Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This is a perfect chic lit beach read. The story kept me interested. Who doesn't love a story about starting over and embracing your inner badass self.

Annie was about to be married when her fiance tells the wedding planner it's not happening. Annie is left broken hearted. Her not quite in laws urge her to take the honeymoon trip. Annie decides to go with Patrick, a man she has run in to that she knew from when she was a kid.

I won't give away anymore. Definitely worth the read!

#LuckyEscape #NetGalley

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, I always struggle when starting new ones, but this had me hooked immediately. It’s totally predictable, but I enjoyed the escapism. The characters were great and the settings amazing (I had to look them up and the images didn’t disappoint). I’d recommend this book for some well deserved positivity right now.

First off I wanna say thank you to Avon books uk for allowing me to read this arc for an honest review. I really did like this one it made me want to book a holiday vacation other than that it was just okay to me

this pains me to write this, but I struggled SO hard with this book.

I am one who is an all consumed reader. I pick up a book and have a hard time putting it down for anything until its done. This one I found myself losing interest in as soon as I picked it up - it never kept my attention and I had a hard time sitting still.

The premise was fun, the characters were likeable, but I felt lost in details that didn't really matter and story lines that didn't add to the story in any way.

I've finished it and hope to re-read a later time, maybe on a beach somewhere when I can really get into it.

This book was not my favorite read but I got through it and overall it was okay. This book took me a lot longer to read than others, I just couldn’t get as connected as I’d wanted to. The Lucky Escape is in the romance category, although it has some romance between the characters I feel like it could have been better.

Annie gets left at the alter on her wedding day to Alexander. He up and leaves with no communication to her. This part was not my favorite and obviously it make you hate Alexander, but we do get some answers later in the story.

I enjoyed the character of Patrick the most throughout the book. He was a very go with the flow person who had some trauma in his love life which makes him who he is. The honeymoon in Australia is where the book starts to come together, it seems like a different book while they’re together and that’s where we see the romance parts.

After the honeymoon we start to see developments with Annie and her character. Her mom becomes better in the end of the story and we get some closure with the characters. Overall a okay read that just didn’t live up to what it could have.

I received a ARC copy of this book from Netgally and Avon Books UK for my honest options. Thank you!

Huge thank you to Netgalley and Avon for allowing me to read an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book!

It was a very light and easy read, with some cute tropes. I particularity really loved reading the description of the scenes in Australia, they really added a lot to the book.

Really liked the buildup of the story, and loved seeing these two explore their chemistry. The middle-end of the book did get a little slow, but it definitely picked up by the finale.

The Lucky Escape is a cute, easy read about a woman who is left at the alter and goes on her honeymoon with an old friend she reconnected with during the aftermath of her break up. While this book did lose a little steam towards the end, I loved it and think it should be in everyone's beach bag this summer as it is the perfect book to read while enjoying some sun.

Thank you Avon Books UK and NetGalley for my copy of this book!

Annie is jilted on her wedding day, and her world is turned completely upside down. A chance meeting leads to her being reunited with childhood friend Patrick, and in a twist of events, ends up taking him on her honeymoon.

There were some really nice relationships in this book. Annie's friendship with her Core Four as well as Adzo, just felt so real. I adored her and her little sister Freddie, too. My favourite of all though, was Patrick. What an actual dream.

The descriptions of Australia were stunning and I loved reading about all of the places Annie and Patrick visited. Seeing Annie go from being such a people pleaser scared to do what she really wanted, to actually putting herself first was so refreshing.
Overall this was the perfect summer read, with fantastic characters and I found it hard to put down. This was my favourite book of Laura's yet, and I'll definitely be reading more!

A massive thank you to Netgalley and Avon for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is one book that you feel like you have read before. It was a good read but I felt like I knew what was going to happen.

Rating: 🌹🌹🌹🥀 3.5 roses / 5

✓ Childhood Friends to Lovers, ✓ Vacation Romance, ✓ Close Proximity, ✓ Second Chance Love

After Annie is left at the alter on the day of her wedding by her university sweetheart and fiancé, Alexander, her whole life is turned upside down. She’s left to contemplate their whole relationship and what went wrong. For the coming weeks in the aftermath, she lives in the midst of the remnants of their old life, waiting for him to come back and make things right. In an attempt to find some sense of her old self, one morning she takes an early morning run, when she comes across a building that runs bootcamp classes. Intrigued, she decides to sign up for classes. It is after one of those classes that she bumps into Patrick, an old friend from Yak Yak—an old summer drama camp she went to up until the age of 13. Patrick remembers her for who she used to be then—carefree and confident in who she was, and not as a jilted woman, as others see her now. Annie’s would-be MIL insists that she take the honeymoon and she thinks Patrick is just the companion she needs to take the escape with. But Annie isn’t the old one who needs an escape.

😘What I liked:
The love interest. I don’t care what others say; I loved Patrick as a love interest. He was a sweet and gentlemanly love interest. He pushed Annie just enough and really allowed her room to find herself. When Annie first reunited with Patrick, the author hinted about his past and I caught on right away as to what it was, but it was drawn out for a while as to what it was. It gave his character more depth and gave me more understanding as to who he was and why he acted how he did.

The chemistry. I think the chemistry between Annie and Patrick was very genuine and palpable. I like that they had a shared history, which added to the realistic factor. If they had just met and then decided to go on her honeymoon together, it would have not been as believable and it would have been way too rushed, I think. Their relationship building was very well-developed, even given that she just broke up with her fiancé.

The sisterly bond. I really enjoyed the attention the author gave to the relationship between Annie and her 13-year-old sister, Freddie. They had a very sweet and heartwarming bond and it really shined in the book.

😕What I Didn’t Care For
The forced diversity. There are books where the diversity forced and it seems to be checking off boxes for “woke” points. This was one of those. In this book, the author made clear to state the race of each character that came up but it didn’t really add anything to their character. Also, when her and Patrick went to get massages, each staff member at the spa introduced themselves alongside their pronouns but it never came up again (they didn’t even call out to them, so what was the point?). Now, I’m all for diversity, but this felt way too forced to me. And sometimes it sounded like buzzwords were used just for using them.

Annie’s mother. Judgmental and rude. Annie put way too much thought into what her mother says and it is what caused the big conflict at the end. And then the conflict between them is just quickly smoothed over and all the years of doubt she put in Annie’s head is forgiven? Umm what.

The main conflict at the end. I feel like the conflict is a make-or-break for me as to whether I enjoy a book or low key want to run to the nearest mountain, rip my shirt off and yell into the void. This, unfortunately, was the latter. Annie was given an offer to be promoted and moved to a different country (she lives in London) and they asked her to go on a short trip to check out the offices. Okay, cool! A chance at a promotion! But she all but takes the promotion makes plans to move away without even thinking about her own boyfriend? Annie framed it as she “doesn’t need his permission” but isn’t it common courtesy in a relationship to talk about those things with someone you’re fairly serious with? Like, it’s a pretty big decision to make and to have your significant other be a passing thought in back of your mind through it? Pretty terrible, if you ask me. Patrick was justified with his reaction. Don’t at me! That’s what had me annoyed with Annie and ultimately bumped down my rating.

Overall, it was a cute read and I enjoyed reading about Annie and Patrick’s adventures in Australia. They had a lot of chemistry and they both took a big leap of faith to be together after what life has thrown at them. Enjoyable read and perfect as a beach read!

Really enjoyed this book. Slightly predictable but still a great read. Scenes were set brilliantly. Plot flowed and never got boring

I enjoyed Our Stop and was excited to receive an arc of Laura Jane Williams latest novel, of the Lucky Escape. Annie had spent the majority of her adult life with Alexander. When he doesn’t show up for their wedding, her life is thrown into complete disarray. When she runs into her old friend Patrick, he convinces her to go on her honeymoon trip to Australia to take some time to process everything. He even decides to go with her for moral support.

I really loved the majority of this book, especially the time that was spent in Australia. The trip was filled with laugh out loud moments, charm and great romance development. I felt like things in the book somewhat fell apart after they got back. It was almost like the last third or so of the book was written by a different author because the characters didn’t seem like themselves. I loved the side characters, sometimes more than the main ones. However, there was a lot of character development and I was happy with the end. Overall, The Lucky Escape was a fun summer beach read and I look forward to Laura Jane Williams next novel.

3.5 Stars! Thanks to Netgalley and Avon Books UK for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Lucky Escape by Laura Jane Williams was a pretty cute read!

I really liked the plot. A woman is left at the altar but goes on her honeymoon anyway with a guy from her past that she’s recently reconnected with and they end up falling in love on the trip. This is just the sort of cheesy and slightly predictable storyline that I love.

I highly enjoyed reading about these characters. If I’m being honest, I wasn’t a huge fan of Annie in the beginning. She started off very insecure and that grated on me a little but as we move along in the story, we get a better understanding of her and see that a lot of these negative feelings stem from her relationships with her ex as well as her mother. Annie grew on me so much and by the end I adored her. I loved witnessing the emotional journey that she goes on as she learns to become more confident and take control of her life. I almost cheered at the parts where she stood up for herself.

Unfortunately, I have the opposite feelings about Patrick. I loved him at the beginning of the book. He was charming and funny and did anything he could to make Annie laugh. I loved watching their relationship blossom in Australia as they grew closer and all of their moments on the trip definitely make me feel warm and fuzzy inside. However, towards the end I felt like there was a bit of an attitude shift with him and he started to really annoy me. This certainly impacted my love of the story as I couldn’t fully enjoy the ending where Annie and Patrick had their big moment of declaring their love for each other after fighting.

I liked the writing a lot. The story flowed smoothly and it was really easy to just lose yourself in this novel. I especially love the atmosphere that was created during the trip to Australia. The author did such a wonderful job crafting this beautiful backdrop that it made me miss traveling!

While I’m not a big fan of the way this ended, I’d still recommend to anyone looking for a cute, quick read.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher, Avon Books UK, for providing this arc in exchange for an honest review.

The plotline for this novel was intriguing to me and I was hoping to love it. Sadly I felt it dragged in parts. I enjoyed the two main characters tale and how they came to build a relationship. I would have liked this to have been a book I would remember weeks from now, but sadly it didn't have that effect on me.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. Really enjoyed this book, liked the storyline, liked the characters, basically liked everything. Worth a read.

A fairly enjoyable read, with some inconsistencies.

Annie and Alexander were meant to be, or so Annie thought. They had been together for most of their adult lives after all. So she's completely taken by surprise when he doesn't show up for their wedding.

With her entire belief system uprooted, Annie is unsure what to do next. She was supposed to be in Australia for her honeymoon. But now she has been in bed for day(s), and is unsure about what to do next. Should she go back to work, where she has to deal with her colleagues who will definitely have heard all about it? Or maybe she can stay in bed for the upcoming 3 weeks?

Instead, she runs into her old friend Patrick, who convinces her to go on her honeymoon. Why waste a trip to Australia? And maybe he can go with her?

The story (felt like it was) almost divided into 3 parts;
1. Being left at the alter
2. Australia
3. After Australia

The first two parts were great, the flow was completely believable, and Patrick's introduction back into Annie's life is the cherry on top.

I was however, disappointed in the third part of the story as I felt like Annie's character in the third book did not match the strong, working woman she was described as from the beginning.
Sure, it makes sense that her self-esteem would be shattered after being left at the alter, but it seemed that her decision making skills were also affected, and I found it slightly inconsistent towards the end.

Overall, The Lucky Escape was an entertaining romance; a perfect light beach read.

I received this ARC from the publisher in return for an honest review.

First, thank you NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

Unfortunately, this book just wasn’t for me. It isn’t horrible and would be a great read for someone wanting just a mindless read with no frills and little drama; it would be a good escape from reality

So the good:
- A female character finding herself after being in a stagnant relationship for 10 years and realizing it is never to late to fight for what you want

The bad:
- The first 1/3 of the book is sooo slow and drawn out. I understand the author wanted us to realize the depression Annie succumbed to after being left at the alter but I feel like that could have been established in a couple chapters
- The second 1/3 of the book was the real “meat” of the book. A lovely holiday in Australia with lost of sexual tension. However, I wish the characters had been forced to communicate more

The awful:
- Did someone else write the last 1/3 of the book because it literally did not flow with the rest of the book. Characters were doing and saying things completely against who they were established to be.
- Ohhh Patrick. Paddy. Paddy. Paddy. Why did he have to go from jovial, YOLO, timid-lover to a crass jerkoff? Man, I just really came to dislike him which is really against the point of a romantic book, isn’t it?

If I could rewrite the ending this may get 5 stars for me because I really did enjoy the non-honeymoon and traveling around Australia with Annie and Patrick.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an advanced readers e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

I unabashedly love this book for being so soft and real about Annie and her indecisive mind, her broken relationship with her mother and how she heals and grows over the course of a book. It's also such a superior friends to lovers story. Patrick is a friend you WANT even if he weren't attractive to you and despite a weird start where he goes "I'm a good guy" it goes very well. And then not. Like real life. I love how realistic and grounded it remains- despite it being set on a luxurious (not)honeymoon- holiday.

Truly the stuff of escapist dreams.

I was absolutely thrilled when I got an ARC of The Lucky Escape, because I adore Laura Jane Williams' work. Our Stop and The Love Square are two of my favourite contemporary romance novels so I knew this one would be just as fulfilling.

I can honestly say this is my new favourite out of the three books. It was the perfect escapism, full of funny moments, sweet moments, heartbreaking moments and everything in between. I loved the entire sequence down under, and every conversation between Annie and Patrick. Annie's relationship with him felt so true and I loved how they both bounced of each other in such a genuine way. The pacing of the story overall was perfect, and given the disastrous circumstances at the beginning, I liked that we didn't have to dwell on it for too long before the fun really began, but it wasn't just swept under the carpet either.

I also loved the side characters, especially Annie's sister Freddie. Everyone could do with a sister like her!

One of the reasons I love Laura's stories is that they always feel so realistic and so current. Like I could be reading about her friends, not some fictional characters. This book was no different and I can't wait to purchase a copy for my shelves when it's released in the summer.

A strange book at first. . I could not see where it was going. You knew Patrick and Annie would end up together. A pleasant read. I did love the descriptions of Australia and Annie's love for her sister. Annie's mother was a character and a half, we knew she loved Annie deep down. The ending was good