There’s always time to help out a stranger…isn’t there?
Supermarket delivery driver Charlie enjoys his new job, because he doesn’t have to spend too long with people, who, he’s found, are nothing but trouble. But when he’s assigned the Hope Row street, he realises there are a lot of lonely people out there – and for some, he’s their only interaction.
The supermarket boss tells Charlie he’s a driver, not a social worker – but Charlie can’t abandon the Hope Row residents and he sets about trying to draw them out of their shells and back into the world.
But will his helping hand make everything worse?
Creatively Plotted & Well Written! 
This is a book of revelations; so much going on, so much to find out and all adding up to a really great read!
Charlie Sparrow begins his new job as a delivery driver for the local supermarket; he is told quite firmly that he must stick to four minutes per customer. And so he sets out on his assigned route of Hope Street, but the four minute rule quickly goes out the window as he gets to know his customers and they get to know him. As we find out about each person, we realise they all have secrets . . .
This is a wonderfully warm read with a fine cast of characters; each on their own for varying reasons and we get to know each person and their past as the story progresses. I suspected there was something hidden in the past of each one, but I would never have guessed what. This is a creatively plotted novel, well written and full of surprises! For me, the characters came alive on the page and the ending was just perfect. This has definitely alerted me to this author’s writing and I’ll be on the lookout for future novels. I’m very happy to give this one four stars.
My thanks to the publisher for my copy via NetGalley; this is – as always – my honest, original and unbiased review.
Tags: women’s fiction
- Format: ebook, paperback, audiobook
- Size: 352 pages
- Publisher: Trapeze
- Publication Date: 20 February 2020
- Links: Goodreads
- Google Play
- Barnes & Noble
- Kobo
- W. H. Smith
- Waterstones
Author Bio
I wanted to be an author from the moment I could pick up a pen and was writing boarding-school novels by the age of nine. I made the early mistake of thinking I ought to get a ‘proper job’ and went into Factory Planning – a career that gave me some wonderful experiences, amazing friends and even a fantastic husband, but didn’t offer much creative scope. So when I stopped to have children I took the chance to start the ‘improper job’ of writing. During the baby years I wrote in the brief gaps provided by sleeps, playschools and obliging grandparents, publishing short stories and serials in all the women’s magazines.
But my ultimate aim was to write longer fiction and several years ago I published a series of successful historical novels under the pseudonym Joanna Courtney. I will continue to publish under that name but am delighted, as Anna Stuart, to also be able to write contemporary fiction. Bonnie and Stan, a true to life romance set in both the present day and sixties Liverpool, will be released in early 2019 with a second novel to follow in 2020.
Social Media
Website: annastuartbooks.com
Twitter: @annastuartbooks
Facebook: @annastuartauthor
Grace J Reviewerlady 