I was pleasantly surprised by this book!

Leon, Gemma, and Francesca are all on their way to the same wedding in Barcelona when bad weather leaves them stranded in a Paris airport for 12 hours.

The brother of the bride, maid of honor, and best friend of the groom all have one thing in common: they want to stop the wedding from happening.

I genuinely liked this quirky trio, which helped soften the feelings of utter hatred I felt for Kayleigh. Yikes.

A quick, fast-paced read. Definitely recommend!

Honestly feeling so torn about a rating after finishing this book. On one hand, I found the characters to be relatable (derogatory) but that also made them super annoying at times. Personally, the redemption ARC for a woman who was intentionally trying to begin/continue a relationship with someone else's fiancé was a little too close to home for me, so I wasn't on board with that. The most relatable thing was the jealousy and inferiority complex Gemma had surrounding her best friend – most of us have been there and will understand that feeling. Overall it wasn't a bad read and with three POVs, it went by quickly. That said, it's not my favorite.

Decided to read this during a layover of my own and was so glad I did! I loved how much more complex and rich the characters grew with each passing chapter, and that they each found an ending that felt right for them even if it may have been something different from what they expected or hoped for.

Thank you Wattpad Books for this ARC!

Unfortunately this book was not for me.
I found the pace much too slow to keep my attention throughout.
The characters were cute, but the premise felt very similar to other contemporary romances I've read.
Again, it was okay - just nothing to write home about.

Definitely a quick fast pace read. Unfortunately reminded me a lot of a book I had just finished very similar plots

Quick, short, cozy read! I loved every moment of reading this book. Great read when coming from a deep series or long series. I would recommend this book.

This was a very enjoyable book. Three people somehow involved in a wedding get stranded at a Paris airport 12 hours before the wedding. All three people want to somehow stop the wedding from happening. They stay together and get closer and can’t decide whether to blow up the wedding or not. Shenanigans ensue while waiting for the weather to pass. All three eventually become friends and make their decisions.
I enjoyed this book. I loved the plot but I didn’t like the bride. Which was the whole point. I’m glad the three main characters were able to figure themselves out and be able to move on from this wedding.

So I have to say I went into this book after reading a review that said the characters were annoying and I wish I hadn’t read that review. I loved the concept and the setting of the story and I love that majority of it took place over one night. I also enjoyed the triple (!) point of view! However, it took me a while to get over the preconceived notion of the characters being annoying. I feel like that ruined a bit of the book for me and true, the characters are a bit annoying but I grew to like them as I read on. It was an easy read and I could picture the characters in my head having those conversations like it was playing out on a screen. I think the writer did a great job and it was easy to follow and I loved the surprise at the wedding near the end of the book. There wasn’t much comedy to this book but there were snippets here and there and they were great nuggets. I would recommend this book if you’re looking for an easy read!

maybe i wasn’t the target audience for this book, i don’t know. the premise of this book was really interesting - three people who are attending the same wedding with plans to break it up independently are all magically stuck together after the flight is grounded for inclement weather. there’s a few things that i just couldn’t get past

• you waited overnight for another flight from france to barcelona, why not just take the train? obviously not ideal but you would get there in time
• francesca
• gemma’s fake personality
• whatever airport shenanigans were happening

thank you netgalley for the ARC in exchange for a review

Thank you to the publisher and thank you to NetGalley for the chance to review this e-ARC. Full review will be available soon

This was my first book by Reekles and it definitely will not be my last. This was the perfect, quick read that had my wanting to read more. All three characters Gemma, Leon, and Fran I found myself loving. They had me routing for them throughout the book, and angry with the way people treated them. Stuck in an airport is my worst fear, and these characters handled it with grace. I was laughing during multiple parts and loved how it all came together. I will definitely be purchasing this book when it comes out. It’s the perfect book if you like a gossipy, feel good story. I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. I do wish there was some sort of epilogue at the end to see where these characters ended up. Thank you netgalley and publisher for the advanced copy.

I really enjoyed The Layover. Reekles did a great job handling the each characters emotional journey. Perfect amount of humor to balance the emotional moments..

This is not a rom com but a general fiction book about three people who are stranded in an airport en route to a wedding, each with plans to impede the wedding proceedings. There is more humour than romance and it becomes bit of a broken hearts meets breakfast club novel with each of them connecting and sharing their feelings in multiple layers. This was a difficult read at the onset because the characters weren't established as likable or intriguing, instead we see their bitterness at being the overlooked friend (Gemma), the sidechick (Fran), and newly estranged brother (Leon) and we don't know which of them to trust or even like as narrators.

Gemma immediately curses the bride character and we see her bitterness and anger at their relationship which sets the tone of this being a different type of story, but I needed to see more reasons to trust her and yes, even like her, to hook me into the novel. I felt that Fran was better drawn, apart from the spikiness she showed to Leon on the plane, because we saw that she listened to the other characters and showed traits of being a great friend. Leon as MMC and potential love interest later in the novel was less clear because we didn't get enough of an early swoon moment about him being handsome and/or a good friend growing up to Gemma or to Kay, the bride, elements that are shown in the final third.

What worked was the three POV - I've rarely read a book with three equal main characters and Beth Reekles pulsed the different POV's well so the flow was quite natural, picking up the story from alternate perspectives at perfect times. I really appreciated the friendship developing between Gemma and Fran, it felt naturally built and at the right layering. What would have made this stronger for me was the characterization in the front of the novel to make me root for these characters, a stronger slow burn on the romance, and clearer reasons why the bride was dear to so many people, because she was very two dimensional. However, if there was a sequel that explored the romance and a spinoff giving the other character her love story, then I would absolutely read that because once I was on board with these characters, I wanted to keep reading.

Thank you Wattpad WEBTOON Book Group and NetGalley for this ARC to review in exchange for my honest review.

It's short, fun, and really sweet. Unfortunately, I think that this book being marketed as a rom-com dies not do it justice.

It is about more than romance. It felt more like a light but touching story about accepting oneself and others, in all the good and bad ways, about love, friendship and family.

The characters are interesting and have great chemistry, and I really liked the setting and the writing.
I had a great time and finished the book almost in one sitting.

Thank you Wattpad WEBTOON Book Group for this ARC.

Three strangers. One airport layover. One wedding they all plan to sabotage. What could possibly go wrong?

This was one of my most anticipated reads based on the plot/description. But unfortunately it fell a bit flat for me. Every single character here tested my patience. They’re messy, vengeful, deeply flawed and sometimes down right unlikeable. Empathy was hard to come by.

Romance fans, temper your expectations as this isn’t a swoony love story. There’s a tiny hint of romance near the end, but the real focus is a character deep dive wrapped up in chaos and revenge plots.

Overall, I didn’t hate it, I actually had fun with the premise. But the execution left me wishing for more. It’s an interesting ride, but not quite the destination I was hoping for.

Thank you to Netgalley and W by Wattpad for the ARC of "The Layover" in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

The premise of this story involves three people stuck overnight in an airport while traveling to a destination wedding. Each character has intentions to sabotage the wedding for different reasons.

I enjoyed the writing style of The Layover. The story moved at a steady pace and the characters were written with a clear image of their personalities. The main themes explored are relationships, jealously, forgiveness, and self realization.

At times, I found parts of the book incredibly mean spirited and had to have a break before I could continue. As the story progressed, I understood why the character of Gemma was the way she was, but I don't enjoy reading about mentally cruel people, the worst being the bride and groom. There was a bit of romance at the end of the book, but I wouldn't necessarily call this a romance. There were some comedic moments and the levity was welcome after the unpleasantness of some of the heavier conversations.

I think this book is ideal for people who enjoy reading about scandal and who like a bit of gossip.

The Layover was such a fun, lighthearted read! It’s quick, entertaining, and gave me exactly the rom-com vibes I was hoping for. The setting and travel aspects added a nice escape, and while the story was a little predictable, it was still super enjoyable. Perfect if you’re in the mood for something cute and easy to binge in one sitting.

This book was a quick and fun read with an engaging premise that kept me interested from start to finish. I really enjoyed the storyline and thought the ending wrapped things up nicely. My only small critique is that I occasionally got a bit confused about whose perspective we were in — even though the chapters were labeled, some of the voices felt pretty similar. Overall, though, I really enjoyed it and would definitely recommend it to my friends!

Three people, with seemingly not much in common at first, all get stuck enduring a layover at the same airport together as they each plan to break up the same wedding.

Firstly, I liked being back into Beth Reekles' writing. It's been a hot minute since I've read something from her and I've always quite enjoyed her style so it was a joy to read another book by her.

To be quite honest, I found every character in this book extremely insufferable. None of these people are particularly likeable. They all have deep flaws for different reasons and they're all trying to get revenge against people for different reasons. It made it fun to read at times, but at other times it was a struggle. It was hard to empathize at all.

Also if you're looking for romance in this book, you won't get much of that at all. There's a minor subplot with it but it doesn't really take root until the end of the story and the build is very subtle. It's more of an in depth character study.

Overall, I didn't hate this book by any means, but it wasn't everything I hoped it would be in the end and like I said before it was a bit of a struggle at times because of how much I disliked the characters.

Thank you very much to Wattpad Webtoon Book Group and NetGalley for the ARC to review.

This was not at all what I expected but in the best way!!

I was expecting more rom-com vibes but this was a story of finding yourself, loving yourself, and demanding better than what you get from toxic relationships.

None of the characters start out very likable but the more we learn the more we understand while getting to watch them each grow and learn.

Admittedly, this did give me flashbacks of a time I was stuck in airports for over 24 hours due to delays, missed connections, and cancellations. It was VERY realistic, lol!