name wasn’t Alexander and he wasn’t even from London either. Overall, this was a very entertaining read, it didn’t disappoint.

If you click here, you’ll be redirected to Goodreads, so you can add the book to your TBR list.

Or you could click here, and be redirected to Amazon, so you can order the book.

ARC provided by NetGalley and Alcove Press in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: June 6, 2023

Honestly this book was a bit far fetched for me. Although I wasn’t the biggest fan of the plot I still loved the character development. From friends to lovers. It was a really cute story & I would recommend it to someone looking for an easy read. I just wasn’t vibing with the plot.

I really enjoyed the first 75% of this book. The strangers to friends to lovers theme was so cute and the two main characters just seemed to fit so well together. The last 25% of the book seemed unnecessary to my, and it irked me how much Kat was comparing their relationship to romance movies, even though it seemed like we got away from those comparisons. It also felt like she changed who she was completely to fit the mold of what Rory wanted, not what her main goals were throughout the book.

This slow burn romance was the exact image of a happily ever after in real life, which made it a fantastic read. This story depicts a ton of growth for the female main character, as she develops an understanding of what she wants in love, career, and life.

This is not a hot, sexy romance, nor is it meant to be. Instead, it identifies a last love, which is wonderful, and something we all need to read about from time to time.

I also loved the setting, and the smaller plot points along the way.

This is a well written, well edited book.

I listened to the audiobook at 1.75x speed, with an occasional speed up to 2x speed (my normal speed is 1.75x speed).

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for this advance audio copy.

What are the odds to have a secret crush on someone abroad who ends up being from your hometown in the states? I have to say the hopeful romantic when traveling to somewhere you see magical with the hopes of the Holiday vibes settle in in London, I 100% agree we’ve all been there in hopes we could end up with a prince of our own, however, I loved the fact that Rory mentions the difference between epic movie style love and true love that gets better over time, that settles into more than just one initial spark and that sometimes we have unrealistic expectations when it comes to romance. But the comfort of falling in love is what this story is all about, how the comfort of friendship is so important in a relationship. Lots of relationship truths from side characters for the MC to readjust her definition of love and what she’s looking for in life.