A review by _basicbookworm
The Setup by Lizzy Dent

3.0

Mara is on a solo vacation visiting a fortune teller who tells her she is about to meet a man when the fortune teller goes into labor and has to leave suddenly. Mara is locking up the shop when in walks Josef. He seems to be the man the fortune teller described to Mara takes fate into her own hands, pretending to be the fortune teller and telling him he will meet the love of his life in a pub in an English town the last Friday in August. That gives her just 3 months to get her life together and be ready to meet him and she is determined to make it happen, but her handsome new roommate keeps expressing his doubts.

At first, Mara’s character was not for me. She felt like she was stalking Joe and her obsession with astrology was just not something I could connect with. I also didn’t really feel her connection with her love interest and really didn’t find myself rooting for them for the majority of the story. While the chemistry was never quite there for me the characters ultimately grew on me. I love a cinnamon role of a love interest so I was happy he ended up being such a softie in the end, and I truly loved him. And Mara, thankfully she ended up showing huge growth by the end and really got it together, becoming far more likable by the end of the story.

Thanks to Penguin Group/Putnam and NetGalley for the advanced copy.