Sometimes you read a book that makes you feel warm and fuzzy. This is one of those!

The love story of Izzy and Same is so sweet and full of good feelings. After meeting at the wrong time, Sam never forgets the woman he saw. When they meet again, everything in their lives has changed - except the feelings that they felt all those years ago.

Will fate let them be together now?

What a roller coaster. I laughed, I cried, and everything in between. This is a quintessential romance novel and I would definitely recommend to a friend!

The First Time We Met was just a charming and lovely read. I have been on a major thriller, dark mystery kick lately and I needed something happy, lighter and brighter and loved this book.
The serendipitous story line reminded me a bit of that movie with John Cusack from the early 2000s and I WAS HERE FOR IT!!

I really enjoyed this book. From the very beginning it had me hooked. The characters are great and I loved the will they - wont they vibe that kept you reading to find out. Even though the ending was a little predictable, it was exactly the outcome you would want as a reader following their story. I was definitely recommend!

I started this yesterday and I have struggled so much... With putting it down! Oh my days!
Here is my review. I gave it 5 ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ and would definitely give it more if I could!

This story has everything you want from a book. Romance, love, heartbreak, sadness, emotional roller-coaster ride. Have you ever thought you met the right one at the wrong time? This story of Sam and Izzy is just that. Their paths cross one a few occasions but it's never right for them. It was a perfect book to read. The characters were gorgeous and I definitely fell for Sam although I felt like I was betraying Izzy!
I very rarely eat chocolate but today... I needed chocolate! If you haven't read this book you absolutely MUST!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers and the author for the privilege to read this book for my honest opinion

They met that day and fell in love at first sight. There was a connection between them. But there was a slight problem. It was his wedding day and what was she to do? A time jump of 14 years and they met again.
The story started off well, I loved knowing both my main characters, but then it let off steam after 14 years. I liked how the author had portrayed the story with its characters anchored to it. But the emotions felt to be missing in the second half.
Overall, a sweet read.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review. This was an incredibly heartfelt and moving story. Lovett perfectly shows that no matter how much we might want something or love someone, it doesn't always work out the way that we want. However, my only qualm was that there was a lot of time jumping (well over a decade) and it was slightly repetitive. Still, it is a wonderful piece of fiction!

The First Time We Met was fine, but I couldn't really connect with it. This is probably my fault more so than the book itself though, as I've been struggling with reading lately.

This story has all the feels! From the very first time they met I was invested in Sam and Izzy's story. As they have chance encounters, but never quite connect I couldn't help but hold hope for Izzy and Sam. I couldn't put the story down for want of finding out what happened next. There was a short point where I felt the story dragged out a little longer than necessary, but then things rolled forward again to a satisfying conclusion.

Do you believe in love at first sight? Following as Izzy experiences love at first sight after meeting Sam-- on his wedding day! A lovely romance over 15 years that is heartfelt and will have you rooting for this love story's happy ending. 5 well-deserved stars!

I love a good rom-com and "The First Time We Met" was perfection in my eyes. I fully admit this novel is a bit predictable, maybe even too tidy and sappy, but y'all those are often some of my favorite reads.

What if you met The One, your soul mate on the day of his wedding? Izzy meets Sam and it's love at first sight. Izzy pushed herself to ask Sam out only to find out he's getting married THAT VERY DAY. Over the next 13 years -- which seems like a lot for one book but it's written and handled so well IMO -- Izzy and Sam run into each other a few times to finally find their lives intertwined.

This is the story of meeting your soul mate at the wrong time and the sacrifices you make for the one true love.

Both Sam and Izzy struggle to balance doing the right thing for their children with their strong feelings of love. The characters were great and the story quite believable. This is such a sweet, funny and heartwarming read that makes even a non-believer in love at first sight, stop and think twice!

What an amazing story! I read it in one day! (I didn’t achieve anything else that day!) a truly heartwarming story about two people who meet and fall in love but keep crossing paths at the wrong time. I actually think I fell in love with Izzy and Sam too. Everybody needs an advocate in their life like Emma too! Just love, love, loved it!

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for an ARC of The First Time We Met in exchange for an honest review. I do love a good fluffy romance every now and again. Especially these past few weeks, I’ve been reading some pretty intense books so it was nice to read something so easy and heartwarming.

My Review
What I Liked
I’m going to be honest, I didn’t think I would enjoy this book as much as I did. The story felt a bit fast-paced towards the beginning as there is quite a bit of time skipping. But I love how the characters rarely change, even though we miss 7+ years of their lives. I found myself giggling at a lot of parts and I admit I did shed a tear or two as well.

The Story
I love the wonder of meeting the right person at the wrong time. It’s very frustrating to wait and see if it all works out in the end. This book is the definition of that. I was pleasantly surprised when this book didn’t turn out to be the cliché romance I thought it would be.

We start with Izzy working her regular Saturday shift at a café, dressed in her wonderful elf costume. This is when handsome man Sam walks in. They instantly click and she knows he is the one. However, when she builds up the courage to ask him out, she finds out it’s actually his wedding day.

Izzy and Sam’s path intertwine on more than one occasion but there is always a barrier preventing them from being together. As well as the sweet romance throughout the book, tragedies such as loss and divorce are also tackled in a deep and meaningful way. This brings the characters down to earth and also makes them relatable.

The only thing that makes it difficult to read is the amount of time jumping. Some parts of the book are a little confusing. I didn’t know how old the characters were and how much time had passed in some of the chapters. It also felt like we missed out a lot of important things about the characters too. Despite this, I still really enjoyed it and managed to catch up with everything going.

The Characters
I absolutely love Izzy and Sam. As the book is mostly from Izzy’s point of view, we see a lot of how she thinks. By putting herself first and always trying to do the most logical thing, it makes her a great strong female character. She continuously shows she doesn’t need a man to keep her and her family happy, which I love.

I like how we get to know Izzy and Sam separately. Although this is a romance book, it is not always about their relationship. From Sam’s perspective, we get to see the struggles of his daily life. The unbalance of his work and home life make him suffer a great deal. It was really heartbreaking to read about and I felt sorry for him. However, I just wanted to go and tell him to sort it out, instead of ignoring it.

Overall Thoughts
The First Time We Met is the perfect book to snuggle up with after a long day and read until you finish it! I highly recommend it to anyone who loves a good romance. Once you get past the time skipping, It is an easy and enjoyable read that I’m sure you will love!

4 stars - if you ask me, I'll tell you to read it

This a the story of what happens if you meet "the one" at the wrong time. Izzy and Sam meet on his wedding day and feel an instant connection, but of course it is not meant to be. They meet accidentally a few more times and every time that connection is still there. So years down the road, when both are single they reconnect and have a chance to see if they can make a relationship work or if there is too much baggage.

Overall, I thought this was a good read. It seemed very realistic and well done in covering the relationships. I enjoyed reading it and would recommend it if you like cute, light-hearted romances.

I enjoyed this book overall but it was very drawn out. I found myself getting frustrated with Izzy and Sam becuase they wouldn't be honest about their feelings. If you enjoy a slow burn romance than definitely give this one a try.

I just adore these type of romance tropes. You meet the one, but something happens, then you meet again, something happens, repeat this cycle for several years until, it finally works out. /sigh It just makes me happy! Izzy and Sam were that couple. I love the beginning but then the long lag in between time jumps made things slow down greatly for me.

I thought this was a truly realistic look at what could happen, there was no great crazy thing that happened to them, life just took them in different directions. The different directions were even across oceans as Izzy was planted in England and Sam was firmly in the US. They married different people, had children, and basically lived completely separate lives until they slid back into each others life.

The frustrating part of the story for me was all the extra characters, even the kids. Ugh Sam's daughter was just down right mean. Don't get me started on Izzy's ex husband. I wasn't even very interested in her besties. I just wanted more Sam and Izzy, less other characters. Solid 3.5 stars for me. I will round up to 4 because I did really enjoy it and read it super fast!

Do you believe in love at first sight? Jo Lovett will tug at your heart strings with this romantic story. Izzy and Sam first meet in December when Izzy is working as a waitress. There is an instant spark when these two meet. So why does Sam say no when Izzy asks him out? Well he has a good reason... it is his wedding day. Time passes: marriage, children, new jobs, new countries, and yet they cannot seem to forget. Over a decade has passed and Sam reaches out to Izzy ostensibly for help for his son. They begin an email correspondence, but an ocean, many yearsand relationships, separate these two. Will they be able to rekindle the spark?

Do you believe in “the one“? OK full confession- I do not necessarily believe in love at first sight or the one and yet I really enjoyed this story. Both Izzy and Sam were fabulous characters. I found them both so kind, genuine, and likable. Also found them both quite frustrating at times. I wasn’t always thrilled with some of the characters choices and didn’t like how fickle Izzy was throughout most of the book. Nevertheless, this was an engaging story that warmed my heart.

This book in emojis 🥄 🤰🏻 ☕️ 🎨 🐑 📩 ☔️

*** Big thank you to Bookouture for my gifted copy of this book. All opinions are my own. ***

A heart-warming and uplifting tale of second chances, unexpected twists of fate and the magic of falling in love, Jo Lovett’s The First Time We Met is a powerful love story readers won’t forget in a hurry.

Izzy doesn’t believe in love at first sight. That is just an invention created by film producers and romantic novelists and certainly not something that could ever happen in real life – or so she thinks! Cupid’s arrow well and truly hits her when Sam walks through the doors of the coffee shop where she works and she falls head over heels in love with him. But there is a slight catch that puts paid to any hopes and dreams she might have for the future: Sam is getting married. To Somebody Else. On that very same day. Just when Izzy had thought that she had finally found The One she ends up disappointed and heartbroken before things had even managed to get off the ground with him. However, Izzy shouldn’t be too hasty in putting Sam behind her for good because it looks like fate might have other ideas in store for them…

A year has passed since their fateful encounter and Izzy knows that she should stop thinking about Sam and move on with her life. After all, he’s a married man and has long forgotten about her. Having been married for less than twelve months, Sam is surely besotted with his new wife and doesn’t’ spare a single thought to the girl he had met at a coffee shop on his wedding day a year ago. But little does she realise that absence has truly made Sam’s heart grow fonder as even though all this time has passed, he still hasn’t managed to stop thinking about the girl who had asked him out on his wedding day!

When destiny pushes the two of them in each other’s path again in the most surprising and unexpected of ways, everything has changed for the two of them. But can Izzy and Sam triumph over all the obstacles standing in their way and find the courage to grab this chance at happiness with both hands? Or are they simply not meant to be together?

A beautifully written love story that will make readers feel every single emotion Izzy and Sam go through, Jo Lovett’s The First Time We Met is a fantastic read that touched my heart, made me giggle and brought a tear to my eye.

Sparkling with humour and charm, Jo Lovett’s The First Time We Met is a heart-warming tale of two soulmates who belong together and their journey to make the most of this second chance at happiness that is sure to delight and entertain readers everywhere.

Pros: sweet, good vibe between the two leads, realism around parenting, thoughtful treatment of speech impediments and other issues that gave it a very grounded vibe

Cons: the plot simply didn't really do it for me - meeting the right one at the wrong time is an inherently frustrating proposition, which did not really improve even upon reaching a happy conclusion, due to all the wasted unhappy years in the interim