The past few weeks have been absolute pish. So in search of something light and fluffy to banish my ennui and grump, I came across this. Chick-lit is not a favored genre of books... at all ... but I couldn't resist a fellow Fifer!

If cutsey romances with a bumbling idiot MC navigating life and grief with a precocious 5 years old and nosy, meddlesome, dogooder friends and family is your thing, then this is the book for you!! It ticks all the boxes plus set in glorious Edinburgh. There is nothing more you need.

Thank you to Netgally and the publishers for the ARC.

The Single Dad’s Handbook was a well written story but it just didn’t feel real for me. I can’t say I particularly liked the characters and the progression of the main character didn’t feel believable. I did read it to the end and at no point did I feel I needed to quit, but it just wasn’t for me.

I loved this. I adored all the characters and the setting. It made me tear up so much. I couldn't put it down. Such an escapism.

I've read 8 chapters before lunch and it's been a fantastic book so far, WTG the author. I thought that the swearing on the first page would be a signal of swearing throughout and it'd spoil a potentially good book, but I was wrong... there *is* swearing, but it's well-placed and not just written for the sake of being written.

I'm wondering about the semi-frequent use of big brand names though, if the author hasn't got written permission from the brands to use them, then they could be in a lot of hot water if the brands find out!

Just finished this book and it definitely deserves every one of those 5 stars that everything I review starts off with. If you've got a day of boredom ahead of you, get your nose into this book and hopefully you won't regret it, I certainly don't.

Absolutely loved every moment of this book! It is heart wrenching but with some humour, but more importantly it is so real it could be true. My heart breaks for Evan throughout abd everything he goes through to live his life and deal with his loss.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a quick read, but so many emotions were packed into the book! Although there were parts that were very predictable, I was still laughing and crying along with Evan the entire time.

Would recommend, and would definitely read more of Lynsey James!

okay this book was super cute and i really liked it. it's set up to be int he dad's persepection and he asks his daughter what he should be doin since her mom is dead. so.

A cute story about (obviously ) a single widowed dad and who finds love in an obvious and oblivious location. This was a sweet and sorrowful story that was also cute and a little predicable. It would be a great Hallmark movie!!

Oh this tucked at the heart strings, I was completely drawn into this story and just loved the way in which it was written. I did have tears in my eyes on a number of occasions. Really well observed and emotional story, Thank you.

The Singles Dad's Handbook didn't really do it for me unfortunately. I thought going in, it would be an emotional rollercoaster read but it just didn't hit any of my emotions and I found myself struggling to finish it. I did however, particularly loved the Edinburgh setting and recognising the locations in the book.

Evan is a single dad to 5 year old Violet after losing his wife Claire to cancer . The story starts two years after her death when Evan hits a low point and finds the book that she left for him to read. He is struggling to move on from her death but seems to be managing just fine (in my opinion) but his friends and mum seem to think he's hit rock bottom and that they need to intervene. Maybe that's why I struggled a little with this story as I felt that when his mum offered to take Violet for a bit so he could get himself back on track, he acted as though she'd been forcibly taken off him for good.

Overall, it was an easy read about loss, love and learning to live your life differently to how you imagined.

Gorgeous and heart warming.

At times this tale brought tears to my eyes, it was just so unfair, so cruel. I mourned the life Claire should have lived with Evan and Violet. She had imagined so much. However like Evan I found a sense of peace in her letters.

I adored little Violet and laughed in recognition at the everyday tasks they shared such as the battles to get to school on time. There were lots of moments like this.

Living in Edinburgh I loved the descriptive settings and his truly unique job. Perhaps he was my guide when I too ventured on a tour.

Truly uplifting tale of letting go and second chances at love and life.

This book was so engaging, I read it in a couple of days. Evan is charged with raising his daughter as a single father, when his wife is taken from them due to cancer. Prior to her death, Claire wrote letters to Evan in order to assist him in all aspects of his life moving forward as single father. The letters are funny, sad, and heart warming. This book follows Evan as he navigates his daily life and attempts to reenter the dating scene. This book was believable, easy to read, and I fell in love with the characters.

It was very moving. A nice heart warming read and I enjoyed it very much.. The characters were all very relatable.

The Single Dad’s Handbook deals with that eventuality we all fear- losing the person we love most in the world and having to go on alone. In Evan’s case, that means figuring out how to raise his daughter alone. His wife Claire has tried to help from beyond the grave by leaving him a series of letters and she’s clever enough to have plotted his escape from grief.
This book is so heartwarming and emotional- the letters had me on the verge of weeping a few times and made me fall in love with Claire. Violet was a delight as a new school starter, obsessed with space and trying to find ways to navigate the world without her mum and with a dad who doesn’t smile anymore.
The stories around the dates Evan tries to go on are hilarious and the eventual love story is written sensitively, with the realisation that we never get the same love twice. Lynsey James’ work only gets better with every book she writes.

Brilliant. As I began this I thought it would be sad but it was but in a good way. I Ioved Violet and her obession with space. You really felt for Evan at times. The letters were well written and clever,.A great book. A must read

****The Single Dad’s Handbook is about grief and learning to move on from tragic loss. The death of his wife left Evan alone to raise their young daughter. Before her death Claire wrote him a series of letters she hoped would guide him as he coped with the significant milestones in their daughter’s life... and his. Evan’s efforts to do as his wife suggested don’t always go as planned, however, and this makes the book very entertaining. Author Lindsey James understands the trials of grief and how hard it is to redefine oneself when one’s spouse is gone. Can Evan step away from his grief long enough to recognize that he doesn’t have to be alone? The book is written in British English with British punctuation, but American readers will have no problem understanding. I voluntarily reviewed an advance copy of this book from NetGalley. Highly recommend.

I am sitting here...wiping away the crazy amounts of tears I just UGLY CRIED. I finished this book in under 24 hours...I couldn't put it down.

The cover and title were so misleading to how wonderful and poignant this book truly was. I absolutely loved Evan and Claire...I cried for them, literally, laughed with them and felt so many emotions while reading this. The writing was nothing short of beautiful. The letter piece, initially worried me that we were trying to be a little too PS I Love you...but man was it so well done, in its own unique way. I am never someone who writes down or highlights quotes in a book, but I did with this one, multiple times.

I guess James really made me fall in love with her characters, made me feel all the feels and even got me to cry. I love when a book touches me on that level and evokes that kind of emotion! I highly recommend this...it is way more than a romcom looking cover!

Thank you NetGalley, HarperCollins, One More Chapter & Lynsey James for this copy for my honest review. I simply adored this book!

107/100

It has been two years since Evan’s wife, Claire, died after contracting cancer and Evan is trying to bring up their young daughter while struggling with his grief. On the first day of school for Violet, Evan comes across a book that Claire wrote, full of important letters and tips for her family that she had written for every occasion upon her death.

A beautiful book about starting over, without forgetting the love you had. This reminded me very much of P.S I Love You, so if you liked that book you will love this one!

This was a good light, and yet, predictable read. I will caveat my review with the fact that I have not lost a spouse. If I have, this read could be much heavier. I found it odd that Evan waited so long to read the letters from his wife and how he was struggling so much with her death one minute and the next minute he was determined to do better. I could see this being a Hallmark movie. It really read like it would be turned into such a movie.

Two years ago Evan’s wife Claire died of cancer, since then he’s been struggling to come to terms with his grief. Trying to be the best dad that he can to their five year old daughter Violet, he’s finding it hard to cope. But Claire has left Evan a book of letters with advice on how to navigate their lives without her in it. From Violet’s first day of school to first dates and moving on with life, will Claire’s letters give Evan the answers he is looking for?

A beautifully written emotional story which I would recommend.