Quick Synopsis

A warm, sexy, laugh-out-loud rom-com about a woman who, desperate for a fresh start, books a literary bus tour across the UK that consists of a lively group of elderly ladies plus one infuriatingly handsome Scottish driver.

Publisher’s Synopsis

UK Bus Trip Goals:

1. Crawl out of pajamas.
2. Get over cheating bastard and his stupid ironed jeans. 
3. Have my first real adventure!
4. Achieve stability, strength, and growth.
5. Definitely do NOT kiss any British men.

Alice loves a good list. But careful planning didn’t stop her from losing her job and her fiance in one fell swoop. With her dreaded 30th birthday looming on the horizon, Alice makes the first impulsive decision of her life – booking a flight to the UK for a three-week, all-female, literary bus tour. What could possibly go wrong?

Turns out – everything.

Alice arrives to discover that this tour isn’t what she expected. At all. Instead of cool, globe-trotting thirtysomethings with meaningful tattoos, she finds a rickety, antique bus full of fluffy-haired octogenarians. And to make matters infinitely worse, the tour guide makes her blood boil! And that devilish grin of his tells her he’s dead set on making her trip a misery. 

But as they travel from castle ruins to cozy pubs, Alice may just find that she’s got it all wrong. The ladies are vivacious. The book club chat is on fire. And damn if that mischievous smile doesn’t threaten to turn her world upside down – and her beloved list right along with it!

Book Review

Work in Progress is a debut romance novel about Alice who is approaching her 30th birthday and feeling lost. After her losing both her job and her boyfriend, Alice decides to book a last minute trip on a literary tour to figure out what is next. When she arrives, Alice finds two unexpected things: a tour group composed solely of older ladies and a maddening, yet handsome Scottish tour guide.

I am unabashedly a lover of feel-good stories in any form. So it is no surprise that I love books that feel like a warm hug. And I was happy to find Work in Progress is just that, although things start off on the wrong foot for Alice.

While she initially scoffs at joining a tour group of elderly ladies, they embrace Alice and help guide her on her journey back to confidence. This was one of my favorite aspects of the novel. As someone who grew up spending more time with my elderly neighbors than kids my own age, I reveled in a story that put life’s bumps and curves into perspective through some sage advise from wise older women.

For a debut author, Kat Mackenzie did an excellent job developing distinct characters. As I mentioned, I loved the older ladies in this book. It was easy to do so when they each had clear, unique personalities (and were supportive and sweet). And Robbie is as sweet as can be. While Alice is definitely a bit of a grumpy character, she really grew as a person over the course of the book. I do think Alice may rub some people the wrong way initially.

I must applaud Mackenzie for writing dialogue and prose that actually made me laugh out loud, which is no small feat. The witty, stinging banter in the first portion of the book is fantastic and fun. I just wish that the sizzle of the banter continued throughout the novel. In addition, I found the elaborate descriptions of locations to be too long. I rarely skim when I read, but I had to do so for my eyes not to glaze over reading about the Scottish countryside. It also felt very out of place when the rest of the novel was not written as descriptively.

I must also point out that among the many literary references sprinkled through Work in Progress are HP references. There was absolutely no need for these and automatically drops the star rating for me. Moreover, the plot does hinge on the miscommunication trope. Although it is not used in a completely unreasonable manner, I was still screaming at the Alice to just speak to Robbie like a grown adult. Finally, I think that the lists were a bit over done and did not add to the narrative.

Overall, Work in Progress is a strong debut novel but not without a few faults. I recommend it if you love a sweet male protagonist, revel in found family, or are planning a U.K. literary adventure.

Rating

Overall Rating

Writing

Plot

Character Development