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take a chance on me

Blog Tour & Guest Post: Take A Chance On Me by Beth Garrod


Welcome to Day Three of Take A Chance On Me, the blog tour! Today I have a sparkling review of Beth Garrod’s latest read, a lovely Guest Post about Insta Vacay’s and the lowdown on your must-have summer read!



Take A Chance On Me

Author: Beth Garrod

Published by: Scholastic on July 4th, 2019

Rating: ★★★★★

Genre: Young Adult // Contemporary Romance

Similar Books I’ve Read: To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, The Kissing Booth


Disclosure: I received this book from the Publisher/Author in exchange for an impartial review. This is an unpaid/unsponsored post.


The brand-new sunny, funny, feel-good rom com from bestselling Beth Garrod, perfect for fans of TO ALL THE BOYS I’VE LOVED BEFORE and THE KISSING BOOTH. Meg had a disastrous first kiss she would rather forget, but this is the summer she puts it behind her. 

This is the summer she has a perfect, swoony, just-like-in-the-movies kiss with a hot boy – and what better setting than the sun-drenched Greek island she’s holidaying on? But with three very different boys vying for her attention, this mission to reset her first kiss may be more complicated than she bargained for…



First Thoughts  


I’m guilty of having only read one previous book by Beth (although they’re all in my TBR stack!) previous to delving into Take A Chance On Me. But the well-known fact around the YA World is that Beth’s books are honest, hilarious and addictive. So when I got the chance to take this little read on vacation with me, I delved in right away in scenic beach views to get the perfect authentic experience. 




My Review


Picture this: you’ve got the perfect summer read, you’re staying on the English Riviera, the temperature is close to 30’c on the coastline and you’ve just met one of the funniest book characters you’ve had the chance to meet in a long time. That was my summer, last week. And it was so much better with Take A Chance On Me in my bag on long, hot days and beach trips. 


Meg, our main character, has had a shall we say, quite disastrous history of her first kiss that she would very much love to start forgetting. And that’s what this summer is all about. She has a gorgeous setting to restart her journey for the best kiss ever: a lush Greek island and perhaps more than she bargained for when one of the world’s hottest film stars is revealed to be shooting his newest movie on the same island she’s on holiday. Now, the thing is, there’s not just one boy that wants to lock lips with Meg. There’s three. And this summer that was supposed to be all about getting a do-over for that horrendous first kiss (and sheer horror of having a nose breaking curse) turns more complicated by the second. What’s a girl to do when there’s multiple options for a second first kiss?


I couldn’t put down Take A Chance On Me. Somehow, because I was on vacation and the book takes place with Meg on holiday, too, it seemed like the perfect fit. I was drenched in sunshine and exploring, just like Meg. The only difference was that Meg’s summer was a lot more complicated than mine, one that was taking leaps into a romantic setting and angling for her best summer yet. And for a one-off book, unlike Beth’s other books, I felt extremely drawn to Meg and her life and wished that this novel went on forever! 


Overall, I am so thankful that I took a chance on Take A Chance On Me. Not only did I laugh so hard that other people on the beach looked my way (oops!) but I felt like I had just took a peak into one of those life-changing types of YA reads that defines summer and romance to a perfect conclusion, wrapped up in a neat bow of sunshine and heartbeats. If you’ve never read a Beth Garrod book, you’re missing out completely. Start with Take A Chance On Me, and I pinky promise that it’ll be your favourite summer read yet. Huge five stars!





How to make like you’re on an Instagram vacay when you’re actually holed up at home.

So it’s the middle of August, you’re at home with no plans,  and your thumb has gone rogue and decided that you need to open Instagram. Again. For the 54th time today. We’ve all been there.
You have two options – get stuck in the scroll and indulge in some serious FOMO, or… pull on your best sunglasses and remind yourself don’t need to have got on a plane to be living your best #vacaylife.

Here’s how being at home, can be just as good as floating around on an inflatable flamingo.

You Came, You Saw, You Cone-quered
Guess what, no matter what fancy food foreign travels throw as us, and on to our friends’ feeds, the UK has something no posh beach does.
A 99 Flake.
So make mine a large, go heavy on the pink sauce, and feel smug you’re clutching the undisputed champion of all ice creams. And because the UK’s probably not even that hot, you’ll even have time to take a pic for the gram before it melts. Hello winning.

Pals Vs Paradise
Yeah yeah, we’ve all seen all your sandy white beach and clear blue sea pics, and realised that maybe, just maybe, it’s more appealing than the special brand of grey-drizzle the UK can serve up. But you know what every picture of that amazing empty beach is missing? Mates. So grab your besties, pull on your sunnies and work those angles. The sun won’t be so bright you can’t see the screen either. UK 2 – Tropical Paradise 0.

99 Problems, but Pants Aren’t One
Someone’s feed might be looking total #vacaygoals, but what’s happening behind the holiday scenes? At glorious home there’s no such horrors as forgetting enough pants, or realising you’ve got a tan line that’s the exact shape of your hand where you couldn’t be bothered to rub in Factor 50. And what’s worse? Another mosquito bite, or inhaling a massive lungful of the spray that’s meant to stop them? It’s a close call. But here in the glorious UK, we don’t need to fret about such survival matters. Oh no. In fact the only thing we need to worry about getting bitten by is the need to watch another episode of Love Island. And to that we say, crack on.

When Your Feed is Blowing Up…
…with blow everythings (Flamingos! Pizzas! Avodacoes! Llamas! You name it – someone has inflated it) remember one thing. Have you ever tried to get on one of those things in the blazing heat?! The inner-thigh burn is REAL. And a graceful mount/dismount is something probably even Simone Biles couldn’t manage.
So grab another pillow off your bed, and head to the park or the garden, knowing that whatever you’re sitting on, it’s going to beat straddling a scalding hot inflatable spring onion.

And if all else fails, put down your phone and remind yourself that someone else might be looking at your feed with the same amount of FOMO. So stop comparing your summer holiday realness with other people’s edited highlights, and make the most of zero school or college.  However you want to spend summer, the main thing is you take it easy – on everything but the ice-cream eating.




Hello – I’m Beth. The Super Awkward author. Which just about describes everything really.
Super Awkward was my debut book, Truly Madly Awkward was the sequel, and Access All Awkward was the third in the Awkward trilogy, but I’ve been writing for teenagers for a looong time. And being awkward in my own life for even longer.
My new summery book – Take A Chance On Me – is about a girl called Meg and came out in July 2019. 
My day job is making stuff for TV, radio and online, and I’ve worked on everything from Blue Peter to Radio 1 to MTV. Career highlight was probably fishing out Miley Cyrus’ used face-wipe from a bin.
I currently live in east London, and dream of owning a dog.
If you want to get in touch about that – or anything else – head to bethgarrod.com or follow me on Twitter @bethg or on IG @beth__garrod. 




What is your perfect summer read?


What’s your favourite book that Beth has written?


Let me know in the comments or on Twitter @LittleMemoirs and make sure to visit the other tour dates and get involved!


happy reading!

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