Loved it! Characters were tangible, loved the plot and setting! Pace was a bit slow but other than that it's a great read.

This was such a fun book! I adored all of the side characters, and I really enjoyed the setting and plot as well. The banter between Alice and Robbie was amazing, and I really enjoyed the romance as well. Overall, I would recommend this book and am excited to see what Kat Mackenzie writes next! :)

Work in Progress was so fun and clever! I absolutely loved every page and I laughed out loud so many times. Kat is such a master of banter, and I can't wait to see what she writes next!

Thank you to Avon Books for the gifted copy and eARC. All thoughts are my own.

I am obsessed with this book. The slow burn and the enemies-to-lovers aspect worked flawlessly, and I was enamored by all of the characters. This didn't read like a debut at all. I really hope Kat Mackenzie will be writing more, because I will be first in line to read whatever's next!

I always love a story about someone trying to rebuild their lives, but having it set in the UK with a bunch of great side characters is even better! It was a little rough at the beginning since it was hard to side with the FMC on her dislike of the MMC since it didn't really seem justified, but as she warmed up to him it became less of an issue. I do wish there had been more of the literary reference woven into the book since they were on a book themed tour, but that didn't take away from the enjoyment. Overall I really enjoyed the story and getting to travel through UK for a bit.

An extremely sweet and healing read, this book was like warm coffee and sunlight <3

The tourism aspect was written amazingly well, I felt like I wanted to go on the tour! And the found family was so so wholesome and I really loved how they all made sm meaningful connections with each other.

Also, the slow-burn romance?? Perfection, okay, the hate/enemies to crushes to enemies to friends to lovers pipeline was just >>>>>>

TWs (past) - cheating ex, parent with cancer

-- ty to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for an advanced copy!

This wasn't bad, it just felt a little surface level for me at times. Like a little too cutesy/flowery/etc for me

Work in Progress is a great rom-com inspired by Bridget Jones's Diary. Alice signs up for an impromptu book tour around the U.K. to get over her cheating ex-boyfriend and find the motivation to move on with her life. After a long trip, she arrives in Edinburgh exhausted and anxious to not miss her tour only to find out her luggage has been squashed to a pulp, that her tour driver is the good-looking Scotsman she had a showdown with at the airport and that all the other members of the tour are decades older than her. This trip is a learning adventure for Alice, where she grows, accepts that change is inevitable and even finds love, albeit reluctantly. It was a great read and impossible to put down.

I knew from the very first page that I was going to love Work in Progress by debut author Kat Mackenzie and that definitely became my reality as well! I flew through this hilarious and completely fresh romcom, and it is another one of those books that I never wanted to end. I have to thank many friends on Bookstagram for putting this on my radar, and I hope Mackenzie will write more romcoms soon because I don’t know how long I can wait for the next one. 🥺 Alice Cooper (such a great name for a character) and Robbie the tour guide stole my heart, and I never wanted to leave their story. I loved the lists, tallies, and lessons that were included in every chapter, and they were so great that sometimes I read them again just because I could.

If you are looking for a fantastic audiobook you will also find that here thanks to Angela Dawe. She effortlessly switched between American Alice, Scottish Robbie *sigh*, and octogenarian Brits which created such a delightful listen. I have to give some credit for my book love to her because she made it so easy for me to fall into the characters and writing. This enemies-to-lovers, forced proximity, grumpy x sunshine-esque storyline was full of humor, silly banter, sexiness, and a lovability that I fell head over heels for. It also made me want to take a trip to Scotland, especially if I could be on a tour bus full of snarky octogenarian women and a Scottish hunk. But also, minus the poop. 💩

Read this if you love laugh-out-loud humor mixed with heartfelt moments, escape reads, and that magic that is felt from new beginnings. The end will leave you with a smile on your face!

Audiobook Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

What a cute book, and I enjoyed it right to the end! Alice Cooper (no relation) has signed up for a 3 week tour of the UK. She’s broke, unemployed, without a relationship of any kind thanks to a boyfriend who was definitely not worth keeping. But she didn’t realize that the tour was made of senior ladies, and some of them were a little odd (putting it mildly).

The day-by-day of the trip sounded like it was fun, if you kept a sense of humor—-but for at least the first week, Alice wasn’t having it. just call her grumpy, and most of her bad temper was aimed towards the tour director, Robbie, who is gifted with handsome favor and beautiful blue eyes. A great part of the rest of the story is a push-and-pull between the two. All is intensified because they both are acutely aware that the clock is ticking and Alice needs to go home to try to put her life back together.

The book had me wanting to draw it out so it wouldn’t end! In addition, the new friendships Alice has formed with all the other ladies have become precious jewels and treasured gifts as well.

It’s a wonderful story and definitely worth reading! I loved it. 4.5 stars rounded up.

I received a copy of the digital ARC via NetGalley. My review is voluntary.

I really enjoyed this story! Alice and Robbie are an adorable opposites attract couple. I like their banter and chemistry with each other, and I especially like how it turns into a loving, tender friendship and romance between them. I loved the side characters and the fun, whimsical, matured perspectives they added to the story.

overall, this is a fun, tender, adventurous romcom that I simply adored!

thank you for the arc :)

I loved the setting and the immersive descriptions of the landscapes, city sights and sounds, and the generally romantic writing style that was reminiscent of the author’s highlighted in this book. I did feel as though the book was bit long, and I was not a fan of the miscommunication trope that took up 75% of the book. I also felt like Alice was quite petulant and unlikeable at times. Robbie gives golden retriever energy: fun, loyal, and so dang sweet. The banter was good but again, sometimes Alice’s inner voice was a bit too childish for my liking. She’s 30. She did seem to mature a bit after moving back home and figuring herself out. I loved the gaggle of grannies and how much silliness and camaraderie they added to the story. All in all, there were things I loved and some I didn’t, which is why I’m rating it 3 stars. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

Work in Progress by Kat Mackenzie is a romcom and the story of Alice and Robbie.
 
Alice is very unhappy with her current life and after being dumped by her fiancé, she impulsively books a trip to Scotland. But the trip is off to a horrible start in the airport, and I liked how Alice always makes the best of it. The setting in Scotland was absolutely beautiful and totally reminded me of my own trip last year and them traveling around with a bus was so cozy. I liked how it was a literary trip and all the other travelers were older ladies and they felt like meddling grandmas and I adored that. Alice expected the trip to be life changing and it totally was. I really liked seeing how she finds her happiness again and she’s such a funny and witty person.
 
Robbie is a tour guide by heart, and he always enjoys the trips with some older ladies. They’re all so warmhearted and Robbie perfectly charms them. But the only one who is a thorn in his side is Alice and the two immediately clash and they hate each other. Their bickering was top tier and there were so many funny moments, and the book has great humor. Robbie is such a sweet man, and it was only a matter of time until Alice finally sees this as well.
 
This book included everything I love in a romcom, and it has the perfect amount of humor and heart. Their first meeting was such a meet cute, and I already felt their chemistry from the first moments and was only waiting until they finally got together. Alice is definitely the stubborn one but that added the perfect amount of tension and slow burn. And that in combination with the travel aspect and the other characters created such a heartfelt story that I absolutely adored. And let me tell you I would love to book a trip to Scotland with Robbie immediately. 4,5 stars.
 
(Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an arc.)

Although this book is promoted as a contemporary romance, it includes aspects of women's fiction to support its plot. To be honest, some of my favorite situations were when Alice interacted with the females. Chapters begin with amusing lists and daily goals. It was a lot of joy to read this book. The combination of humorous banter, emotional moments, and beautiful surroundings made the story incredibly enjoyable and interesting.

Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager & NetGalley for the e-ARC.

I love books set in the UK, especially in Scotland, and I love romcoms with banter, road trips, and an excellent secondary cast. Kat Mackenzie's book has it all! Alices and Robbie's exchanges are really funny, and the pair have fantastic chemistry. I loved learning more about the UK and about the past lives of all the new friends Alice made on her trip. This is a great book to take with you on a trip, and I hope your trip will go much smoother than Alice's.

I can't wait to read Kat's next book.

Thank you, NetGalley, author, and Avon, for this eArc.

✨I received this as an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review✨
This was SO GOOD. I read it all in one day.
This might be my period talking but this book made me so goddamn emotional. The characters are so precious to me, every single one of them was perfect. The bond that developed between the entire tour bus was unmatched, especially going to shout out Helena and Alice. Helena was the mother that Alice didn’t get and I am prepared to die on that hill. These women were so supportive and wonderful and loving towards each other in entirely different and specific to themselves ways, and that’s something that honestly means so much to me. The author does a wonderful job of showing the relationships between all the women not only with each other but also in their outside personal lives. I love a book with positive female stories and this book had it. It was really lovely to see that Alice was able to grow in the story with the love and care of these women and keep those friendships even after they all went their separate ways. Being able to show that even though these women were older they are still able to travel and live exciting lives was extremely encouraging, seeing as I myself am fast approaching 30 and am TERRIFIED of what comes after that. I related heavily to what Alice is going through. A lot of the advice that was given to her really hit home for me as well.
The only real negative thing I have to say about this is the way that Robbie (not a fan of his name actually) treats Alice in the beginning. I totally get that this is supposed to start with them disliking each other, but sometimes it came off as a bit mean and condescendingly bitchy of him. Like he went out of his way to talk down to Alice and make her feel small. I really wasn’t a fan of that, it pretty much just brought up past insecurities for me.
The romance was so cute and sweet so I had a good time with that once they stopped being assholes to each other. All in all this was so fun! I would recommend it if you love having a good time but also love being sucker punched with feelings.

Work in Progress is an absolute delight—a heartfelt, humorous, and charming story that perfectly balances self-discovery, female camaraderie, and a slow-burn romance. What makes this book truly stand out is its unique and utterly endearing setting: a bus tour through Edinburgh and the Scottish Highlands, primarily designed for senior citizens. When the younger protagonist, feeling stuck in her life, decides to step out of her comfort zone and join the tour, it sets the stage for a hilarious and heartwarming adventure.

One of the most enjoyable aspects of the book is its humor, particularly the way it plays with classic British comedy tropes through the lens of an American experiencing Europe. The cultural misunderstandings, awkward encounters, and dry wit make for plenty of laugh-out-loud moments, adding an extra layer of charm to the story.

But beyond the humor, what truly makes this book shine is the strong theme of female friendship. The relationships the main character builds with the older women on the tour are just as compelling as the romance, if not more so. Their wisdom, sass, and unwavering support create a beautifully uplifting dynamic that adds depth and warmth to the novel.

Of course, the slow-burn romance is another highlight. As the protagonist embarks on this journey of self-discovery, her romantic interest is on a similar path, making their connection feel natural, earned, and deeply satisfying. Their relationship unfolds with an authenticity that perfectly complements the book’s themes of growth and taking chances.

A fun quick read. The banter was phenomenal, the ladies were warm and just lovely, and the setting was perfect. Who doesn't want to travel for three weeks around Great Britain?

Though I did get annoyed about how many things happened to Alice (the delay, the luggage, the fake customer service the customer service agent did to her, etc.) to the point where when a new disaster or inconvenience happened I would almost roll my eyes and exclaim "come on!". There must be a disaster ratio for me before I just want the romance or the adventuring to happen. And I was rather stuck on Alice's judgement of the other ladies' ages and the level of enjoyment/activities would be on this tour. But it did set up a great character arch for her from being semi bitter because of the inconvenience right before the tour, and everything that happened to her leading up to making that spontaneous choice to travel, (honestly I would have cried in the back of the bus from all of the frustration.). To the confident women who took the time to stay in touch with everyone and find herself.
And I guess I cannot blame Alice for wanting Robbie to suffer especially with how much enjoyment he gets from poking her. But he is always there to help in all of the "things that go wrong for Alice" situations. Helps that he is Scottish with beautiful eyes and takes care of everyone on his tour.

Over all, a great read to get away from the world when you need a different setting with some very lovely love and growth. Found family, beautiful landscapes, and some swoony pining (and a heap of denial).

Look, I love a self-discovery romcom—a newly single woman setting out to Europe to travel across the UK with a bunch of old ladies and a grumpy hot man as the bus driver? That seems like exactly the type of book I would love. However, it was a bit too cutesy for me personally. I found myself skipping over the history lessons bits—which felt repetitive and could’ve been incorporated a bit better into the story.

I would say if you were a fan of the movie Austenland or the book Happiness for Beginner by Katherine Center you would enjoy this romcom!

Thank you so much to Avon, Harper Voyager and NetGalley for this ARC.

I was nervous reading this so soon after The Pairing because they are both romances that revolve around a European tour and didn’t want to read basically the same book twice but immediately I could tell this was going to be completely different.

This book started off pretty chaotically but I loved that the author didn’t spend too much time focusing on before the tour - in the first few pages we got who the main character was, why she was traveling and where she was going. I loved having the older ladies on the trip to give Alice advice and also be there for comic relief, I really love any book with funny and wise older ladies. I love that she references “our tour guide” instead of Robbie most of the time until she calls him Robbie and kisses him out of nowhere.

I couldn’t believe she asked him to take her pants off when they were stuck to a scab, that’s a new one! I thought that they enemies to loversed too abruptly but then they go back to being enemies and then friends so not actually abrupt at all. Also the discovery of “the other woman” happened way too fast too. I hate this miscommunication - she should have just asked him if he had a girlfriend just like anyone else would have done! The poop bag was just a little bit too gross for me. And the Tristan bit felt kind of unnecessary at first.

But overall a really fun read for anyone with a little bit of wanderlust. 3.5/5 stars, rounding up to 4. I would definitely read another book from this author. Thank you Avon and Harper Voyager for providing this book for review consideration through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.