Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.27 AVERAGE
3.27 AVERAGE
Mara Williams is painfully aware of how average, unremarkable and ordinary her life has become. She's mid-palm reading when the fortune-teller goes into labour. Left to lock up, she unexpectedly finds herself in a position to influence tall, handsome Josef's fate, (and perhaps her own). Josef (Joe) is a cellist, asking about love, just like Mara. And he seems to be the embodiment of the love match she was just told about. Under the disguise of the fortune-teller's veil, desperate to see him again, she suggests he'll meet his match in three months, at her local pub. During that time, she's going to undergo a makeover.
But then housemate Ash moves into her spare room, and suddenly she's finding herself attracted to the sweet, handsome man with hidden depth. But she has a plan. Single-mindedly, she tries to stay focused on Joe, regardless of how little she actually know about him. And how well she and Ash get on.
I loved the humour in this book. Mara is a romantic and a dreamer, and while sometimes her self-deprecating internal dialogue and obsession with astrology made me want to shake her, I could also empathise with her, and her flaws. She's constantly anxious about being judged by new people. Still, the visit to her parents house was hard to read, and I felt really sad for her family, Ash, and later, her best friend Charlie.
The story deals with the deeper issues of low self-esteem, career failure, the evolution of friendships and becoming part of a community. Mara is often self-destructive, and has to fix herself not only physically, but emotionally. And she needs to reassess the way she interacts with the people she cares about. There's a great subplot involving the Lido where she works, and I loved the team she worked with, as each character felt authentic.
Ash was like an adorable labrador, crossed with the biggest, fluffiest cinnamon roll and I fell in love with him immediately.
I won't spoil the end, but I laughed, cried, and swooned in equal measure. Highly recommended.
Overall Rating: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Heat Rating:
But then housemate Ash moves into her spare room, and suddenly she's finding herself attracted to the sweet, handsome man with hidden depth. But she has a plan. Single-mindedly, she tries to stay focused on Joe, regardless of how little she actually know about him. And how well she and Ash get on.
I loved the humour in this book. Mara is a romantic and a dreamer, and while sometimes her self-deprecating internal dialogue and obsession with astrology made me want to shake her, I could also empathise with her, and her flaws. She's constantly anxious about being judged by new people. Still, the visit to her parents house was hard to read, and I felt really sad for her family, Ash, and later, her best friend Charlie.
The story deals with the deeper issues of low self-esteem, career failure, the evolution of friendships and becoming part of a community. Mara is often self-destructive, and has to fix herself not only physically, but emotionally. And she needs to reassess the way she interacts with the people she cares about. There's a great subplot involving the Lido where she works, and I loved the team she worked with, as each character felt authentic.
Ash was like an adorable labrador, crossed with the biggest, fluffiest cinnamon roll and I fell in love with him immediately.
I won't spoil the end, but I laughed, cried, and swooned in equal measure. Highly recommended.
Overall Rating: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Heat Rating:
i hated the protagonist but i’m giving it 3 stars bc the writing was fine
“If fate and destiny are really working on this…”
OH, THIS WAS A CUTE ONE, I don’t care what the other reviews say!!! Hahaha, I think I’m also just as woowoo and delulu as Mara
OH, THIS WAS A CUTE ONE, I don’t care what the other reviews say!!! Hahaha, I think I’m also just as woowoo and delulu as Mara
Ugh Mara was insufferable and even a little bit toxic. This book was 110% saved by Ash and Samira. These 2 were such pure and genuine characters and had Mara’s back and gave chance after chance. I did appreciate the peek into mental health issues, but J don’t think it was a deep or genuine dive as it seemed to be made into almost a joke by Mara’s constant obsession with astrology and fate. She doesn’t deserve Ash tbh
Mara Williams is a big believer in following her stars. She reads her horoscope every day and relies on the advice provided to predict what life holds in store for her. But she did not expect to be in another country when love came calling.
Unexpectedly solo on a weekend in Budapest, after her best friend Charlie pulled out at the last minute, a fortune teller informs Mara that the love of her life will be appearing 'imminently', but will only reveal himself after she has 'fixed' something. So when a tall, dark handsome cellist called Joe walks into her life moments afterwards, she is convinced he must be the one - and she foolishly gives fate a little helping hand.
Back home in the sea-side town of Broadgate, Mara sets about trying to change aspects of her lonely little life to make herself ready for the 'one', while taking on the mammoth task of trying to save her beloved 1930's Lido at the same time. She has a lot on her plate all of a sudden, and is somewhat distracted by the distance that has grown between her and Charlie, and the arrival of her new flat-mate Ash who is is funny, kind and extremely hot. She feels comfortable around Ash, but cannot allow herself to be swayed from her conviction that the stars are telling her that Joe is the man for her. Where does Mara's destiny truly lie?
Mara lives a small life, preferring to fade into the background, and she has no friends since growing apart from her long-term bestie Charlie, who is now consumed by marriage and motherhood. She is a complicated character with a lot of baggage to unpack around the causes of her crippling anxiety and low self-esteem, and you do spend half the story wanting to hug her and the other half thinking that a good shake might help her see sense, but I absolutely loved the story Lizzy Dent weaves around Mara as she learns to trust her instincts.
There is so much lovely stuff packed in here about fate, friendship, and family, with some very poignant threads around loneliness. Dent's special brand of warmth, humour, and in-the-feels magic floods the whole story, so you find yourself laughing and crying throughout, sometimes at the same time - and everything builds up to the kind of delicious sob-fest ending that ticks all my rom-com boxes. Dent has such fun with the theme of films, which is very enjoyable if you are a movie fan and highly appropriate given the cinematic feel of this book, and I adored how she uses stars to connect Mara and Ash in their own very individual ways.
The characters that surround Mara deserve a special mention as they are an absolute joy, especially the swoon-worthy and very patient Ash, and the fabulous Broadgate Lido gang Lynn, Samira and Ryan who I was very sorry to say goodbye to. I always love a story that unites the local community in a heart-warming common aim, and this does that in spades.
I couldn't wait to read this one after Lizzy Dent's fabulous rom-com debut The Summer Job, and it fulfilled all my expectations and more. I am really looking forward to whatever comes next!
Unexpectedly solo on a weekend in Budapest, after her best friend Charlie pulled out at the last minute, a fortune teller informs Mara that the love of her life will be appearing 'imminently', but will only reveal himself after she has 'fixed' something. So when a tall, dark handsome cellist called Joe walks into her life moments afterwards, she is convinced he must be the one - and she foolishly gives fate a little helping hand.
Back home in the sea-side town of Broadgate, Mara sets about trying to change aspects of her lonely little life to make herself ready for the 'one', while taking on the mammoth task of trying to save her beloved 1930's Lido at the same time. She has a lot on her plate all of a sudden, and is somewhat distracted by the distance that has grown between her and Charlie, and the arrival of her new flat-mate Ash who is is funny, kind and extremely hot. She feels comfortable around Ash, but cannot allow herself to be swayed from her conviction that the stars are telling her that Joe is the man for her. Where does Mara's destiny truly lie?
Mara lives a small life, preferring to fade into the background, and she has no friends since growing apart from her long-term bestie Charlie, who is now consumed by marriage and motherhood. She is a complicated character with a lot of baggage to unpack around the causes of her crippling anxiety and low self-esteem, and you do spend half the story wanting to hug her and the other half thinking that a good shake might help her see sense, but I absolutely loved the story Lizzy Dent weaves around Mara as she learns to trust her instincts.
There is so much lovely stuff packed in here about fate, friendship, and family, with some very poignant threads around loneliness. Dent's special brand of warmth, humour, and in-the-feels magic floods the whole story, so you find yourself laughing and crying throughout, sometimes at the same time - and everything builds up to the kind of delicious sob-fest ending that ticks all my rom-com boxes. Dent has such fun with the theme of films, which is very enjoyable if you are a movie fan and highly appropriate given the cinematic feel of this book, and I adored how she uses stars to connect Mara and Ash in their own very individual ways.
The characters that surround Mara deserve a special mention as they are an absolute joy, especially the swoon-worthy and very patient Ash, and the fabulous Broadgate Lido gang Lynn, Samira and Ryan who I was very sorry to say goodbye to. I always love a story that unites the local community in a heart-warming common aim, and this does that in spades.
I couldn't wait to read this one after Lizzy Dent's fabulous rom-com debut The Summer Job, and it fulfilled all my expectations and more. I am really looking forward to whatever comes next!
would give the writing and plot development a 2. the main character was not likable and I feel like her "quirks" were not developed enough so she just came off as annoying and insanely unrelatable. it gets an extra star because I enjoyed the other characters a lot, so I was able to actually enjoy the story overall.
I couldn’t get over the main character being so overly annoying. I almost DNF’d but I powered through.
The premise of this book was so intriguing….Mara, on holiday alone after her best friend cancels, goes to a palm reader. While she’s getting her palm read, the palm reader goes into labour, not before she tells Mara she will meet and fall in love with a tall man who works with his hands after she fixes something in her life. As the palm reader races off to the hospital, she tells Mara to lock up. Before Mara has a chance, a tall handsome stranger strolls in with his cello (ooh - he works with his hands!) looking to get his fortune told. Mara impersonates the palm reader and advises him to go to a small seaside town in England on the last Friday of August and look for a woman named Mara in a bar. It’s fate Mara thinks to herself after setting it up. She finally found her dream man. But has she? Mara was a tough main character to like. She was so unlikeable, unbelievable that a 31 year old would be that ‘square’ so lonely and so into astrology she can’t make a decision by herself. But then the novel proceeds and Mara becomes the woman she was meant to be and the life she is meant to live. I ended up falling in love with this book. Such a great read with some steamy romance built in. Looking forward to reading more from this author.
Meh. Just like summer job this wasn't exciting me but I liked it enough to finish it. Main character was absolutely infuriating and I had to take breaks from reading because she was so cringe
If you're looking for a heartwarming read, check out The Setup. The story follows Mara Williams who religiously reads her horoscope and uses it for guidance daily. While traveling in Budapest, she visits a fortune teller who tells her she is going to meet her soulmate imminiately. The fortune teller ends up going into labor, leaves and tell Mara to close the shop up. Instead, she pretends she is the fortune teller and when Josef walks in, she tells him he is going to meet his soulmate named Mara in London on a specific date.
When she returns, she starts Project Mara, working to become a new and improved version of herself, while also getting to know her new roommate Ash.
I found the story engaging and easy to read. It was a sweet story. I liked Mara's character and watching her evolve. It's a good book to read on the beach this summer.
3.5/5 stars
Thank you Putnam Books and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.
When she returns, she starts Project Mara, working to become a new and improved version of herself, while also getting to know her new roommate Ash.
I found the story engaging and easy to read. It was a sweet story. I liked Mara's character and watching her evolve. It's a good book to read on the beach this summer.
3.5/5 stars
Thank you Putnam Books and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.