Lily Joseph does a fantastic job in writing this type of romance book, it had that element that I wanted in this type of book. I was invested in the characters and enjoyed the realistic element to this book and characters. It had that plot element that I was looking for and was glad I got to read this.

I wanted to like this more, but all the near misses, some more extreme than others were repetitive and made me impatient. I just couldn't get into it. I DNF-ed pretty early.

The Near Miss by Lily Joseph is a fun and engaging rom-com full of charm and funny moments.
This is a lighthearted and sweet romance with a good chemistry between the two main characters.
I found this to be a beautiful story. Joseph’s writing wove together two storylines perfectly.
I really liked how everything was connected with everything. The characters in the book were really nice and fun.

So many near misses! It makes you wonder about the misses in your own life - chance meetings that were barely missed that could change the projectory of your life. It's a really interesting story!

Wren is visiting her best friend's bookshop, and as she leaves narrowly averts disaster when a window shatters and falls towards her. Nick is shook and then he narrowly avoids a car accident himself. And that's just the start of their near misses. The storyline follows them and these near disasters and eventually they meet and start their HEA. It's just such a twisty, interesting story of misses and love. I really enjoyed this one!

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for a temporary, digital ARC in return for my review.

Unfortunately, I had to DNF this book at 40%. I really liked the chracters of Nick and Wren, but the plot was too redundant and their love story just wasn't immersive. The premise was really intriguing-- like Final Destination meets When Harry Met Sally. But not EVERYTHING can be a missed opportunity in that extreme. I would've liked to see the missed opportunity of him getting off the train one car down from the one she was getting on, she put down a CD in the wrong place and he found it and bought it thinking about whoever may have left it there for later, etc. in between the dramatic near-death near misses. It just felt like I was reading a book through quicksand in a time warp.

Could not get into this one unfortunately! I love the cover and synopsis however I was trying to read during a busy time in life and it did not hold my attention

Here’s the thing: I’ve read this book before. Twice. Something that I wouldn’t have done under normal circumstances, but I’m glad I did.

My original take on the book stands. While the concept of the “near miss” as a plot device is cute, it’s also overused and detracts from the true heart of this story. And the heart of this story is so good—the way that Wren and Nick are on similar and intertwined journeys to find answers about parents they never knew. The romantic element of this book is sweet, yes, but the real story is about family, both biological and found.

I would read more from this author, and look forward to her future work.

Thanks so much to Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book, provided in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

Want a book that makes you laugh, want to pull your hair out, and incite reactions such as jumping on furniture in excitement? This is the book for you! A Near Miss was a 5 star read for me and I highly suggest it is added to everyone’s TBR!

I really enjoyed the last half of this story. I did feel like it was a bit hard to get into with it feeling slow and repetitive but once I got deeper into the book it really picked up and was a lovely story!

This charming and unconventional love story plays with fate in the most delightful way, weaving near misses and unexpected twists into a romance that feels both fresh and deeply satisfying. The slow build-up between Nick and Wren—two people navigating their own personal crossroads—adds depth and emotional resonance to a story that is both witty and heartfelt. The near-death encounters add a playful, almost serendipitous energy, making their eventual connection feel like something truly meant to be.
The blend of humor, introspection, and slow-burn romance makes this a joy to read. The backdrop of Italy adds an extra layer of escapism, and the underlying themes of self-discovery and second chances give the story real emotional weight. Lighthearted yet meaningful, this is the perfect read for those who love stories about fate, unexpected connections, and love that refuses to be ignored.

Well, this was an odd book. By the whimsical cover, with its pink background and girly font, you think--hey, a romance! And there certainly is a romance in here, between Wren, a journalist who is coming out of a bad relationship with a controlling significant other, and Mike, a divorced glazier with a young daughter who is struggling to find his footing.

But mostly, this novel is about how many disasters two people can undergo without actually dying. I felt very uncomfortable at certain parts as the concussions, cuts, near-drownings and electrocutions (!) started to pile up. This is not simply a meet-cute situation involving a falling plate glass window--in fact, the two protagonists don't meet at all in the immediate aftermath of that opening salvo. The two keep missing each other for at least half of the book, which is a literary choice that starts somewhat cleverly but then just feels repetitive. It took me a long time to get through this book and I think the tonal dissonance was part of the problem. There was just not enough romance here for me and too much... carnage? for a book that I thought was going to be sweeter or more charming based on the cover art.

Thanks to NetGallery for a copy of this book; the opinions expressed are my own.

Near Miss by Lily Joseph is a beautifully crafted story about missed connections, fate, and the way we shape ourselves to fit the people we love. Wren and Nick have never met, yet their lives constantly overlap in near-miss moments, as if the universe keeps nudging them toward each other. The way Joseph weaves their separate but interconnected lives kept me hooked, making me wonder when—and if—they would finally meet.

What struck me most was the novel’s exploration of identity in relationships. Wren finds herself subtly shifting to accommodate Alex, molding her personality to fit expectations rather than staying true to herself. It’s such a relatable theme—how easy it is to lose parts of yourself when trying to make a relationship work. Joseph handles this with nuance, showing both the allure and the quiet danger of adapting too much for love.

While the pacing sometimes lagged in places, the emotional depth and the almost serendipitous way Wren and Nick circled each other made it a compelling read. If you love stories about fate, self-discovery, and the delicate balance between compromise and authenticity in relationships, Near Miss is worth picking up.

DNF @ 20% I found this book difficult to get into, and the writing lacking a little bit of punch. The dialogue felt stinted and the plot a little contrived. Overall, I just don’t think this one was for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley, and the publisher, and author for a copy of this book!

Content Warnings: Grief, Death, Injury, Drug Use, Cancer, Toxic Relationship

All opinions are my own and freely given.

The way Nick and Wren kept running in the same circles like at Community Kitchen, meeting in Italy, the window scene, etc. CRAZY!

oh boy was this slow?! They didn’t even meet until halfway. I wasn’t too invested in it either. I honestly skipped to the ending to see it all come together lol

Quote I Loved:

“It’s a funny sort of fate then. Every time we’ve met, there’s been some kind of disaster… (spoilers)… I can’t work out if the universe wants us to be together or if we’re destined to k*** each other.”

I wasn’t sure if I was going to enjoy this, but I did! I was able to read it in one day.

I really enjoy the authors writing! This story was sweet! I really liked the relationship between Nick and Wren. I think it’s true when they say everything happens for a reason. This was a nice easy read! Bit of a slow burn but I still really enjoyed it!


Thank you NetGalley, Lily and Grand Central Publishing for the e-ARC!!

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Publication Date: May 27 2025

#NetGalley #TheNearMiss

This book reminded me of the "Missed Connections" section on Craigslist from once upon a time. While the near-misses were a bit too much, it was a clear story on fate and the universe demanding these two people be together. It was an enjoyable book overall.

The Near Miss is a story about two people who keep unknowingly crossing paths, mostly through near-miss accidents. Nick is a bit messy and can't quite break through some of the barriers in his life, while Wren is realizing she's been stuck in a rut and changes are coming whether she likes it or not.

I really enjoyed this book, especially the vulnerability Nick and Wren shared when they first met. There's something special about two people finding each other in a bubble away from the rest of their lives, and Joseph both brings that feeling to life and captures the uncomfortable moments where you need to navigate the return to reality. The pacing and emphasis of this book were a little off for me. I wish the book delved more into Nick's relationship with his daughter and the family dynamics of both main characters, and focused more time on the two main characters once they had actually met. That said, The Near Miss was both a fun read and one that made me reflect on my own life and relationships. It had a specific mood and tone that I really liked. This book is good for people who love a romance with a little melancholy, characters who are figuring out who they are a little later than they would wish, and exploration of how family shapes who we are.

Thanks to Grand Central Publishing and Lily Joseph for the ARC!

2.75 stars

In “The Near Miss,” Wren and Nick have deeply interconnected lives but have never met. Wren is a reporter and Nick is a handyman. Nick almost hits Wren with a pane of glass while he is installing it for her best friend. Wren almost hits Nick as she is driving home. Nick almost chokes on Wren’s lucky coin that she lost in a local coffee shop as he is drinking his coffee while Wren slips on a bandage that Nick left out (and so on). Their paths keep intertwining, many times with near death experiences, and yet they still don’t meet until they both travel to Italy from the UK. Will they have literal and metaphor sparks once they meet? If you like easy reads and very slow burns, you might like this book.

I think the book takes an interesting turn of phrase and pushes it to its limits well. And it was fun to try to figure out where the next near miss might occur with the clues left in the previous chapter. And I liked the other characters in the book, like Nick’s brother and grandmother, and Wren’s father and friend. But, I found it hard to connect with Nick and Wren’s relationship because they spent the majority of their relationship apart. It was hard to believe their chemistry and their connection because you don’t get to see them together that much and therefore, I found that I was mostly rooting for both of them not to get hurt instead of rooting for them to get together.

3/5 stars Buckle up, readers, because we have a slooooow burn.

This book started off with a really charming and precious premise - two poorly timed, meant to be characters that continually miss each other from meeting however how much fate deems their paths to cross. Invisible strings! Star-crossed lovahs! Well, to be completely honest, the number of missed connections (the first two coming almost comically to grips with one nearly killing the other), started to become one too many. You can easily see how the book was truly living up to its title - it's not even until the halfway point that the two characters meet, which for some, that is the goal of reading a slow burn. But for me, I was so exasperated, I don't think I could truly enjoy their connection once they finally met.

I did enjoy Wren standing up for herself in a thoughtless previous relationship, and Nick was a golden retriever MMC who just wanted to do whatever was best for his daughter. They were really sweet when they eventually get together, but dang, the journey to get there was just a touch too long for me.

Many thanks to Grand Central Publishing, NetGalley, and Lily Joseph for providing me with a digital review copy in exchange for my honest thoughts

I could NOT get past the third person POV. If the chapters are separated by characters, why do we still have 'Wren said...' 'Nick said..'. It makes it extremely hard to connect with the characters and almost impossible to stay connected with the plot.