The Love Square tells the story of Penny, who owns a successful cafe in London but moves up to Derbyshire when her uncle is taken ill to run his restaurant. Unlucky in love and single for 5 years, she suddenly finds herself in a "love square" with 3 men - who will she decide is her Mr Right?

What Williams does well is make this a book that has a bit more to it than your average romantic novel - it deals with some serious issues (loss, cancer, infertility, surrogacy) and introduces a diverse and interesting cast of characters. Penny as a protagonist is extremely likeable and you find yourself rooting for her as she tries to figure out herself and what matters to her.

Overall a fun read and a real example of a modern romance novel.

As you can expect from the synopsis this was a light-hearted and entertaining read. I wouldn’t say it was overly unique or mind blowing but for the genre, it brought some cute and meaningful context to a pretty formulaic narrative.

Williams has a lovely easy-to-read writing style, I haven’t read Our Stop which was her debut released last year but I’m definitely going to pick it up now I’ve read The Love Square. Stand out for me with this novel was the inclusion of Penny’s past cancer trauma, being pre-menopausal and her desire to have a child - with or without a man. This is something I rarely see in novels and I feel quite passionately about so it was ‘nice’ to see these under-represented issues in such a mainstream book. Plus, Williams included a non-binary character without specifically calling them non-binary so massive kudos on that and Charlie was one of my favourites.

Drawback for me was probably the male suitors - they all seemed a bit too … varied. As if Williams was trying to encompass all ‘genres’ of the male ego. I don’t really feel like Penny needed SO many men to come along all at once but I understand that was the premise of the entire narrative. It was a drawback but not a deal-breaker. I still enjoyed reading it.

I really liked the way The Love Square ended. It wasn’t overly dramatic, it had a steady conclusion with a dash of conflict and everything was tied off nicely leaving me quite satisfied with my read!

Penny falls for 3 different guys and all 3 have something different about them that draws her in and changes her life. Watching her character development and making the choice of which man she was meant to love is thrilling and exciting! Penny was likable as well as the side characters, Stu, Charlie and of course the 3 guys. It was an overall good book and I’m giving it a 4 star!

Thank you to Laura Jane Williams and Netgalley for a copy of this ARC!

A lovely warm and comforting romance. Another lovely book by Laura Jane Williams. Returning to her writing is like having a conversation with an old friend and you always come away from it feeling warm and fuzzy.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.

I really enjoyed this book! I was worried that it would take me time to get into this book, like it did with One Stop but I was hooked on The Love Square as soon as I started reading!

Penny was such a likeable character and I loved reading her story.

This is exactly the kind of book I needed to read during a difficult week anxiety wise.

This was meant to be a fun quick romance story, not... whatever this was. Between the insta-romance with Francesco, the cancer info-dump moments, the poorly executed diversity, and the general egocentricity of the main character, this book just dragged and dragged until I found myself completely spacing out without taking in anything I was reading.

All in all, this was just a disappointing read. And life is too short to read disappointing books.

Penny is a chef with no idea what she really wants and no confidence with men. Then she has opportunities flooding in, but no idea what to do with them. So she tries them all. We'll written characters, great sounding restaurants, and a nice satisfying ending, made for an enjoyable read

I did enjoy The Love Square, but I felt that it was only an okay read for me.

I liked Penny for the most part, and I liked a lot of the supporting characters. However, I wish there had been more of Charlie and Clementine. They were both great, but I think they were underused and much more could have been made of Penny’s friendships with them both. I also liked all of Penny’s men (even if I was confused about the inclusion of Lizzo), but so much of the book focussed on one relationship that I was never really invested in the others. It all seemed to wrap up very quickly and very neatly too. As a fan of a romance, I do naturally appreciate a HEA but I just felt that the ending wrapped up very quickly and neatly when more time could have been spent on it.

The Love Square was well written, and a quick and easy read. Although it did miss the mark for me slightly, I will definitely read more of Laura Jane Williams’ books.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.

was really hoping I’d enjoy this book more than Our Stop but I just couldn’t get into it. I couldn’t get into any of Penny’s relationship and couldn’t decide which one she should be with. Saying that I did give it 4 stars as I enjoyed the food and restaurant side more


I got annoyed with all the male characters as they didn't feel the right match for Penny and just felt like the all had their own secrets and never fully opened up to her.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for this arc. Our Stop by Laura Jane Williams was a five star read for me, so I was super elated to get an arc for her new novel, The Love Square.
This follows 30-something Penny (short for Penelope) who’s a chef in Stoke Newington, London. She’s doing well running her own bakery. Years ago at the age of 25-years old Penny was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer; her then boyfriend Mo broke up with her and she went through treatment with the the support of her sister, Clementine and uncles, who raised her when her mum died. Because of her illness Penny had her eggs fertilised with a sperm donor and frozen for when she’s ready to have children. Whilst she’s cancer-free she does need hormone treatment every now and again and does fatigue more easily than her peers. But none of this is barrier for Penny who’s ready to meet someone.

We start the story with a prologue: Penny is moving to Bristol to help her uncle’s business out as he’s recovering from a heart attack and this means the end of her short relationship with Francesco. Rewind a few weeks back and we see Penny coming back from a terrible date, when she gets a delivery from a hot Italian man called Francesco. The two immediately hit it off and fall in love. Until her uncle’s heart attack and the decision to move to Bristol to help his business. Sceptical of long-term relationships Penny decides to end her relationship with Francesco, when on the day of her move she has a change of heart and drives back only to spot Francesco kissing another woman. He sure moved on fast!! 😱 Heartbroken Penny gets on with her life in Bristol. Months later she meets Thomas, who went to school with her and now manages musicians. Sparks fly between the two, although Thomas is upfront and clear about one thing: he’s not monogamous. Penny agrees and the two start spending time together. Penny also hears from Francesco who still wants to be friends, and moves in with her when he quits his job and on the scene is also Priyesh, her boring but hot wine dealer. Suddenly Penny is juggling three men in her life...

This was an interesting read. I did find the first 36% slow moving as we follow Penny and Francesco’s relationship which moved pretty smoothly and the way they fell in love felt easy and quick. Also plot wise not a lot happens beside the two falling for each other. Once the reveal, when Penny drives back to spot Francesco mooching someone, though the plot kicks up a gear and the pace picks up. I also liked how Thomas was clear about not being monogamous, and seeing a relationship that doesn’t follow the norms. Also Penny’s friendships were refreshing. Her closest friend is Sharon who she meet a few years ago when she become her flower supplier. It was nice to see that not everyone has a group of friends from school/university that is sustained into one’s thirties (which is definitely not true for me) and seeing her friendship with her workplace colleagues. I found Charlie simply adorable! There’s lots of food in this book as Penny is a chef so do make sure you’ve got supplies cause my mouth was constantly watering.
My only gripe I felt the plot overall was slow-moving and I wasn’t as gripped with this as I was with Our Stop. Also I wished Williams showed us more how post-cancer things were like for Penny and wished the health aspect played a bigger part. I did find the sex unbelievable and it did read like movie sex at times; a bit too perfect. Lastly the ending was rushed and I found the surrogacy aspect of the novel to be quite quickly done with and wished there was more complexity.
Overall this was a fun summer read, but it didn’t quite have me hooked like Our Stop. 3.5/5.

Two’s company, three’s a crowd, four’s complicated…

‘The Love Square’ follows Penny who after a string of bad dates and guys, meets Francesco. Then Thomas. And Priyesh. Penny is then stuck in a love square with these three guys and cannot decide which guy she wants to end up with.

I loved the first 30% of the book, and this book had so much potential because of it, but after that first 30%, I lost interest in the book. I think the main reason I lost interest in this book was because I did not like any of the three guys. I guessed really early on in the story who Penny would end up choosing at the end and it felt like the whole book was setting up for her and the guy she chooses to be together and the other two guys didn’t stand a chance. It felt like the other two guys were included only for drama rather than to have any chance of actually being with Penny. The guy Penny ended up choosing at the end was actually the worst guy out of the three in my opinion, especially after the scene where he slut shames her because he is jealous.

I liked Penny’s friendships with Charlie and Sharon, and felt like the scenes with them were some of the best parts of the book.

This book had so much potential to be an amazing book but for me it was simply an okay book. I didn’t hate it but I also was not madly in love with it.

I really love the cover of this book though and the cover was the main reason I wanted to pick up this book.

Thank you to Avon Books UK for providing me with a copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

After have no luck in relationships, Penny ends up in a love square with 3 potential men.
Not sure I really liked how they treated each other, which didn't help keep my interest in the book.

After having technical issues with the audiobook, I read the ebook version.
I really enjoyed Our Stop, Laura's last book. This one, however just didn't hit the spot like that one did. It felt like it was trying to tick a lot of minority boxes to be fully inclusive. And although I started off liking Penny, the main character, she became less likeable as the book went on.
Sorry, but this didn't have me gripped.

I was excited to read The Love Square and the synopsis sounded great! I do enjoy a love story with a twist and had high hopes for this one. The book centres around Penny, who to begin with I found very endearing and loveable but by the end of the book I was frustrated with her. I think she was supposed to come across as this poor, confused lady but I actually thought she was quite selfish at times and didn’t always treat the men in the best way.

I liked how the author created three, completely different male characters and found each of them interesting in their own way. They all seemed to bring out a different side of Penny, which was nice to see! I would have loved to have found out more about her later two love interests - they felt very rushed at times and most of the book seems to focus on her first man.

The book was fun to read, and as I mentioned earlier I read it quickly, but it just felt ok to me. There was nothing majorly exciting or different about this book, despite what the blurb promises. I had a good idea of how the book would end, even before I was half way through, and the ending felt a little rushed and forced. That being said, I loved the cafe/restaurant setting and some of the characters, Clementine and Charlie in particular, were totally lovely and desperately wanted more of them in it!

What a fantastic book!
Penny the main character was complex but kept the reader engaged. All the characters were real and believable.. The book covered many issues sensitively with many plot twists
A really enjoyable book I would recommend.
Thank you to Netgalley, Avon books and Laura Jane Williams for letting me read this book in exchange for an honest review

3 stars.

'The Love Square' started off really strong & I read the first 20% really quickly, however I felt it started to fall flat during the middle/second half.

I didn't feel the strong connection/chemistry that Penny had with 2 of her love interests except for Thomas - I liked their 'friendship' that they had going.

I did really enjoy the portrayal of strong female bonds/friends she had with Sharon & her sister Clementine. I also liked the LGBTQ+ representation.

This is my first Laura Jane Williams book & although I didn't enjoy it as much as I'd hoped I would, I'm still looking forward to reading her other book 'Our Stop'.

Thank you to Netgalley, Avon & the author for a e-ARC in return for an honest review.

A good 3.5 star read.

Penny has survived breast cancer and owns her own business but somehow ends up taking a year out of her life to look after her uncle’s pub/restaurant and dates a couple of guys in an entangled mess.

This book discusses cancer, death of a loved one and infertility/IVF. Despite these, it’s an easy read.

I enjoyed the first half of the book more than the second half and I liked Penny less as the book went on.

I received an eARC of this book from the publishers via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. These opinions are my own.

Penny is in a love square rather than a triangle...

First is Italian Francesco, a chef like Penny, who she meets in London. They feel a pull to each other but their burgeoning relationships cut short when Penny needs to take over her uncles restaurant in the countryside after her uncle has a heart attack.

She meets two other men who she dates/sleeps with until Francesco abruptly decides to visit Penny, and stays...as a friend. Voilà, love square.

This is an enjoyable and non taxing read. A lot of the issues Penny deals with are the ins and outs of modern dating, plus life after cancer. This really underlines that Penny is so much more than a typical romcom/chick lit heroine. I won’t forget her.

The love interests though.....hated the slut shaming by one, the presumption of another. At least Thomas was straight up with what he wanted! Life & people aren’t perfect though, so this is fine.

I recommend this book for a lockdown staycation!
Thank you to #NetGalley and the publisher for my free advance copy of #TheLoveSquare in return for an unbiased review.

I want to start by saying that I loved Our Stop so much, so I grabbed at the chance to read this one as part of a readalong gifted by the publisher.
We follow Penny as she embarks on a series of relationships with different men as she also tried to juggle what she wants to do with her life vs what her family want her to do.
Unfortunately for me I think the author tried to throw too many different things into this book and I felt that some of these were added as a tick box exercise and could have been explored in much greater detail. I didn't feel there was much of a connection between Penny and one of the guys and I would have like to have more time with the other two.
I did like the secondary characters and felt the family unit for Penny was a strong one, although was misguided at times.
Overall, I did enjoy reading this book, I liked the dialogue between characters, I just wanted a bit more from it after loving Our Stop so much.

I was excited to read The Love Square because I was looking forward to reading something fun and funny, and whilst it was both of these (in abundance!), Williams hits the reader hard with a number of serious themes, including life after breast cancer, fertility, and the question of women starting a family without the pre-requisite of a relationship. It also has almost as many heartbreaking moments as it does belly laughs: This is not mindless chic lit (which of course there is nothing wrong with, but this isn’t it).
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HOWEVER, I did for the most part find poor Penny’s predicament to be pant-wettingly funny and it was exciting finding out what (or who 🤣 ) was waiting round the corner at each new stage of her path! Warm, tender, and such a fun, feel good read; I really enjoyed this book and was sad to leave Penny and her friends behind.
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The Love Square had me snorting and wheezing with laughter like a chain smoking Walrus - it was just brilliant and I loved it.