Heather Jones, an up and coming sommelier has a new job in a hotel in Scotland. The only problem is she's not a sommelier and her name isn't Heather. She is actually Elizabeth Finch and she has taken the job her friend Heather was meant to take before she went to Italy to be with her present boyfriend. 
I really enjoyed the book although read it with a sense of dread of Elizabeth being found out. 
Very well written, with realistic characters and a great storyline which kept me hooked throughout.

This was a very light rom com type read that I could easily picture being some kind of movie. Though I wasn't super blown away by the storyline or the characters as it felt like something was missing. But it was still generally an easy and enjoyable read.

Such a great book. Enjoyable, entertaining and absolutely laugh out loud hilarious in parts. In a drunken moment, Birdy decides to take on a summer job at what she thinks is a run down restaurant in remote Scotland that her best friend is no longer wanting to do,as she is going out of the country with the latest boyfriend. But along side the job, she also takes on her friends identity,the downside is that her friend is a top expert in wine and Birdy is just an expert in drinking the stuff. There is true depth in parts of the book that really add to the story. I really recommend reading this one.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher Penguin General for sending me an eARC and of this book. 

The Summer Job by Lizzy Dent is not a typical rom-com and is a highly entertaining read.

It was a very easy, fast read which had very likable, personable characters

This story follows Elizabeth Finch known as Birdy a likable, flawed, protagonist, that somehow found herself taking on the job of a highly-trained wine sommelier in a false identity in Scotland, instead of her best friend, Heather.

Birdy is a slightly witty, charming, and chaotic character with a ticking-bomb secret that was certainly going to have to blow at some point, in a spectacularly satisfying way. Lying was a big theme in this book where birdy's decisions were spiraling out of control.

The Scottish Highlands and Islands were sat in a gorgeously picturesque setting by the author Lizzy Dent, she pulled it off with perfectionism aplomb. So vivid that I could imagine the gorgeous Loch Doon hotel, and the stark beauty of every landscape that was visited.

I liked the interesting and contrasting personalities between the outwardly chatty, birdy, and the solitary, fiercely caring James. Which resulted in romantic complications that were almost too difficult to get out of with every passing time. I did feel the romance happened way too quickly for Birdy with James, though.

This book was the perfect read for spring and summer. It dealt with adult struggles and difficult memories from the past that got me to a better understanding of the characteristic of Birdy and why she was the way she was.

This wonderful read transported me to the gorgeous highlands of Scotland. 

And I think every reader would love a trip to Scotland nowadays, even in our imaginations.

Fun and light, a joy to read. I kept wanting to read more and really enjoyed it! Ioved the character of Birdy!
I cant wait to read more from Lizzy, one to watch for sure! I loved the premise of finding yourself even when your pretending to be someone else and couldn't recommend it enough!

Fun and light, perfect for fans of Beth O'Leary. The summer job is all about finding yourself whilst you're pretending to be someone else. Lizzy Dent has written an excellent perfect summer read.

I totally loved this book and thought it was so entertaining, funny and sentimental all at the same time.  Straightforward plot really and at times left me feeling a little bit 'as if she could pull that off' but main character Birdy did just that.  Pretending to be her best friend and renowned Wine Somelier Heather, she blaggs a job in what she thought was a run down b&b type place for the summer.  What could possibly go wrong?  Well plenty which makes it entertaining, but in the end, the love story prevails.  A nice easy read for lockdown afternoons by the fire.

My thanks to netgalley for an arc of this book in return for my honest opinion.

There should be a warning on this book that you will be hungry afterwards. I was hungry from the start and was craving haggis by the end., It's a lovely way to discover Scotland and the fine fresh food it has to offer. What it must be like working in hospitality though! This book shines a light on that! I think the author has had a great idea and you can tell she has enjoyed every moment of writing this book. And that makes this book fun and fresh to read.

In this book we meet Birdy and her best friend, somelier, Heather. They have been best friends forever and tell each other everything and both live in Heather’s flat. Things get tricky when Birdy gets mistaken for Heather and takes a job in Scotland as a somellier. Oops! As if things weren’t complicated enough, Birdy falls in love with the chef, who also thinks she’s Heather. 
This is a fun, sweet book with a good heart and lovely descriptions of a loch in Scotland which is a nice bonus.

Oh boy. I really wanted to enjoy this. Really truly I wanted to love this but I gave up at 80%. I just couldn’t take any more.
 
That’s not saying I didn’t enjoy this book, parts of it I really loved – however. I just couldn’t get on board with Birdy. I love a flawed character, but in my opinion this took it too far. So many lies, so many anxiety inducing lies. I wanted to take James away and protect him – and that. That emotion is why I can’t call this time wasted. Because I really cared about the characters – all of them. Except Birdy, sorry Love.
 
Whenever I don’t enjoy a book I almost grieve for the time I’ve lost in reading it and although this isn’t quite the case with this one (there were scenes I really loved, the cooking lesson for example). I almost feel miffed at myself, this book could have been written for me, I’ve worked in hospitality, I’ve had terrible reviews written about me, I love angst and romance so why? Maybe it’s me, maybe I’m sulking about the years I worked in hotels wishing I could spit in the soup of the day.
 
This book has been tipped to be the new Flat Share and I’m sorry but it’s just not. If you wanted a fun  romance you will (probably) enjoy this book. Just be warned. You will want to shake the main character.

The premise of this book was really enticing but the beginning of the actual story was so slow, I had to drag myself through a huge portion before I got really invested in Birdy's life. But I did really enjoy the humor in this one and watching Birdy try to pretend to be her best friend Heather made for some excellent situational comedy that I think would translate epically onto the big screen!

I really enjoyed this book; it was fun and easy to read. Birdie pretends to be her friend Heather, in order to escape London, to go and be a sommelier in Scotland. As she knows nothing about wine, she has a challenge on her hands! This book is a great summer read - there is love, loss and the search for self-acceptance. I also enjoyed all the food and wine talk!

This is a hugely enjoyable book with a lot of warmth and humour but more depth than I anticipated, Birdy is a lost soul, without her best friend Heather she’d be on her own with no ties to anyone or anything. When Heather backs out of the sommelier job she had signed up to for the summer to go abroad with her boyfriend Birdy is supposed to let the hotel know that Heather will no longer be working there but due to a mix up at a wine event Birdy decides that doing the job in Heather’s place solves a few of her own problems. There’s some lovely characters, some relevant issues covered but more than anything a lot of confusion and humour. The storyline might be simple but it’s a very engaging read and a cracking main character in Birdy.

3,5 starts.
I think it's an entertaining read with some very serious moments.
It's requires quite a lot of suspension of belief as I don't think that a guide is enough to  work as a sommelleir.
I didn't like Birdy at the beginning as I found her immature  but she grew on me and I liked her character arc.
The plot flows, there's a lot of humor but there's also some heartbreaking scenes.
I think you can love or hate it, I found it ok and it will be surely loved by a lot of people.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I received a copy of the book from Netgalley to review. Thank you for the opportunity.
A fantastic idea behind this madcap caper of a book. It is quite slow to start and get into. The writing is good and MC's super relatable. A good read.

Good. Interesting characters and concept. Shows how sometimes you need to pretend to be someone else to find who you really are. Nice easy read full of food, drink and romance.

Birdy Finch goes to a remote Scottish hotel, posing as her best friend, Heather, to take up Heather's job as sommelier, even though she knows nothing about wines. Will cramming knowledge on a daily basis be enough to get her through?  How can she start a new relationship when everything is built on a lie? Funny, sad, enthralling, ideal reading for a wet winters day.

A funny, perky story where Elizabeth also known as “Birdy” risks everything to dive into a stolen second skin. Recreating a brand new life from scratch under the guise of expert sommelier is both hilarious and stressful to follow. The characters in the story are all colourful and rounded, although I wish the main love interest character was as interesting as the ex! I tore through this story and it leaves me longing for a Scottish highlands hike and a dram of whisky!

Sometimes you want a book full of twists and turns. Sometimes you want something that's going to wreck you emotionally. And sometimes you just want the comfort of a good rom-com. 

And that's what this book delivers, and delivers well. There's a fun range of characters, some touching moments, all in a setting that is described so well that it was easy to picture.

So that's what this book is – the comfort of knowing that you're going to have everything tied up in a neat bow at the end. And sometimes, that's exactly what you want.

Sorry, but this was just to ridiculous for me.
Someone with no job experience in the hospitality industry as a sommelier being able to persuade supposed professionals that they know what they are doing.
It was an insult to anybody working in the hospitality industry.
I found it frustrating it was so stupid.