ShortBookandScribes #BookReview – Until Next Weekend by Rachel Marks #BlogTour

I’m absolutely thrilled to have been given a chance to read Until Next Weekend by Rachel Marks and to share my thoughts with you today. Her first book, Saturdays at Noon, was one of my top reads of last year. My thanks to Chrissie Antoniou from Michael Joseph for the proof copy of the book for review purposes and the place on the tour.



NOAH AND KATE WERE MEANT TO BE TOGETHER FOREVER.

Married with two gorgeous sons, it looked like they’d got their happy ever after.

But marriage isn’t easy. And one day, Kate left, taking their two boys with her.

These days, Noah is a weekend dad – and it breaks his heart. He misses the chaotic mealtimes, the bedtime stories, the early mornings and the late homework.

Suddenly, he decides enough is enough – he has to win his family back. Starting with Kate.

The only problem?

IN SIX WEEKS’ TIME, KATE IS GETTING MARRIED TO SOMEONE ELSE . . .



When I read Rachel Marks’s first book, Saturdays at Noon, it made a huge impression on me and so I knew that I would want to read her second book when it came along. Well, here it is. Until Next Weekend is an absolutely perfect read and I loved it so much.

Noah is a bit of a disaster area. Divorced from Kate, the love of his life, two young sons who he only sees every other weekend, a rather haphazard but caring primary school teacher. He can’t get over Kate but when she announces she’s marrying again he realises he wants to try and win her back rather than just moping around. With the help of new friend, Mimi, he sets about making Kate see that she’s making a mistake marrying Jerry.

There’s a lot of emotion under Noah’s surface and I thought the author kind of coaxed it out of him as the story progressed. A whole load of back story makes Noah’s life something of a car crash as he lurches from drink to drink, holy mess to holy mess. He’s such a brilliant character though, effortlessly likeable and witty whilst wrestling with his inner demons. Definitely one of the good guys even if he’s totally infuriating at times.

Rachel Marks is a beautiful writer. Having read both of her books I know I would pick up anything she writes without even knowing what it’s about. Until Next Weekend is tender and moving, but also laugh out loud funny. She hits exactly the right note with her dialogue, creates characters I could really care about, and the story feels completely true to life and deals with the heavy things, whilst retaining a lightness of tone that makes this book a complete joy. I raced through the 400 or so pages and delighted in every one of them. It’s a triumph!





Rachel Marks studied English at Exeter University before becoming a primary school teacher. Despite always loving to write, it wasn’t until she gained a place on the 2016 Curtis Brown Creative online novel writing course that she started to believe it could be anything more than a much-loved hobby. Her inspiration for her first book, Saturdays at Noon, came from the challenges she faced with her eldest son, testing and fascinating in equal measure, and the research she did to try to understand him better. Until Next Weekend is her second novel.

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