For something that's marketed as "the perfect laugh-out-loud romantic comedy", there wasn't a lot of romance nor comedy in it. Let alone any of the laugh-out-loud variety. Instead, we get pages and pages of interpersonal conflicts with colleagues, alcoholism, children with learning difficulties, homophobia, and a main character who honestly makes some pretty bad choices but somehow it always seems to work out fine for her.

I wish I could have loved or even just liked this, but it felt like a book that never really figured out what it wanted to be. It has the potential for a funny romcom, but some of the plot is too heavy for that. It has the potential to be an inspiring book about a young teacher who finds her way in the world and along the way helps her pupils and her friends, but the main character was too vacuous for that.

I wasn't sure if I was going to like this book when I started it, but I ended up whipping through it and enjoying the ride!

Annie is a teacher at St Bernards in Dublin, and in this book we follow her during her first year teaching there. We meet her colleagues, her students, and her friends and family back home.

Annie is a relatable character, and this book read like you were reading her inner monologue, which I liked. I felt her emotions with her - being furious at Avril, wanting to help Jack, and liking Kieran. Her friendship with Cliona and Mags reminded me of my own friendships.

This wasn't what I expected though - I thought this would have more a romance to it, and it definitely wasn't romance centred at all. It was funny though, and was a light read.

3.5 stars overall.

Thanks to Inkubator and NetGalley for providing me with a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book was just okay for me. It was a hard read. Don’t get me spring, it was enjoyable and I really liked Annie’s character but I think some of the storylines are just in there as filler.

This is a strange book, it's easy to read and a great read when you need to switch off. But it has no substance, there is no excitement or wonder, the kind that keeps you hooked and wondering what is going to happen. so on that side it was disappointing.
However, it is an easy read so make a great sit in garden reading, you don't have to think about it just chill out and read. I am intrguied to read more from Lara, her character development was great. I want to see the characters be more exciting.
#NetGalley #startedwithamiss #laragolden #bookreview

Honestly, I don't know what to think about this book.
I liked it, but not that much. On the cover is promised a "laugh out loud romantic comedy" but it wasn't, at all.

Reading It Started With a Miss was quite good, the writing was ok and easy to read for a foreign reader, the first part was intriguing and the cover is really really appealing BUT in this book something is missing and maybe the problem is the lack of a real and coherent storyline

Honestly I'm really disappointed and I apologise for this bad review, maybe the next book of this author will be better!

Actual Rating: 2.5 stars

It's easy to tag along with our leading lady Annie and her 'quirky-girl-next-door' rambling narration. We follow her bustling simplistic life as a new teacher, her outlandish thoughts and her embarrassing past mistakes- all peppered with relatable snippets (like listening to Beyonce on her way to work) to keep us curious. What would she do next? More importantly, what bizarro inner thoughts would she have next? Annie both interested me and aggravated me simultaneously.

I think the reason why my initial view on Annie was a bit harsh was because, for around the first quarter of the book, the pacing was very very slow and at times filled with unnecessary details that also hinted at her occasional cynicism. Later on, when the story-line starts chugging along, Annie eventually warms up to you.We glimpse at the lives of her friends/roommates and the happenings at her new school. The school where James also teaches. James who happens to be taking up all her imagination after a night out with him. 😉

This book wasn't a rom-com necessarily (barely any comedy), but it was a light read that dealt with some topics (more so in the school setting) that required a lot more attention. However, there was quite a twist romance wise (at least for me) which I didn't see coming and really appreciated. #Niceguys. Also, once the ball got rolling in the second half of the book, the plot became a lot more engaging.

My conclusion from the book? All the characters, especially Annie should stop hitting the pubs so often. Any time something went wrong it always involved drinks. How do they avoid wicked hangovers? The actual conclusion was a bit abrupt but also involved sweet drinks- 'a sweet end to a sweet day'. 🤣 Unfortunately, I had to round down because the writing could get unbelievably clunky- so much so, that I had to wade through.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a quick easy read. I flew through it taking in the brilliant writing. The main character has a bit of a weird attitude actually all the characters seem a bit off. All very self centred and self serving I felt like the book ended abruptly and could have gone on a bit further. I felt like it was slammed together with a mad page limit. I don’t know. It was ok. The writing was good though.

This was such an enjoyable book that I fully enjoyed reading and will be looking for more from this author.
Thankyou netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read and review

It’s always difficult to rate a book when the cover promises a ‘laugh out loud romantic comedy’ - and it isn’t one!

I found this book quite difficult to engage with. The writing was ok and flowed well. The cover was really eye catching and appealed to my taste. However, the storyline was just lacking.

Apologies for the negative review. Thank you NetGalley for my advanced copy of this book 📚

This was not a book that started off strong other than our protagonist, Annie, was starting a new job as a teacher in a larger city in an area of more difficult students. I felt like I was slushing through the pages at times hoping the energy and excitement of the story would pick up in the next chapter. There were subplots, like her best friend back home, having a nervous breakdown having to take care of an elderly mother in the throws of Alzheimer's, and Annie's roommate, Sheila, was getting married to a man with incessant ideas of impressing his American relatives. The title was a little confusing, was it partly because her students called her Miss, or was the introduction of the hunky fellow teacher she ended up in bed with, the "miss" she started out with.

I really wanted to love this book because of how outstanding it sounded & how beautiful the cover was. It wasn’t very hard to get into the book. There were very simple plots in the beginning and all about the students, the school. The further I got into the book the more I noticed that the various plot lines really weren’t coming together. But I still was enjoying it. The story did have a few intense topics, but it didn’t weigh the story down. I found this book as very easy to read, cute, light, adorable and fun. I would recommend this book to women who need a break & enjoy a cute love story.
I give this book 4 stars because I enjoyed it, but I didn’t like how the plot lines didn’t really connect together.
Thank you Netgalley for providing me a free copy in exchange for an honest book review.

I don't have much to recommend this book except to say the cover illustration was eye-catching.The book started intriguingly enough, leading you to keep reading out of curiosity to find out what the MC was referring to, but the plot got lost as the story continued.Anna is a newly hired teacher who, in her attempt to forge a bond with her fellow teachers did something ill-advisable.The rest of the story goes on to illustrate the anti-climatic fallout and just felt trumped up as a filler.Her friend Mags was kind of ridiculous knowing her background,Anna's roommate and her fiance were laughable and contradictory to their beliefs, and what was the deal with Kieran and his neutrality when she needed him in her corner? The only saving grace in this story was Anna's parents and Trish,and they barely got mentioned.I finished this book hoping it would get better, but it didn't, so I should have given this one a miss.

This book was boring and felt a misleading. It looked like it was going to be funny, but I just ended up bored.

Found this very flat and pretty much yawn-inducing as it went along, and just couldn't connect with and/or care for the heroine. Felt like the cover and blurb were misleading, making the reader expect some funny stuff like Bridget Jones meets Bad Teacher, but there was no funny bits pretty much throughout and the school existed as a backdrop mainly. Disappointed in this one, unfortunately

For me, the blurb made it sound like the book had promise and I was drawn in by it supposedly being a laugh-out-read and a rom-com. However, I don’t feel like the book matched it’s description at all.

The book covered lots of serious issues, including bullying, homophobia, depression and suicidal behaviours (over-doses), but more at a sub-plot sort of level and I feel they deserved more exploration to bring depth to the story and dimension to the character of Annie through her dealings with these issues.

With regards to characters, I couldn’t help but feel that Annie was immature and her only redeeming quality was that she wanted to make a difference to the lives of the children in her class, in particular Jack’s life. This was relatable and brought a hint of depth to the story and is ultimately what held my interest.

The interaction between Annie and James were unremarkable and it just seemed off them hooking up. When it came to Annie’s love interest later on, there lacked any chemistry to make it appear as meaningful as it was intended and that was disappointing.

Also, I couldn’t get on with the characters of Donal and Sheila; for me they were dull and their interactions with Annie left me thinking that she just needed to grown up and move out. Her rudeness even left me wondering why they even bothered to invite her to their wedding.

Overall, the novel felt flat, under-developed and childish in parts. I really couldn’t help but feel a disappointment towards this reading experience.

While I DNF it was a pleasant read but needed a bit more thought and direction.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy of this title.

A long novella designed to be read as part of a series. Sets up the background of all the characters. It is a relaxing read and leads entivinlgy on to the next one.

The story of Annie, starting on her first day at a new school in Dublin. The book follows heer as she starts to form relationships with students and colleagues. Some drama and tension, and work politics, but it also covers some emotional issues with her friends back home.

Not a book I would usually read as I usually like to leave the classroom behind at the end of each day, However, I really enjoyed this story of Annie starting out in the world of teaching. It is funny, engaging and also a little bit serious with some sadly all too real in today's schools: bullying and addiction to name a few. Overall it's a feel good read that has more than a few insights into the average school !!
I'd like to thank the publishers and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an impartial review.

I enjoyed this book. It was a sweet and easy read, perfect to snuggle up with in a cozy cabin somewhere. The story was not exactly what I expected it to be. It was neither very romantic, nor very funny, but there was a little romance in it still and hints of humor.

It's really just a sweet story about a young woman starting out as a teacher in Dublin, after having moved there from a small town. She is learning to cope with her new job and is getting invested in her students, while struggling with trying to help an old girl friend who is not coping well in a tough situation back in their old hometown (oh and trying to avoid her sweet and devout Christian roomate and bride to be). To get through it all, there's lots of going to bars and parties for Annie, and lots of alcohol and a bit of awkward moments.

The book reminded me a bit of Bridget Jones' Diary, only it was less awkward and a little more serious. I liked Annie, the main character. She had her flaws and made her mistakes, but it was endearing and I rooted for her. I only wished that the main love interest would have had more space in the story and the relationship a more build up to it. It almost felt like an afterthought, which is a shame. Also, I don't get the title.

Nevertheless, even though it wasn't really an actual rom com, in my opinion, I liked the story. It had good flow and interesting characters and conflicts.
3,5 stars.