Take a Chance on Greece by Emily Kerr

Title: Take a Chance on Greece

Author: Emily Kerr

Published on: 1 July 2022

Genre: Women’s Fiction | Romance

Lydia wakes up after a wild night in Kefalonia, Greece, with a tattoo on her back that says ‘Awesome Andreas.’ Oopsie-doodle-doo, it must have been one heck of a night for Lydia, who is currently dating her boss Jim, to get a tattoo about someone named Andreas. Her friends Kat and Amira – who are also on the trip with her, suggest the best way is to be honest and let Jim know about the tattoo.

Lydia’s friends are not that fond of Jim but Lydia is going through a phase of ‘love is blind and deaf.’ Well, Jim is your typical narcissist, overly possessive and controlling guy. He wants Lydia to be dependent on him – financially and emotionally. Plus, the circumstances that initially let to Jim and Lydia dating each other is, um… let’s just say it was not boy-meet-girl and flowers fell from the sky kinda scenario.

In brief, Jim is a jackass. Let’s move on with the story now.

So, Lydia and her friends are back in London. Lydia had moved in with Jim before going on a trip to Greece. Her boxes are still packed and stacked at Jim’s place. On the way back home, Jim says he never realized Lydia had bits and bobs in her boxes – and romantic novels that are pretty useless. Lydia is used to Jim belittling her but this time, she does not respond. Not because she doesn’t want to start an argument. It’s just that she is trying to find a way to tell Jim about the Awesome Andreas tattoo.

The tattoo cannot be removed or altered until the skin around it heals completely. And Jim is being a total pain-in-the-bum. Lydia learns a thing or two about Jim (something to do with office) and decides to walk out of the relationship on a whim. She hasn’t unpacked her holiday suitcase yet. She picks a couple of books from the boxes, takes her suitcase of unwashed holiday clothes and books a one-way ticket to Greece.

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Maybe ‘Awesome Andreas’ is the man of her dreams and not Jackass Jim. She reaches Kefalonia with just fifty euros in her pocket. She’s quit her job back in London and must find a way to earn. She meets Alexis, a bookstore owner. His store is next to the tattoo parlor where Lydia supposedly got her Awesome Andreas tattoo. The tattoo parlor is closed and Lydia is tired from her journey so Alexis invites her in. When she tells him about her Awesome Andreas and Jackass Jim story, he tells her he will try to find a job for her.

That evening, he takes her to his sister’s hotel. Yiota’s cleaner is heavily pregnant and she needs someone to change the beddings and clean loos. Though the job is no closer to what Lydia is trained to do (she’s an accountant), Lydia agrees to help out.

Next mission: Find Awesome Andreas. Alexis tells her Andreas is a very common name in Greece. Lydia randomly pings an Andreas on Facebook and asks him out for coffee. She’s not dated anyone for a while and after her toxic relationship with Jim, she must be careful. But she mustn’t forget that she’s come to Greece in search of Awesome Andreas. The first Andreas she met on Facebook turns out to be Athletic Andreas – at the beginning of their date. By the end, he becomes ‘Arrogant Andreas.’

Once again, Lydia pings another Andreas on Facebook. He turns out to be a creepy-and-already-married Andreas. Oh goody! Search for Awesome Andreas is not going well. Halfway through the story, Lydia finally believes she meets the right Andreas. But, she’s also falling for Alexis, the guy who’s been so considerate enough to find her a job and also help her in finding Awesome Andreas.

Take a Chance on Greece by Emily Kerr is such a charming, delightful, uplifting and feel-good read. I absolutely enjoyed reading every bit of this story. It’s not all about finding love though, Lydia learns a lot about herself too in the process. Her friends are always by her side, checking up on her every day, helping her with dating tips and all that. Then there is Alexis – he was being such a cutie-pie, I tell you.

Almost at the end, we have a twist in the story. This was quite a shocking and unexpected development. I was like, “uh-oh, someone’s in trouble!” but thank goodness things turned out to be fine.

Absolutely fantastic writing and likable characters. If you are looking for a delightful summer read, you must give Take a Chance on Greece by Emily Kerr a read. Highly recommended!

I received an ARC from One More Chapter and NetGalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased opinion.