I have followed Laura Jane Williams online for years, so I was rather curious to hear she had penned her first fiction novel, and I soon pre-ordered Our Stop on Amazon. During a very lazy weekend, I dived in.
Nadia gets the 7.30 train every morning, if she manages to get out of bed on time. Daniel also gets on the 7.30 train, and over the course of many commutes into London, is captivated by Nadia. In a bid to catch her attention, he places a message in the Missed Connections section of the local newspaper, setting off a chain of events that will draw him and Nadia together over the course of the year.
As someone who used to love reading the Rush Hour Crush on the morning commute, Our Stop should have been the perfect book for me. However, there were a few things that niggled at me slightly. I thought the pacing was quite off, at times feeling rather slow and other things feeling rushed. Whilst I do enjoy a will they/wont they romanace, I found myself getting exasperated at the number of times Nadia and Daniel *almost* met, with some of the opportunities feeling too far fetched to root for. By the time I got to the end of the book, I didn't really care if they met or not, as I didn't feel any romance between them. There was also some lines in the book that I didn't particularly agree with; in a romance novel I'd rather not be reminded of our current political landscape. Lol.
Overall, Our Stop was an enjoyable easy read that will be read by several pool sides this summer. Whilst Our Stop wasn't the book for me, I will be reading more of Laura Jane's work in the future.
Nadia gets the 7.30 train every morning, if she manages to get out of bed on time. Daniel also gets on the 7.30 train, and over the course of many commutes into London, is captivated by Nadia. In a bid to catch her attention, he places a message in the Missed Connections section of the local newspaper, setting off a chain of events that will draw him and Nadia together over the course of the year.
As someone who used to love reading the Rush Hour Crush on the morning commute, Our Stop should have been the perfect book for me. However, there were a few things that niggled at me slightly. I thought the pacing was quite off, at times feeling rather slow and other things feeling rushed. Whilst I do enjoy a will they/wont they romanace, I found myself getting exasperated at the number of times Nadia and Daniel *almost* met, with some of the opportunities feeling too far fetched to root for. By the time I got to the end of the book, I didn't really care if they met or not, as I didn't feel any romance between them. There was also some lines in the book that I didn't particularly agree with; in a romance novel I'd rather not be reminded of our current political landscape. Lol.
Overall, Our Stop was an enjoyable easy read that will be read by several pool sides this summer. Whilst Our Stop wasn't the book for me, I will be reading more of Laura Jane's work in the future.