This one was a lovely read. I really enjoyed reading this one. I just love this kind of books.
4 stars read for me

A lovely story about two friends who start a bookshop together, but the friendship starts to fall apart. So one goes to the Maldives and the other to America, for a few months. Along the way they realise they need each other's differences to really be happy. There is also wonderful scenery, some gorgeous guys and some cool adventures. Great holiday read

Really enjoyed how to story moved. How the characters progressed and a great happy ending.
Would be an amazing holiday read.

I liked this book, but it didn't really grip me. I found it predictable and quite similar to other books in this genre. I expected more about the Maldives and less of the US road trip, but an easy read

This is the perfect summer read.

I'll admit, the mention of bookshop in the title made me want to read it (bet I'm not the only one).

Friendships and freedom seem to be the theme in this tale.

Two best friends, polar opposites but in the end both wanting the same thing, love and acceptance.

Told through alternating points of view, it was lovely to see each of thee women grow and change as they come to realise the things that they really want and need in life.

With a little bit of romance mixed in, I could imagine reading this sat on some exotic beach somewhere.

Uplifting.

A story to read when you're in need of a happy ever after.

A perfect holiday read. Best friends Marrianne and Jenny run a successful beach bookshop together but after a rare argument they both set out on separate adventures. Marrianne heads out on two month road trip to America with her writer boyfriend and Jenny goes to the Maldives for three months to try and get a new bookshop up and running. The characters are very believable and the locations are stunning which makes this a book to relax with and enjoy the moment .I really enjoyed it

My absolute perfect summer read. This had everything I love. Books, friendship, romance and a picture perfect island.

Jenny and Marianne are best friends and co-owners of a beach front bookshop in Cornwall. But recently their friendship has become strained, with Jenny feeling burnt out and burdened with responsibility whilst it seems Marianne takes her life and job less seriously. She is the creative force, while Jenny is the sensible adult.

When a temporary job comes up in the Maldives running a resort bookshop, Jenny takes the plunge, and at the same time, Marianne goes on a road trip in the US with her new boyfriend, Drew. Marianne's brother Evan is happy to hold the reins whilst they go off on their adventures.

As both Marianne and Jenny find themselves facing challenges and mishaps, they come to realise that the strength of their business and friendship, lies in them working together and that without one another things just don't work as well.

A truly magical story, written so eloquently and one that left me with a warm heart and a big smile.

I love stories set in bookshops or libraries and The Holiday Bookshop had the added bonus of an exotic location.

The book has two storylines as it follows the paths of two best friends, Marianne and Jenny as they both take a break away from their shared business. Both stories are as equally as engrossing as the other. The book details their personal growth in a charmingly funny and romantic way. It was uplifting and very humorous. The perfect holiday read.

The main-character-overshadowed-by-another-female-character-that's-full-of-life trope is not my favourite, and, although i know she will grow blah blah, it's not for me. I am sorry I could not get into it. The writing didn't do anything for me either sadly, it felt quite bland and I did not enjoy it sadly.

Loved this, it was cute holiday read full of books! What's not to like.
Easy beach read, highly recommend.

Marianne and Jenny, lifelong friends, set up their own dream bookshop. What started as a joke catapults Jenny to get a temporary position in the Maldives. Both girls decide to put themselves first and follow their dreams. They set off on separate journeys with lots of fallings out along the way. I absolutely adored Jenny and loved her side of the story. I have always dreamt about The Maldives and this book only strengthened my resolve to visit. An adorable book with a great storyline.

This book feels like a 2-centre holiday! Mostly set in Las Vegas & the Maldives, two best friends experience different holidays without each other.
An easy going holiday read with plenty of emotion & delightful descriptions of the settings.

Marianne and Jenny are best friends and they are also book lovers and owners of a little bookstore by the beach in the UK. They have worked hard to get it going and they both feel the need for a change. This brings tension in their relation and they both embark in new adventures and take a break from each other. Where will this take them?
This is a lovely story about the passion for books, the challenges of entrepreneurship, the special bond between best friends, but also travel, discovery and love.
I really liked the idea of a bookstore in a luxury resort. I have never seen one and I think book lovers would really enjoy a place where books could be an integral part of their holidays. This is a pleasant holiday read, where you can dream of great holidays and even imagine lying on the beach in the Maldives.

🏖The Holiday Bookshop by Lucy Dickens🏝

I was immediately drawn to the cover of this book and the title. The blurb sounded interesting - an advert wanting someone to run a bookshop in the Maldives for 3 months.

However the book is so much more than the blurb suggests.
It's a book about female friendship. Marianne and Jenny are long time friends who run a bookstore in Cornwall. Marianne wants to go on an American road trip leaving Jenny in a grump so she applies for the Maldives bookstore job...and gets in.
The book then alternates between the two characters as one travels in the USA 🏜and the other works in the sunny 5 star Hotel ⛱️

This is a perfect beach/holiday read -its cute, there are no complicated plots, there is wholesome romance and a positive message about trying new things and life chances.

Thanks to RandomHouseUk and @netgalley for the copy

Also this ticks off another book for @neverending_netgalley #jumpinjuly prompt for a book with water on the cover 🌊

#ebookstagram #theholidaybookshop #lucydickens #kindlefirehd #netgalleyuk #penguinukbooks #randomhouseuk #holidayread #amazonuk

What else could a book lover want than a storyline about a bookshop in the Maldives? A super lovely read, with stunning locations and relatable characters in Jenny and Marianne.

Although this is a romance read, this is not within the usual romantic realms I was expecting. This story focuses more on the friendship between the two main characters, with a bit of extra lovey-dovey romance with the secondary characters. The author has mixed this with the idea of taking chances when life throws you new opportunities, in just the correct portions, to result in this super sweet read.

Both characters go through a journey of self-discovery, and I read this within 24 hours as I was absorbed and struggled to put it down.

The passionate and descriptive style of this writing makes for a fantastic read. The pace keeps readers engaged, and the dual points of view add depth to the characters whilst maintaining its feel-good theme.

If you are looking for a heart-warming summer read, this book is guaranteed to put a smile on any bookworm's face!

Friends Jenny and Marianne run a successful bookshop in the UK. When they are both suffering from burn out they both decide to go abroad for a while - but is the grass greener?

This was such a fantastic holiday read - I read it all in one day whist on holiday. I love books set in bookshops and about bookshops and this had some great bookish reference within. I really enjoyed the beautiful descriptions of both the Maldives and the USA and could really envisage both places. It would be a perfect holiday read for the summer with brilliant themes of love/friendship/family running all the way through.

I received an ARC of this book via Netgalley and its publishers.

Like it's subject matter it is a perfect read for the beach. It has a somewhat predictable romantic plot line but also others about friendship and of course the love of books. I cannot say i liked either of the MCs that much and I felt that the need to identify where they were at the beginning of each chapter rather unnecessary, almost as if the reader wasn't capable of remembering where they had flown off to. It lacks depth but is a very easy read, undemanding of the reader.

This was such a lovely read. My favourite subjects books and bookshop, my idea of heaven. If I owned a bookshop I’d probably spend all day reading the stock. This story was so pleasant and I got a wonderful insight of all the different characters. Another new author for me, one I’ll keep my eye out for in the future. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

Jenny and Marianne run a bookshop together and have done for a few years; now the gloss is wearing off and all Jenny can see is Marianne leaving her to do the heavy lifting and admin, while breezing in and out and making the books untidy while Marianne is fed up of Jenny behaving like a saint or martyr and making her feel guilty. Of course it turns out Marianne could do with a bit more planning in her life and Jenny needs to let go a bit, but they only discover this when they both take a long-haul, long-term trip, Jenny to the Maldives to run a bookshop and Marianne on a US roadtrip.

I felt like the synopsis didn't really match the book itself; it was far more about a friendship gone wrong through not talking than running a beach bookshop. Having Jenny's parts in the first person and Marianne's in the third made it clear where our loyalties should lie, and it was nice to have a book centring around friendship rather than romance (though that was there too a bit) but it did read a bit like a travel advertorial and it was difficult to sustain interest.

The holiday bookshop by Lucy Dickens

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Thank you to netgalley, random house uk and Lucy Dickens for the opportunity to read this book.

All in all I've given it a 3 star rating because it was okay but there were things I would change. I'd given jennys story a 3.5 and mariannes a 2.

There nothing wrong with marianne as a character or her story but I went into this expecting a story about a girl opening a bookshop in the Maldives and so unfortunately mariannes story became a hindrance to the enjoyment of that. Maybe if the extra information had been in the book description I'd read and I'd been in the mood for a road trip book I wouldn't have minded so much. She also felt rather shallow compared to the level of personality we got from jenny.

I appreciate the book as a story about a set of friends needing to be apart to find themselves but unfortunately the romances fell flat for me. Especially jenny's. It just felt like we didn't have nearly enough scenes of them together to get the foundation set for the romance which is a shame because the potential was there.