Dear Jo Lovett,
Nadia plans to meet her blind date (a friend of a co-worker) under the clock at Waterloo Station. Tom is also meeting someone there – the “one who got away” ten years earlier. Lola and Tom shared an evening of connection a decade earlier but she was pregnant and with someone else so it wasn’t meant to be. But they made a kind of pact to meet up again if they were both available. Tom was delighted when Lola reached out recently, reminding him of their agreement. Neither Dougie (the blind date) nor Lola shows up however. Nadia and Tom do meet each other, as well as Roger and Carole – in the midst of the breakdown of their marriage because Roger is a cheating cheater who cheats and Bea and Ruth – 70-somethings who have realised they’re meant to be together and have just got engaged. When a terrorist threat closes down the station, Nadia, Tom, Carole (Roger is NOT welcome), Ruth and Bea hang out together and get to know one another.
This group of five become firm if somewhat unlikely friends as a result of that evening. Throughout the book, the group celebrate Bea and Ruth’s wedding (no time to waste at their age!) and Carole’s divorce.
Both Nadia and Tom are feeling under pressure from their peers and relatives about being single. Nadia has had a pretty disastrous dating life and she’s over people looking at her pityingly. The reason for Dougie’s no-show is humiliating while at the same time being evidence of a dodged bullet. Tom, for his part, pines over Lola for a lot of the book. Exactly why was a bit of a mystery to me. She didn’t sound all that wonderful to me and the more I learned about her the more that opinion solidified.
Nadia and Tom agree to be each other’s plus one at events and family gatherings to take the spotlight away from their singledom. Yes it’s fake dating but also kind of not? They tell everyone that they met under the clock at Waterloo Station and that it’s all “pretty new” and they’re seeing how things are going. It didn’t feel like all that much of a lie to me to be honest. But, both are racked by guilt about the deception. Ironically, in order to extract themselves from it, they end up telling quite a few more lies.
Nadia and Tom, on the face of it, don’t have a lot in common. But they get along well and, over time, it’s clear that there is more that connects them than what would keep them apart. Of course, Tom (silly goose!) is busy longing for Lola and takes altogether too long to realise what is staring him in the face. Sigh.
I liked Nadia very much. She’s bubbly and friendly and funny and sweet. (Not your stereotypical accountant.) I enjoyed her humour, her pluck and her bravery – but most especially her humour (and her love of Abba).
While I am always happy to join in, I am not a natural singer. It’s only because my voice is low that I don’t make people cry with my singing. I love music but the notes just don’t come out the way I was expecting. Nadia, though, her voice soars in a truly wonderful way.
‘You could have been in Abba yourself,’ I tell her when the song ends.
‘Yeah, kind of gutted not to have been Swedish in the nineteen-seventies. I love the flares and the platforms.’
Also, I liked Nadia’s unashamed love of sweets. I mean, she’s a girl after my own heart.
‘You’re an excellent present buyer.’
‘I will accept that compliment. And I would like to make it very clear that the present was entirely separate from the big favour that I’m about to ask.’
‘Tom.’ I purposely widen my eyes and drop my jaw. ‘Were you trying to buy my help?’
‘I was not. But I would say that if that’s what it takes I’m more than happy to buy as many jelly beans as you can eat.’
I shake my head. ‘I really don’t think any normal person could afford that.’
Tom is nice too. I liked him even when he frustrated me with his gagging over Lola.
What was good for Nadia about all this is that because she wasn’t really dating Tom at the start, she found herself standing up for what she wanted rather than pretending she enjoyed things she didn’t and challenging Tom to challenge his own thinking. I also liked that she was open to new things and between them, they made each other better.
There was something a little… thin (?) about the book. The story was fine – engaging and amusing and entertaining but there wasn’t quite as much …substance to it as I’d hoped. It wasn’t quite funny enough for the humour to carry the whole novel. I had the feeling it wanted to be a little more than what it was. Still, I enjoyed it well enough, even though I don’t think it’s one I’ll re-read.
I’m not really sure actually why I’m so struck by getting to know Nadia better. It isn’t her I’m getting to know better, it’s facts about her. She is the person I met on the Waterloo clock evening and the more I know her, the more she just seems her.
Related
Kaetrin
Kaetrin started reading romance as a teen and then took a long break, detouring into fantasy and thrillers. She returned to romance in 2008 and has been blogging since 2010. She reads contemporary, historical, a little paranormal, urban fantasy and romantic suspense, as well as erotic romance and more recently, new adult. She loves angsty books, funny books, long books and short books. The only thing mandatory is the HEA. Favourite authors include Mary Balogh, Susanna Kearsley, Joanna Bourne, Tammara Webber, Kristen Ashley, Shannon Stacey, Sarah Mayberry, JD Robb/Nora Roberts, KA Mitchell, Marie Sexton, Patricia Briggs, Ilona Andrews, just to name a few. You can find her on Twitter: @kaetrin67.
