The Setup

By: Lizzy Dent

Narrated by: Anna Gilthorpe

From the author of The Summer Job comes a laugh-out-loud, heartwarming story about one woman’s impulsive fib that jump starts a summer of reinvention and learning about love, life, and what it means to accept yourself.

She has a plan. Fate has other ideas.

The last place very average thirty-one-year-old Mara Williams thought she’d be is on a solo vacation impersonating her fortune teller when she finally meets the one. Josef, a gorgeous Austrian cellist, sits down for a reading and before she knows it, she’s telling him his destiny will be sitting in a pub in the English seaside town of Broadgate on the last Friday of August. And her name is Mara.

Enter Project Mara: three months to turn herself into the stylish, confident woman she’s always hoped to be. Meanwhile, the crumbling, formerly glamorous beachside pool club where she works is under threat and her eccentric colleagues enlist her help to save it, just as a handsome new housemate casts doubts on her ideas about “the one.” Can Mara pull off the transformation of a lifetime? And by summer’s end, will she know who is her destiny?

Critic reviews

"I fell in love with Lizzy Dent's writing with The Summer Job and have been waiting with bated breath to see what she does next. This book is everything I wanted and then some. With Dent's usual humor, wit, and warmth and a spectacularly charming cast of weirdos, The Setup is exactly the kind of summer read I'm constantly on the hunt for. I love astrology-obsessed hot-mess Mara, I love the crumbling little Broadgate lido she's out to save, and I love-love-love Lizzy Dent." —Emily Henry, author of People We Meet on Vacation and Book Lovers

“An adorable rom com packed full of nostalgia and Dent’s trademark wit.” —Sophie Cousens, author of This Time Next Year

“Lizzy Dent, known for her bestselling novel The Summer Job, is back once again with another witty story filled with love and lighthearted humor” —PopSugar

“[A] sweet and funny tale of a woman who has been barely scraping by as she opens herself up to new friends and new experiences. For fans of Abbi Waxman and Emily Henry.” —Booklist

“Grab your SPF and your carry-on because we have the ultimate beach read for your summer getaway. The Setup is a laugh-out-loud story about 31-year-old Mara who (while on a solo vacation) impulsively decides to impersonate a fortune teller. You can't imagine the twists and turns this story takes but we'll just tell you right now it involves a gorgeous Australian cellist named Josef, so do with that information what you will." –Love to Know

“Perfect.” —Motherly

Rushed ending

Overall a pleasant story. Immature main character- would categorize this as new adult. Ending felt very rushed. There wasn’t a big cliffhanger or anything. It just stopped in a weird way.