a lovely romantic love story telling the happenings of noelle and her gran on a road trip and ending up being a love story for both along with a happy ending

One of the better romances I've read in the last year. You, With a View does a fantastic job of creating a relatable lead amongst a sea of grief, healing and eventual romance. I loved Noelle and Theo from the outset, and had a huge smile on my face every time they traded quips. I wish we could've seen more of how they were in high school to help add to that tension, but it didn't deter from how perfect they were for each other.

Enemies to lovers
Road trip
Grief and healing
Self-discovery
High-school rivals
Low level spice
Slow burn

A great book if you're looking for a story that blends a journey of self-discovery with a little enemies to lovers romance.

So fun!

A great romance to read in the summer! I enjoyed the setting and the characters, plus a lovely plot! Thank you netgalley for the review copy!

I was so optimistic about this book, but I just don't think Jessica Joyce's writing is for me. The characters read as very immature given their age, and especially the fact that they kept focusing on a rivalry from high school of all things. And I just didn't believe in the conflict/3rd act conflict. This left me mostly underwhelmed to be honest.

Despite the fact that I've never read anything by author Jessica Joyce, I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this book.

It was a fantastic romance book with an enjoyable plot and an even better romantic interaction.

It took me forever to get to this book because of personal issues last year, but I am glad I came back to it after publication.

I don't know why, but this book reminded me of the 2000s film Crossroads. Not in terms of plot, but how I envision the vibe of this book. I think it was a cute romance, our characters are well-developed and I would recommend this as a beach read to anyone looking for it. I anyway adore the grumpy/sunshine trope, so I think this book fits all the boxes I was looking for. I think, if you like Lynn Painter, then you will definitely enjoy this type of book as well.

I loved this so much. The character development of both the MCs was so satisfying to watch, and I really think this author is one to watch!

Such a great summer read, full of romance and was heartwarming. Great debut novel. I loved the emotion throughout, the tense was unreal! So well wrote.

i absolutely loved this book! as someone who has lost their grandmother recently who was also my best friend, i felt like i really connected with noelle and it helped with my own grief journey! will forever recommend this book!

Noelle Shepard is grieving the loss of her grandmother. She feels lost. She is back living with her parents after being let go of a job she didn’t enjoy five months ago. Then she discovers love letters written by her grandmother to a man who was not her grandfather. Noelle thought her grandmother told her everything during their Tell Me A Secret sessions but she never shared this one.

Noelle decides to do a TikTok video with all the info she has available trying to find out the identity of the man her grandma loved. The next morning, to her shock someone answered "That’s my grandfather".

When she meets Paul (the man her grandmother loved) she also sees her high school classmate, Theo Spencer. It turns out that Paul is Theo's grandfather. In high school, Noelle and Theo used to compete constantly for first place. They tried to surpass each other every chance they got. Now, Theo is a very successful businessman and she has nothing to show for all the time they have not seen each other. She feels like a failure.

When Noelle learns that her grandmother had planned to marry Paul and they already had their honeymoon sketched, she decides she should do the trip her grandmother never got a chance to do. Paul asks to join her and Theo won't let Paul go alone so of course he decides to come too.

You, With A View, was so freaking cute. Great debut romance with likable characters all around. The MC connection felt real. They had a past together so it was easy to believe they were falling for each other in the present. Paul was so adorable. Such a great grandfather and constant supporter of Theo.

Some of you might remember wayyy back at the start of the year I read an ARC of this and was spamming my stories with so much love for it and I predicted it might be one of my favourites of the whole year…

Well I somehow missed posted about it on my feed on it’s pub date by like 2 months😅 but my overwhelming love for it still stands. Truly this is such a special book!!

It’s giving you road trips, forced close proximity, enemies to lovers and the sweetest nod to a dual storyline too! I can’t recommend it enough!

The blurb -

Noelle Shepard is grieving the loss of her beloved grandmother when she discovers decades-old photos and letters that hint to a forbidden love in her gram's past. Needing to know the full story, she creates a TikTok video appealing for information - and it goes viral.

Through her video, she manages to track down her grandmother's secret love, Paul, who offers to take her on the honeymoon road-trip he and Gram planned but never got to go on.

Noelle jumps at the chance to make this one last connection with her grandmother. There's just one problem - Paul's grandson is Noelle's frustratingly handsome high-school rival Theo.

And Theo has to come, too.

*ARC from Netgalley ✨

This is a book where I was hoping for so much more than what I got
.
I loved the idea of this story more than the execution. I needed more road trip and probably multiple POVs. At times the narrative felt rushed, for a two week road trip I couldn’t tell you any places they went to.

Noelle started off likeable but around 60% grated on my nerves. Also a very young 29.
The enemies to lovers was cute but lacked depth. Why did they hate each other so intently? It was also resolved far too quickly. I need more angst!

I did like the exploration of grief but the use of a psychic made me roll my eyes.

For a debut it’s ok but did TikTok need mentioning 39 times?! I don’t think so.

I am currently kicking myself for not having read this sooner - oh my god, this book is phenomenal! And you're going to tell me this is a debut novel?! Keep your eyes on Jessica Joyce, she's going to do big things in the publishing world.

I am well & truly obsessed with the tension, angst, banter & all the verbal sparring between the two mc's. We're talking academic rivals to lovers, forced proximity & only one bed (aka a cocktail of all of my favourite tropes). Spencer is absolutely everything & more; a grumpy business man whose closed off but has a soft spot for family & only one girl. The way that every time Spencer smirks, I'm kicking my legs & squealing like a little girl on their birthday. He's made it to my top 3 book boyfriends, no doubt about it.

The undertone of the plot is bittersweet & deals with a lot of grief. There's some scenes that put a lump in my throat & made me want to hug my grandparents a little bit tighter next time I see them. It really is just a masterpiece of a book - one page I'm getting all the butterflies & the next I'm reaching for a tissue. Truly just a beautiful read.

I will be keeping my eyes on any & all of Jessica Joyce's next moves & snatching up any new books she puts out immediately. If this is what she can do with a debut, I can't wait to see what she does in the future. 5/5 stars from me!

A quick, easy and cute read that I just could no put down. I was actually sad when it ended, I wanted it to last forever

You With a View by Jessica Joyce is a contemporary romantic drama that focuses on Noelle, who is 28 and like many other millennials, has found herself having to move back in with her parents after losing her job. She's also dealing with her grief after the loss of her beloved grandmother, who died six months ago.

At the start of this book, Noelle has just woken up to one of her videos on TikTok going viral - she has found a stash of old photographs featuring her Grandmother as a young woman and a man who she was clearly in love with. Noelle wants to find the man - and it looks like the internet has done its thing and found him. Well, his Grandson, at least.

Only, Noelle already knows said Grandson - it's Theo, her annoyingly hot former classmate-turned-successful businessman. The two had always been competitive growing up, but with Noelle feeling her life is going backwards and Theo being a well-known business founder, the two don't seem to have much in common anymore ("The man is in Forbes, and I'm in Spongebob sleep shorts")

When Noelle has the idea to complete a road trip her Grandmother never got to do, Theo's Grandfather is excited to come along and help Noelle learn more about who her Grandmother was before she got married. But there's one problem - Theo has to come too.

Ah, this was so lovely. It was a joy to read. I feel like it used the whole TikTok thing really well - I could absolutely imagine following along with something like this online (I've followed along with stranger, I can tell you) - I really liked every character and I loved Noelle and Theo's story. If you like the rivals-to-lovers or only-one-bed trope, definitely give this a go. There was no real power imbalance either, despite what you may think from the synopsis. Both Noelle and Theo were definitely at a point in their lives where they needed to work out where they wanted to go. There's a nice sprinkle of spice here too, which is always welcome.

The ending? Absolutely cringed myself inside out, but with a massive smile on my face. I'll be keeping an eye out for this author!

Thank you so much to Random House UK & Transworld Publishers for the ARC via Netgalley.

I will be coming back to this book when I am in the right head space: for now I was not able to finish it unfortunately.

I really loved this book. It started out with grief, moved on to finding yourself accompanied by a slow growing and compelling love story on personal and family levels. A real feelgood read, the characters are believable and you soo begin to root for them and their growing attachment to one another. If this is the calibre of her work I will definitely be reading more books from Jessica.

You all were right, this book is so breathtakingly good and I want to hide in a hole because of it

Jessica Joyce, you are an absolute GENIUS and I shall forever bow down before this stunning debut that touched my heart in all the tender places and no I’m not crying YOU ARE

Still in shock that this is a DEBUT because ummm what?!?! Never getting over this nor will I stop being jealous oops. But the writing just absolutely blew it out of the park and I’m in awe at how BEAUTIFUL it is. I would literally have to stop at some of the sentences at how beautiful it was OMG I SHANT EVER RECOVER. Been a while since I’ve seen a debut with this much talent and Jessica Joyce deserves a round of applause methinks

The premise of this book? Absolutely spectacular and thank god she did not disappoint. I started this book a few days ago and I just couldn’t put it down. I was absolutely transported onto this road trip with these characters and it was an absolute blast. I just love being so enveloped in a book that I feel like I’m there with them *insert heart eyes*

Anyways, the premise was so well thought out and I just had to find out what happened between the grandparents AND Noelle and Theo, and I applaud Ms Jessica for accomplishing them side by side. Love myself a realistic fantasy rom-com scenario hehe

And ahhh the characters!!! Wowowowow I love them all. They were so well fleshed out, three dimensional and oh so wonderful and we love to see it. Noelle and Theo had THE best chemistry and their banter was OFF THE FREAKING CHARTS INTO SPACE. Sarcasm as a love language is something I didn’t know I needed!!!!!! Not just that, Noelle’s vulnerability just resonated with me so much and I loved how raw her character was. And her connection with Theo was absolutely palpable. Basically, it was all amazing, you read this one *wink wink*

I do think I wanted a smidge more from the romance overall and a smidge more from the ending, but that was so minor and I loved this book nonetheless!

One last round of applause to this brilliant debut filled to the brim with gorgeous writing, heart-aching discussions on grief, familial connection and some rivals to lovers romance xoxo

28 year old Noelle is lost. She’s no job, no drive and she’s recently lost her dearest Grandmother who would usually help her through everything life has to offer. She misses her incredibly, and when she discovers photos of her Grandma as a 19 year old with a mysterious man, she does what any sane person would do nowadays and… posts them on TikTok. And the mysterious man’s grandson sees them.

What ensues is a wonderful story of love, loss, grief, acceptance and the road trip of a life time. Throw in loads of banter and some particularly well written spicy scenes and you’ve got a fabulous debut from Jessica Joyce.

To help convince you further we’ve got:

📸 Enemies to lovers
📸 Academic rivals
📸 Forced proximity
📸 Only one bed

This was a 4.75 star read for me - very nearly a 5. I was taken by complete surprise with this book because it had so much unexpected depth! I was hooked. I absolute adored the storyline - it warmed my heart! But please look up trigger warnings as I wasn’t expecting grief and loss to be such a large theme. Would highly recommend though!