I have to admit that this being one of my favourite tropes, I couldn’t resist requesting this one from NetGalley earlier this fall. It didn’t have exactly the same heat that some one bed romances do BUT it had great scenery (set in Santorini!), complex but not too complex characters and a lot of fun.

We could add a dose of matchmaking to the description of this one but I’ll let you uncover that aspect for yourselves! Bea and Gib are fiery, determined characters who have their own demons and dreams but maybe for a week or two they can cohabitate (did I mention they’re both also stubborn?) and find something unexpected in the meantime?

One Bed by Joss Wood is a delightful romantic comedy set in the stunning backdrop of Santorini. The forced proximity trope is executed perfectly, with the main characters, Bea and Gibson, sharing a cozy cottage with... you guessed it, just one bed!
The banter between Bea and Gibson is witty and charming, and their slow-burn romance is both sweet and sexy. The supporting characters, particularly Bea's eccentric godmother, add a touch of humor and heart to the story.
While the plot is predictable at times, it's still a fun and enjoyable read. The beautiful descriptions of Santorini will transport you to a sun-soaked paradise. If you're looking for a lighthearted romance with plenty of laughs and swoon-worthy moments, One Bed is the perfect choice.

Rating: ⭐⭐✨ (2.75/5)

Joss Wood’s One Bed is a breezy romantic novella set against the stunning backdrop of Santorini. While the classic “one bed” trope and the promise of fiery chemistry between Bea Williams and Gibson Caddell set the stage for a fun, flirty escape, the story doesn’t quite live up to its potential, leaving it feeling like a missed opportunity for a truly memorable romance.

Bea Williams is a relatable protagonist with her writer’s block and need for a getaway. Her voice is witty, and her initial interactions with Gibson, her childhood friend turned irresistible housemate, are filled with playful banter. However, her character arc feels somewhat underdeveloped, with her struggles as a rising star author and her personal growth taking a backseat to the romantic tension.

Gibson Caddell is your quintessential romantic hero—gorgeous, confident, and exuding charm. His “red flag” status adds some intrigue to their dynamic, but his backstory and motivations are only lightly touched upon. As a result, his character feels a little too surface-level to fully invest in, making the chemistry between him and Bea less impactful than it could have been.

The romance itself is a mixed bag. The setup of sharing a cozy Greek cottage with only one bed is classic rom-com gold, and there are moments of undeniable tension and humor, especially in their first night navigating the awkward logistics of the situation. However, the novella’s brevity works against it here—there’s not enough time to build a believable emotional connection or fully explore the complexities of their shared history. The quick progression from banter to intimacy feels rushed and leaves the resolution lacking depth.

Favorite moments? The Santorini setting is a definite highlight. Wood’s descriptions of the island’s sunsets, whitewashed buildings, and sparkling seas create a romantic and escapist atmosphere. The light-hearted scenes where Bea and Gibson navigate their close quarters—like fighting over who gets the bed or awkwardly sharing the tiny kitchen—provide some much-needed charm.

Where the book falters most is in its pacing. The short format means the story leans heavily on its tropes without fully fleshing out its characters or plot. Bea’s struggles with writer’s block and Gibson’s “red flag” reputation are introduced but never meaningfully explored, leaving both feeling like missed opportunities to add emotional weight and complexity.

Final verdict? One Bed is a light, easy read with a picturesque setting and a classic rom-com setup, but it ultimately falls short of delivering a satisfying romance. If you’re looking for a quick, trope-filled escape and don’t mind a story that skims the surface, it might be worth a try. But if you’re hoping for depth, development, and lasting impact, this one might leave you wanting more. A decent beach read, but not much beyond that.

HORRIBLE. I mean tremendously terrible. These characters are losers. They have no connection to each other and are not in love at all. They barely talk to each other and then expect to somehow make a summer fling into a love story. No way. Also the writing was limited in the description and plot. The author would time jump with no description of anything important that you felt like you were having a stroke and forgetting how reading works. The only time there was any significant description it was in the sex scenes and they weren’t even good. Don’t be tricked by the “one bed” trope, it’s not worth reading. Don’t pick this book up.

DNF

This sounded like it would be totally my thing, but the writing just didn’t click for me. The story took forever to get going, and I didn’t feel any chemistry between Bea and Gib. Plus, there was so much telling instead of showing. Like, both characters spend a ton of time just dumping info about themselves and their surroundings—it all felt kind of flat.

From chapter one, it’s just, “this person is like this because of X.” No mystery, no layers to uncover, nothing that made me curious to keep going. I got too bored to finish.

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for the chance to read this one. It just wasn’t for me!

StartedOff well but then I got a bit bored! Sorry. I maybe wasn’t feeling the romance that day!Will read another day and see!Thank Net galley for the early read.

Absolutely brilliant book!
I am a big fan of this author and love the writing style!
I cant wait to read more!

cute, but overall forgettable. i could NOT get past the writing style though, every detail was a comparison or a metaphor or some other grammar device. just in the first paragraph she compares something to something "dreamier" five times! just say the ocean is blue. the sun can reflect on your face and warm your skin but it doesn't bathe you in an orange glow that reminds you of your childhood. at least, not everything can do that lolol. i'm sorry i'm a hater, hats off to the author though for writing a book!! thanks to the publishers and the author for an e-arc!

I’ve realised that I’m not one for tropey romances. There aren’t really any popular romance dynamics i.e. ‘enemies to lovers’, 'grumpy/sunshine’, 'sibling’s best friend’ that I naturally gravitate towards. If I had to pick one, it would probably be 'friends to lovers’, as that’s what I can relate to the best. However, I think this book is one that you can probably only really enjoy if you like the particularly spicy trope of 'one bed’.

Bea is a bestselling children’s author and she’s struggling to work on the latest book in her adventure series. So, she escapes to her godmother’s Santorini retreat for some space and inspiration. Only when she gets there does she discover that the villa she expected to be staying in has been double booked by Gibson Caddell, an exceptionally handsome man who she met briefly once as a child. And of course, there’s only one bed in the villa.

One thing that I absolutely loathe in romances is repeated references to a couple’s physical size difference. Gib constantly talks about how small Bea is and Bea constantly talks about how big Gib is. It possibly needs to be mentioned once (if it’s relevant) when they first meet and then, it really can be left off the page. Is it supposed to be sexy that she’s tiny and he’s well-built? I just don’t get it!

Bea is an anxious bean and the reasons for this are explained towards the end of the book, although I didn’t fully understand them. Despite her being a neurotic, perfectionist writer, I still couldn’t really relate to her. She and I have a lot in common, so I’m really not sure why I just couldn’t bring myself to properly like her. Perhaps it was because she seemed to mention sex out of nowhere quite often. There could be no mistake that she was the heroine in a contemporary spicy romance novel…

Gib was also very unlikeable and constantly brought everything back to sex, which got very dull after a while. After he and Bea have been intimate for the first time, she does the nice thing of making him breakfast and wanting to talk to him in the morning. He reacts to this by freaking out about her clearly wanting more than a fling because she dared to still be there and behaving in a friendly manner in the morning. You know, in the villa owned by her godmother who said she could stay there. The villa she’s holidaying in. She was still there and being nice to him. A terrifying thought for the commitment phobe apparently…

I had to laugh at the description of Gib’s eyes as he was choking. I can’t remember why or what he was choking on now but 'his eyes now looked like the badly congested roads on a satnav map’ definitely tickled me due to how ridiculous it is.

I do think that the author captured the anxieties and struggles of a writer well. That pressure to consistently put out work that is as good as your last success and to make your editors and fans happy must be really tough and Bea goes through all of that. Joss Wood has clearly been through some of this, almost certainly with this very book, and I thought this was really authentically presented.

One Bed is a spicy romance in the sun with some incredibly infuriating characters. I didn’t like either of the leads and I especially didn’t like Bea’s godmother Golly. I’m pretty sure I was supposed to laugh off her self-centredness as eccentricity but I found that I couldn’t. I can’t ever connect to or love attention-seeking characters of any age or gender, so Golly was no exception. All in all, the book is probably a hit if you like the 'one bed’ trope and physically attractive characters who have zero chemistry beyond the bedsheets.

Well the name of this book alone was enough to make me want to read it! Forced proximity, one bed and enemies to lovers are some of my favourite tropes and this was a fun, cute romcom with great banter between Bea and Gibson.

This was a fine romance. The romance heats up quickly but the character growth is slow. The third person narration made this a slog for me. The side characters are enjoyable. Not the best.

I'm 100% a Only one bed trope kinda girl but I'm not sure how I feel about this story. I didn't dislike this book but I'm not sure how much I can say I actually liked it either. It was very slow and drawn out when it didn't need to be. I got distracted a lot I think mainly because I could already predict what was going to happen and nothing new kept me interested.

This was a fun one. I loved Bea and Gib! Her Godmother Golly is quite the lady and Bea is there helping her. Gib and Bea knew each other from the younger years. Now they are stuck together and sharing one bed. Bea is an author but goes by a pen name. When Bea and Gia are together with the one bed they truly connect. On intimate levels and personal levels. That is what I enjoyed most. I always enjoy a happy ending and this one did not disappoint. It is always wonderful to see two people to just know they found the one and don’t want to let go.

This novel started off great, in my opinion. A meet cutewith a flat tire, then Bea and Gib ending up having to share the cottage of a villa in Santorini, with one bed. Not so bad, especially since these are the reasons I decided to request this book off NetGalley.

Sadly, everything stopped there. I mean, it had its nice moments with Bea's godmother being all over the place and over the top personality. But Bea's character fell flat. I get where she was comingfrom, her childhood and stuff, but she felt a bit immature and prickly, which didn't make me feel that close to her character.
Gib is all words. He likes to pry into Bea's life withouth giving anything in return. His povs where in total contraddictions to his actions in Bea's povs.

I'm rephrasing something another reviewer wrote, an easy but forgettable read once you finish it.

Thanks to NetGalley for the free e-book for a review.

What a wonderful read. As always, Joss Wood knows how to write a really great book. I enjoyed it from start to finish. The characters are amazing, they blend so well in the story, complementing each other—and there’s only one bed!

I volunteered to review an ARC of this book for NetGalley.

I struggled to get into this at first but then, at the same time, it felt like things just happened really quickly - too quickly for me to develop more care for any of the characters. There wasn't much chemistry... I read through it really quickly and just as quickly forgot about it. Sorry.

WOAH. The sparks between Gib & Bea are FLYING from the beginning. Their banter and inner monologues make the book fly by.
I hate a third act break up but liked that the characters made realistic growth during their 6-week break. Can we talk about how Golly is simply the best? She is by far my favorite character and made me laugh through the whole book.
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I thought this book was a cute quick read but definitely a little cheesy which isn’t a bad thing. I finished this book quickly and loved the banter of the main characters in this book. One thing is the book felt a little rushed and as a result the main characters didn’t have that spark or chemistry I was hoping for. Overall I enjoyed the book but it just felt a little flat at times but that’s a personal thing. I would still recommend this book to romance readers especially if they are a fan of the one bed trope or would like a quick read.

Unfortunately I DNF’d this book. I could
Not get into this book and the chapters were way too long. I was falling asleep every chapter. If the chapters were shorter, this book could of had potential

This was a cute romance set in Santorini; I think the author did an amazing job of capturing the feel of Santorini and I really felt as if I was there. There were elements in this story that I really enjoyed, but for me there was an equal amount of elements that I did not enjoy and really pulled my head out of the space I wanted to stay in. I found the two main character's relationship at times confusing and contradictory.
Ultimately it was a fun read though and I would recommend to anyone liking romance and wanting to capture that Greek island holiday feeling.

Thank you so much to HarperCollins UK for the arc via NetGalley, and for giving me the opportunity to share my honest thoughts on the book.