Friday, June 21, 2019

Book Review: Our Stop

I'll have another post for you later today, but let's get started with a really cute RomCom that's actually pretty perfect for your ride to work!

Our Stop - Laura Jane Williams
What if you almost missed the love of your life?
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.
Have you ever read the Missed Connections column in a local paper or even on Craigslist? I used to just for fun on my lunch break never thinking I'd see anything that could have been me but that's what the basis of this book is. Daniel sees this cute girl on the morning train and decides to put this out there in the hopes that maybe this girl sees it and it maybe becomes this grand love story. Nadia is kind of the disorganized/hot mess you love anyways because she's just a series of misses. Fortunately for her, the day she spills coffee all over the front of her dress is what really gets Daniel to notice her.

Overall? This book is cute. I found myself smiling throughout and trying to envision the near misses and the anxiousness of running down the street to get to this train on time, etc. Once they "connect" there are a real series of missteps getting in the way of a first day and we find out more about their friends and the circles they each float in more than we do about them. The ending? The ending is really adorable and I loved it.

My only real complaint about this book is that it is slow. The whole first half could have been pared down a bit and I would have liked to have an epilogue or some kind of "One Year Later" chapter or something to see what happened beyond the last page, basically I'm left wanting more. I didn't totally love Nadia's character but Daniel's was kind of sweet. The kind of guy I'd date? Not really, but he's that sweet/thoughtful/makes an effort kind of guy you want in every solid romance movie and I just really liked the effort he put into the entire story.

Surprising part of the book? The section on grief. You don't expect to read about grief in a romcom but specifically how men grieve a loved one and how that takes on different forms and it's a completely different journey than what women go on, and I thought that it was a really interesting part of the book and grateful it was included but also because it was done really well.

Overall? I'm giving this one a 4. It wasn't an hit out of the park, drop everything and read this, but it's more of a great book to listen as an audio book perhaps on your way to work or something light to read on your lunch break or at the park.

   
Thank you to HarperCollins and Avon Books for my ARC of Our Stop! All thoughts and opinions are my own. This post does feature affiliate links which help keep this blog going, thank you! 

2 comments:

Deanna Reads Books said...

Oh this looks cute!

Lauren said...

The part about grief, especially in men, sounds great, and I'm glad that it was included!! Sounds like a cute one all around.

-Lauren
www.shootingstarsmag.net