ShortBookandScribes #BookReview – Our Stop by Laura Jane Williams @laurajaneauthor @AvonBooksUK #BlogTour #OurStop
I am absolutely over the moon to be able to share with you today my thoughts about this wonderful book. My thanks to Sabah Khan from Avon Books for the place on the tour and for sending a proof copy of the book for review purposes.
Nadia gets the 7.30 train every morning without fail. Well, except if she oversleeps or wakes up at her friend Emma’s after too much wine.
Daniel really does get the 7.30 train every morning, which is easy because he hasn’t been able to sleep properly since his dad died.
One morning, Nadia’s eye catches sight of a post in the daily paper:
To the cute girl with the coffee stains on her dress. I’m the guy who’s always standing near the doors… Drink sometime?
So begins a not-quite-romance of near-misses, true love, and the power of the written word.
Oh my heart, my heart. I’m not into soppy, fluffy love stories. When I read a romance I want it to have some oomph to it along with a love thread running through it that makes my heart sing. Our Stop is one of those kind of love stories.
We meet Nadia and we meet Daniel. They, on the other hand, have a pretty tough time actually meeting each other. They are the very epitome of star-crossed lovers. This is the sort of story that warms the cockles of anyone with a romantic bone in their body. Daniel sees Nadia one day and it’s a bit of an arrow through the heart moment. And then he sees her again and he wants to do something about it but it’s not as though they met in a social situation and he can easily approach her. She gets on his tube train and everybody knows that nobody in London actually speaks to anyone on the tube. So he puts a message in the Missed Connections section of the paper and she sees it, they meet up and live happily ever after.
Ah no, that doesn’t happen! What follows is a lot of messages, some missed chances and some amazing coincidences. I won’t tell you if they ever actually meet and get it together because that would be a spoiler, but let’s just say I was incredibly pleased by the ending.
I spent much of this novel in a delicious state of heightened anticipation. It’s so well-written as to really keep up the tension of will they/won’t they. It’s pitch perfect on the part of Laura Jane Williams. I loved Nadia who is fun and a little scatty, but incredibly intelligent, working with artificial intelligence. But Daniel is the real star of this book for me. If a more perfect man exists then I shall be very surprised. He’s sensitive, kind, clever, handsome and fills his trousers perfectly (apparently). What more could you ask for?
There’s also a lovely cast of supporting friends for each of them. Nadia has Emma and Gaby and Daniel has Romeo and, to some extent, his flatmate, Lorenzo, along with his gang from university. They all add something to the story of Nadia and Daniel and give them the chance to show why they are worthy of being the main characters in this gorgeous story.
I loved the whole idea of the Missed Connections thing. I didn’t even realise anything like that existed but what a perfect way to see if that spark could be turned into a fire or if it would fizzle out straightaway.
At the end I was getting all fluttery, nervous and excited for Nadia and Daniel. I was totally invested in this thing between them working out. As she says to him: “It’s quite the build up.” The way it ended just melted my heart and I do believe a tear was shed.
Our Stop is exactly my kind of love story. It’s one which made me root for the characters and it was a total joy from beginning to end. Proper loved it!
Laura Jane Williams is the author of cult non-fiction memoirs Ice Cream for Breakfast and Becoming, as well as rom-com Our Stop. Our Stop is a HELLO! Magazine summer book club pick, and RED Magazine called it “a must read”. She is currently working on her next novel – and Instagramming at @laurajaneauthor.
Brilliant review that has made me want to read this straight away!
That’s what I like to hear. Thank you, Linda.