3.5 ⭐️

This Valentine’s Day novella is the quick, steamy read that you might need in your life.

From the beginning, I really enjoyed our main character, Hannah. She is witty, relatable, and strong willed. The chapters are short, the plot fast paced, and it’s a very easy read.

I enjoyed the London setting, and I’m a sucker for workplace romance, so this was definitely a good fit for me. My only complaint, as most Novelas, is that I wish so much that we could’ve had more character development. I would’ve loved to see more of the friendships and Hannah’s life, as well as more backstory from Val. I did feel as though he has some growth, but more insight into him would have really been the icing on the cake.

Overall, I’m glad I read it and would absolutely read more from this author!

A story about a woman who goes on a work trip and falls for someone she never thought of as a romantic partner due to their situation.

I thought this was such a cute romance. I loved both Hannah and Val from the start. Their banter and chemistry was just right for the start of a workplace romance. I liked how Hannah’s feelings slowly started changing towards her boss and her internal monologue about it had me chuckling. I liked the way Val was protective of Hannah and how she was clueless about it. It was short but sweet with a few humorous moments but not enough for me to call it a rom com. I haven’t read many translated works but I loved this authors writing style. It flowed nicely.

Thank you @iris_schrijft for the gifted copy.

🌶️

This had a cute premise, and had some great writing to where I felt strongly about some side characters in a short amount of time. I do feel like certain bits happens too quickly, and would be a great read if it were fleshed out more. I enjoyed reading it, it is still a good read. It just has the potential to be more.

❤️ Tropes ❤️
💋 grumpy/sunshine
💋 boss/assistant romance
💋 forced proximity

After Hannah rang in the New Year alone as half an avocado, her (now ex) boyfriend rang it in by railing the girl he’s been cheating on her with in a closet. Where she found them. Because that wasn’t a great enough start to her year, her hard to deal with boss is having them go on a two week work trip to London. Wonderful.

Book Review:

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

After discovering her live in boyfriend has been cheating on her, Hannah is in need of an escape. A work trip to London sounds ideal, if only she could leave her grumpy boss behind. But when she discovers her exes mistress will be on the trip as well, things go from bad to worse. Will Hannah survive her work trip to London, or will she come home in need of a new job?

A few weeks ago, Iris Visser reached out to me on Instagram asking if I would take a chance and read her book To London, With Love which had recently been translated into English. As an avid romance reader I immediately agreed and was delighted to find that her book is not only good, but something I would have picked up on my own.

Visser hooked me from the start of From London, With Love. The opening scene where poor Hannah discovers she is being cheating on took me through all of the emotions and had me rooting for Hannah’s happiness.

I was thrilled to learn that Hannah wouldn’t be crying over Dante for long when she began her workplace romance with Val. The boss/ assistant dynamic made for a bit of forbidden love and resulted in a steamy love affair. As someone who usually prefers no spice, Visser added the perfect amount, which is sure to please most if not all readers.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Visser’s work and hope that the remaining books in the With Love Series also get translated into English!!!

Special thanks to NetGalley, Rakuten Kobo, and Iris Visser for gifting me a copy of this novella in exchange for my honest review.

This was such a cute little novella! It was wonderfully written and covered so many important topics while also including an amazing romance.

Hannah was a great FMC. I loved how witty and strong she was. I find that a lot of female main characters in romances end up bothering me, but I absolutely adored her. And of course, Val was perfection. I love when the MMC has a tough exterior but is just a big ol’ ball of mush on the inside.

There were a lot of great tropes, including grumpy x sunshine and workplace romance. I think my only complaint is that it wasn’t long enough! Some aspects felt a bit rushed and I really think the story would’ve benefitted if it was longer. This was a novella that could’ve definitely been turned into a novel.

Thank you to the author for my gifted copy!

Sadly, this book just didn’t quite work for me like I hoped it would. To start, there were a few plot holes I picked up on. For example, if you’re booking a flight for your boss, you would have to know their full name. And Hannah acted surprised when she “learned” Val’s full name. The dialogue and characters were a little cliche and made me cringe every now and then. It also got on my nerves how every female character was hitting on Val constantly. Yes, he might be hot but that’s not realistic. I wish the characters had more depth to them because I don’t feel like I got to know them hardly at all. On the bright side, this book did have moments that made me laugh and Val and Hannah were a sweet couple. Her grand gesture was so heartfelt and cute!

Thank you to the author for my ARC.

This was a fluffy little romance novella with a hint of spice. I found the main character to be very relatable. And her relationship, though it happened fast, had a good foundation of respect and attraction. I really appreciated the MMC, despite having past relationships, not being a jerk. He respected the women around him including the FMC. As usual with novellas, I wished the book could have been longer with more character development and backstory. But overall it was a fun, quick read. Thank you to Netgalley and the author for my ARC copy.

Read it in a day, and it pulled me out of my reading slump! I can't wait till more of Visser's books are translated! It was lighthearted, fun, and heartwarming. I loved the dialogue, pace, and the Hallmark-esque feel of the storyline.

Only one scene rubbed me the wrong way. In chapter 10 last page, Hannah says "I'm jabbering like a toddler with a speech delay." As a mom who has a toddler with a speech delay, I found this insensitive and offensive. I'd redact this sentence and use some more sensitive imagery.

Grammar issues:
Needs a quotation mark before "I" in chapter 5; "I booked business class. Got you a window seat."
Chapter 7, similar issue, needs one before "My name is Robin Verstraeten and--"

I really wanted to like this book, but it just didn't resonate with me and i just wasn’t a fan of the writing. I had to skim through a lot of the scenes as I was getting annoyed with the characters. And i felt the beginning just dragged on as well.

It just wasn’t for me.

I love workplace romances - I find the angst and tension that comes with finding love in a working environment.
But this one did not meet my expectations as I had hoped. I found our female main character to be cringy...she used the phrase "don't be silly....wrap your willie".....like what? Who at almost 30 uses such childish wording? Also, the "me too" movement subplot was so unnecessary...I took away from the lightheartedness that I anticipated this read to be..

I didn't realise this was a rom/com and I felt that I'm not the right reader for the book. I found it stretched the credibility a bit too much for my taste. What some may consider funny, I found to be just silly.

It's well written and seems to flow well but it's not my kind of read

The story starts in the Netherlands and then takes place in London. Hannah, the female main character, kicks off the New Year by finding her boyfriend has been cheating on her. I love our main girl. She stands up for herself and is a likeable character.

Val, the main male, is Hannah’s very serious, grumpy boss. Soon after her break-up, Hannah finds out she has to join Val on a 2-week trip to their London branch of the department store he owns.

During their time together in London, Hannah begins to notice she is attracted to Val and there is more to him than the cold boss people see him as. She soon discovers that her attraction isn’t one-sided, either.

I loved the elements of this story. There was good banter between Val & Hannah and they deal with some difficult work situations together. The story was sweet with some spice mixed in and the writing was great.

A quick, enjoyable read. that is perfect for a weekend or vacation. Perfect for readers that enjoy workplace romance.

The New Year is not off to a good start for Hannah. She discovers her boyfriend cheating on her and now she has to go to London for 2 weeks with her grumpy boss to focus on strategies for improving sales at the department store on Valentine's Day. In London Hannah is forced to spend more time with her boss, Val, and discovers he's not really as grumpy as everyone thinks. Will the trip be a success or will workplace drama derail everything? Will Hannah figure out what she wants in life and be brave enough to go for it?

This was a charming novella. It was a longer novella so I was much more invested in the characters than other books. The translation to English was seamless and I would have never known this was not the original language the story was written in. I was a little on the fence about some of the comments and harassment in the work place but those elements became important to the story later and the author was able to address them. The forbidden romance was sweet and it had a little bit of steam. The synopsis hints at a possible love triangle, but it was extremely mild so it wouldn't be something someone that dislikes that trope should avoid.

From London, With Love by Iris Visser is a delicious slow burn enemies-to-lovers novella, providing the perfect sweetness for this Valentine's Day season!

I love how real the female main character seemed; she was strong, determined and focused while never feeling over the top! I was instantly invested in Hannah’s story, and although she caught her boyfriend cheating on her, she was never disheartened or looking for someone to fill the space her ex created. When she finds herself heading to London to accompany her CEO boss, the already present tension evolved effortlessly between the two of them.

Even though this story touched on some heavier topics, especially for a novella, everything was extremely well executed and handled properly; every piece of the story there for a reason.

What else:
-funny, with an array of poultry jokes (IYKYK)
-gave me Pretty Woman vibes
-romantic atmosphere of The Thames
-Maddie & Tae friendship moments (song: Heart They Didn't Break)
-good for those that don't like cheesy romances
-fantastic epilogue

This is absolutely one of the best novellas I have ever read! Can’t wait to read more from this With Love series by Visser!

Thank you NetGalley, Iris Visser and Rakuten Kobo for the complimentary copy to read and review.

I unfortunately found a lot of plot holes pretty quickly into this read which were distracting to me. For one, she’s booked these flights for them but doesn’t realize until they’re at the airport what Val’s full name is. She would definitely already know that, being his assistant and handling his matters such as booking a plane ticket. I also recalled her mentioning prior to the airport that he didn’t like to fly, but then she acted surprised towards him when he displayed nerves. She also mentioned not knowing if Val was into women, but seemed oblivious to Dante watching project runway and being concerned over his expensive shoes. (Not that any man can’t do those things, but if she’s going to question one of the guys about not being into women, it shouldn’t be Val) It doesn’t make sense for Dante to have met Robin at the gym and been seeing her for six months, and then somehow she magically shows up working for Val’s company and has also traveled to London where they are for the meeting. Also if he’s the CEO why aren’t people coming to his location? Or why doesn’t he work in London? I digress. Also, every single woman they come into contact with is hitting on Val. Like I get it, he’s hot. Not every woman they come across would realistically be throwing themselves at him. I’ll stop there.

Anyways, as you can probably tell I sadly was not a fan of this read.

Thank you to the author for sending me an ARC

holy heck i mean when he falls first and of course his name is valentine. such a cute and funny plot for a work place boss romance!

4.5 stars

Such a cute romance story filled with a great plot and drama in the workplace. Thank you Iris for sending me an ARC of this book! Loved the writing style ◡̈

Read if you like-
✿ workplace romance
✿ funny banter
✿ boss and assistant
✿ a lil spice

This book was absolutely hilarious! The way Val and Hannah's relationship unfolded was a source of constant amusement, even before Hannah realized her true feelings. What I adored most was how both characters were flawed yet utterly lovable, and their witty exchanges had me in stitches.

The setting of London served as the perfect backdrop, beautifully described and adding to the overall charm of the story. The slow-burn romance allowed for a deeper connection to develop between the main characters, making their journey all the more satisfying.

Without a doubt, this romcom is a must-read for fans of workplace romance. It's a delightful and enjoyable ride that will have you hooked from start to finish. I can’t wait to read more from this wonder author!

Thank you to the author, Iris Visser, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of "From London with Love" in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed here are entirely my own.