I read Dear Emmie Blue by Lia Louis earlier this year and loved it so much that I vowed to read everything that she ever writes from now until eternity. I am SO glad that I kept my promise. Lia Louis has taken my breath away yet again!

Eight Perfect Hours follows the trials and tribulations of Noelle, who.has had her share of heartbreak. She is in an on again, off again relationship with Ed but she finds that she keeps crossing paths with handsome, kind, adventurous Sam. Is it destiny that keeps bringing them together or is she meant to settle down with Ed? This heartwarming, funny story has you rooting for Noelle from the first page to the very last.

I also loved the way that the topic of anxiety and depression was handled. Noelle and her mother have both had their struggles, and the toll that it can take when you don't know how to help someone who you love was written in a deeply realistic and touching way.

Five stars for this beautiful story about chasing your dreams and finding the courage to live the life that you deserve.

A sweet romance about to soul mates destined to find one another. The novel begins and ends with a time capsule and in the middle are angell and Sam who get stuck in separate cars in a snowstorm for hours. From there, their relationship blossoms and is determined by fate. An emotional and sentimental read.

One snowy evening, a snowstorm halts traffic completely, leaving Noelle trapped with no food or water, not to mention she can’t call anyone because her phone charger is wonky. Then American Sam Attwood knocks on her window and offers assistance—she thinks she can just charge her phone, let her mum who suffered a stroke know she was late, and that will be it. Instead, their conversation is so easy, they spend the next eight hours together until the roads and weather clear.

Noelle thinks she’ll never see him again. It was bad enough seeing her ex—he’d moved to the United States for work and now is back. She keeps running into Sam, who has romantic and family complications of his own.

This is a cute, sweet novel. Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book, which RELEASES SEPTEMBER 28, 2021.

I enjoyed reading this book, written by an author new to me. It has all the elements you'd want to see in a satisfying romance -- a handsome man, mystery, lovers kept apart by distance and circumstance -- it's all there.

And while I did enjoy the book, the male love interest fell a little flat. Did she love him because he was attractive with lovely eyes or was it something deeper? He didn't seem completely fleshed out as a real, imperfect human being. But maybe that's what we love about romances . . . seeing things a bit through rose-colored glasses, where true love always wins and couples really do have a happily ever after.

This is a lovely read for anyone who loves sentimental romances.

I kind of thought this would be frothy and light, or cutesy like a Hallmark movie, but it’s definitely not. I thought the premise was cute, but the woe is me attitude if our heroine really drove me crazy. Also, the continual harping of fate was another annoyance; you can totally think it, but you do sound kind of daffy if you keep mention it after they say they don’t believe it. All the other characters outside of our heroine and her family we great!

Eight Perfect Hours is the sweet story of Noelle and her VERY coincidental encounters with Sam, beginning with a horrific traffic jam where she must borrow the phone charger from the fellow in car sitting next to hers. Sam is the driver, and the story begins, or that's how it seems. Over the next few weeks, Noelle and her ex-fiance, Ed, begin to see each other again, but Sam somehow keeps popping into their lives. Noelle is torn between the two men, and she's also dealing with overwhelming care of her aging mother, and her own career decisions.

This is a fun story - very light and fast reading. I found it more than a little unbelievable - maybe some would appreciate that so many chance meetings actually do occur, and that "fate" was bound to happen in this way - like a fairy tale. The story ultimately had a satisfying ending.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read and review Eight Perfect Hours.

What's meant to be shall happen. Soul mates - if you believe in them, you'll love Eight Perfect Hours. Noelle's life isn't what she pictured after graduation. She imagined travels with her best friend and living a life full of adventures. But that's not what happened since her best friend died, her mom got sick, and Noelle's taken a job as a cleaner to support her family. But the past always comes back - this time in the form of a reunion where a time capsule is opened. But that was just another disaster for Noelle who then gets stuck in the worst traffic the M4 has ever seen due to a winter storm - even her cell phone dies, but an American stranger, Sam comes to her rescue, inviting her into his car to use his charger. And while that seems like a terrible idea - she does it to let her family know she's okay. But as the eight hours pass, Sam proves he's a good guy to have around. But they go their separate ways... until they run into each other again and again.
While this "meant to be" trope could be forced, Lia Louis gets it right. Everything falls into place and there is a lot of happiness along the way. Just a pleasant, enticing book to make you believe in fate.

Fun and heartwarming modern day romantic novel. Enjoyed the characters in this book. Another strong female lead with a real life issues. I would recommend this novel. Quick read. Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy.

I rarely encounter I book that I don’t like, but this one was such a tedious read that I abandoned it at the half way point. I have great respect for authors, so I am reluctantly giving this novel only one star since I found little to recommend. Clearly, other reviewers enjoyed this story and I believe this may be simply a mismatch between my interests and an author’s writing style.

Noelle Butterby, the protagonist, is a thirty-something house cleaner who has put her life on hold to care for her semi-invalid mother and self-indulgent, spoiled brother. She has given up a solid, loving twelve year relationship and her dreams of a family and a career as a florist due to an overdeveloped sense of responsibility. I found her unsympathetic and irritating as she lives out truth-filled conversations in her head that she never speaks aloud. Consequently her relationships are mostly fantasy while she stays stuck in her codependency, which seems rooted in the loss of her best friend in a tragic accident. Perhaps she sees the light at the conclusion of the book, but I didn’t have the patience to force myself to invest time in a book that delivered so little entertainment value. In addition to all of the above, the profanity and sexual references did not enhance my appreciation for the author’s writing style.

My thanks to the author, Atria Books, and NetGalley for the privilege of reviewing a digital ARC in exchange for an independent, honest review.

This review is being posted immediately to my GoodReads account and will be posted on Amazon upon publication.

Noelle meets Sam during a winter storm that shuts down the freeway. For 8 perfect hours, they get to know one another waiting for the road to reopen. Then, they keep keep running into each other unexpectedly. Is it fate?

This was a cute read, although predictable. I didn’t love it like I did Dear Emmy Blue, but it was an enjoyable read.

One sentence really struck a chord with me. Noelle refused to start living and Sam refused to stop. Due to the loss of Daisy, Noelle hid from the world and lack of confidence further bolstered those actions. It was not helpful that her mom pushed her down this path as well. Due to the loss of Lee, Sam ran from any sort of emotional attachment. Serendipity brought them back together time and time again and as a result of this constantly happening in their lives whether knowingly or not, they became better together and supported each others goals and dreams.

Raise your hand if you’re here because of Emmie Blue!
Now raise your hand if you stayed because of Noelle! & Daisy…& Charlie…& Sam. Sam!
Lia Louis has done it again. Eight Perfect Hours is the perfect combination of sweet sappy love, the undying bond of friendship, the truth that life can be really fucked up and hard at times, and fate. Ah, sweet fate.
An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place, and circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle. But it will never break. -ancient Chinese proverb
As someone who believes in karma, fate, and is a romantic at heart, this got me. I was sold before I even read the first page.
Noelle Butterby finds herself stuck. Stuck on a blizzard covered road, and stuck in life. Left to care for her ailing mother, while her brother is out trying to become a rock star, her ex fiancé moved away to a different country to live the life of his dreams, and distant memories of what could have been still haunt her, Noelle has reached her breaking point. At the exact moment of this realization fate steps in. Noelle meets Sam Attwood. And then proceeds to meet him again, and again, and again. With life coming at her hard from every direction, Sam, and their random meetings, seem to be a bright spot and a motivation for Noelle. What follows are ups and downs, self doubt, self reflection, and fate.
Dear Emmie Blue was at the top of my list for 2020 books and I’ve been counting down the days for the release of this book. It did not disappoint. Thank you to Atria Books NetGalley for an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I adored Lia Louis’s “Dear Emmie Blue” so I was thrilled with a chance to read “Eight Perfect Hours.”

Noelle is traveling back from a failed college reunion, which was called off due to an impending storm. Not only did her ex, Ed, barely give her a second glance, but her bestest’s (who had tragically died in an accident) camera was not found within the school’s capsule. But the storm has other plans, and Noelle is stranded without a working cell phone. Enter, Sam, an American, who is trying to get to the airport to fly back home to Oregon. He offers Noelle not just a chance to charge her phone, but simulating conversation. The time with Sam in the car ends up being the best eight hours Noelle has experienced in a long time. But they depart without exchanging details and Noelle returns to her life of caring for her mom and cleaning homes without the financial resources to get her floral arrangement business off the ground.

Fortunately, destiny intervenes and Noelle runs into Sam again. Will they fall in love and live happily ever after? That is up to the reader to find out.

While Noelle can be somewhat frustrating in how she limits herself, she is also quirky and quite lovable. So much like “Dear Emma Blue” this novel will smother you with “feel good” feelings and instill with you a warm dose of hope. And like her previous novel, the secondary characters—Charlie, Dilly, Ed—are all well-developed. Once I started reading, I could not put this book down. Though I was not quite sold with the ending, I did enjoy Noelle’s journey. Even the most cynical readers may find themselves with a smile on their face before finishing the novel.

Thank you Lia Louis, NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC of this novel.

This book began with me disliking it but as I continued, it grew on me. I enjoyed the theme, where there are no coincidences in life. The characters are a bit lackluster and the needy, and in my opinion, selfish mother and brother, of the main character Noelle, were bothersome. Sometimes we cannot rekindle what we once had but we can always look ahead and create new relationships and opportunities, as long as we are open to receive them. Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for this ARC.

This book was just so darn cute. No other way to describe it.

I read the first page, and put it down. I did it again. I finally picked it up, and then read it all in one long sitting. I don't know WHY it took me so long - I mean, this book was adorable.

I liked all the characters - even the jerk brother. I thought the story was a cute concept - and something a little different.

I hate to keep saying this book was cute - maybe I should get out my thesaurus. But that's just the best way to describe it. I thought the author did a great job bringing this story to life for me. It was light, it was an easy, fun read, it brightened my day having read it.

I want to thank the author. the publisher and #netgalley for the ARC which did not impact my review. I am now off to see if this author #LiaLouis has written anything else.

This book was really cute! I love fate books and Eight Perfect Hours is a good one. I love how they meet because it’s the universe putting them together and then when you find out what they have in common it just clicks and you know they are meant to be. There were a few slow parts which is why I took a star away but overall this is a feel good book!

Eight Perfect Hours is all about synchronicity, serendipitous, coincidental occurrences, or fate. It revolves around one night when Noelle Butterby is on her way back from a college event when a blizzard keeps her stranded until an American comes to her rescue. Sam Attwood comes to Noelle's aid with a charging cord and heated car. His company helped keep her calm and made the eight hours bearable. Soon they find out that they have more things in common, especially one certain event that had changed both their lives.

As soon as I discovered that Lia Louis had a new book set to release, I knew I had to read it. I loved this book. I devoured this book in 24 hours. The first chapter or two were a little slow but it quickly gained all of my attention. This book kept me on my toes until the very end. I love how Noelle and Sam’s paths kept crossing. I highly recommend this book and fingers are crossed for a second novel to finish this love story and maybe give more insight to her friend Charlie’s life.

3.25 – 3.5 STARS

“Eight Perfect Hours” is a simple, serendipitous love story that is driven by the hands of fate. Although predictable and a bit contrived, I found it to be an enjoyable story overall, making it a perfect summer read.

Right from the very beginning, I was drawn into Noelle and Sam’s unusual start, but as their burgeoning saga progressed, it did fall a bit flat for my personal liking, not picking up again until the conclusion of their destined tale drew near.

If you believe in soulmates and crave a sweet little romance with the requisite HEA, then look no further. “Eight Perfect Hours” checks off all those boxes!

Lia Louis has done it again, Eight Perfect Hours is a great story, could not put it down, stayed up past my bedtime! Would definitely recommend!