Originally published: 9 June 2022

Author: Lizzy Dent

Published by: Viking Books

Genre: Romantic Comedy

Length: 320 pages

Reading dates: 31 May-4 June 2022

SHE HAS A PLAN . . .FATE HAS OTHER IDEAS.

There are two men in my life. But this is not a love triangle.

Mara Williams reads her horoscope every day – but she wasn’t expecting to be in a whole other country when destiny finally found her. Just as a fortune teller reveals that her true love is about to arrive, a gorgeous stranger literally walks into her life. And now Mara is determined to bring them together again . . . Surely even fate needs a nudge in the right direction sometimes?

But while Mara is getting ready for ‘the one’, the universe intervenes. Her new flatmate Ash is funny, and kind, and sexy as hell . . . There was no predicting this: it’s as if her destiny just arrived on her doorstep.

So will Mara put her destiny in fate’s hands – or finally trust herself to reach for the stars?

After reading a couple of gritty and not so happy books it was with a spring in my step I picked up The Setup by Lizzy Dent. I thoroughly enjoyed The Summer Job when I read it last year so was keen to read this one.

As the book begins, we meet Mara who has taken a solo holiday in Budapest. Being a lover of astrology she decides to visit a clairvoyant who tells her she will shortly meet the love of her life. Almost immediately after this prediction, Mara meets a musician and knows he is the one the clairvoyant must be referring to, and engineers a meeting with him in her home town 2 months later.

Excited, she returns to her home in the fictional seaside town of Broadgate in Kent where she meets her new flatmate Ash. Mara is pretty lonely – she still hasn’t got over the betrayal of her University boyfriend and her only friend is recently married and has just had a baby and Mara feels rejected. Feeling more positive about her future she starts making friends with her colleagues at the Lido when it is threatened with closure and connecting with Ash over her love of movies.

The Setup was a lovely story. I loved the setting of the old fashioned seaside town and the lido sounded absolutely amazing. I loved Mara and her journey – by fighting to save the lido, she starts to feel at home in Broadgate and become part of the community making friends. With a little help she starts to gain in confidence with new clothes and becomes great friends with Ash who I think I fancied a little bit too!

A warm, romantic and hopeful story, The Setup is that perfect beach and garden read – now we just need a summer to go with it!

Thank you so much to Ellie from Penguin Viking for inviting me on the tour and for sending me a proof copy of the book. Don’t forget to check out these other awesome bookstagrammers.

About the author:

Lizzy Dent (mis)spent her early twenties working in Scotland in hospitality. After years travelling the world making Music TV for MTV and Channel 4, and creating digital content for Cartoon Network, the BBC and ITV, she wrote three Young Adult novels as Rebecca Denton published in the UK. The Summer Job was her debut adult novel. Now in her late thirties she lives among London, Austria, and New Zealand with her young family.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DentLizzy