Love, Locked Down - Beth Reekles

Genre: Romance | Humour | Contemporary

Release Date: 1st February 2022

Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group UK

Someone in Building C has tested positive for the highly contagious virus that's been sweeping the nation - so as of right now, the whole building is on lockdown with no exceptions.

Imogen is stuck with a one-night stand who's name she can't even really remember and she definitely can't tell her best friend Lucy … who happens to also be locked in building C in Olivia's flat with all her friends for a DIY wedding prep weekend. Serena and Dan have been together for four years, but now that they're stuck together things are becoming different. Isla was wishing she'd spend some more time with new boyfriend and now they're spending the week together for the first time. YouTuber Ethan is stuck too, but his girlfriend Charlotte is locked out of the building and he's realising just how hard it is to be without her.

Five couples, one week, a love story like no other …

"Not not this is wholly unusual for me. Well, I mean. The virus is; the general sense of impending doom about something, not so much."

Love, Locked Down is an utterly hilarious fly-on-the-wall romcom with a dazzling cast of characters - each relationship was so dynamic and I found myself equally invested in not only their romantic relationships but the relationship between neighbours and friends. Albeit being a little dizzying for the few chapters, it was fairly easy to follow the many storylines and get to know each person surprisingly well. I would happily read a follow-up about each character after this (hint, hint!)

Although it wasn't specifically mentioned that this was during the time of covid, it gave me somewhere between a nightmare and nostalgia for lockdown version 1, of banana bread, Tiger King and Dettol-flavoured groceries and the strange timelessness of it all.

Beth Reekles perfectly captures the absurdity of love - the frustration, the pitfalls, the beginnings and ending and of course the all-consuming happiness. Each relationship she forms explores a different type of relationship in a unique way and celebrates the diversity and differences we can find in love.

Endearing, riotously funny and cinematic, Beth Reekles has got the rom-com equation locked down!

⭐⭐⭐⭐

I was gifted an advanced reviewers copy of this title in return for an honest review.

Comments

REVIEW: This Could Be Us by Clare McGowan

Genre: Fiction | Literary Fiction Release Date: Expected 1st June 2023 Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group | Corsair Kate has done the unthinkable. She'd worked hard to build a perfect life for herself, while ignoring her growing unhappiness. But when her second child was born profoundly disabled, reality hit. Unable to cope, Kate left - disappearing without a trace. She ends up in LA, with a glittering career and a new family of sorts, but the guilt is still suffocating. Husband Andrew was left to pick up the pieces and care for their disabled daughter and angry, confused son. Bereft and broken, he leaned on Olivia, Kate's best friend. She's been by his side ever since, ignoring her own needs to meet his. Years later, Andrew has written a memoir about his daughter learning to communicate against all odds. But when Kate's new producer husband decides he wants to make a film of it, their worlds collide once again. Now, Kate must return to the life she abandoned and reck...

REVIEW: Live, Laugh, Lesbian by Helen Scott

Genre: Non-Fiction | Memoir | LGTBQ+ Release Date: 19th October 2023 Publisher: Jessica Kingsley Part memoir, part guide, part conversation and all queer joy — Live, Laugh, Lesbian is a brilliantly warm and friendly journey into the queer experience, not only from the author but from plenty of other lesbian, queer, bisexual and pansexual contributors who bring a unique viewpoint and voice and also show a beautiful diverse, intersectional scope of the queer spectrum and welcomes in queer people and allies of any kind to come feel the love. The book is very conversational, talking to the reader in a fun, friendly way — at times I rolled my eyes as the use of “famalam” but as a previous patron of Colours and Chicagos I’m not in a position to judge the Essex-isms. It’s full of anecdotes and observations that were witty and relatable as well as talking is through the more difficult side of queerness like dealing with workplace discrimination, religious trauma and coming out to family...

BOOK TOUR STOP x RANDOM THINGS TOURS: Thirty Days of Darkness by Jenny Lund Madsen

" This town has secrets that are best left alone." Author Hannah is a success, on paper at least. She's receiving critical acclaim and praise worldwide and her work is regarded as some of the best. She writes literature, not just books. But the reality is, outside of the literary circles nobody actually reads her work. But when she finally snaps at a book event and publicly criticises the genre fiction books that outsell hers, claiming they're easy and mindless she's challenged to write her own crime fiction novel in just thirty days by an author she loathes. Desperate not to lose to him, her editor arranges for her to spend a month in a quiet, cold village in Iceland hoping that the solitude will spark inspiration. But instead of writing a murder story - she's in one . Just before she arrives, the body of a young man is pulled from the icy waters and her search for ideas soon becomes a search for a killer. And if she's not careful, she might end up the...

On Bee's Bookshelf

Search This Blog