Full of highs and lows, the reader will fall in love with Sam and Izzy as they journey through decades of near-misses and getting-to-know-yous.  In a series of unlikely events, that somehow play out as completely realistic, our ill-fated lovebirds meet, separate, randomly meet again a few times, and then find themselves working together on a project....which finally leads to our (not really a surprise, right?) happily ever after.  A fantastic supporting cast of characters rounds of the perfect Brit-Chick-Lit experience!

This book is everything that would usually induce ranting, eye rolling, and irritation in me. It's normal people living normal lives, it's chick lit, it's cliches and schmaltziness and slightly ridiculous coincidences and frustrating miscommunications. It is unlike me to enjoy this book. 

I. Freaking. Loved. It. 

Reading this was like watching Sleepless in Seattle or Serendipity. You know it's silly and smooshy but dang it, you just want to suspend the disbelief that shrouds your jaded heart for just a few hours,  and immerse yourself in the daydream of meeting That Person - the person who feels like home and magic all at once.  Cos if you chip away at that rock hard jade fence around your heart - deep down there's a stupid romantic part of you that still wants to believe in it... in the knight in shining armour, in the person who makes you laugh and makes your heart feel warm and saves you from yourself. 

This story is comfort food in book form. The kind that feels slightly indulgent but is also really freaking warm and delicious.

I think the thing that made this one different for me was that Izzy and Sam felt so real. I feel like I could bump into Izzy in the street. In fact, I would really love to be Izzy's friend. I love her bright quirky style and her "hot mess mum" nature - I feel like we're kindred spirits. Sam is not perfect but he tries to be a good bloke and loves his kids and his imperfectness is what makes him feel so real. I loved reading about characters in my stage of life. 

I gobbled this book up and didn't want to leave these characters behind. I think Izzy and Sam will stay with me a long while. 

My one little irk is with the ending. This is where the SPOILERS come in - beware! Unfortunately the whole proposal thing was just too much for me. I think they should have actually tried having a real, everyday relationship first before jumping straight into marriage, especially given Izzy hadn't even divorced from Dominic yet. Izzy had already learnt that you need the day to day stuff to work for a marriage to work, and Sam should have learnt not to rush into spontaneous marriage proposals. For me the proposal and quick marriage part pushed the story out of its "realness" and into unrealistic movie ending territory. They should have just moved in together (and Sam should definitely have moved to London so that Ruby could see her father, it's not logical at all for Izzy to move to the US) and then marriage could follow on from that, once they had actually spent significant time together in person. 

So I did feel a little let down that the ending took it too far. It would have still been a wonderful romantic story without the proposal/ wedding aspect. But overall I did really truly love reading this story a lot.

Major thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for giving me the opportunity to review this arc!
I’m usually skeptical of “love at first sight”, a bit like Izzy herself, but I loved watching the relationship between Izzy and Sam unfold. In a way, it reminded me of Love, Rosie (When Rainbows End) as the bulk of the development between Izzy and Sam’s relationship happened over emails. It was evident that Izzy and Sam complimented each other well, and weren’t afraid to tell the other what they needed to hear. I got very invested in their friends to lovers dynamic, and this book made me wonder if soulmates were real. Very Taylor Swift invisible string. I also think the roadblocks that Izzy and Sam experienced along the way was what kept me interested, and what kept me rooting for them. Izzy was an easy character to like, and I liked how she wasn’t afraid to stand up for herself. Something I really appreciated was how much Izzy and Sam cared about their respective children, and how they always put their kids first. I wish they’d gotten together faster, but overall, I thought it was a great book!

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC of this sweet little book! It's a cute and quick read about finding The One, and how this discovery is all really about timing. In the romance of Sam and Izzy, it's the journey of aligning up - or if it's meant to ever match up at the right time. While this was cute, I would have loved "more" of them being together vs. emails and long time gaps, but it was still light and full of heart!

Okay, so the word “heartwarming” usually turns my stomach. But actually, this novel’s pretty perfect. 

Really great characters, dialogue that hits perfectly, well written and very twisty, this was a fantastic read. I’ll definitely be looking out for more by this author.

Love at first sight. Impossible circumstances. A slow burn.

"The First Time We Met" encompassed one of my favorite story lines! Girl sees boy. Boy sees girl. Obviously, there's a spark and they both know it. But something BIG is standing in their way. In this case, it was boy's wedding day. Hot and hunky Sam... hubba hubba. 

I really enjoyed reading this story. Izzy is a delightful character and so is Sam. They go through a really time time together and apart. I really felt the love that they had for each other and I was just hoping the entire time that they could figure it out. The setting for the story was both in London, a dream, and New York. London is my favorite! 

If you liked One Day in December, you'd like this one as well! So many missed opportunities, but can they recover?

Overall I would probably rate this book with 3.5 stars! I would recommend this to someone if they were look for a light, easy romance with some real life hurdles!

It was hard to read for me because the dialogue only had one quote mark around the words. Ex. 'I love reading about books set in London,' she said. So, it got a bit jumbled up for me!
There were so many times that I just wanted to shake some sense into both Izzy and Sam because if they would have just VOICED what the felt instead of keeping it to themselves, there would have been a lot less heartache... and probably a lot less book lol. So I guess it is good they didn't!

*Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!*

I love how the main couple met on the day of the guy's wedding to another girl.   That's some obstacle.   :)     The story takes place through decades.   I love the emails especially.    I wish there were more steamy scenes because that's a lot of build-up and I thought that it deserves something more!    Otherwise... thought that it was a great book.

I don’t know that I believe in love at first sight butI loved this book!  Izzy, a diner waitress, meets Sam, an American businessman at her work.  When she realizes their connection, she chases him down only to find out that he’s getting married that day.  The story flashes forward several years at a time describing what’s happening in each character’s life.  Jo Lovett carefully crafts lovable characters in plausible situations.  She follows Izzy and Sam through fifteen years of triumphs and tragedies.  I could not put this down.  It is an excellent read to escape these trying times.  I look forward to reading more from Jo Lovett.

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an advance copy of this book. Izzy asks Sam out the first time she meets him, however, it is his wedding day. Slowly over the years, via a few meet cutes and email correspondence, a friendship is formed between the two. This was a nice light read, and, though I enjoyed it overall, I didn't really engage with the main characters (I did at times find myself being more intrigued by Sam's children).I did however find this to be a lovely light read, perfect for those days where you have nothing to do and want to relax a bit.

1.5 ✫

Izzy and Sam had a gorgeous meet-cute. Fell in love at first sight—ON SAM’S WEDDING DAY.

I thought this book would be good, it started out okay, but then within the first 20% it had jumped 14 years since they met. Their lives had spiralled so far away from each other that I couldn’t grab the connection that was originally intended. 

I don’t even know what else to say besides—this wasn’t very good. The majority of contact was emails back and forth and some very unexciting face-to-faces. I usually love online correspondence, but it was all incredibly boring. Except for their meeting, I felt no chemistry. I’m not really sure what this book was even supposed to do, I need so much more than this. 

The cover and plot reminded me a little of One Day in December—which I hated for a number of reasons. I thought maybe this might get it right. I was looking for longing, angst and that second chance—I got two people, never being honest and losing half their lives not together. At least there was no cheating.

Izzy and Sam meet on Sam's wedding day,,,when Izzy asks Sam out on a date! This book was a sweet story that spanned the ensuing years and left us with a lovely tale about "the ONE"

This is a gorgeous little rom com about Izzy and Sam who fall in love instantly. Only problem is that Sam is getting married. That same day. The book jumps through several years and the different paths they’ve taken, bringing them back together with a lot of baggage and doubt, but also a lot of chemistry and connection. 

I really enjoyed having both Izzy’s and Sam’s points of view to tell the story, particularly as the book brings them together only for them to walk away from each other yet again. 

It reminded me a little of the movie Serendipity with Kate Beckinsale and John Cusack which I loved so it’s not surprising that I absolutely loved this book too. This was a slow burn romance where the writing had a great flow and it was an easy read. It really just hit the sweet spot. 

Thank you to the author and publishers for allowing me to read and review this book. I’d recommend this one to readers who enjoy a bit of a fairytale mixed with real life situations.

What if you met the one, but it was just not the right time or the right place. The concept of this trope has been handled before in books (Just think about One day in December or the day we met, but it is kind of a trope I really tend to enjoy.

And boy did I enjoy The First Time We Met. In the first chapter we meet heroine Izzy, who doesn’t believe in love at first sight. But when she serves breakfast to the hansom and charismatic Sam, she is swept of her feet. Sam is the one, Izzy is sure of it. But when she runs after him on the street and asks him out, reality hits her. Sam is about to get married in a couple of hours.

From there on, we follow Izzy and Sam trough the years. Finally almost a decade later their paths intertwine once again, but they both have a lot of baggage and are living on different continents.
Although I dived in this book for the romance aspect of it, I was surprised to quickly realize that the strongest feature of this book was not in fact the relationship between Izzy and Sam. It was the overall story-line and how very realistic it felt.

We have Izzy, a strong female character who is trying to be a good wife, a good daughter, a good friend and a good mother all at the same time. She trying to navigate a minefield of emotions and she genially cares for other people. Sometimes even a little bit to much. I loved how determined she once, but was still battling with insecurities. Izzy is the type of woman I would love to have a cup of tea with and call her my friend.

On the other hand there was Sam, with his own baggage, but also with his own insecurities. Sam’s character was crafted so well that you saw what a good guy he was, but at the same time you wanted to yell at him that he was handling life all wrong. Sam really made a mess of his family and professional life, but in a relatable way that makes you feel sorry for him.

Even the side characters were well fleshed out and had their own story to tell. Because of these well-developed characters and the overall story arc The First Time We Met felt like following real people in their day to day life instead of reading a romance story. So well crafted!

The only minor point of critique is immediately a very personal issues I had with the book. I love a adult romance book to have one or two steamy scenes. Come on, we are all adults. And when you are writing about lust and love… well, you need to show the passion and the sparks. This was one of the things I truly missed in the story. But that is just me.

An absolute recommendation and one of the better feel good novels I read this year!

Whilst wearing an elf costume, working in a greasy spoon and putting up with comments and leers from customers Izzy hears the voice that makes her look up and gaze into the eyes of Sam. Straightaway she knows that he is 'The One'. They have a little banter between them and when he leaves she chases after him to ask him out, however, Sam drops the bombshell that he is getting married that afternoon. 

They each go on to live their lives, however, the though of each other is always there. Over the course of the years, they have several missed opportunities for meeting again. Glances from a distance, a good Samaritan deed, coffee and providing help for Sam's son. Told from both Sam and Izzy's point of view you are captivated by their friendship, longing to be together but can't and the almost chances that they have. 

Have tissues at the ready as you read their 'You've Got Mail' style liasions and the words that go unsaid for so long between them.

This was a super slow burn and a very fast ending so my emotions were all over the place. I experienced bliss, happiness, joy, sorrow, broken heart, annoyance, and all the emotions in-between. Every character had something about them that just turned me off but I was still rooting for them. It was such an odd feeling to have about a book but I still loved it.

Izzy falls in love at first sight with Sam and asks him out, only it's his wedding day. Slowly over the years a friendship and relationship starts between Izzy in London and Sam in New York. This is a gentle read and for me an average read because I didn't really engage with the two main characters. We were told Izzy is nice which is great but I'd rather be shown her niceness and this pulled me out of the story a bit. Overall a sweet read for a Sunday afternoon. Thank you to Netgaley and the publishers for letting me review this book for an honest review.

The First Time We Met hooked me from the first chapter. I loved Sam and Izzy and was rooting for these two to end up together, I kept yelling at Sam while I was reading "Stop Being Stupid Tell Izzy How You Feel". I enjoyed the duo POV I felt it brought something extra to the story. I can't wait to read another book by Jo Lovett.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story, which centers around the idea of meeting The One, but on his wedding day. This is a lovely story for readers who are longing for a fairytale within contemporary real-life situations. If you enjoy romantic comedies with heart between an American and a Brit, snap this one up. 

This hit the sweet spot of a combination romance and women’s fiction. I loved the exploration of whether there there can be a The One, and is it possible to meet that person at the wrong time, but somehow find your way to them later. Bonus points for making me tear up at a big romantic gesture. A lovely read.

It has been a whole since I have enjoyed an easy read, finished in a couple of hours this afternoon sat in the sunshine.

What a beautiful story, I love the two main characters Izzy and Sam and watching the story unfold.  The middle section was a little long but I still enjoyed it. 

Overall an enjoyable read that enables you to switch off from life for a few hours.

The First Time We Met, Jo Lovett

What if you met the one on his wedding day?

Izzy doesn’t believe in love at first sight until she meets Sam one Winter morning, taking a chance she asks him out only to find he’s about to get married. Nearly ten years later Izzy still thinks about Sam, the one who got away and Sam still thinks about Izzy, the girl who asked him out on his wedding day. When they finally cross paths again, with decades of baggage and an ocean between them they discover whether some obstacles are to big to overcome. 

A cosy, gorgeous, “One Day in December” vibe love story to lose yourself in. I absolutely lost myself within this one. With a well layered storyline that is not without its difficulties for the lead characters, stunning backdrop of the New York and London skylines, this one is sure to capture your heart this Christmas. Jo Lovett establishes herself as one to watch here. Snuggle down and lose yourself to the festive feeling with this tear jerking, heart warming, love story.