Sophie Jenkins is a new author to me I have just finished this book it's so good I couldn't put it down. I nearly cried when my ebook died because I didn't want to stop reading it.
The story was brilliant and up to date with Kim wanting to wear woman's clothes but it wasn't pushed at you like a lot of books where that would have been the only story line.
The different story lines was like listening to people telling you their story's not just reading them. I can picture the people in my head who are tell their story's which is why this book is brilliant.
I love how I didn't want the book to finish I wanted to see on my minds eye the wedding between fern and David, Kim dressed in his best dress, and moss and his bride making the most of what's left of their lives together her in her gorgeous dresses and suits.
Keep up the brilliant story's Sophie.
Will definitely be buying this when it's out in book form

I rather enjoyed this book! It was lighthearted but also had it's darker/deeper moments too! I really liked Fern's character as she's quirky and dorky and super lovable! Very well written and I can't wait to read more by Sophie Jenkins!

I give this a 3.5.

Overall, this is a sweet book. It is a slower book, meandering a bit around a few central characters but told from the perspective of Fern -- a young woman who specializes in dressing people in vintage clothes -- and Kim -- an older widower who really likes dressing in women's clothing but feels ashamed. Other characters are interspersed -- Dinah and her husband Moss, German immigrants who know fashion, David, Fern's just out of reach love interest, and Fern's parents, a wealthy couple who are always disappointed in Fern.

This was a light read where, honestly, not much happens. One random act of kindness from Dinah to Fern begets another random act of kindness from Fern to Kim, and without those two acts, there is no story. An interesting premise, I just wish a bit more would have happened. I might have enjoyed it even more if I was into fashion or knew anything about fashion, but overall, it was a nice summer read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this book. It has not influenced my review.

I really enjoyed this book, lighthearted but not too lighthearted, the story held me well and i liked the characters, especially the interactions with the fabulous Dinah and her husband. It was written wonderfully and I would certainly enjoy reading more from Sophie Jenkins.

Well this was a sweet surprise of a story! I loved Fern's quirky character and was solidly rooting for her throughout the narrative. As a lover of vintage clothing stores, this book was a perfect "light" read for me. For fans of chick-lit and stories about friends and family!

I was very excited to get this book, but it just did not live up to my expectations. It was very slow to move and to tie the characters together. The plot just dragged and I was not invested in the characters or their outcome. The main character was not relatable and I just wanted more from the start.

Wow! This book is unique, this book is so good! This is the second time I read a book from Sophie Jenkins. The other one was "The forgotten guide to happiness" which I really loved too, but this book "A random act of kindness" is even better! It's so unique, so well written, so intelligent, so beautiful. And if you are a haute-couture fashion addict (which I am not) you will love this book even more! It's incredible how one little random act of kindness can change the course of your life... I really recommend this book to you! I give it a 5 stars out of 5!

Slow to start, I almost did not finish this book. Pacing slow and that harmed the plot. I’m sorry I don’t know what else to say

Loved reading this! It was a heart-warming, easy read, and just the kind of book I love for a holiday!

I highly recommend this lovely story. It is a light hearted read that has well developed characters and a sweet story. This story is a must for the beach.

This was cute, lighthearted story about little random acts of kindness given and received by the people in this book...Fern, Dinah, David, Kim...and how their lives became intertwined by that act. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would highly recommend this for a light afternoon read. And I want to google now all those dresses described in the lots. Plus David's star boxes. With the fashion angle, it almost felt like Devil Wears Prada (as it's the only fiction book about the fashion scene I've read) but of course it's so not that book at all. For one thing, it's about vintage dahling. Vintage.

Don't believe that saying that no good deed goes unpunished. Be kind, always.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for a cop of the book.

It only takes a moment of kindness to change a life forever.
When Fern goes out of her way to help little does she realises that their friendship will change everything.
All I can say - karma in action!
Kindness makes the world a better place, one random act of kindness at a time.
Great story, thank you to Netgalley for this advanced copy.

Fern works as a personal shopper in an upmarket department, a job she really enjoys, but when a random act of kindness towards an elderly gentleman results in her losing her position, she takes on a small market small in Camden selling vintage clothes. Although she loves the thrill of discovering a vintage piece and helping her customers find the perfect piece for them, this is just one more reason for her rather snobbish mother to be disappointed in her. The stallholder next to Fern is David, whose girlfriend, Gigi, Fern was at school with. David sells light boxes which are custom made with star sign constellations in them. Other characters include the wonderful Dinah who has the most amazing collection of vintage designer clothes, her husband Moss a tailor who worked for the big fashion houses in his earlier years and Kim, recently widowed and coming to terms with his new life which also includes an interest in clothes.

Now, I am one of those women who really has very little interest in clothes. I've never been into fashion (some of the prices and styles both horrify and amuse me!) and clothes to me are just something practical. But even I was touched by the way that clothes seemed able to transform people in this book. They could make someone look entirely different and raise their confidence. As Fern says at one point though, it's not about how the clothes make you look but how they make you feel. Dinah's attitude to some of her precious clothes was really interesting especially when she found out something rather unexpected about them.

Random acts of kindness are peppered throughout the book. Although Fern losing her job near the beginning of the book doesn't seem like her kind act earned its just reward, we see through many other characters the ripple effect of random acts of kindness. Fern's kind acts and the acts of others really did have life-changing consequences for so many of the characters. It was sometimes quite emotional reading about what had happened in their lives, especially Dinah and Moss's story, and the way Kim felt able to come of his shell and be his true self, encouraged by people you might have expected to be so understanding.

This is such a gorgeous and uplifting tale about friendship, following your dreams and finding your true fit. And can I just say that I would love one of David's chopping boards. Trust me when I tell you that it would be a most romantic gift to get. For some people anyway! A Random Act of Kindness is a warm-hearted story, beautifully told and I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a feel-good read.

I enjoyed this book. I didn't realise it was dual narrative and that;s one of my favourite features of a novel so that was a really pleasant surprise. This book also has some LGBTQ+ representation (which is spoilery so I won't mention what) but that was also great to find out and it was great that I read this during pride month. The final feature that I really enjoyed in this book that is NOT mentioned in the synopsis is that it has a real passion for fashion and we see that through the eyes of Fern.

fern is a great character to spend the book with because she isn't perfect. She is an optimist and she has flaws. Her random acts of kindness though do lead to friendships and certain events that drive the book forwards. She has a interesting relationship with some of the other characters in the book which is sometimes a little difficult to work out but I like the fact that she is a very positive person and someone who is a fan of being part of a community.

I also really liked the setting of this novel. Most of it takes place in and around Camden market, a great setting for a book because literally anything could happen there. There are all sorts of people an personalities that come through Camden market and just so much going on that it makes for an 'anything is possible' kind of atmosphere.

There is some romance in this book but it blew a little bit hot and cold for me in terms of the actual relationships and potential relationship formed. But the love affair with fashion and vintage fashion in particular reigns strong and if you have any interest in beautiful clothing, you will love this aspect of the storyline. Sometimes the pacing felt a little bit too fast or too slow, it would have been a slightly easier read if the pacing was more consistent but I don't feel like it harmed the general plot and so this was a good read for me.

Beautiful story with gorgeous characters filled with fashion, emotions & history wonderfully uplifting My mother-in-law was a kindertransport so the refugees resonatewith me

I had a hard time getting into the book. The story seemed interesting but I could not relate to the characters.

A Random Act of Kindness by author Sophie Jenkins was not what I expected. The synopsis sounded interesting. There were some characters that stood out and grabbed the limelight.
Review copy received from the Publisher

A heart-warming easy to read and sort of predictable holiday read.
Perfect if you need something light and fluffy!

I loved this book, a wonderful mix of quirky characters each with their own story to tell. Fern is the main character, she is unable to tell her parents when she loses her job as a personal shopper in a department store, trying to help a customer. She has a fragile relationship with her parents, her high achieving ex model mum and her newly retired dad. She decides to follow her heart and open a stall on Camden market selling vintage fashion which she collects.
Dinah is helped by Fern , which gives the title of the book and this random act of kindness leads to many life changing outcomes for all the main characters. Dinah and Fern become close friends despite the age difference between them but they both share an extreme love of fashion. Dinah having an extensive couture wardrobe!
Dinah and Moss, her husband have a tragic history which unfolds through the book, overcoming many horrific events in their past.
Kim, also has issues surrounding a secret of his own which Fern and Dinah help him to accept and embrace and finally to David,, another market trader who gave up his high powered, highly stressful job to hand craft light boxes.
The novel explores the chemistry between Fern and David and it keeps the reader guessing as to whether they will or won’t come together, even though at the beginning of the book both are in relationships with other people.
This book is all about how Ferns good deed helping Dinah brings new friends together, family and hope for the future.
It is a really good read, well written, exciting, entertaining and heartwarming. The characters are all strong and will enchant you.
Thank you very much to Sophie Jenkins, Avon books, and Netgalley for giving me the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review

Fern has a little stall in Camden Markets where she resells vintage clothing, often matching the outfit to the person with extraordinary results. While things aren’t necessarily easy for her and money is tight, she’s happy with her shop, lives in her parents’ apartment, and is using her talents in ways that make her proud. But not all is simple: a random second encounter with an older woman in couture bring her face to face with the adage ‘no good deed goes unpunished’ with a sting of bad luck, a fire in her building, some clothing destroyed and the all-consuming presence of her mother and father, never an easy set of visits.

Cleverly played to introduce Fern to Dinah and Dinah’s tailor husband Moss, as well as a new stall occupant next door who crafts light boxes of the constellations and just happens to be dating and old schoolmate, things are at least hopping along on the work front. And, there are the moments he meets with her boyfriend, a catch you when I’m in town relationship that has few labels, fewer hours together and little to nothing in common between them. When he whisks her off to a naturist resort, after telling her that ‘clothes don’t matter” the gig is up there – and now Fern has choices to make. Pressure from her parents to get a ‘real’ job, the reliance of an elderly cross-dresser and his new friends acquired since his wife’s death, and everyone’s discovering just how much the clothes Fern shares with them bring them new outlooks, the loss of Fern would be a great one to her clients and friends.

Clever for the interactions, the clothing and the attitudes that Fern inhabits when using her clothing as a way to ‘face’ the world, and her slow recognition of her own issues, her relationship with her mother, and the need she has to make the world a new and ‘happy’ place, where people can choose outfits that bring them confidence, bravery, shields and the opportunity to see new choices and options. Clever and light, with a character in Fern who should be in everyone’s dressing room, this is a wonderful read.

I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via NetGalley for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.