This is a funny yet serious take on what family is, love, acceptance, community and respect.

The stand-in dad follows the story of Meg whose parents have refused to accept her relationship with Hannah and participate in their wedding. She meets David, whose parents had the same issue, and he agrees to stand in and do everything with Meg.

The highlight of this book was the various people the characters met in the wedding planning. Everyone had a story and brought their unique spin to the plot. The small town setting was just perfect.

It was a tad longer than expected and dragged on in some places but the universal theme was prevalent throughout.

I love David. He is relatable and just like most of us who don’t have our priorities straight. I love the celebration of small businesses and their struggles for survival today.

If you are looking for a feel good story which celebrates inclusivity, community and found families then check this out.

Meg is engaged to the love of her life, Hannah. Everything should be perfect, but her conservative parents have made their disapproval painfully clear. When they refuse to show up at the florist to help her choose her flowers for the wedding,, Meg is left in tears in front of the store. The owner, David, knows a thing or two about parents not being accepting of their children's lifestyle choices. His own parents rejected him when he came out. So he gravitates towards Meg and takes her under his wing. He helps her plan her wedding, and becomes the fill-in for the parents that have rejected her.

This sweet, heartwarming book showcases how "found family" can be just as important, if not more so, than the family you are born into. It highlights all of the prejudices LGBTQ+ individuals are subjected to, including by those who claim to love them. This was a book of inclusion, community, and friendships - both new and old. I loved it!

The book highlights romantic love, multigenerational relationships, and community support.

I did struggle with the first half of this book, as it moves slowly. After 10 years together, Meg and Hannah decided to get married, and unfortunately for them, some people do not support them as they would have liked.

David (the stand-in dad) is perfectly positioned to understand and assist Meg in the navigation of other's unacceptance, being a gay man himself.

The last half of the book did pull me into the drama and the character's lives more than the first half, and I ended this read with a smile on my face. It's message of acceptance, community, and found family connections was enjoyable.

This is a new author to me, and I appreciate Netgalley supplying my ARC.

This was such a sweet read that had me feeling emotional, it had perfect amounts of poignancy, emotion and humour for me.

2.5 Stars

There's no doubt that the story in this book is very heartwarming, surrounding issues of found family and acceptance. But in my book, it fell short of the potential the premise had. I loved the character, David. He was such a kind soul after everything he went through. Meg was very vulnerable, and I enjoyed her journey of self-acceptance and self-love. The book is an amazing tale of the pain parents can cause their children if they are different, gay in these cases. These parents made me so angry.

What the book lacked, in my humble opinion, was how sickly sweet the plot was. The resolutions were too simplistic and felt fake and not realistic at all. It was a bit melodramatic for my liking and too much like a soap opera. These are serious issues, so it lacked in that regard, and David and Meg ended up like caricatures.

The pacing was very slow, and the book is way too long. The plot unfolded very predictably, too. I wish there was drama and not everything tied up into a nice neat bow. It just diminishes the importance of the challenges the LGBTQ+ community faces on a daily basis. Even though the book is feel-good at its heart, it could have added more depth to the plot if it was more realistic.

Overall, this book was more of a comfort read than one that tackles issues, and I felt that lessened the overall moral of the story. So, even though it is heartwarming, a more realistic ending would have made me round up instead of down.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ (3 stars)

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of The Stand-In Dad by Alex Summers.

This was a cozy, heartfelt read that delivered on emotional moments and warm family dynamics. The premise was sweet, and I appreciated the comforting, feel-good tone throughout the story. While it didn’t fully pull me in or leave a lasting impact, it was an enjoyable way to spend an afternoon. Fans of small-town settings, second chances, and gentle romance will likely find something to love here.

oh what a beautiful book. i dived right into this one just from the blurb i felt better. its original and brilliant in doing so. it felt so apt. so real. so relatable. it was just such a tender and warming book. i couldn't have needed this book more.
prejudice is not ok. ever. and this book is such a balm for that.
Meg is getting married. shes found the love of her life, Hannah. but things are all sunshine and roses for the happy couple. because her mum and dad have made their feeling on the pair known. its cruel and horrible and i was so angry at them. after her mum stands her up it breaks Meg. standing outside a shop in tears she is spotted by David. ah our dear David, can we all have one of him please!? David is pulled in by Megs story and tears. they hit something so very close to his own inner heartbreak as his family did the same thing to him all those years ago. so of course he steps in. and hes going to be by her side throughout all the planning for this wedding. hes not going to let her feel she's got no one who will stand up and be there for her.
it wont be easy. because Meg is still hurting. and this bring up alot for David now too. can they both heal, can they do it for each other and together? i think you will want to find out.
this book is a heart healer. its so much about love in all its roles. and however it comes it just fixes it all. somehow love will always find way to fix it all whether that just in the small things or if indeed it can do so with the large things.

Reinventing Woburn Sands as a Gay Village

Although the author of this pleasant and engaging novel sees Woburn Sands as a satellite village of Milton Keynes, the village was there when Milton Keynes was a much smaller “satellite village” of Bletchley. The village is also on the Beds/Bucks border which always used to be crossable at the back garden gate of a very old house known as The Dene. The location matters, because although the gay and lesbian characters might be found anywhere in that region, a trendy gay florist’s selling coffee and cakes as a sideline wouldn’t have the same magic if it were set in Flitwick, for example. And none of the characters earn enough to live in Hitchin, let alone St Albans or London. The equations of economic reality and romantic fantasy require it to be set in Woburn Sands, so it is.

David identifies as a gay florist, but is also a middle-aged man too concerned for the well-being of young women to be trusted to look after his own interests and there are straight men like that, too. A young (by comparison with David) illustrator, Meg, has booked an appointment to discuss flowers for her upcoming wedding to fellow illustrator, Hannah, with David and her parents. Who don’t turn up. Meg is very upset, and David takes her into his shop and starts trying to make things go right for Meg. He persists in doing this for the rest of the novel, with results which veer from acceptable and promising, to muddle, misunderstanding, omission and utter catastrophe, before ending in a most unexpected triumph.

The sub-plot is David’s “significant other” Mark, who really wants them to become a married couple too, patiently trying to steer the man he loves in a less self-denying direction. David reacts to the behaviour of Meg’s parents in a very complicated way, because he had an even worse bust-up with his own parents, who both died before he got around to even seeking a reconciliation. The relationship difficulties are not simply homophobia, because there’s no clear boundary between that and misunderstanding, which on one occasion causes David a lot of hurt even though the other person had no malicious intent whatsoever.

The last quarter of the book, from catastrophe to triumph, has more twists than Tony Blair running the 100 metres sprint and salvation comes, not so much from facing reality as making the best of what you’ve got, even if it’s intangible or outright fantasy. In his determination to hang on to Meg’s dream, David is able to make it a reality, but only after his attempts to do so sensibly have been destroyed by circumstances beyond his control.

Interestingly, part of the solution comes from the youth club which David and Mark are involved with, because whilst the middle-aged gay men fail pretty miserably at communicating with Meg’s elderly and “homophobic” parents, the teenagers simply tell Meg’s parents what the score is and what they need to do. One of the teens also saves David’s business with a social media campaign, but that only takes off due to the wedding being made to happen despite the odds, which is too good a story for broadcast media to ignore.

There’s a lot in this book, and if it has a flaw it’s perhaps that the novel takes on a few too many issues at once. But it’s not a serious fault.

This was an absolutely charming story. The characters are extremely relatable, and believable, and the situation is one everyone has heard before – both within straight and LGBTQ families. The LGBTQ slant just gives another layer of interest to this delightful story.

Meg has recently become engaged to her girlfriend Hannah, so why is she crying her eyes out outside the florist? Her parents aren’t happy about the union and haven’t turned up to help chose the flowers for the wedding. Enter David, the florist, who knows all too well what happens when your parents don’t approve of your partner – or your lifestyle, and he vows to help Meg in any way he can. David offers to be her stand in Dad and helps her to organise the wedding – at the same time as setting up a network of LGBTQ tradespeople who can also help each other and boost their wedding sales. David has a secret you see, his florist isn’t doing too well, and if things don’t improve, they could lose the florist, and the flat they live in upstairs. Will Meg’s parent’s actually turn up for the wedding? If they do come, how will they behave, and will that upset David who is enjoying playing ‘Dad’?

A gorgeous story of families, and the families you make for yourselves. I would be very happy to read more Alex Summer’s stories.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7469080990

https://maddybooksblog.blogspot.com/2025/04/the-stand-in-dad-by-alex-summers-this.html

A heartfelt cosy read.

David knows what it's like to be rejected for who you are, so when he spots Meg crying outside his flower shop and hears her tale of family abandonment because she's marrying another woman, he springs into action as a stand in Dad to help with the wedding chores.

A tale of love, LGBTQIA+ found family and true identity.

Meg has recently moved back to her hometown and is planning her wedding to her longtime partner Hannah. She's had a complicated relationship with her parents since coming out, but is hoping to rekindle with them since moving home. When her parents don't show up to her appointment at the florist, she ends up befriending David, the florist who also had a complicated relationship with his parents after he came out. David ends up stepping in and helping Meg plan her wedding.

I loved the premise of this book and was so excited to read it. I felt the pacing of this book was a bit slow for my taste and I had a hard time getting into it. I did enjoy seeing Meg and David's friendship develop, but I do wish there was more of Hannah (Meg's fiancée) in the story. It felt odd how little she was part of and when she was there she wasn't fully developed. I did really love the community and especially loved the inclusion of Benji and the other teenagers. Meg's parents arc felt rushed and unrealistic of a turn in the amount of time it was given. Overall I feel like this story had good roots, but maybe could've been developed differently.

3.5 stars

The Stand-in Dad was such a sweet book and had me in my feels, but the glacial pacing really killed this for me. I often found myself wandering away from the story because of it.

I enjoyed this book for many reasons, more so than any that the story is told by two main characters, one male and one female. Its interesting to hear both emotional side of the story, especially when the male lead character is older which is quite unusual. One that I will definitely be recommending to others.

Undeniably cute and heartfelt!

I had a hard time connecting with the characters and seeing them as deep and real, despite the authors attempts to do so. But the story was lovely and gives you the feels.

Before I launch into my review, I would like to say a huge thank you to Alex Summers, Avon Books UK, and Netgalley for the Advanced Digital Reader Copy of this title. For anyone with their eye on this title, here is my personal review of the book to help you decide whether you are interested or not. All opinions offered are my own.

Unfortunately, this book was not for me in the slightest. It did not matter what time I tried to read it; I kept finding my mind would wander to other places or I would start to nod off. I think I may have expected a bit too much from the blurb.

An upset Meg is upset that her parents haven’t accepted her relationship with Hannah. It was bad enough that she picked the partner that she had, but getting married wasn’t something that sat comfortably with them and they made those feelings clear. Having run away from a distressing situation, Meg finds herself at David’s Florist, pouring her heart out to him. Before long, he is accompanying Meg on the outings that would have been better (or mor traditionally served) by friends and family.

I was really excited to see David become the parent to Meg that his own parents weren’t to him. However, the story moved at a really slow pace and focused too much on some of the minor details, such as the name of David’s van, adjusting his mirrors before he set off, etc. Whilst I appreciate a book that shows ordinary characters doing ordinary things, I still appreciate some action.

The book is one of those cozy sagas to wrap up with and really take your time getting to know the characters intimately, whilst I much prefer to have bac stories and emotions woven into something a bit more speed, less haste in pace. I also found Meg’s woe-be-me attitude quite draining as it was sprung upon the reader (me) before I had a real chance to get to know her and empathize with her situation. After much deliberation, skipping pages, stopping, and starting, I decided to quit the disservice I was doing to both the book and myself.

The book will probably resonate more with fans of slow romance novels that have experience of, or empathy for couples from the LGBTQ+ community that are not accepted by those closest to them.

David and Mark are a settled couple in their 50s. Meg and Hannah are getting ready to marry but Meg's parents passive-aggressively disapprove and have removed themselves from wedding planning, to Meg's dismay. David's budding friendship with Meg, his involvement in her wedding planning, and Meg's difficulty with her homophobic parents forces him to revisit his own troubled family past and try to reconcile how it might be affecting his relationship with Mark.

I loved how David and Meg's friendship grew and deepened, and the support of the community network was wonderful. I also loved the midlife representation in life partners David and Mark. The supporting characters were distinct and a great addition, the youth group members were the best! This is a sweet story with themes of acceptance and inclusivity and chosen family. The pacing was a bit uneven, and it was slow for a very long time before things picked up. At times I found it to be overly focused on details, as well as a bit blandly written for my tastes. That said, I think this is the perfect book if you're looking for a cozy and gently satisfying story. 3.5 stars. Publishes April 24, 2025. I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book, all opinions are my own.

This is a really uplifting story with great characters which kept me eagerly turning the pages.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in return for an honest review.

This was a very sweet book! I loved that David was there for Meg when her parents weren't. I feel like books like this are so important to read. I really liked this one.

Alex Summers has a winner in The Stand-in Dad. It was such a good book that kept me turning pages until the very end.

This novel has a multigenerational storyline covering a timeline leading up to a wedding. The first half of the book unfolded very slowly, and I did not feel connected to the characters, which seemed bland, and the relationships uninteresting. By mid-book, the tension picks up and adds a bit of drama that moved the story along to a feel-good ending.

Meg and Hannah have been together for ten years and have decided to have a non-traditional wedding. When her mother is a no-show for an appointment with the florist, Meg is taken under the owner’s wing. This kindness on David’s part lays the foundation for a wonderful friendship and, as it becomes obvious that Meg’s parents are uncomfortable with her lifestyle choice, he becomes her support system – “The Stand-In-Dad.

David has had his own issues with his now-deceased parents’ rejection of his gay lifestyle. Having fled home at age eighteen, he has created a full life with a partner of twenty years, owns a struggling florist business, and serves as a mentor to a youth group. The wedding planning offers both David and Meg the opportunity to take risks and to expand their social circles.

The book pays homage to romantic love, multigenerational relationships, and community support. Overall, I enjoyed the theme of the novel, but the slow pacing kept it from being one I would recommend with enthusiasm.

My thanks to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for the privilege of reviewing this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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