3.5 stars
The Idea Of You is a romantic, steamy read which is perfect for escaping reality and reading in the sun.

Firstly I must admit this isn’t my normal genre but I’d heard lots about this book so was naturally very intrigued. The love affair between Solene and Harry was great fun to follow and I enjoyed watching it progress. It was interesting to see the discussion about the age difference and societies reaction to them being a couple though. It sadly happens in reality but society doesn’t seem to like older woman with younger men where as they think the reverse is absolutely fine which seems hypercritical.

Solene was an interesting character for me and one I wasn’t completely sure I liked. She’s a strong women who has a successful career in the art world but she did annoy me at times with her constant wobbles about the age difference and her continual brand name dropping. Hayes was adorable and someone I can see a lot of people falling in love with. He’s based on Harry Styles so it was fun to read the book with him in mind. Some of the scenes between Hayes and Solene get really steamy which might not be to everyone’s taste.

This book takes you to some beautiful locations throughout the world and it was fun to follow the characters in these locations and live precariously through them. Some of the properties they visit sound stunning and made me wish I was able to visit them myself. It was quite eye opening to see how the other half live with live in chiefs and people catering to their every whim.

The ending was an interesting one for me. I didn’t mind it ending the way it did but was confused by the reasons that it ended that way as to me I felt they had been worked through or could have been easily resolved.

Overall I’m a bit on the fence about this book to be honest. There were parts I really enjoyed but other parts that I wasn’t sure about. I did find it an addictive read at the beginning and read the first half of the book quite fast but I felt it slowed down a bit in the middle and I must admit I found it a bit hard to finish sadly. As I said at the beginning though this isn’t more normal genre and I can well imagine it appealing to lots of other people this summer.

Huge thanks to Jen Harlow from Michael St Joseph for inviting me onto the blog tour and for my copy of this book which I received in exchange for an honest review.

What an easy beach read. Nostalgic, emotional, fun, romantic, current and what felt like it was a little bit illicit to read. I didn't want to, but I really loved this book.

I wanted to love The Idea of You as so many others have however I just found it lacking. I’ve rated it three stars as I did want to read to the end and parts of the book I did enjoy. Unfortunately though the book was seriously slow in places and I thought the ending was particularly poor. Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin Michael Joseph UK and the author for the chance to review

I didn't expect to enjoy this as much as I did. I'll be totally honest and admit that I thought it would be a good bit of trashy escapism. It was great escapism, but it also had heart. It's a story about love and desire, but also about family, independence, and much more.

Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this, thanks to all for the e-copy!
When I first started it, as I went in blind, I thought...oh I don't know will I like this.
But I must say, this book was nuanced, complicated, lovely in parts, heartbreaking in parts and also had some pretty entertaining R Rated scenes! I was so captivated by their relationship and was definitely in gulps of tears by the end. This book has Taylor Jenkins Reid vibes and will definitely go down well with her fans.

BOOK REVIEW: The Idea of You by Robinne Lee

3.5 Stars
Smut level: 3.5/5

I really enjoyed this book and could not put it down as it was so addictive!

The age difference in this love story is pretty big, a 20 year old male and a 40 year old woman. However, this didn't bother me at all and made me really enjoy this story as it was so different to anything I have read.
The leading lady Solène is a sophisticated and elegant gallery owner. I loved that her passion and love changed her into a more open person. The leading male is called Hayes and is in a very popular boyband (think One Direction). I definitely think the author got inspiration from Harry Styles for this character as a young male boyband singer who liked dating older women, has curly hair, wears silk scarves etc. I really liked Hayes for most of the book as he was loving, caring and mature beyond his years. However I do think he was quite selfish at times which linked with his fame and stardom at a young age.
The characters and their love story wasn't perfect and that made it feel real.
The story was really good with lots of barriers to overcome and a ton of emotional baggage on both sides to contend with. It was well written and incredibly addictive. The smut was sexy, well written and there was just the right amount.

My rating is 3.5 but it would be 4.5 if it wasn't for the ending which I found really poor. There needed to be an epilogue or something! I was stunned that the author had ended it that way and it made me feel cheated!!

Overall, I definitely recommend this book to lovers of a smutty romance!

Please note that I was #gifted this ebook in exchange for an honest review

Interesting concept that is quite relevant to me as I am the same age as Solene, I also have a daughter a bit younger than hers. However that is where the likeness stops! Solene attends a pop concert and meets the popular British band who her daughter loves then it goes crazy from there when Solene goes for lunch with one of the young boys from the band.

It is pure escapism and not too much depth to the story.

Thank you to NetGalley & publisher for the opportunity to read this book in return for my thoughts,

Wow! The Idea of You has been labelled as a scorching summer read and I couldn’t agree more! It is smart and HOT🔥! I would even go as far as to say not for the faint hearted among us.
I loved this book and I was obsessed with Hayes and Soléne from their initial meeting. Their relationship is so multifaceted as they struggle to navigate through the paparazzi and fandom lens - I for one would NEVER want to be famous!
Written from Soléne’s perspective we get a glimpse into the world of celebrity and the ugliness that can be attributed. As her love for Hayes grows, other relationships begin to suffer and her biggest threat are the millions of Augies (August Moon fans).
The Idea of You is a perfect summer read. It will take you on an emotional rollercoaster, leave you rooting for a happy ending and balling when it can’t be achieved!

I got pulled in by the cover page and blurb about the book. Solene Marchand, 39, divorced, mum to Isabelle who starts an affair with a world famous sex symbol, a member of her daughters favourite boy band.

Although I registered boy band Hayes age still came as a bit of a shock, when I started reading. Did I stop reading? No! although I can't lie there were parts of the book that made me feel uneasy. This is probably because I'm mum to boys that are around that age and I just couldn't see myself in that position (like I meet world famous boy band members every day! haha!)

Once you get past that though you get sucked into the book and caught up with Solene and Hayes story. My heart broke for Isabelle and her struggle with it all and raged at the double standards of her ex-husband Daniel (albeit the age difference wasn't as much) but still why does society accept it more when it's the other way around?

The book is graphic in parts but not overly so, there is a nice balance and the story flows well..

It's a book that makes you question societies opinion, boundaries, morality and above all love ... or it's just a bit of fictional escapism however you choose to see it, it's worth the read.

Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin for the ARC

I have really mixed feelings about this. The pacing was perfect and it was compelling enough to keep me reading. That said, I found the constant focus on their age difference deeply off putting. Things like him not being young enough to drink are mentioned over and over again. Even the fact that Solène's daughter has such a crush on Hayes and is realistically only a few years younger left me on edge.

It very much reads as an older woman's Harry Styles self-insert imaginings. Sure it's written in a super readable way and it did pull at my heartstrings. But honestly I wish I'd put it down when the red flags started from the jump. It has clearly found its audience and I'm sure it will continue to do so. For me, it left me sad and feeling guilty for having read it more than anything which isn't what I want from my romances.

OK, I feel very conflicted about this book so I'm not giving it a star rating. On the one hand, "The Idea of You" is very readable and hard to put down. On the other, isn't a 39 year old copulating copiously with a 20 year old kinda creepy? And what on earth would you talk to him about? And he would wear those awful skinny trousers. Without socks. I can't even! I just wasn't able to suspend belief enough to completely go with it. Or quell my growing sense of unease.

The book will undoubtedly be a huge hit (and it's a great summer read) but, yeah, it made me feel a bit weird. If it was a 39 year old dude and a 20 year old woman, I suspect the response to it would be wildly different. There are some other issues it's difficult to discuss without giving spoilers but consent is a big one. The author doesn't include a note to address any of the issues, but writes a gushing message to her muse in the acknowledgments. So, yeah, it's quite problematic (and a bit crazy-horny-Mom-fanfic) BUT I kinda enjoyed reading it.

"The Idea of You" is, at times, sweet and sexy, whilst providing food for thought concerning the nature of fame in the age of social media and the invisibility of ageing women. On a very basic level, it's a good read from Robinne Lee. Though I do feel like a massive pervert for enjoying it, so I kinda wish I'd given up when the alarm bells started ringing early on. Go figure. I expect the "Fifty Shades of Grey" brigade will go mad for it.

Solène Marchand is a beautiful gallery owner, divorcee and single mum. Her life is settled and she is happy. Her ex husband flakes on her at the last minute so she ends up being the one taking their daughter Isabelle to see her favourite boy band, August Moon. Her ex husband has got them VIP tickets which mean they get a meet and greet with the band. That chance encounter and the instant chemistry she has with Hayes Campbell, a member of the band, is all it takes for Solène's carefully curated life to be turned on it's head. Solène and Hayes being a secret fling until it's time for her to decide what her future will hold.

Nevermind Solène and Hayes, I feel like I have just finished a whirlwind romance with this book! Like the beginning of a romance, this book sank under my skin without menoticing until I had an all consuming lust to read on. I loved the jet setting structure of the plot, with each chapter set in a different location for the couple to meet and explore their chemistry. There's a lot of delicious heat and spice in each of these encounters with hints of foreboding that make it irresistable for the reader to put the book down. There's even humour to add in to the mix.. The most pleasant surprise for me was how the author managed to balance all the heat and the glamour and still manage to highlight the hypocritical nature of men vs women's sexuality and the balancing act of all roles women have to juggle as a parent, profession and their own needs..

What I could have done without - the laughable British Stereotypes, the unnecessary detail in parts (being glad for pinapple juice!) did not detract much from how addicted I was to reading this book..
All I can tell you in a spoiler free review. is that getting to the end of the book felt like akin to the end of a relationship that had run it's course - I felt so emotional and not ready to leave that world behind but I know it's something I will look back on with fondness. That in itself tells you how what you need to know about "The idea of you".

Thank you so much to Robinne Lee, Penguin Michael Joseph Uk and Netgalley for the advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest opinion.

Wow I had to devour this in one day, I couldn't wait to find out what happened next. Solene a 39 year old single mother art gallery owner - meets a member of the world's most famous boyband, Hayes Campbell and Solene's daughter's number 1 love. He's handsome, charming, and half her age.

The two begin a tentative relationship meeting across the world, trying to work out what is going on between them and balancing it with all of the other demands on their time - for Solene, a family and her career; for Hayes, international fame and adoration the world over. There's real chemistry between them, as readers we can see the odds are stacked against them but you want them to find a way to make things work,.

A perfect summer read - saucy and sexy. Well worth buying!

I like the forbidden/unconventional love trope in stories so as soon as I read the synopsis of this book - thirty-nine year old woman has an affair with a world-famous boy band member who her teenage daughter idolises - I just had to read it. The description promised romance, passion, emotion and drama and I was ready for that.

In many ways the book does deliver on those fronts and there was plenty of unresolved issues and drama playing out to keep me reading and wanting to see how the story ended. However there were two main problems with the book which ruined my enjoyment of it.

Firstly, I didn't warmed to the main character Solène. Despite the reader being told repeatedly that she is an intelligent and cultured woman who owns an art gallery, Solène is incredibly naïve about the consequences of her relationship e.g. obsessing over how famous her boyfriend is then acting shocked when a picture of them ends up in a magazine. Also her selfish ways grated on me e.g. her disregard for her daughter's devastation about her relationship.

Secondly, I was never sold on Solène and Hayes' relationship. If it was a fling I could believe that but not that they are genuinely falling in love. They never have a real conversation as all their exchanges are cheesy, forced banter and sexual innuendo and, beyond finding each other very attractive, I failed to see what they actually loved about each other. For a book that is all about the romance this was the biggest downfall for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin UK for the ARC.

Oh my goodness, this book.

I didn't know what I was letting myself in for before I started The Idea Of You.

Thirty-nine-year-old Solène part owns an art gallery in L.A. and has a thirteen year old daughter called Isabelle with ex-husband Daniel.

Daniel wins the bid on an auction for a meet and greet with Isabelle's favourite music artists; British band August Moon. Solène takes Isabelle and her friends along and instantly has a connection with Hayes Campbell, the bands twenty-year-old singer. At this point I thought that this wasn't my usual type of read but I was in for the long haul!

The two embark on a secret relationship and the story follows the two of them from that time where the relationship is in its infancy and no one knows, to where it becomes public knowledge and the "fandom" get wind of it.

From the very beginning, I was obsessed with this book. Lee writes in a way that just captivates you and makes you care very much about these characters. Those steamy scenes are something else!

It is sexy, raunchy, emotional, you can feel the anguish and Hayes Campbell is the epitome of book boyfriends. I'll be talking about this one for a while! My heart hurts.

Wow ! I read The idea of You over the course of 24 hours and it completely consumed my life. It's a romance with a difference, a sexually explicit, emotionally charged exploration of the relationship between 39 year old art gallery owner Solene and 20 year old boy band member Hayes (think Harry Styles) . It's not my usual read but the reviews persuaded me to give it a go and as a result it is definitely one of my reads of the year so far. Lee writes beautifully and compellingly and I was reminded of the work of Taylor Jenkins Reid , one of my favourite writers. I feel bereft now it's over and the ending will certainly stay with me. Highly recommended.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC.

This is a fun, sexy summertime read that does not follow the format of your typical romance. I absolutely loved both main characters, Solène and Hayes, and appreciate that, while their age difference was a major factor in the book, Robinne Lee didn't write it in a very stereotypical, exaggerated way.

While this is a romance, there is an additional plot focused on Solène finding herself again at 39, the divorced mother of a teenager, juggling motherhood and running her own business. And I LOVED that.

The glamor, the jetsetting, the peek into the life of the rich & famous - this is a brilliantly done (if a bit long) summer read that I highly recommend - especially if you find yourself in a rather glamorous destination this summer. It'll leave you looking out for celebs everywhere you go!

If you want a book with 80% sex this is the book for you.
Difficult to score either 2 or 3.
Solene 39 takes her 11yr old daughter to see her favourite boy band a present from Solene`s ex husband to her daughter Isabelle with a back stage pass.
The singer Hayes takes a liking to Solene she follows him around the world to meet up after his concerts she leaves her daughter with her ex or babysitters, loads and loads of sex scenes which gets very boring. The 10% of the story that is left is good and sad at the same time.
Pity too full of sex for my liking.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC

I’ve seen this described as a kind of Fifty Shades meets One Direction type read, and to be fair, it’s not far off. It’s an enjoyable read. I found it paced really well and I ended up reading it over the course of a 24 hour period due to that fact. I can’t say I loved it, but it kept me reading. It wasn’t what I expected!

The Idea of You by Robinne Lee

Girl meets boy.
She’s American with French parents; he’s a proper British boy from a posh public school.
She’s sophisticated, petite and stunning; he’s bright, thoughtful and criminally gorgeous.
She’s the single mother of a thirteen year old girl; he should be studying at Cambridge.
She’s fast approaching her fortieth birthday; he’s not quite twenty-one.
She’s the owner of a successful, niche art gallery; he’s the lead singer of the biggest boy band in the world, loved by millions of tween girls internationally and yet he only has eyes for her…

Indulge your inner teen: dredge up memories of your teenage crush (it was Rob Lowe for me!) and just enjoy this fabulous, racy, escapist ride!