I really, really wanted to like this book, but sadly, it just wasn't for me.

Marnie is a 34-year-old teaching assistant who flees her life in Orion in the UK after her parents separate and she catches her boyfriend of 10 years cheating on her. She spends 6 months on a life-changing trip in Canada before returning home and dealing with everything she left behind. While she's away, she spends one unforgettable day with an even more unforgettable woman, Nova.

The problem I had with this book was the pacing. It felt far too slow. The love interest is in the prologue, then doesn't appear again until halfway through the book. It's not purely a romance novel, so this isn't necessarily damning, but Marnie spends the majority of the book still learning about everything that's happened while she's been away. That dragged on for too long, and then when everything is revealed, it's as if it's nothing. It just seemed to me that the book focused too much on the parts of the story that weren't as exciting or action-filled, which is fine I guess, but I found boring.

I wanted to quit reading at several points but I pushed through. Just not for me, unfortunately.

A sweet romance, embedded throughout a nice transformational story. Great characters, great setting, great story. Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

I really wanted to like this book but i struggled to get going, the story wasn't what i thought which is my fault.

Marnie lost her job, her partner and her parents split up. She runs off to Canada and the main book start just as she gets back to the UK. Can she forget her time in Canada, or once she is back hoe will she let the gossip get to her?

It's hard to give a truly objective review when the style of this story just doesn't jive with what I enjoy reading. The storyline involves a British woman who goes to Canada for 6mo to figure herself out after her life implodes back home. While in Canada, she meets someone who could be super special. This story could be considered slow burn, however there really wasn't a ton of fire in my opinion. It was written well, the story was unique... Just too slow for me and not enough heat.

After Marnie found out her boyfriend had cheated on her and her parents split up it became too much for her so she left her twin sister and her best friend and took herself to Canada for a holiday to try and sort her head out. While there she met and had an immediate reaction to Nova at an ice hockey game and they spent 1 day together exploring before parting ways, Marnie never believing they would see each other again
When Marnie returns home a few months later she has lots of bridges to build with her family and friends and a new job to find.
As she is finally getting her life in order a certain person she met in Canada arrives and all the attraction comes back
A love story with a difference

This is a sweet story about a young woman being overwhelmed with several things at once and escaping to Canada for 6 months. She meets a lovely woman there and this one day that they spend together is the highlight of her visit. She returns home and tries to get on with her life. I don't think it helps that Marnie is a twin, and so the town she lives in has certain ideas about what twins do and don't do. They are not clones of each other, even though they look alike. As an aside, I currently work with identical twins. Their voices are the same, they walk the same, they have the same hairstyle and colour. They are quite different when it comes to their personalities though, and so it is with Marnie and Jovi. These two are friends with Antoni, who is such a wonderful friend to both sisters, it really makes my heart sing.

Something else I really liked was the relationship that Marnie had with Paislee, a young autistic girl whom she is giving support to in the classroom. There was something very endearing about their bond, it has to be said.

Now the reason I gave this book an average rating is that it went on and on a bit, at times. By the end of the book, I was really tired of hearing about Nova's peachy lips or peachy cheeks. And it was never explained all that well how Nova knew where Marnie was. I know, this is a work of fiction but that was a little bit annoying. I have no problems with the premise of the story at all, in fact, Canada is at the top of my bucket list of places to visit so I think this idea could have been explored a little more but somehow it just didn't quite get there for me.

If you want a light romantic read, this might just do the job. I would have liked a little more depth, personally.

3.5 stars from me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Head of Zeus.

This book was a real surprise and unexpected compared to Lucy Knott's previous books. Sensitive, intimate, delicate, it deals with some great life issues that are many peoples everyday reality. Treating autism with love was truly heartening, and showed huge insight.
Marnie has just taken six months in Canada after life in her village of Orion became too difficult to deal with. What she found in Canada surprised and amazed her.
The book unfolds delicately and beautifully, just as Marnie unfolds from her heartbreak to embrace her new life.
This book is full of wisdom and warmth and very enjoyable to read, as always with Lucy's books! Trying not to say too much, as don't want to include spoilers!!
Huge thanks to NetGalley for the early read, this one is very special!!

I love Lucy Knott's books and feel this one is the best I have read. Wonderful narratives and descriptions. Highly recommend.

It is a good book and I really enjoyed reading it, but the beginning of the book was really scattered. It felt like I was being jolted through a time warp instead of gently led through the quick passage of time, I wish that it would have taken a bit longer for the reader to journey home with the main character. I LOVED the opening scene with Nova it felt a bit like a dream that you were dragged from too soon, which is part of why I as a reader wished the entire Canada montage had been a bit longer. Everything after the most precious meet-cute was rushing to get the reader back home to the far less dreamy return to reality (which was still enjoyable but much different narrative-wise). I felt like the description of the book was not very accurate for the experience of reading the book, but it was still overall an enjoyable quick read. Reading this book made me hungry, I have been craving sweets since I started reading. Speaking of food, I love Antoni. He is such a wonderful character who brings a lot of joy to every scene he is in. He also reminds me a lot of Antoni from Queer Eye since he cooks and obviously has the same name. I rounded up to four stars from the three and a half solely because of Antoni alone. If you are looking for a quick sapphic read this is definitely a good one to put on the list!

We've got twins (check), failed relationship (check), romance (check), small town (check). This quick read that will likely be one you'll finish in a day will become one that you recall fondly in your heart. In a town where everyone knows your business it may be difficult to have a love life anyway but Marnie is having a tough time of it but then she meets Nova. which seems to turn things around. Her escape from her jobless, and lonely life was what the doctor ordered and once she returns she is able to really get some positive vibes going.

Love Lessons in Starcross Valley by Lucy Knott

I received an advance review copy for free thanks to NetGalley and Head of Zeus and I am leaving this review voluntarily

With the recent breakdown of both her ten-year relationship and her parents' marriage, thirty-five-year-old Marnie Barnes no longer believes in love. To give her life the shake-up it so clearly needs, she books a ticket to Canada. Thousands of miles away from her home and her twin sister, she struggles to have the life-changing experience she dreamt of - until she meets Nova, a dinosaur-loving space nerd with a penchant for living in the moment.

After a wonderful day together in Vancouver, they part ways. Though gutted, Marnie thinks it's proof that she's not meant to find love and tries to move on with her life. But a few months later, back in England, she bumps into someone achingly familiar.

I was surprised by this book - it was not what I was expecting from Lucy. From the prologue I wasn't sure I was going to like this book but from the very first chapter I knew that I had been wrong as it was an enjoyable read. The main focus of the book is Marnie's self-discovery with a hint of romance. Well-rounded characters that will leave you with a smile on your face.

Rating 4/5

I really enjoy reading books by Lucy Knott but this one took a lot of reading to get into it but once over that stage it was a very enjoyable story. That ofcourse is just my opinion, and many others will enjoy this from the first page. If it doesn't get you from the first few pages keep reading and everything will fall into place and you will be pleased that you have read this. 4 stars.

Thanks to Netgalley and publisher for this e ARC

Enter Marnie: Heart-broken, job-less and just trying to figure out what's next. As much as this book tries to sound like a romance book, it was really lacking and revolved more around Marnie and getting her life together. I was actually a little disappointed-you only see Nova in the prologue and then again not until about 55% into the book. There was a lot of attention on Marnie's new career, that kind of felt redundant and there were some repetition of phrases "could sense the frustration" that started to make it feel unenjoyable.

I think it's really important to note that the prologue is really important in this book. As someone who usually skips them, I'm glad I didn't skip this one!

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

How I absolutely adored this book.

Starting with a prologue in Canada where we meet Marnie and Nova and get a quick taste of an early connection, plus fabulous setting.

And although starting chapter 1 I was slightly disappointed that we weren't still in Canada, I grew to love Starcross Valley fairly quickly too.

As much as getting to know Marnie's twin Jovi and her family was great to me the story kicked up a gear when Paislee was introduced.

Paislee has a very special place in my heart and I was wanting to hug her almost instantly. The way her SEN are seen and handled was sensitively dealt with by the author, even if some of the teachers I wanted to throw things at.

If you have ever thought Romance novels needed more dinosaurs then you will love this one, as there are multiple dino mad characters.

This felt like a breath of fresh air to be reading, and I was completely hooked on it. Loved this book so so much.

Thank you Aria and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

A book of living in a small town , being a twin and falling in love.. A good story. The descriptions of the baked goods in the bakery were amazing and you wanted to eat them. The school parts were very true and how Marnie supported Paislee was great . You started and ended in Canada. The relationship between Marnie and her niece was fab. A great read. Also a lovely love story

This book was kind of a fairytale, something nice and cozy for cold, winter evenings. It was kind of predictable, though and, in my opinion, there was many passages that could be just cut out, making tje novel much shorter.

While the description didn’t necessarily match up to the story, it was an easy read. I did however, find myself skimming a bit because some parts were just a lot of unnecessary descriptions that could have easily been cut out and not missed and would have made the story more enjoyable. That being said, I rounded up from 2.5 to 3 stars because I liked seeing the character development and I liked the inclusion of the autistic student.
Marnie is a heartbroken English woman who leaves town and flees for Canada right try and get over her parents divorce as well as the breakup of her own 10 year relationship. While there, she meets a strong, independent woman who gets Marnie to see beyond her past. Eventually Marnie has to go back home and face life again, and with the help of her best friend and her twin sister and her family, she’s able to start to do that by taking a job at the local primary school working with an autistic girl. The teacher isn’t open to marnies alternative style of relating to Paislee so it causes som conflict, but paislee starts to thrive. They go on a field trip to the museum, and lo and behold, Nova, the Canadian woman is there as an instructor. So they meet up again and work together to make a strategy to help Paislee that the teacher will approve of and in the meantime fall in love.
It was cute, there were some plausibility issues but that’s what fiction is for.
Thanks to Aria Books and NetGalley for this arc in exchange for my review.
Publication date: February 3, 2022

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher, I enjoyed this feel good, nice easy read book, liked all the characters and the storyline.

Not for me, I gave up after 40%, despite there being interesting themes or topics such as doubting yourself, anxiety, having an inner critic. Nothing really happened, there was way too much text spent on what Marnie was thinking and when she started her first day as a teaching assistant and clashed with the teacher of that class it just seems petty and I decided to not finish this book.