The Summer Job by Lizzy Dent

 

The Summer Job by Lizzy Dent.

Published 15th April 2021 by Viking/Penguin.

From the cover of the book:

Have you ever imagined running away from your life?

Well Birdy Finch didn't just imagine it. She did it. Which might've been an error. And the life she's run into? Her best friend, Heather's.

The only problem is, she hasn't told Heather. Actually there are a few other problems...

Can Birdy carry off a summer at a luxury Scottish hotel pretending to be her best friend (who incidentally is a world-class wine expert)?

And can she stop herself from falling for the first man she's ever actually liked (but who thinks she's someone else)?

The Summer Job is a fresh, fun, feel-good romcom for fans of The Flatshare, Bridget Jones and Bridesmaids.

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Birdy Finch is not particularly sure who she is or what she wants from life, but she knows she cannot go on living the way she is now. So when she gets a chance to get away from her hopeless part-time boyfriend and the string of dead end jobs that she finds far from fulfilling, she decides to go for it - the only problem is that she has to pretend to be someone else to do it... and that person is her best friend Heather. 

Birdy packs up and heads off to Scotland for a bit of a break to have a stab at working in a run-down Scottish hotel as a sommelier. It can't be that hard can it? Well, as it turns out, things are going to be a lot harder for Birdy than she thought... the run down hotel has just had a huge revamp turning it into a luxury retreat, and is aiming for a Michelin star - something for which they definitely need the world-class wine expert that as 'Heather' she is supposed to be! Can Birdy really carry this off, without Heather or the hotel finding out? And can she stop herself making things even more complicated by falling for the handsome chef James - who thinks she is someone else entirely? 

Every now and again, a rom-com comes along that absolutely knocks it out of the park, and The Summer Job is one of these special books. It has everything you want on a first-class romantic comedy - the characters, the humour, the romance, the heart... and of course, the inevitable hiccups on the road to happiness.

I absolutely loved Birdy from page one. She has had a difficult start in life and does not have a good track record when it comes to sticking at things, except her long friendship with her best friend Heather. She's fun, down to earth, and speaks her mind, but she is also one of life's blaggers who has never really settled down to anything. But Birdy finds that she has untapped skills and there are things worth fighting for, such as the dishy James, who is everything you want in your romantic story good guy - and as in all the best stories, Birdy spreads a little magic in her own special way too, and brings about change for everyone, even if it is in a roundabout way and as the result of a very bad error of judgement.

This book also manages to give a fascinating glimpse behind the scenes of a country house hotel in the way only someone who has worked there can do, with such a lot of mouth-watering descriptions about the food and wines of such an establishment - and about the kinds of people that work there, and how hard they work. 

This is a gorgeous story, with a surprising amount of emotional depth in the way Lizzy Dent gets to the nitty gritty about what her characters need to do, or find, to be truly happy. It takes us right where we want to go, via lots of laughter and shed-loads of tears, in the way that all the best heart bursting books do. It's just the kind of brilliant escapist read that fans of Beth O'Leary and Lia Louis will love, and I can feel in my bones that Lizzy Dent is going to be one of my auto-buy 'snuggle down on the sofa' authors from now on!

The Summer Job is available to buy now in hardcover, e-book and audio formats from your favourite book retailer.

Thank you to Ellie Hudson at Penguin Books Uk for providing me with a proof of this book in return for an honest review, and for inviting me to be part of this blog tour. I have also purchased both e-book and hardcover versions.

About the author:

Lizzy Dent (mis)spent her early twenties working in Scotland in hospitality, in a hotel not unlike the one in this novel. She somehow ended up in a glamorous job travelling the world creating content for various TV companies, including MTV, Channel 4, Cartoon Network, the BBC and ITV. But she always knew that writing was the thing she wanted to do, if only she could find the confidence. After publishing three young adult novels, she decided to write a novel that reflected the real women she knew, who don't always know where they're going in life, but who always have fun doing it. The Summer Job is that novel.