A review by loudgls89
The Love Square by Laura Jane Williams

emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

 I’m not going to lie, I only really bought this book because it’s narrated by Carrie Hope Fletcher, who I really love. She has such an emotive voice and a way of bringing stories to life, so I would probably buy any book that she narrates (there’s nothing worse than a great story ruined by a poor narration). 

It took a while for this book to warm up for me, it felt like I’d been listening quite a while before I felt the momentum pick up, but I am glad I persevered because I thought the book was good. 

Penny Bridge has been through a lot in life, but it seems like life is finally going well. All that is, except her love life. Penny wants to have a baby, but there’s no-one on the horizon. That is until Francesco shows up and they fall hard quickly. It feels like everything is perfect, until life turns upside down for Penny and things with them end on a wrong note. 

After this, Penny falls for another man, and then another. And then Francesco appears back on the scene. What will Penny do? 

I thought the story was fun and light-hearted (although with deeper parts to the storyline too), but I didn’t feel an emotional connection to Penny, probably because I didn’t really agree with the choices she was making. It felt like she was just toying around and given that I wouldn’t appreciate that if it was coming from a man, I didn’t like it here either. I don’t know if it was supposed to be a take on female empowerment, but it wasn’t for me really. 

What I did like was the diversity of characters in the book and the fact that it didn’t feel forced, and the friend/sister relationships that Penny has are perfect – if anything they should be the highlight of this story, not the men. 

I have another book by this author on my shelf (paperback rather than audio this time) and I’m looking forward to picking that up, I liked the author’s style and I’m interested to see what it’s like. 
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