4.5 “It’s the love story you’ve always wanted.” Stars

If Sliding Doors and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days were to have a lovechild, its name would be The Little Vintage Carousel by the Sea.

“A stranger made eye contact with you, on public transport, in London? What kind of weirdo is this?”

Books that leave me with happy heart and a smile are my MO at the moment and that was exactly what I got from aspiring journalist, Ness and carousel-restorer Nathan as a sequence of amusing events sees the start of what is a story of friendship, acceptance and building feelings.

“I will never look at a carousel the same way again because of you.””

I loved how down-to-earth and adorably awkward both these characters were, from Ness’ clumsy nature to Nathan’s geekier side, and despite the lull in the middle—rectified by the introduction of Ness’ parents who had me howling with with laughter—this was a fabulous read and I must admit was a little bit sad to say goodbye at the end.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. This was a really lovely heart warming story and was exactly what the doctor ordered for me.

I really enjoyed this book and I would highly recommend it. It has a great story line, excellent main characters and it is a real page turner. I read this book in one sitting and the hours just flew by!

A joyous read, this is absolutely wonderful. Its enchanting, and funny and just a fabulous story.

The amount of times during this story that I was laughing along with Ness and Train Man's dialogue, was ridiculous. Just every interaction they had as sort of awkward, but sort of perfect at the same time. Train Man really is gorgeous but also a bit dorky, and Ness isn't the most graceful of women, so the pair just works.

All the dialogue generally in the book was just en-point and engaging.

However they are both adamant they aren't looking for love, but they really do bond when Ness goes up to Pearlholme to return train man's phone. Previously there had just been eye contact and smiles on crowded commuter tube trains - which pretty much never happens in real life.

It turns out that Train Man is a carousel restorer and we learn a lot about Carousels, and more specifically this rather special one. It has the most beautiful story behind it, which is slowly discovered.

Pearlholme itself is a gorgeous little Northern coastal village, so picturesque, and when you meet Charles and Camilla there are even more laughs to be had.

This book is just so funny and entertaining.

My only niggle with the book is that the characters seemed to love the film Carousel so much, whereas to my own personal taste it is the only musical I've ever seen that I've not enjoyed one bit, even despite the iconic You'll Never Walk Alone coming from it. There are just too many mentions of a film that sends me to sleep, and the stage show which I saw first was one of the most underwhelming productions of anything I've watched in the West End.

Apart from that I can't fault this book, I just loved every moment of it. Jaimie Admans is fast becoming one of my go to authors, and her books seem to be getting even better and better with each release.

Thank you to Netgalley and HQ Digital for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

Loved this book. An entertaining read that takes place over a few weeks.

When Nath (train man) drops his phone on the train, Ness rescues it and sets out to reunite it with it's owner. Encourage by her friend at work she follows him to the small coastal town where he is working in Yorkshire. Even though they both want to stay single, the more time they spend together the harder it is to ignore what is happening between them. But once the real reason she follows him is revealed he won't like it.

If I loved this...*hums music* but I only just really liked it due to some problems.

I’m a big fan of Jaimie Admans writing and I found this book very enjoyable. The plot was cute and the characters seemed to compliment each other well. I do have a few complaints and one is that it didn’t seem like Ness to keep that “secret” from Nath for so long. I think the story could have been improved if the secret had been revealed sooner paving way for a more fluid ending. To be honest the concept of “train man” also seemed too close to Zoe Folbigg’s novel The Note as well, right down to the train man nickname so that was a bit disappointing.

However, this was a fun read with a cute romance and lots of Carousel references. But...referencing Carousel as a film every single time it came up in conversation instead of the musical. Please fix this and reference the musical the film was based on. Honestly the film is one of the worst versions of Carousel and I hope the author seeks out better performances. As I’m a huge fan of the musical this plot connection worked for me. Thank goodness Nath wasn’t named Billy.

Curl up with a cup of tea and enjoy this cosy romance. I now want to move to Pearlholme!

Nathan is a stranger to Ness but they have been sharing coy looks at one another on the train for a while, with neither summoning up courage to speak to the other.

The story follows that Ness is sent to seaside town Pearlholme by her boss to find Nathan and return his phone to him after he drops it on the train. What he doesn't know is that she has been tasked with writing a series of articles about their encounter and how she is trying to track down the 'handsome, mysterious train man'.

Nathan seems so happy-go-lucky that at times I could not figure out how I felt he would feel once he found out Ness had written the articles after he'd fallen for her (and vice versa). However we also learn that he is so shy and keeps to himself that he would feel his trust had been betrayed by Ness after all is revealed. Ness needs to find a way to restore that trust and goes about it perfectly - I had to keep on reading and reading to find out if they got their happy ever after!

Such a quirky storyline based around a carousel which Nathan is lovingly restoring - it was actually really endearing listening to the history of the nuts and bolts and then about Nathan sanding and painting the horses! Carousel's now mean so much more than a child's fairground ride...

I was already enjoying this book but the arrival of Ness' parents, in particular her mum, to the holiday cottage Ness and Nathan were staying at ramped up the giggle factor, it was very funny!

The ending and last few chapters of this story had me doing an internal happy dance!

My many thanks to HQ Digital via NetGalley for providing me with this advanced reading copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to netgalley for an early copy in return for an honest review
A real lovely book a nice easy read intresting characters and kept good pace can highly recommend.