Annie has been left jilted at the altar by Alexander and weeks later, has a chance encounter with Patrick, an old friend from summer camp. When her ex-in-laws embarrassed by their son's behaviour, encourage her to take the honeymoon, she takes Patrick along in an effort to let go and have some fun and possibly mend her broken heart.

I am a huge Laura Jane Williams fan - Our Stop and The Love Square were brilliant and this is her best yet. These characters are so incredibly likeable and I found myself rooting for them all the way through. This was funny, cute and soppy. A perfect read.

When Annie is jilted on her wedding day she is lost and doesn't know what to do. Off work, she joins the local boot camp, where she bumps in to Patrick, an old friend from their childhood drama camps. They soon become friends again and he joins her on her honeymoon in Australia so she doesn't have to travel on her own. They are havin a great time, but will they become more than friends?

The lucky escape is just what it entitles! A perfect way to escape the madness of Christmas and get lost in a book. Annie is a wonderful girl who is relatable to most, she spends all her time and efforts trying to please other people and be who they want her to be. That is until Patrick comes along and fills her world with colour. I love Patrick and I think if you don’t fall a little bit in love with him yourself, there is something wrong! He is charming and kind hearted, which is a lovely to see the male stereotype challenged! I would definitely recommend this book! I read it in one day!

I was really excited to read this book, despite it definitely not being the season for a summery read! I really enjoyed the concept behind this book as it could have led to some great romantic moments however, I think the execution fell slightly flat. The book itself was incredibly slow. It took some time to get to the actual honeymoon part of the story and I wish the honeymoon was a bigger part of the story. I found myself losing interest every so often because of how slowly the book was moving. In comparison, the climax of the story, when they return from Australia, happened too quickly. She was struggling with major life decisions but I would have liked longer for her to think about her options. Another reason why this book slightly disappointed me is because of the main character. I found her to be quite unlikable and selfish. Patrick was a wonderful love interest but towards the end, she was horrible to him for no real reason.
Overall, I enjoyed this story as it was fun to read, but it is not a book I will reach for again.

The Lucky Escape provides a fun, light read. After being left on her wedding day, but still gifted her Honeymoon, Annie is given a second chance at finding herself.

I enjoyed the characters and the overall plot, however, the three segments of the story don't really flow as a whole as well as I would like.
The post wedding disaster phase is expected, but Annie seemed to move on and forget about it fairy quickly and suddenly. I really enjoyed the traveling antics and getting to follow along as Annie got to know Patrick, but the return to London felt jaring and slapped together as too many choices are suddenly the focus.

Overall an enjoyable HEA

Fun, clever, witty and wonderful... there's a reassuring warmth and wisdom to LJW's story-telling that enfolds you from the onset one and carries you throughout. She has done it again! Absolutely brilliant. Highly recommended.

Out June 24, this will make the perfect summer read! The Lucky Escape is funny, sweet, romantic and is all about second chances! I haven’t read anything else by Laura Jane Williams, but I loved her writing!!

I really loved the main character, Annie, and her willingness to start over and take chances, even though her life was turned upside down. She was really relatable and I was rooting for her throughout the whole story!

I thought Annie found her perfect match in Patrick. While his past was heartbreaking, it helped explain who he was and his outlook on life. I loved how he challenged Annie and made her look at life differently than she ever had. I loved the way the author developed their relationship. It didn’t feel forced or cheap, as is often the case in most romance novels.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book! It was a really quick read and I’ll definitely be checking out more books from this author!

Thanks to Avon for letting me read Laura Jane Williams's third novel The Lucky Escape! Although I don't always love her books, she writes intelligent and fun rom-coms that are very rooted in the modern world so I know I'll always request one on NetGalley when it pops up.

The Lucky Escape follows Annie, who has just been jilted at the altar by her fiancé, Alexander. Depressed and uncertain, she's encouraged into going on her Australian honeymoon by Alexander's (very rich) parents, and - in a moment of spontaneity - she decides to take along Patrick, an old friend from summer drama camp, with whom she was recently reunited. I suppose my main issue with this book is that I'm pretty bored of the trope of 'young woman realises she's been conditioned to people-please and that she's been taught never to take up space, but then suddenly has a revelation that causes her to change her life'. I feel like it's a bit overplayed, and I'm not interested in reading superficial analyses of characters' personality traits - especially as Annie's constraints feel a bit unrealistic for reasons I won't go into now. (And her mum is portrayed like a pantomime villain.) It also took Annie an unbelievable amount of time to realise she fancied Patrick. But regardless of any criticisms, I did enjoy this - I flew through it, I really liked the dynamic between Annie and Patrick, and the moments of connection felt genuine. I know I can always rely on Laura Jane Williams for an entertaining read. 3 🌟

Four heartfelt + wanderlust + darling stars to this novel by Laura Jane Williams. I loved her previous book, Our Stop, and was thrilled to receive the advance reader copy of her latest work. Due out next summer, this sweet and smart novel is the perfect escape! Annie, a London scientist, is due to marry her uni sweetheart, Alexander, when he leaves her at the altar....crying in her wedding dress and all. Her life is turned upside down as she reevaluates all the choices she’s made and things she thought she knew. By chance, she runs into an old friend from high school, Patrick, and on a whim, invites him to accompany her on her dream 3 week honeymoon in Australia. Patrick is suffering from his own losses and together the two help each other heal by recognizing the joy, wonder and beauty of new experiences and travel. They each embrace that hope can exist simultaneously with grief- a poignant message that really resonated with me given our current world.

I flew through this one- loved the messy, imperfect characters, the personal growth they experienced, the chemistry between them, and the gorgeous descriptions of Australia. This book filled my heart and made me yearn for travel!

Put this on your TBR list and check out the author’s other books too- you won’t be disappointed! Thank you to Netgalley + Avon Books UK for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I quite liked both Our Stop & The Love Square - both lovely reads with superb helpings of romance. Whilst The Lucky Escape follows similar patterns, it's solely a romance - one which doesn't really make for the most gripping reading. It gets off to a good start, but as soon Patrick appears it all gets a bit dull. Although the romance genre isn't best known for being realistic, this one is the points of far-fetched. There's little more to it than the characters on a road trip realising they're in love with each other. All the characters are somehow too sketched out yet remain one dimensional. Some nice ideas, but the execution is really missing something.

The Lucky Escape was a quick, easy read that was somewhat predictable, but that I actually really enjoyed. It was a breath of fresh air from what I normally read, and it kept my attention throughout the whole story. I liked the characters and found myself rooting for them from the beginning. Definitely would recommend!

The Lucky Escape by Laura Jane Williams was at first glance a fluffy chick lit book. But, at the true heart of the book were great truths shared that we all need to hear. Annie was on the brink of finding her happily ever after with her boyfriend of nine years, Alexander. He changes his mind and Annie falls to pieces.

This leads Annie to take a literal journey far from home, but also to undergo deep reflection. Annie examines everything about herself from where she works, lives, exercises, and even her relationship with her mother. She wonders about her nature as a people pleaser and decides to not let her fears stop her from finding love again. I know my default is to prove my worth by how well I look after those in my care and often on the list of priorities I come in last. Annie’s courage rubbed off a bit on me and I have moved my needs way up on my long to-do list.

I also loved this advice from her grandmother about how “life’s lows are so entwined, the happiness and sorrow is so interconnected that it’s impossible to be totally happy or totally sad....we can’t outrun the crappy, awful, horrible stuff. So the job of our lives is to let it exist alongside the good stuff, making the good stuff so much sweeter.”

This book had an enjoyable cast of characters with sometimes laughable and sometimes heart wrenching side storylines. I enjoyed seeing how her friends and family grew and changed throughout the story. Her friends and family were true to life and reminded me of people I have known and loved. They all had satisfying character arcs, and were very well written.

At the end of the book I felt almost as if I had attended a few counseling sessions as the struggles Annie has are relatable to most women. But, the book at its true core was entertaining and a fun read, not a preachy self-help book. It was another excellent book from the author of Our Stop and The Love Square. Laura Jane Williams will become one of your favorite new authors also.

I was provided a free advance reader copy from Avon Books UK in exchange for my honest review on Net Galley. The opinions shared in this review are my own.

The Lucky Escape by Laura Jane Williams was a truly lovely book! This book starts out when Annie is left almost at the alter on her wedding day. I cannot imagine how you would begin to cope, but Annie gets out from under the duvet and through a workout class reconnects with a friend from camp, Patrick. When the world's sweetest almost mother-in-law insists Annie go on the paid for honeymoon, she does with Patrick. The two set off as just friends on an extravagant Australian honeymoon washing away all the cold and wet of Autumn in London. If this was a different type of book or Williams was a different author it would end on the glorious honeymoon. What I enjoy about this book is that it doesn't. We travel back to London with Annie and get to see her sorting her life out. While The Lucky Escape is a love story, it feels so much more modern. Annie prioritizes relationships with friends and family and we see her grow into her own! It also includes a blossoming relationship and plenty of romcom elements, but it has depth for even the least romcom inclined!

This book was a very lighthearted read, with a plot that was easy to follow and enjoyable. Although the plot was kind of unrealistic, I still enjoyed the book. Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.

Unfortunately I couldn't finish this book as it was so slow, even by chapter 5 we were still at the point where her fiance ditched her at the altar and she wasn't sad at home. It's good to see backstory but when the backstory carries on for 1/3 of the book it's too much. I wouldn't recommend

I read an ARC of The Love Square recently and it didn't do it for me. This one, however, was adorable and a lot deeper than I anticipated. The current synopsis made it sound like a light frothy fun read, and while there is definitely a lot of that to be had, there were also deeper themes about loving yourself and being present in the moment.

Kindly received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Lucky Escape by Laura Jane Williams a five-star read that you should run away with. This was exactly what I needed, we just seem to have been living in a never-ending year this year, it brightened my day no end, I have been one of the lucky ones who has stayed in work all during the year as I am one of those annoying people that keep the health care wheel moving. I have been so much luckier than lots of people but still it has taken a toll, this story just gave me the oomph I needed to realise that you can only say yes and be the helpful person for so long, sometimes you need to say yes for you and you only. My goodness what I would wish to run away to Australia, I even tried to persuade my hubby it is a good idea, we didn’t get a proper honeymoon all those years ago so who knows maybe next year we will have our moment. If you need something light and life affirming, then you need this story in your life. If you just want funny and entertaining then you also need this in your life, basically if you are looking for something amazing pick it up. I didn't think you could get better that Our stop, but this proved me wrong.

This book was a very quick and easy read and I really enjoyed it. I loved the concept of the story and I really liked the characters too. It was amazing how all the people in the spa said their pronouns that they wanted to be used, very current and I’m so glad it was included.

It was nice to read an adult genre story that still focused on putting yourself first, no matter your age. It was lovely to see the main characters story evolve and gradually learn to overcome their fears with one another. A very sweet read!

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for this arc. I adored Our Stop, of my favourite debut about a contemporary city romance. I didn’t enjoy The Love Square as much, nonetheless Laura Jane Williams is someone who I follow on social media and I find her such a sweet and lovely woman that I was willing to give her future books a try. The Lucky Escape definitely hit the mark for me, more than The Love Square but I didn’t love as much as Our Stop, which still remains my favourite book of hers. I think part of the problem was that the way this book is being promoted- the synopsis just didn’t quite evenly match up to the story, which led to expectations that weren’t fulfilled 😕

The premise of this is that a thirty-year old woman is jilted on her wedding day. Her boyfriend of a decade has vanished without giving any reasons for changing his mind. She has a thirteen-year old younger sister, a loving family and friends who encourage her to move on. Her friends remind her that she’s better of without him, and that he was never good enough for her, which has her wondering: if this how her friends feel why didn’t they say this before? She starts to re-evaluate her decade long relationship. Her almost mother-in-law feels awful about her son’s behaviour and insists she treats herself to the all expenses paid honeymoon to Australia. Along the way the protagonist starts going to the gym where she bumps into an old friend...he’s cute and they get along. Is there a chance for romance?

The good parts:
* the protagonist is engaging and relatable. I enjoyed reading about her reflecting on her relationship and realising how flawed it was and much she had compromised and altered herself to please her boyfriend, who once her rose tinted glasses come off, she realises took her for granted and was emotionally unavailable. This regret and bittersweet aspect of the novel was moving and poignant.
* Her family who are so sweet and supportive. I particularly enjoyed her relationship with her little sister.
* Her friends - being 30-year Annie constantly compares herself to her friends, who are married themselves and having babies. Her reflection on how female friendship changes and once people have moved onto their own lives friendship dissipate was poignant and sweet.
* The philosophical dialogues between Annie and Patrick.

My not so favourite parts:
* the romance plot being shoe-horned. It was obvious that Patrick is Annie’s endgame and there just wasn’t any conflict or barriers between them getting together. This part of the story was predictable and the least engaging bit for me. We discover 40% through that Patrick is a widower and he even declares he won’t marry again, yet he’s overtly tactile and affectionate towards Annie, when it’s not warranted plot-wise. That dimmed the tension for me.
* She doesn’t go on the honeymoon until a good 30% into the story. I thought this would’ve happened a lot sooner due to the way the synopsis has been written, so I found this a tad disappointing that it took so long.
* The last 30% - the story goes off on a tangent and Annie changes her mind about what she wants to do with her life more frequently than my four month-old niece changes her clothes full of spit-ups. And she’s teething!!

Mismatched expectations and minor gripes aside, this was on the whole a good escapist read. The two leads do have chemistry and it’s not saccharine-sweet, which was good. I liked the slow build up and that they don’t immediately start pouncing each other. The pacing is good, and the setting of the honeymoon was drool-worthy. Perfect armchair travel escapism. The way to describe this book is more accurately like this: after being dumped on her wedding day Annie reassesses her relationship with her fiancé while bumping into an old handsome friend from her adolescence, who reminds her of the person she used to be. Insisting on a platonic friendship the duo take the offer from Annie’s in-laws to go on the all expenses paid honeymoon, where Annie starts to rediscovers who she wants to be and falls in love...
There are some cliched scenes of the romance genre where the two leads are assumed to be a couple, as the two embark on the honeymoon, but that aside this was an alright escapist read, if you’re looking for a fun, easy romance novel that includes a holiday abroad, which at this point in time seems like a novelty. 3.5/5.

Thanks for the early copy. I’m a huge Laura Jane Williams fan and always love her books for a must pack when going on holiday. This book would be perfect to read on a sun lounger but I enjoyed it just as much for some escapism in this mad time we are in just now.

It was such a feel good, page turning romance with some hot scenes, laugh out moments and the brilliant set of characters that come with each of LJW’s books. Loved it! 5*