This is the perfect book for spending the afternoon sitting in the sunshine reading. I loved reading this and will really miss the eager to please Julia and the fiesty Amber as they were such great characters.

When I picked this up I expected to enjoy it as I love reading Jenny Oliver's books but once I had started it just captured my imagination and I didn't want to put it down.

Majority of the book is set in France and I do love a nice trip to France and this booked just oozed French bakeries and fragrant expresso. This story takes you in many directions, managing to encompass many every day family scenarios all within the one story. 

A brilliant book that I can't wait to recommend as it kept me hooked right until the very last page.

A massive thank you to HQ for this digital ARC of Jenny Oliver's new book, The Summer We Ran Away. This is a perfect summer read, filled with lovely characters, tales of romance, friendship and escapism.

Julia finds herself the laughing stock of her neighbourhood. After being shamed on the whatsapp group for a rather private conversation about her neighbours husband, she finds herself alone and wondering how she can fix the mess her life has quickly descended into. Then Amber steps in. Amber and Julia are polar opposites but quickly find themselves on an exciting, enlightening and emotional adventure.
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It's a story that had me wanting to be a part of it, the characters were ones you could root for, well most of them, and the reminder that what you see online isnt always the perfect life it's made out to be. The two female main characters are strong women in very different ways and I loved that. 
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As I read the early stages of this book, I didnt foresee a happy ending, a book that would warm me the way this did, but I really enjoyed seeing the plot unfold, the relationships explored and found this a hard book to put down. 
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It's a book that makes me feel like I've been on an adventure with the characters, and whilst on lockdown, that is a very welcome feeling!
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I enjoyed this book after a slow start. Once Julia’s what’s app messages about a married neighbour are sent to the whole group of so called friends, she is forced to runaway with her friend, Amber, to France on an antiques buying trip. They are friends but are so different so a road trip is bound to be interesting. 

Both women are forced to think about their closest relationships and have to evaluate how they see themselves and what they want from their futures.

A lovely read with engaging characters and a positive ending. What more could you want?

In the beginning I disliked the character of Julia in particular as I am somebody who has never followed the crowd, hates the word influencer and Is not obsessed with impressing people by the number of likes a photo gets on instagram but by the last two chapters my opinion changed. I loved how her character developed, she became less self absorbed and learn’t how to be herself.                                       

I only began to warm to the other characters and enjoy the story by the final two chapters I loved how close they all became and found myself wanting them all to get there happily ever after. 

If your wanting to read a light hearted rom com during lockdown then this is the one for you

With the authors wonderful descriptions of the French countryside, antique market you will feel like your actually there 

It’s the perfect summer read.

A lovely ending

ThankYou to the publisher and to netgalley for an early copy in return for an honest review

When a WhatsApp conversation gets into the wrong hands, Julia's first thought is to escape the life she has become bored with. Fortunately one of her neighbours, Amber, provides the opportunity. The women set off on a road trip, that although is only a weekend long, helps them both face the issues they have been avoiding at home.

There were some great supporting characters in this book and I found myself rooting for them all to get their happy ending!

I would have loved to read this book on holiday, but absolutely recommend this book, a bit of holiday escapism when we can't go anywhere ourselves.

I absolutely devoured this book on a sunny lock down day and loved every page of it. From the fantastically pretentious Lexi and the phone faux pas through the road trip to France and the adventures there, I felt totally a part of the gang. An excellent read.

This is a really fun, easygoing, book which is full of food, love, humour, and relationships! It is a sure-fire success of a summer read!

This is one of those stories where the heroine makes a mistake, takes off and has an adventure. While away, she examines her life and eventually sorts herself out.
This one is about Julia and Amber who are on an antique trip to France. Julia is escaping being mortified when a text she sent goes round her street's WhatsApp group and gets invited on Amber's buying trip.
These tales are always escapist and slightly improbable but in this case, frothy, funny just right for whiling away time in the garden (or on a beach once lock down ends)

A great summer read. I felt like I did the journey to France with them. 
An uplifting story of friendship and love.
Thank you netgalley and the publishers for letting me read this book.

Firstly, massive thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for sending an ARC of the novel ahead of its June 11th publication date. 

Feeling a little lockdown loco I happily sank into this summer escapist read by Jenny Oliver @jenoliverbooks. "The Summer We Ran Away" is an absolute summer read and very apt for the social media driven world we are living in. The main character Julia is a slave to what's in, what her image conscious neighbours like and more importantly, what is going to get her much sought after 'likes' on Instagram. When Julia and her husband Charlie are invited to a party at Lexi's house, she feels truly #blessed! Lexi is the queen bee of Cedar Road and Lexi is desperate to impress her and her sisterhood of fellow Whistle shopping blondes. When a WhatsApp message falls into the wrong hands, Julia runs. She runs from her marriage, her money worries, her interfering parents and her life which has gone down the wrong track. She escapes to France and in this searing heat, I could have been there alongside Julia as she trawls antique fairs and eats buttery pain au chocolat. Oliver's descriptions of rural France are beautiful and very sensory: the sun setting, the bougainvillea climbing up crumbling walls and old men drinking pastis in cobbled courtyards. It takes the encouragement and wisdom of carefree neighbour Amber, to make Julia aware of what matters in life. Things are not always how they seem. Julia embraces life without her phone at her side with the need to document every single moment. Jenny Oliver writes with humour and has a great cast of characters we root for. I look forward to reading more from @jenoliverbooks.

Fun and easy read which I have enjoyed. I would recommend this to others as I have really liked the authors writing style.

This book could be the lovechild of Thelma and Louise and Mamma Mia! 

Funny, touching fiction about secrets, community and keeping up with the Joneses with a dose of antiques, travel and unlikely friendships. Loved how one mis-sent WhatsApp message spiralled!

Really enjoyed this one.

I would like to thank HQ for sending me this book to read and to be apart of the blog tour.
The Summer We Ran Away is a perfect way to escape this summer. I have read books by Jenny before and totally fell in love with the main characters and the settings are always out of this world. I have to say I really love the cover for this book to using the swimming costume as a part of the deign is such a cool idea. 
When Julia finds out that her WhatsApp messages have been seen by the wrong people she is utterly embarrassed and the only thing to do would be to run away. Julia comes across as I character that has a need to always please others and worriers about what they think and what her social media account is saying about her. It is a very relevant topic to cover in a story and really adds a difference to a typical romance story. I loved to see the change in Julia as the story progresses. 
I enjoyed reading this book as it tackles complex issues as well as romances. A great read and perfect of you are looking for a different romantic womens fiction read.

Julia is a victim of WhatsApp- the one thing we all dread, a private conversation goes public and your whole world turns upside down. Life will never be the same again, you will never be able to look your friends and neighbours in the eye again, your life if officially over. Or is it.? 
This is a lovely novel which should make you take a look at social media. Julia certainly needed to re-evaluate her life, A bit predictable in places but also some brilliant twist to keep you going. Well worth the read.

I ADORED this book. Jenny Oliver has produced the perfect Summer read, full of fun, characters you wish you could be friends with & a WhatsApp issue that is too awkward for words! It’s great to see relatable issues that are common in everyday life dealt with (who doesn’t have a good stalk on Instagram), but it also made me look a little more at my priorities and question social media in my life which is great, especially with all that is going on in the world right now. Brilliant escapism!

I enjoyed this book. I’m pretty sure the first few chapters will be recognisable in a similar guise for many people however I liked how the focus of the book shifted and became shared. A lovely, fun read which I have to say I belted through as wanted to know the ending!

Thank you Netgalley

I enjoyed this book so much. In these difficult  times it was complete escapism.

I love Julia’s character and when her secret escaped I was absolutely mortified for her (I could imagine it happening to anyone to be honest). It was also easy to understand in the day and age of “fake”lives on instagram, facebook, etc, where only the good bits of life are shown, and everyone seems to have a perfect life, to feel inadequate.

Thankfully, after true friends and real relationships are realised, love, and life are improved, and life is good!

This was an absolute joy to immerse in. My thanks to Netgalley and HQ Harper Collins for the advance copy.

Jenny Oliver is a new author for me, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. The Summer We Ran Away was not the typical summer romance, but I definitely enjoyed it. To start with, Julia seems like a selfish, social media obsessed woman, and Charlie has obviously retreated. However, things are more complex than that. I really enjoyed the character development - Julia, in particular, as she freed herself (with a little help from Amber) from her preoccupation with pleasing others. The other three main characters also had good development. The story itself was entertaining and funny. Both “romances” were enjoyable, and there was a satisfying happy ending.

I’d recommend this book to people looking for a slightly different type of summer romance.

I was given a free copy of this book. My opinions are my own.

Perfect escapism for a summer's day.

Packed with humour, this is is the sort of light hearted read you need when you're relaxing in your garden with a glass of wine in hand.

I found myself smiling throughout and laughing constantly.

Gave me food for thought too about my own circumstances and relationship.

Reminds us to not take things for granted and that whilst you might think you want what others have, all isn't what it seems and actually you may be far better off with your lot.
 
Thoroughly enjoyed.

What a completely adorable escapist book!  With empathetic characters, several compelling story lines, and a beautiful French setting, this is the perfect holiday novel.  It is also  equally good to be read at home as we dream of holidays again.... I will now look for more of Jenny Oliver’s books.