Gigi, Listening
Author: Chantal Guertin
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
Genre: Romance, Contemporary, Adult
Publication Date: March 28, 2023
Publisher: Kensington
GRAB A COPY: Amazon | Amazon Kindle | Book Depository | Barnes & Noble | Audible
Fans of Sophie Kinsella and Christina Lauren will adore this touching and witty novel about a woman who takes an impulsive trip to England to meet the man behind the audiobook narrator she’s fallen for.
Gigi Rutherford loves love stories. She reads them, she sells them at her romance bookstore, and she could spend hours imagining the meet-cutes of every couple she encounters. But when it comes to her own love interests, Gigi is out of stock. Instead of enduring bad date after bad date, these days she’d rather curl up with her favorite audiobook and the only man who makes her heart skip a beat: Zane Wilkenson, the smooth-voiced narrator Gigi is convinced is her soulmate.
Then, she’s presented with the chance of a lifetime: a ten-day bus tour through the English countryside, an ocean away from her bookstore—all in the presence of Zane, in person, as he leads the tour.
But when Gigi arrives at the bus terminal in London, Zane is nowhere to be found. Until he shows up, she’s stuck with an eclectic group of fellow travelers: recently widowed and chatty Charlotte; trivia-obsessed Francis; Jenny, a true-crime-makeup YouTuber documenting every detail for her subscribers; and Sindhi and Roshi, a long-married couple who can’t stop bickering. Then there’s the brooding bus driver, Taj, who Gigi finds infuriating yet also incredibly alluring . . .
With heart and charm, warmth and humor, Chantel Guertin explores the meaning of love and family—and how, sometimes, the journey to yourself is where you’ll find everything you’ve been searching for.
*Thank you Netgalley for approving my request to read this book in exchange for an honest review.*
I have to be really honest with my thoughts about this book. It took me more than a month to read this book because the first few chapters were confusing and quite complicated where the book was going to. I know that she’s in love with a voice from an Audiobook and was gifted by her friends the trip of a lifetime to meet this Audiobook narrator. Leading up to that point where Gigi was frustrated and avoiding the first few hours of the tour to wander around because the guy she came for was not the tour guide. That was frustrating to read, until we got to see Gigi and Taj mini tours and their conversations.
I see the instant connection with Gigi and Taj. I love seeing them just enjoying the company of each other. But the frustration with Gigi came back when Zane finally showed up and she just ignored Taj. From the very moment that Zane came on tour, I knew that there was something off about him and that I prefer the moments with Taj more.
Aside from the love triangle going on, I really enjoyed the conversations with the rest of the people in their tour bus. For some, those conversations would have been unnecessary and the book can live without those. But for me, it gave the book more character and it made touring the United Kingdom enjoyable. (I have decided to have at least the same tour stops to my bucket-list when I get the chance to visit the UK).
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I love how it ended unexpectedly because I know we would have thought that she’d pushed through with Zane. But Gigi ending up with Taj was amazing and her short journey to him was giving me all the feels. Plus I love that Gigi and Lars, finally decided to collaborate and make this parents’ bookshop something they can be proud of.
Wanders Between Pages 