This book unfortunately did not quite click with me. I enjoyed reading it and it was a fairly quick read, but I couldn’t really connect with the FMC. I liked her relationship with Henry and with her best friend, India, but everything else felt a bit forced to me so it made me enjoy it a little less.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

I have really loved Laura Jane Williams novels in the past so I was excited when I was approved for an advanced reader copy of this!

I enjoyed the meet cute and aspects of the love triangle. The way Laura describes settings is enchanting and engaging which almost made me gloss past the underdeveloped supporting characters. I would have loved to see more variability from Jessie's friend and her boss. I really enjoyed Leo and his scenes with Jessie.

This book did not grab me the way the rest of her books have but I enjoyed the building pace and I thought the ending was a sweet and hopeful way to wrap up the story. Love at First Sight is a fun beach read that has some lovely writing.

This book is basically <i>the Wedding Planner</i>, but make it worse with a love square. And I actually quite enjoyed that. It's an easy and fast read, and there's not a lot of subplots happening so the focus stays primarily on Jessie and her life.

I <i>hated</i> Ali, and Jessie's dad got on my nerves, and sometimes Jessie herself got on my nerves, but as a whole it was a good experience. I do wish Jessie had called her project something other than Stray Kids, because every time she said it I thought about the band instead, and I wish we'd gotten a little more out of the epilogue, but that's okay.

Really, I'm just glad Jessie picked who she picked; if she'd chosen the other guy, I would've thrown my book across the room.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group/Putman for this earc

Sadly, this book didn’t not work for me. All the relationships felt surface level. Jessie and Cal? Have one magical day. She wants to find him. Questionable but Understandable. But making with her phone number? That’s just stupid.
Actually the whole Cal storyline was just off. He’s dating her boss? That’s relationship was obviously not great but he still wouldn’t break up with Ali. And at the end, Cal disappearing and all of sudden being the worst guy ever??? Like he was so good an actor to full Jessie and Ali??? Made no sense.
Jessie and her father? Her father is picking his half of his age girlfriend over his daughter? Just wrong. And what was the point of him being sick storyline?

One hope I had was for Jessie and Leo but Jessie acted sooo immature the whole time, I almost wished Leo would be set free.

Overall, this was just not great. Too many storyline that didn’t make a good story. The one reason I’m giving it 2 stars is because one star is for Henry.

I had high hopes from the start with the meet-cute between the main characters and hoping that Fate would help them find their way back to each other a la Kate Beckinsale and John Cusack in Serendipity, but this was not it. I really wanted to like Cal in the beginning, but then he did Josie dirty and that gave me the ick. I did appreciate that the nice guy won in the end, but this book left a lot to be desired. Thank you to Penguin Group Putnam for this eARC in exchange for my opinion.

Although I was looking forward to this book and was very excited to read it, I just did not connect to it like I thought I would. The writing at the beginning was awesome and I was vibing with it, but as the story continued, I became disinterested. I wasn’t able to root for the characters like I wish I was able to. The female main character was insufferable in my opinion and she took us on an emotional roller coaster page to page. Overall, this book just isn’t for me, and that’s okay!

This was a fun, no spice read. It started out so great and then the twists happened. Jessie needed to stop overthinking everything, that was the most annoying part of the story. I just wanted to get into the story and slap her. But it does have a happily ever after.

🎥💘 ARC Review: "Love at First Sight" by Laura Jane Williams 💘🎥

✨ "What if you met the one... and lost him the same day?" ✨

I was hooked from page one! 📖🔥 Jessie is a total cynic when it comes to love at first sight... until a fire alarm at Whole Foods literally throws her into Cal’s arms 😳🔥. Instant chemistry, flirty banter, and a whirlwind magical day in London—total romcom vibes 🏙️🌸.

But then... plot twist—they get separated before swapping numbers!! 😱💔 And just when Jessie thinks she’ll never see him again... she opens the door at her nannying job and there he is... with two dozen red roses... for someone else. 😬🌹

This book gave me:
💓 Second chance feels
😂 Adorable banter
🌆 London magic
😢 "Nooooo!" moments
💌 Slow burn tension

It’s sweet, funny, a little heartbreaking, and totally bingeable. If you love Sophie Kinsella or Beth O’Leary, add this to your TBR right now!! ✅📚

I was initially really drawn in by the 'love at first sight' premise, and although that doesn't mean that everything will be perfect (hence him showing up with flowers) the book turned to no be so much what I expected.

The characters were okay, well-developed but I do think there could have been more romance in the plot. I'm glad it ended how it did but at times it felt frustrating. The HEA wasn't was satisfying as what I like reading in cont. romance.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group for the ARC.

I really wanted to like this book more than I did. But unfortunately, too many of the elements either didn't work for me or just weren't for me entirely. At the end of the blurb for this book (note to self-- must parse blurbs more carefully when requesting books!), it mentions that Jessie has a "nannying job," which is true. What it doesn't mention is how much of the book is taken up by Jessie's devotion to that job, that job's child, and children in general. Which is all well and good (and make sense once we learn more about her childhood), but I don't care for children and reading multiple scenes where she's giving paragraph long speeches to her charge about his feelings or whatever was not why I was reading.

Jessie meets Cal during a fire alarm at Whole Foods in Stoke Newington. As this is not a part of London I've visited, I Google Mapped to see if that was a real thing, and it is so cute! (Thought, apparently, the first photo that comes up on Google Maps is what is looked like in 2014 and the more recent StreetViews show a less adorable frontage, but for the sake of reading this book, I pick the cute one to picture!) Anyway, they have a perfect day together after the all-clear from the fire alarm, which is interrupted by a truly unexpected situation (and we never get resolution on how he learned to deal with it so effectively), which means Cal leaves before she can get his number. From this Jessie decides that he's her perfect person and nothing will dissuade for nearly half the book, all evidence to the contrary. 

In addition to the nannying stuff (with a VERY demanding boss as the kid's mom), there's another kid-venture that she's tackling, plus family stuff that makes the romance part of this seem rather secondary. I don't want to spoil the outcome, but I really thought up until the 90% mark that Jessie might make the wrong choice because her rigid thinking just won't let her be happy for some reason. It ends up fine, but I don't feel like we got enough of the romance to really enjoy it.

This was a cute book and I did enjoy watching Jessie develop and grow. Jessie, meeting Cal in a grocery story and having a whirlwind "first date" was a great start to the book. After that first date, the book did slow down for a bit while we got to know Jessie and the rest of the cast of characters, from Henry, the kid she nanny's for to Leo the butcher, and everyone in between. During the book, Jessie learns to trust herself and her instincts, which is a feel good. It was good when we finally got there but the way Jessie pined for Cal, after their one-time meeting at the grocery store, got frustrating sometimes. It felt like she lived in this fantasy world so much that she wasn't present in the real world. I would not consider this a romance book - more of a general fiction/personal growth book. The storyline with the family Jessie nanny's for and her relationship with her dad and future step-mom were more interesting to me than the main story about Jessie, i think because Jessie's story felt like it took a long time to wade through.

This was a fun, breezy read with a fantastic premise. Nanny Jessie meets Cal in a supermarket and spends an unexpected and wonderful day only for the night to end without swapping contact details. To her shock a few weeks later it turns out Cal is Vinnie, her actress boss’s new boyfriend.

I really enjoyed Jessie’s relationship with Henry, the young boy she looks after and the way the story I read this in one setting and enjoyed Jessie’s journey to try and achieve her dreams.

However, I think some side plots felt distracting (i.e. Jessie’s father’s storyline) and, as such, the main storyline, including the romance, fell flat. The love triangle lacked the chemistry to make me believe that both men were strong contenders to wonder ‘ooh who will she choose’. We were repeatedly told which one she should be with but weren’t shown how Jessie came to believe it more than a ‘oh you’re nice to me so you’ll do’. What I’d like to have seen is the losing contender slowly reveal stronger red flags, while the ultimate winner slowly revealing to Jessie he wasn’t the player she thought he was. Instead it was very handed with a lot of telling and not showing. Even the losing character had no real slow reveal that he was a red flag. All we got was his boss say, ‘not this again’.

Fun escapist fiction with low-stakes drama.

Thanks to Putnam/Penguin Group and NetGalley for the ARC.

I wanted to love this book but I just couldn’t. Well it isn’t terrible I just couldn’t get into it. It started sweet but then just turned for me. If some of the story would have been different I am sure it would be 5 stars for me but it just fell short.

Sadly, this was really a 2.5 stars rounded up.

The start of the book was so promising, Jessie has this wacky afternoon and met this guy that clicks everything thing clicks, so good that they don't want to end the date. She shared her dreams with him and he was so supportive and positive to see her succeed. But something random happen and of course they did not exchange last name or numbers. She's hung up on this wonderful day with this awesome guy, totally blind to what's going on around her.

Come days later, her employer's bf is THE guy, Cal. First off, <spoiler> they're both stupid for acting like they don't know each other. Then, he said he'll break up w/ Ali but didn't. His lame excuse was that he can kept seeing Jessie under the guise - that's just super coward of him. Meanwhile for Ali, Cal was a placeholder for her and her ex. And even Cal knows that he's not that into Ali.

What I did not appreciate is that Leo who has been flirting w/ Jessie to no end, showing up when she ask, being there for her, and he really hangs her words like it's the moon. She just brushed him aside. Here's what I don't get, there was no real explanation of why she thought that. She just knows he's good looking, flirty, and friends to all, but no real evidence of women coming and going. Also, when women went up to him, he politely decline. Though he said he won't wait forever, you can sense that he was holding out for her too. By the time they get together, the entire process felt flat and transactional, you can sense this is just another boyfriend, not the lifer. So the title throws you off.

Another thing I didn't appreciate was the down fall of Cal, the author wrote him to be such a dream guy, best thing since slice bread, but how it ended was so mean and horrible that doesn't seem to be in-line with what started out. </spoiler>

I know there are readers that finds Jessie annoying but on a deeper level, her mom abandoned her and her dad at 18 to find another family, a real family to start her life; as though her and her dad were not enough. Then the dad was siding with the fiancee. Like she's been abandoned time (by Cal) and time (by her mom) and time (now her dad) again. Thank goodness for India, her BFF to be her rock and her ground. She's the reality check to keep Jessie on the ground and not float away in her head.

I liked the writing, the pace, the banter. They flow very well, but the story just annoy me. I do like the twist that it's not what she first set out to be, but the way it was deliver was not executed well.

Thank you to NetGalley & Putnam for the ARC.

I thought this book to have an interesting storyline but overall didn't end up being a book I see my self reading again. I enjoyed the main female character.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

3.5⭐️ This book starts with Jessie and Cal meeting in Whole Foods during a fire alarm evacuation and ends with a suicidal lady and forgetting to exchange info. After unsuccessfully trying to locate him, imagine Jessie's surprise when she finds out he's dating her boss, Ali. Instead of coming clean, she acts like she doesn't know Cal.

The book has several side characters that are not likeable and I found myself not rooting for any of them. I felt like the passing gas scene was totally immature and not necessary.

I'm glad Jessie decided to take a chance with dating her perfect guy at the end and focusing and putting herself first. The book was slow at the beginning, but don't let that deter you. The more I read, the more I ended up enjoying this book and binge read it.

Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

Are you ready for an engaging read? Check out Love at First Sight by Laura Jane Williams. It was so much fun and it's available soon.

I’m not a fan of insta-love or justifying cheating and being the other woman so I had a hard time getting into this story. I do feel like it had a fun tone with a lot of wit and good writing, and the characters each had distinct personalities rather than being flat caricatures, but ultimately I just don’t think this was a story I was ever going to enjoy due to the tropes it had.

I have a lot to say about this book so lets start with a summary:
The story follows Jessie, who is a happy career nanny to the cutest boy Henry but she has dreams of running her own business and going home to the love of her life. One day in Whole Foods she runs into Cal and they have the most perfect day together that she thinks he could be the one. But alas she didn't get his number so she figures if they were meant to be he'd find her (with the help of her best friend India). During all this, Jessie's dad is getting remarried to an evil young woman and her butcher Leo has made it clear he has a growing crush on her. What is Jessie to do when all this drama is heading her way?

While I do think the story had potential, there were too many plot points. I often found myself confused, wondering what was going on or why things were mentioned. I felt that the love triangle was confusing enough but then throwing her boss and Thom in there. That was a whole different ball game especially when you factor in all the cheating aspects. I wanted to root for Jessie so bad but she acted like a teenager 90% of the time and completely ignores the guy she ends up with for like 80% of it. This is all I can say without giving any spoilers, it is a good woman's empowerment story, a mediocre romance, and an okay book overall. I think with some editing and refining this book could be amazing!! The bones are there!! There's just too much going on for the good parts to shine.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Laura Jane Williams for the chance to read this book!

3.5 Stars, Rounded to 4. Thank you for the opportunity to read this ARC. I really enjoyed the book and found I was excited to pick it up each day to see what was going to happen. So many different Love Triangles in this book. But it was easy to follow along and most of the characters were likeable. I don't want to give spoilers, but I did feel the love triangle was lopsided until much closer to the end. Although I do understand that the reader was really just following along with the FMC and her thoughts and who hasn't obsessed about one guy while another was right there. I will definitely be reading more books by this author.