I found this a very enjoyable book. I particularly enjoyed it as an audiobook.
If you turns blind eye to employment laws etc and take it for what it is, it’s a beautifully funny, multi layered story with brilliant characters. Birdy was so relatable I really did enjoy taking the journey with her.

My thanks to Penguin Random House U.K. Audio for a review copy of the unabridged audiobook via NetGalley of ‘The Summer Job’ by Lizzy Dent in exchange for an honest review. The audiobook is narrated by Emma Sidi and has a running time of 11 hours, 13 minutes at 1x speed.

This proved a delightful romantic comedy. Elizabeth ‘Birdie’ Finch is between jobs. Her best friend, Heather, has accepted a summer job at Loch Dorn, a hotel in Scotland. Yet Heather decides instead to go to Italy with her new boyfriend and asks Birdie to call and tell the hotel that she wouldn’t be coming.

Heather describes Loch Dorn as being a “rundown old place in the middle of nowhere”, and as Birdie has some experience of bar and waitressing work, she adopts Heather’s identity and takes the job. What could possibly go wrong? Well first off Heather is a world class wine expert and the hotel has recently been extensively renovated and is now hoping to gain a Michelin Star rating with its new fine dining menu and wine list. As the restaurant’s sommelier, Birdie is expected to suggest suitable wines to customers and also pair wines with the daily menu.

Birdie didn’t tell Heather what she was going to do and certainly doesn’t want to ruin her friend’s professional reputation. In addition, she really likes other members of the staff. Whoops! Can she bluff her way through the summer? What about her attraction to James, the handsome chef who is the manager’s son?

This was great fun and everything that I look for in a romantic comedy: great escapism, light-hearted, and heartwarming. In her acknowledgments Lizzy Dent writes that the novel is a love letter to her time living and working in hospitality in Scotland. She also invests the novel with a vivid sense of its Highland locations.

With respect to the audiobook edition, Emma Sidi is an established British actor and comedian. Her voice was light and warm and was a delight to listen to. She also did a wonderful job with the wide variety of accents spoken by the novel’s supporting characters.

Following my enjoyment of this appealing novel I will look forward to news of Lizzy Dent’s future projects.

Birdy (aka Heather) takes a risk when she impersonates her friend, to take a job in Scotland that she is clearly not qualified for.
A fun read full of determination, love, loss and mishaps. Can Birdy pull it off, and will she get found out?
A really good read, although I listened to the audio book and found the language a bit much sometimes. I am no Saint and do swear myself, but somehow it sounds worse hearing it than reading it.

A great read about a very naughty heroine who pretends she’s someone she’s not in order to get a summer job. Once up north to take up the job, the fun and games start as it becomes clear that the job is not what she expected. A very good (if somewhat unbelievable) story which makes a relaxing read, following our girl through thick and thin, finding new knowledge and friendships and romance on her way. I was fortunate to be given the audio version as well as the digital version of this book which was wonderful as I was able to jump from one media to another as required - always useful when you don’t want to put a book down. The audio version was very well read which helped bring the characters even more to life than the book alone.

Absolutely brilliant debut novel by Lizzy Dent, I devoured it in two sittings and enjoyed every morsel. The cast of characters was fabulous with all their flaws and imperfections , the descriptions of the settings were sublime, and it made me laugh out load at times. A perfect summer read and highly recommended.

This was a great listen! I had the audiobook version and the narrator was brilliant. Her accents and voices bought the characters to life and were authentic and greatly added to my enjoyment of the story. The author has written Birdie as a complex character, and although at times I was slightly exasperated by her, I did really like her and was rooting for her throughout. The book is a light read, but kept me hooked and I finished it quickly.
Thanks so much to netgalley, the author and publishers for gifting me this arc in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

I really enjoyed this audio copy. The interspersal of Scottish accents throughout the narrative really adds to the enjoyment of the story, as I'm sure it will for so many people.

Some areas may have been a little cliché, or needed more suspension of belief, but I utterly loved this story. I loved the imagery of the Scottish countryside, the camraderie between "Heather" and her colleagues, and the love story woven throughout the book.

This seems at the start as a gentle and light contemporary, but there's much more to the story. It deals with issues such as bereavement, parental abuse, and alcoholism, and all of these are dealt with tactfully – and really well.

DNF - thank you to the publisher for my advanced copy. This book had a great concept of a summer romancing in a grand hotel in scotland but fell flat due to the annoying narrator who was literally one of the worst people I’ve ever read about. Manipulative, lying, untrustworthy and just generally icky as a person I couldn’t continue to read about her.

Sadly not my cup of tea & probably one of the most stressful experiences I have had in a very long time. I only really started to enjoy the book once the truth came to light, but ultimately it felt like the conflict got very nicely wrapped up in a way that seemed both too fast and too convenient to truly be realistic & I would have liked to see a little bit more from it. I think "would have liked to see a little bit more development" is what could be said about my reaction to most of the elements of the book. I can see others enjoying this as a summer read, but alas, not for me.

I really enjoyed this audiobook - the narrator went from Scottish to English seamlessly - She didn't try to do male and female voices which was very good. She had a lovely tone of voice. The story itself was really good. Birdy decides to imitate her best friend Heather as a top call sommelier at a hotel in Scotland - although I do not like wine at all it didn't affect my enjoyment of the story. A great listen

The Summer Job is a great audiobook with a fantastic narrator. She switches between accents easily and it is easy to distinguish who is who.

The book beautiful describes views of Scotland, fragrances of the seaside and tastes of the meals in the restaurant.

A not so classic love story - Birdy goes to Scotland in place of her best friend to work in a luxury hotel. No one knows who she really is, or that she is not skilled as a wine sommelier. She falls in love with the area, the hotel and her colleagues. as her lies come to light and her life starts to fall apart, she also manages to keep together and event at the hotel and help to save it.

Great summer read with romance, friendship and a few complications mix in to keep it interesting.

Birdy Finch has a run of dead end jobs behind her and no idea about what to do next. When she hears that her best friend is giving up a summer job in a hotel to travel with her boyfriend instead, she realises she has no where else to go. One evening after a few too many, she decides to impersonate her best friend and take the summer job. After all how hard can it be to be a sommelier? Birdy can totally fake it til she makes it and it’s only one summer right?

I really enjoyed this light hearted and funny book. The narrator of this audiobook is brilliant, her range of accents really helped me engage in the story and kept me entertained throughout the book.

Birdy is likeable character and I enjoyed the transformation she makes within the story from a ditzy, selfish woman to a someone who learns to work hard, be respectful and think of the world beyond herself.
There are some really funny moments when she tries to impersonate a sommelier. Best of all though are the other staff of the hotel and how they are a family of sorts and how Birdy gets a sense of belonging as she becomes one of the team.

Of course, Birdy’s deception can’t last forever. The chapters where she gets found out and the ending felt a little rushed and glossed over but that didn’t stop my overall enjoyment of the book.

I’d recommend this book those readers looking for a feel good, funny and light hearted read.

Thank you to Netgalley, Lizzy Dent and Penguin for the opportunity to review this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

This was an adorable, funny, light hearted read. It was the perfect antidote to the dark thriller I was reading alongside!
It had a great plot, I wasn't ever bored and I looked forward to listening to the audiobook whenever I had the chance. There were some very serious themes too, which were a little unexpected but it added great depth to the story
The characters were likeable and I really got behind them as the book progressed.
The narrator was excellent, her Scottish and French accents were faultless and I look forward to listening to more of her work.
Thoroughly enjoyable audiobook!

The Summer Job - Lizzy Dent

I was given a copy of this book in exchange for a fair review thanks to Penguin General UK - Fig Tree, Hamish Hamilton, Viking, Penguin Life, Penguin Business and Netgalley.

Have you ever imagined running away from your life?

Well Birdy Finch didn't just imagine it. She did it. Which might've been an error. And the life she's run into? Her best friend, Heather's.

The only problem is, she hasn't told Heather. Actually there are a few other problems...

The basis of this book is a lie, told with good intentions. Birdy gets off to a shaky start but will she manage to get a handle on things?

This debut novel is complete with disasters, success and there is even time for a little romance. It is a very entertaining read with very likeable characters. There are even twists to keep the reader interested.

This version is very beautifully read by Emma Sidi.

Rating 4/5

A fantastic debut novel!

Release Date - 15th April 2021

I listened to this on audio, I thought the narrator was excellent and did a great Scottish accent when needed.
The setting of the summer job sounded sublime.
Having worked in the industry for many years I did find myself absorbed in the tale.
All in all a good story.

Excellent narrator.
I struggled to get into this book and actually gave up on it. Then tried again and persisted.
Initially I didn't like it because I didn't like the characters. Birdy is basically lying by pretending to be her friend and taking the job. And her friend Heather - abandoning the job, not even intending to tell them that she won't be showing up for work, because she's got a new man!
I also didn't like the swearing - I know this supposedly makes the story more "real" but the story didn't feel very real to me. At least not at first. It's a bit incredible that someone could pull off pretending to be a wine expert when they know nothing.
But it did get better and I grew to like Birdy and Heather's strange abandoning of the job is revealed at the end too. So I'm revising my feedback. I'd probably give this 3.5 stars but since that's not an option, I'm giving it 4.
It was helped by being an audiobook I think - the narrator was fabulous.

This was a very cute book about a girl who pretends to be her best friend. She does a really good job at the start, but that doesn’t last long. Without spoiling the plot too much, a happy ending brought the whole book together. Such a few good book. I listen to this as an audio book and felt the narrator did a fab job with accents, which really brought the characters to life.

A very mediocre chick lit. I was hoping for a funny romcom type of story, looking at other reviews but I completely lost interest about quarter in and could not connect to any of the characters.

This is my fourth or fifth audiobook, I think? I’m coming to realise that great narration is *such* a skill, and the narrator of The Summer Job has got it nailed. She brought this calamitous tale to life, charming me along with this bunch of misfits. Birdie’s endeavours were painful to listen to at times, but a heartwarming yarn was weaved through the whole book, and tied up in a neat little bow at the end. There were no big surprises, but you don’t really want any when you check into a hotel, do you? A solid 4* stay.

This book was an absolute tonic: I straight up loved it.

It’s fun, flirty and exciting, following downtrodden Birdy as she embarks on what she thinks will be a low-key summer job that means she doesn’t have to move back to her mum and dad’s at the age of 31. Unfortunately, Birdy quickly finds she is in way over head.

Birdy’s summer job is to be a sommelier in the hotel’s restaurant, and Dent has the perfect mix of humour in Birdy struggling to get to terms with an extensive wine list and pretentious clients and the sincerity that Birdy emanates with her desire to do a good job and become a better person. The narrative is gentle and heartwarming: you’re rooting for the underdog at the same time that you’re wanting to shake her for making such poor decisions. The romance is sweet and slow-burning but definitely steamy in places.

What did I love about this book? First of all there’s the absolutely gorgeous setting. It’s a country house hotel on the edge of a Scottish Loch and Dent really makes it seem like the most romantic place on the planet. It’s full of beautiful descriptions of the Scottish countryside and long walks around the loch at sunrise, really setting the scene and incredibly atmospheric. The hotel that Birdy works at feels so real, I was halfway to searching for it to book myself a room. A love letter to the Scottish landscape, there are plenty of opportunities for exploration through foraging and fishing trips and food discovery sessions, the language used throughout utterly perfect.

It appeals to the foodie in me, and there are gorgeous descriptions of mouthwatering food lovingly prepared on every page. It really works. The characters have depth and passion: often this passion is shown in connection to good food and the preparation of food, but it’s also really interesting in terms of local cooking and foraging.

The main love story, in my opinion, was between Birdy and her friend Heather: it’s about finding acceptance and loving yourself, as well as the romantic and familial loves presented throughout the book. It’s a story of love and friendship. It’s a perfect escapist pick-me-up and I would definitely recommend this! An easy 5/5