Category: Uplifting

Recent Reads: The Extraordinary Hope of Dawn Brightside by Jessica Ryn

Posted on by Pam

My review:????

The Extraordinary Hope of Dawn Brightside by Jessica Ryn is about Dawn Brightside, who is homeless.  She gets a place in St Jude’s Hostel for the Homeless, and she sees all the possibilities.

And I do mean all of them, as Dawn is a dreamer.  Helping out in cafe means she’ll be discovered to be an amazing chef, and find fame and fortune.  And it’s the same for most things.  Her wild optimism means that she’s the person with the can do attitude, which helps when there’s a crisis, like the threat of closure for the hostel.

This was a book that didn’t pull it’s punches.  It wanted you to know about the heartbreak, and the struggle to remain sober.  It wanted you to know about sleeping rough.  It also wanted to you know the community spirit, and how people look out for each other.

The Extraordinary Hope of Dawn Brightside was published on 26th November 2020, and is available from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.

You can follow Jessica Ryn on Twitter and on her website.

I was given this book in return for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to HQ.

Recent Reads: Our Stop by Laura Jane Williams

Posted on by Pam

My review: ?????

Our Stop by Laura Jane Williams is a book that I was following the author on Instagram for about a year, and really enjoyed her take on things.

Our Stop is about Nadia and Daniel, who both take the same train (she tries, anyway) to work.  Daniel decides that a good way to meet a woman on a train is to put something in Missed Connections in the paper that everyone reads on the train.  

This is the story of their near misses as they nearly meet in a lot of different ways, and was one that I really enjoyed!  

If you liked The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary, then you’ll enjoy this!  I personally loved both!

Laura Jane Williams has written two non-fiction books, and this is her debut novel!  She’s currently working on her next book, but is finding the time to promote Our Stop, and tickets for these events have been going quickly!

Our Stop was published on Kindle on 6th June, and is coming out in paperback on 8th August,  and is available to buy or preorder on Amazon  and on Waterstones.  I’ve found a link to where you can search for local bookshops, including independent!


I was given this book for free in return for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to Avon Books UK (the publishers) for this book.

Check out my GoodReads profile to see more reviews!

Recent Reads: The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary

Posted on by Pam
My review: ?????

Oh, this was a glorious book!  A wonderful tale of how 2 people are not going to meet, even though they share the same bed.

Tiffy is trying to move on from her ex, whose apartment she is still staying in, and Leon is trying to get more money together to help his brother.  Neither of them really want to do this, and Leon’s girlfriend, Kay, really isn’t pleased.  But, it’s not as if they’ll ever meet.  Leon works nights, and is to spend the weekends at Kay’s.  

This isn’t always a light book (see below for the warning!) but it is a very enjoyable one, and sweeps you along in the action.  Tiffy and Leon have very different voices, which drives home how different they are, and saves you from getting confused which one you are reading!  

Be warned, some might find the emotional abuse described upsetting, and one of the characters has PTSD.  This is the first book that I’ve reviewed on my blog that I’ve felt needs a warning, but that’s just because it’s being described as uplifting, joyous and so on, which it is, but not always.


With that warning given, this is a book I’m going to be recommending to every one to read, and is one that is going to do well!  So what are you waiting for?  Go and pre-order it from your favourite bookshop, or pre-order it to your device!

The Flat Share is out on 18th April this year, and is available on Amazon to preorder, and everywhere else you can find books!

I was given this book for free in return for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to Quercus (the publishers) for this book.
Check out my GoodReads profile to see more reviews!