This was such a fun lighthearted story that i managed to read in one day. I wasn’t sure about Patrick to begin with as i thought Annie wasn’t in the right head space to go away with him but he soon grew on me.!

Highly recommend!

For fans of Jackie Collins or Candace Bushnell this book is the perfect kind of fluff to devour at the beach this summer. Easy to follow and enjoyable to read. This book would be great for a book club as well, the kind where wine is more important than the book lol.

A huge thank-you to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for this e-arc of The Lucky Escape by Laura Jane Williams.

"If you could just put yourself at the centre of your own world for one second you'd see how much you deserve to be there."

Over the years, I've developed a love-hate relationship with contemporary romance. On the one hand, it's nice to have something light and fluffy to read when you need a mood-booster. On the other hand, I tend to feel frustrated that most of these books lack substance or originality. I've begun to pick up the genre with the assumption that I'll be somewhat disappointed or left wanting more.

So naturally, you can understand my excitement over the fact that The Lucky Escape had the perfect blend of everything a good rom-com should possess. Some chapters caused me to bubble over with deep belly-laughs. Others incited inspiration (note: I was very thankful that I read a digital copy of this novel because I do not like marking my physical books and this way, I was able to highlight to my heart's content). A few times, I even shed tears. I found myself quickly becoming wrapped up in Annie's story and loving every second of it!

There was less predictability in this plot than I originally expected, which I loved. I kept having moments where I would begin to cringe, thinking I knew what would come next, only to be pleasantly surprised!

I appreciated that The Lucky Escape focused a lot on the importance of friendships and sibling relationships. There was as much - if not more - emphasis on this as there was on the romance element. The sweet nicknames Annie and Freddie had for each other warmed my heart and I loved the serious support system that the Core Four provided.

If you find me sitting in a corner, writing sonnets for Patrick, don't be surprised. This cinnamon roll of a man has to be one of my favorite love interests of all time. Truthfully, I could spend forever telling you about how phenomenal he is - and he's not even an unrealistic "dream guy" sort of character. He has depth and soul and a seriously inspirational perspective on life.

This book is currently living rent-free in my mind. Every time I put it down to do my work or run errands, etc., I immediately missed it and wanted to pick it back up again to continue reading. It took virtually no time at all to make it on my list of favorite contemporary romance novels! I will certainly be reading it again and again.

I don't know what it says about my reading habits but from the premise and the title I was expecting things to go very badly wrong for the main character. Nice, readable book with very little surprise but that's not necessarily a bad thing!

I loved this book! If you are a fan of Laura Jane Williams you will love this book or if you're into RomComs.

I loved the slowish burn of Annie and Patrick and how the book kept me guessing until the end about whether of not they'd end up together. Usually with a romcom you can tell from the very begging however not this one!

I also really enjoyed Annies journey of self discovery throughout. By the end she is putting herself first and it is truly the love story of this book!

I usually get gripped by Laura Jane Williams' writing in the first few pages, on this occasion it took me a few chapters. I'm SO glad I never gave up on it though.

From chapter 20 onwards, I was gripped. Seeing romance blossom between two friends was exactly how things happen in real life and I think LJW put it perfectly. With the Honeymoon being set in Australia, that made me even more interested as I love it there and knew most of the places which were visited - good job!

Just one final thing to add, I love Patrick!

Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for this ARC - Loved it!

Annie and Alexander have been together for 10 years, and on the day of their wedding Alexander doesn’t show up. Weeks later Annie is trying to move on when she bumps into an old friend from her childhood. After meeting up with Patrick and his ‘grab life by the balls’ attitude, Annie decides to go on her honeymoon taking Patrick with her.

This is a journey of self discovery and moving on from the life you always expected to have.

This was a lighthearted read perfect for the beach or, in my case, after reading a heavy book to help lighten the mood. Although I didn't get too attached to the characters, I did like Patrick and how he and Annie's relationship grew. This book had a very Sex and the City vibe to it, so if you like that you'll probably enjoy this as well.

***Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me an advanced copy of this book!

I loved this book. It starts sad for Annie as she is jilted at the isle after being with who she thought was the love of her life after 10 years together. But not to be, after a few weeks of hiding from the world. Annie decides to start running again, one morning she sees a book camp session and decides to join. She begins to enjoy the hard work and the stress relief. After one session, a man shouts her name. Not wanting to engage she hastily leaves. But at the next session he says hi again and after a little chat she realises he is a happy reminder of her past. Patrick has an aura about him that makes Annie feel safe, understood and generally liked. On a drunken afternoon she asks Patrick to accompany her on her “not”, honeymoon. Over the weeks away they become closer and realise they have feelings for each other. But is it too soon??

I thought this was such a cute romance book! Without spoiling too much, it is a cute destination romance with some fun uses of the setting. I thought the characters and dialogue were great, and the writing style was easy to digest and read. What a great book!

2.5 stars

The Lucky Escape tells the story of Annie, a jilted bride, who at the request of her should-have-been mother-in-law, decides to go on her honeymoon solo.

Though initially reluctant, Annie reconnects with an old friend Patrick, who dares her to go on her honeymoon, not just solo, but with him, and the story picks up more from there.

Sadly this book didn't do much for me. It was a rather generic, light hearted read. I was curious to see if something different would be done with the plot, however, it was rather predictable. I think part of the problem was I never warmed to the character of Annie. She was just a bit bland. I found the side characters of her best friend, Adzo much more interesting.

I also didn't feel any genuine chemistry between these characters of Annie and Patrick. They both seemed to lack depth which was really disappointing. The descriptions of travel provided a decent amount of escapism, and that for me was the highight of this book.

Overall, I found The Lucky Escape to be a decent read, but nothing particularly special. If you're looking for an easy-going, light-hearted read, this could be a book for you.

Firstly, Laura Jane Williams is one of my favourite authors. I have read other books from her and loved them, she has me hooked all the time and this was no different.

Annie is one of the unluckiest brides, being jilted at the alter is one of the worst things I can think of when emotions are already high on what is meant to be the happiest day of Annie's life. The book takes you through the stages of what I can only imagine being Annie accepting she's been left at the alter and how she moves on with her life, accepting what's happened - she's one strong woman!

Thank you so much Laura and Netgalley for allowing me to read this ARC. It was one of the most exciting emails I've had all year!

Annie has one of the most humiliating things happen: she’s jilted on her wedding day. Bolstered by her close friends, she embarks on the honeymoon with someone from her past and a new romance is kindled. I liked Annie. I thought there was a lot of growth for her during the story. . There are several really good showdown scenes that aren’t to be missed. I cheered her on as she found her backbone. I winced at some parts when I didn’t think she was being fair to Patrick. The person who almost stole the entire book was Freddie. Although only 13, she had more sense than the adults. The cover is great.

Ooo y'all I loved this book! Seriously kept my attention the whole way through. Loved the main character, she was very relatable. Great writing as well. Cannot wait for the next read from Laura Jane Williams!

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with this digital arc in exchange for my honest review.
The Lucky Escape follows Annie, a bride left at the alter. The first part of the book is her journey of self discovery post being jilted. The next part chronicles her journey to Australia with an old friend from camp. In the last part of the book we see how Annie moves on from the jilting by rediscovering herself, making changes to her life, and possibly entering into a lasting romance. Overall it’s a cute book albeit a little slow to start.

When Annie is left at the alter on her wedding day she is broken hearted. In the end she decides to go on her honeymoon and take Patrick, an old friend she is reacquainted with at the gym. The story is reasonably predictable but not in a bad read. This would be a perfect holiday read.

Going on your bougie honeymoon with a man you didn’t marry - *clutches pearls* How scandalous! Tell me everything.

When I read the synopsis I was pumped for this book, It’s such a juicy concept. There were some real laugh out loud with second hand embarrassment moments. It was cute, however I started to loose motivation around the 3/4 mark.

Annie is going through a lot of emotional upheaval in her life and I liked that she was a bit all over the map with what she wanted for herself. It felt real and relatable.

Patrick had this happy, confident, throw caution to the wind air about him. As we get to know him better you see little cracks in that, making him more approachable. Some of the silliness would have gotten on my nerves in real life though, it took his swoon factor down a bit.

The Australia part was great, I liked their tension and near misses but when they finally ‘get together’ it felt sort of anticlimactic. There wasn’t much heat between them and while I was rooting for Annie to figure her life out, I found myself indifferent to whether her and Patrick made it in the end.

This was a 3 star for me. Cute and entertaining but once I was done it left my mind.

Thanks to Avon Books Uk and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Hilariously entertaining and super enjoyable. This book is the very best brain candy meant to be devoured in one sitting.

Laura Jane Williams never disappoints. Romantic and charming but still real, the best book to disappear into during the pandemic.. a lucky escape.

The Lucky Escape by Laura Jane Williams was a bit of a slow start for me. I couldn't really get into it and the story line of the jilted bride left at the alter felt flat and cliche. But when Annie goes on the honeymoon without her husband and learns how to truly be herself - the plot quickly became much more interesting (and romantic!). The rest of the book flew by and I couldn't wait to see what happened to Annie at the end. If you like romantic stories with a HEA, this is a cute story. I would definitely try other books by this author!