I adored this book! Thank you so much to Harper Collins for hosting these fun readalongs lately, I have been loving the books picked and being able to engage with the bookstagram community, while reading amazing titles like this one.

What's not to love about a second chance romance? & how could you NOT just love on this title as Henry decides that it's never too late, and he has to try to right some wrongs in his life. Was it predictable? maybe a bit cheesy? It certainly didn't stop me from every minute of this adorable, quick read.

An uplifting read which captures the heart. A story of coincidence and how we can be linked to others without knowing it. A well developed warmhearted book with delightful characters that can't help but touch your heart. Sometimes you think you know what's coming and the book just surprises with a little twist so even the predictable parts have another dimension. Slightly quirky too which I love.

4.5 Star

Finding Henry Applebee was touching fiction that revolved around three travelling companion Henry Applebee, Ariel and Travis and how their chance meeting connected them for life. It was about intergenerational relationship, friendship, family, guilt, misunderstanding, forgiveness, kindness, and how it’s never too late to pursue your dream and right the wrong.

Writing was beautiful, vivid, descriptive, and captivating. It was written in dual time line- the present and the past of all characters was in different timeline- in third person narrative, mainly from Henry, Ariel and Travis’ POV, and Frank’s perspective for couple of chapters. There were many places mentioned but setting of London and Blackpool was amazingly described.

Book started with how 85 years old (and still counting) Henry living his life after his brother’s death. He was ex-serviceman and former language teacher but he had one guilt and regret; how one phone call gave him purpose and mission to go to Edinburg; and how at King Cross station he met 18 years old Ariel who also was on her own journey to Edinburg to fulfil her mother’s dying wish and on the same journey they met Travis- 20 something, an American jazz musician- who was traveling to meet his Uncle Frank. It was interesting to read their purpose on this journey and to find out what happens at the end of the journey. I was curious to know if Henry could find his love and right the wrong he did 65 years ago, what was in the letter Ariel was carrying with her, and why her mother told her to deliver it to Maia.

All characters were realistic, developed, and likable. I instantly loved Henry. He was kind, humble, wise and amiable gentleman. I admired his determination and strength, at the same time I wasn’t happy knowing his naïve and stupid action that separated him from his love and still It was easy to immerse in his story, put myself in his situation. I could understand and feel for him. I loved how he handled everything he found out at the end of the journey.

Ariel was developed, caring and kind for her age. I loved how she supported her family after her mother’s death. Her insecurities on finding Rosemary renting their attic was genuine. I’m glad there wasn’t bitterness in her after all she was going through. She was lovely throughout the book and her kindness towards Henry touched my heart. It was amazing to read how she appreciated her mother, her love, and family when she got to know the truth at the end of journey.

Travis was kind, lively and cheerful but his back story told about his sadness and life problems well that he hid well. I liked reading about turning points in his life that made him musician and his strong connection with his Uncle Frank who was fiftyish and also jazz musician. His and Ariel’s friendship on the train journey was interesting to read. He didn’t have much role but he was lovely and I loved how he helped and supported all characters in the book.

Best part of the book was intergenerational relationship, train journey and music. Jazz music was important for all characters. I don’t know much about jazz but all the insights given in the book was interesting. Their train journey from London to Edinburg was vivid and atmospheric. I could imagine myself sitting with characters in same coach. We know most of Henry’s story in this part which was emotive and mesmerising. I knew with elderly main character the story was going to be emotional but I was not prepared for the depth of it. This story made me cry both happy and sad tears.

Intergenerational relationship was amazing. It was explored between Frank- Travis, Ariel- Frank and Ariel- Henry. I loved how both Ariel and Travis were kind to both Frank and Henry, they helped and supported them throughout the book and boosted their confidence whenever needed. Both Frank and Henry inspired and motivated them about passion, music and living their dream, being different and finding rightful place in the world.

Some turns were predictable while some were good. Climax was most interesting. The last part, The Secrets, wrapped the story. I felt sad for Frank, what Travis did for him was great. Henry’s meeting at the book shop and at the house of Francine’s daughter was shocking and bittersweet. Ariel’s meeting with Mia was equally surprising. I loved knowing more about her family. It was amazing to see how they all connected with each other at the end. End was perfect, bittersweet and moving.

Why 4.5 stars-

Even though I loved Travis’ back story and his passion, I wish there was more role for him. Sometimes it felt the story could have been the same without him and I would have enjoyed it even though he wasn’t there.

Overall, Finding Henry Applebee was emotive, thought-provoking, moving and lovely fiction. I recommend this book if you love books with octogenarian main characters.

A lovely heartwarming tale of friendship, coincidence, a misunderstanding, lost love and the reconnecting of family. Henry Applebee is the perfect gentleman trying to right a wrong from 65 years ago. This is not a genre I would normally read but I thoroughly enjoyed it’s gentle, uplifting theme.

Many thanks to the publishers and netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved this. What a truly moving story that all connected in the best possible way. This made me cry at parts and at other parts made me feel joy.

A delightful story of enduring love.
Henry Applebee is 85 and he is on a mission to find out what happened to a girl he fell in love with some 60 years before. About to board a train at King's Cross, he meets Ariel, a teenage girl who is also on a mission. They board the train together...
A charming tale - suspend cynicism and enjoy the ride

Henry Applebee is a true gentleman. Something that is lost on the youth of today.
When I read stories about old people and their outlook on life it melts my heart. They lived through a time were if it happened now I'm not sure what would happen 🙈

Henry Applebee is travelling by train from London to Edinburgh in order to rectify a wrong. Here he meets Ariel. Ariel is also on her own journey of discovery. And, when these two meet it's a heart-warming tale. Ariel instantly changes my perception of the youth of today I was moaning about (but, this is fiction. Maybe I'm still ok to moan 😂)

I enjoyed the inter-generational friendship that develops. Both characters seem to learn from each other.

You cannot go wrong with this book, it will give you all the feels and much more.

Thank you to One More Chapter for gifting me a digital copy via Netgalley

This is a beautiful story about how one chance encounter can lead you to the love of your life and how they can also lead you to making the biggest mistake of your life. I really liked how Henry and Ariel’s missions coincided on a fateful train journey to Edinburgh and how their stories, seemingly unconnected were very much so. What was charming about this story was just how charming they both were. Like peas in a pod. As their stories converge and the after effects of that mistake all those years ago come to light, it definitely brought a tear to my eye. Particularly the epilogue.

Thanks to #NetGalley, the publisher #OneMoreChapter and the author #Celia Reynolds for providing me with a digital ARC of #FindingHenryApplebee in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and not influenced in any way. This book was a delight to read and I did not want to put it down. We follow 85-year-old Henry Applebee as he makes his way to the train station on a quest to put the mistake he made in 1948 right. On his arrival at the train station he has a nosebleed and is helped by the lovely Ariel and they make the journey together. This book shows the importance of kindness and friendship. It also shows that there are consequences to decisions that are made and that it is never too late to put things right. This book comes highly recommended.

The story starts in London with an old man packing a suitcase and from the first pages of the book, we are right there, travelling with Henry on the important journey he is about to make. We don’t know where he is going or why he is going there, but we do know that it’s a journey that is very important to him.
A chance encounter with a teenager who comes to his assistance at Kings Cross, leads to a friendly chat and the two start to share their reasons for making the journey - Henry to try to discover what happened to Francine, the love of his life, and Ariel to deliver a package left by her recently deceased mother, but who is EMH, how did Ariel’s mother know her and what is in the package?
The train journey is a key part of the story, without it, the fundamental elements of the story would not come together. As the train moves from London to Edinburgh, the story too moves along - a tangle of distant memories and worries about what lies ahead. A discarded child’s toy sparks the interest of photographer Ariel, a glimpse of the sea brings flashbacks to a few days in Blackpool just after the war and when a third passenger joins the conversation, they discover that there is an unexpected connection between two of them …
The characters are well developed & relatable and there is good attention to detail in the descriptions of Blackpool, London, Edinburgh, and South Wales.
Is this a book about an old man's memories? a book about friendship between unlikely people? a book about the kindness of strangers? a book about consequences? a love story? Yes, and so much more! It is a story that will make you laugh & cry, and one that you will remember.
Disclosure: I received a copy of this book free from the publisher via NetGalley. Whilst thanks go to the publisher & author for the opportunity to read it, all opinions are my own.
#FindingHenryApplebee #NetGalley

We join Henry Applebee as he is heading towards a London train station with a small suitcase in hand. The hustle and bustle is a lot for this 83-year-old but he is a determined soul and will not miss that train for anything. But the universe works in mysterious ways and what follows is a series of events that takes you the reader on an emotional rollercoaster with invaluable life lessons along the way. You will finish the book equipped with a new Joie de vie.


In full transparency, I did struggle at the beginning to get into the beat of the book. I had read something early this year and I thought that perhaps the plot lines were going to be a little similar. But after I had read a chapter of the book about a character Travis, I felt the writing changed for me. That injection of emotion about the character propelled me forward and I never looked back. So I would warn that if you too struggle a little in the opening chapters, please stick with it. I promise you will have no regrets.

The book covers a whole range of life emotions including family secrets and a lot of figuring out who you are in life. We all have that need in us to feel that we are important in one way or another. That we make a difference to someone’s life. That we matter.

Times have changed and the goal of having a husband/wife and two kids with a house that has a picket fence. Is deemed so old fashioned and we tell our kids they can be whatever the hell they want to be in life. Which is absolutely awesome but also an incredible pressure too. One of the characters in the book is trying to find her place in life and is very lost with who and what she is meant to be.


The power this book had over me was insane, I was on that train with Henry and I was listening to every word as he told his story. I felt the bounce of the train as it moved across the tracks and the chill of the cold snow outside. The author sucked me into her world and I loved it.

I love when I learn from a book and I certainly did with Finding Henry Applebee. I closed the book and had new eyes for my world. What really is important? What do I really want out of life? I certainly want no big regrets.

Music is a huge part of the book both to Henry and Travis. I feel the book should come with its own soundtrack on Spotify. A few hours after typing my review I found out there is a playlist for each character. https://open.spotify.com/user/1q10ydy5wsg2wxk15xe2x9mtv?si=IVgI0VfaRwOB1kEJ2b-YhA


This book is for people who enjoy a good character-driven plot with flip flops back to the past. A book for those a little lost perhaps and who need a few words of encouragement about life.

A beautifully poignant story that demonstrates true love really does exist!
Henry Appleby an 85 year old gentleman living alone with just his dog for company has some unfinished business to attend to relating to his one true love!
An epic train journey from London to Edinburgh sees Henry making friends with a young girl called Ariel who is also on a journey of discovery, and a talented musician Travis, the unlikely trio quickly get to know each other and we begin to learn of their very different reasons for travelling north.
Their story however doesn’t end at Edinburgh, through lots of very coincidental findings they find that they are all intrinsically linked to each other through the actions and choices made many years ago by Henry and the love of his life Francine.
Friendship, love and kindness abound in this book and prove that it’s never too late to make amends and In doing so life can be enhanced and enriched in so many ways.
Thank you net galley for this early read.

This is a very lovely tale of Henry Applebee and his journey to right a past wrong. Along the way he meets the lovely Ariel and Travis and they listen to his tale during a train journey to Edinburgh.

I really enjoyed themes in the book and the story unfolded on a train journey. Although predictable it was fun to follow each of the characters journeys and to see their little acts of kindness and missed chances.

My only criticism is that I felt few parts were a little repetitive< we were told of Henry and Francie's meeting in dreams of Henry's and then told again when he was retelling the story on the train...

Henry Applebee takes the train to Edinburgh in search of his past which he hopes might change his future. From the moment I met Henry, vulnerable, fragile, all alone with his nose gushing blood my heart flooded with love for my latest literary octogenarian. I loved this book, full of lovely characters and real story telling. A train journey is the perfect place for a story to unfold and new friends the perfect audience. Even more magical with snow falling. I used to live in Swansea so the Welsh scenery brought back so many memories. The story is full of references both literary and musical which added a depth to the story and in particular to the characters. The story is so poignant and there is a sadness in a twist of fate but ultimately it is about grabbing life, taking chances and following dreams. A delightful and uplifting read. With thanks to Netgalley, One More Chapter and Harper Collins.

I so enjoyed following Henry Applebee on his journey from London to Edinburgh and also that of his travelling companions, Ariel and Travis. 85 year old Henry is travelling to meet with someone who he hopes will be able to answer some questions which have haunted him for years and possibly to make amends. Ariel is also on a mission, having been tasked by her late mother to deliver a mysterious package to someone she has never heard of in Edinburgh. Travis is a jazz musician from New York, travelling north to meet up with his uncle who is also a performer.

The thing the struck me throughout the book was that it was all about connections. There were connections to the past whether through people or things that happened. There were the connections of friendship which formed between Henry, Ariel and Travis on the journey. And then there were the deeper connections between the characters which gradually became apparent. I felt a rather personal connection to the story partly since I live in Edinburgh but also because my parents met at a place which is very important in the story and in a way which was very similar to something which happened to a younger Henry. Enigmatic I know but I don't want to give anything away!

I like a book which makes me feel and this one certainly did! It's about making up for past mistakes, forgiveness, second chances, making amends and making sure you take opportunities when you can. It's also about friendship and the importance of being kind, to others and yourself. All these themes are explored sensitively through events in Henry's life and make for a poignant reading experience. It's the kind of charming book you finish with a contented sigh as everything comes together and you are willing to let these characters continue on their personal journeys.

Henry Applebee is waiting for a train when he has a nosebleed. A young woman called Ariel Asks if he is okay. This is the beginning of a delightful friendship.

I loved the back story of each character, both hoping to find a lost love and sharing the journey together to find them.

A beautiful story of cross generation friendship, memory's and finding a lost love. Truly uplifting. There were tender, moving moments and a few laugh out loud moments. I loved this book.

It was an ok read but felt a little disjointed and highly coincidental. I feel as though the author was stretching things a bit. I enjoyed the descriptiveness of the settings though.

Finding Henry Applebee is a beautiful and whimsical story about growth, acceptance, and unlikely friendships. The themes of this story are charming and a true breath of fresh air during a time when the whole world is hurting.
While I found the storyline beautiful, I also found it to be a little slow. I was engaged because I wanted to know what would happen, but I wish it could have been said with fewer words.
Overall, this is a lovely story.

What a delight of a story!
Finding Henry Applebee is a story about several characters, of which Henry is the main one,
An eighty-five-year-old man on a mission heads to Edinburgh to fulfil his heart's desire, except it was never going to be that simple, was it?
A young woman is also heading to Edinburgh to act out the last of her mother's wishes.
A twenty-something American Jazz musician is on his way to watch a much longed-for performance.
A chance meeting on a train. changes the lives of all three of these characters in a wonderful way.
I enjoyed reading this story, interspersed with flashbacks from the past featuring each of the main characters, adding layer upon layer to the plot.
I wanted to keep Henry Applebee, and look after him in my own home - what a sweetheart!
The story is filled with romance, of a deeper nature. What people do for love...

Many thanks to NetGalley and Harper Impulse and Killer Reads for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Actual rating 4.5

The prologue to Finding Henry Applebee is incredibly well written, almost poetic in tone as this elderly gentleman finds himself on the concourse at Kings Cross station waiting for the Edinburgh train, his suitcase that holds precious mementos at his feet, having of all things a nosebleed. The way in which teenager Ariel comes to his aid, losing most of her coffee in the process is serendipitous and a lovely way to introduce two of the main characters.

Before our characters alight the train we learn more of Henry and Ariel’s backgrounds and what has transpired to make them undertake this journey from London to Edinburgh. Henry is 85, a retired language teacher who lives alone in London with just his dog Banjo and his memories for company. His brother Devlin is two years deceased and a ghostly presence Henry sometimes converses with,looking for guidance in this instance over whether or not to revisit the past and endeavour to put right a broken promise. Ariel on the other hand is only 18, making the long journey from her home in Oystermouth South Wales via London to Edinburgh to fulfil a promise made to her mother Estelle, also deceased. Ariel’s father Linus and young brother Isaac have no idea of her current whereabouts, her best friend Tumbleweed sworn to secrecy. With just one other character left to meet to complete this unlikely trio bound for Scotland I was intrigued as what was in store for them all.

Travis, an American jazz loving saxophone player is sitting across the aisle from Henry and Ariel when he makes their acquaintance, the final member of this trio. There is a musical element to the storyline that begins with this introduction and then remains throughout, connecting the three strangers together, the first of many strange coincidences awaiting in the wings. By the end of the journey Travis, Ariel and Henry are more like old friends than strangers, their conversation easily bridging the age gap. What awaits them upon reaching their final destination will undoubtedly surprise you. At the heart of this novel is a love story that will tug at your heartstrings, a story full of regrets, heartache and missed opportunities but through the tears one that will also make you smile.

By far my favourite part of this novel is the train journey to Edinburgh and Henry’s decision to loosen his tongue and divulge his past to Ariel and Travis who are a willing audience. I was spellbound by Henry’s recounting of his brief love affair with Fran which begins in 1948 when he is on 48 hour leave from RAF Kirkham. About to be demobbed and returning to his home in London, the way in which Henry describes his first sighting of Fran,in the Blackpool Tower ballroom as a coup de foudre is illuminating, sensing that their story doesn’t have a happy ending but not knowing why. I felt shivers down my spine as he remembers spotting Fran sitting alone on that balcony watching the dancers below,losing herself in the music. It is testament to the author’s ability to conjure up such a vivid atmospheric setting evoking images of a bygone era, that made me feel as if I too were sitting there, watching a budding romance unfold. With the war not long won and national service still in operation, Henry is the epitome of a gentleman, impeccably turned out, his old fashioned way of courting and conducting himself making him a relic of the past. As Henry further reminisces,I fell in love with this elderly man who has spent his life in the shadow of one fateful night in 1948, when an event following his goodbye to Fran has disastrous consequences, overshadowing the rest of his life. That Fran was and is the love of his life and how he has chosen never to forgive himself for breaking a promise is what turns this novel into the emotional read it is. In many ways Henry reminded me of my own father, slighter older but also having completed his national service in Singapore, also a lover of jazz. That he is now in the early stages of dementia made this story all the more poignant for me.

The events that compel Henry and Ariel to travel to Edinburgh, one to listen to a book talk and one to deliver a mysterious brown package only addressed to EMH will forcibly bring the past into the present in the most fortuitous of ways. The author has woven a joyful thread through these characters lives, joining them together by happenstance. It is a narrative to make your heart sing, utterly delightful, culminating in a beautiful, poignant ending.

The only reason I have chosen to give this charming novel 4.5 stars rather than 5 is purely because it took me a little while to fully immerse myself in the storyline . There’s an element of the magical and mystical in the way all the strange coincidences occur following Henry’s train journey to Edinburgh that are maybe a tiny bit too fanciful. I think if you can set aside your realistic notions and allow yourself to be swept away by the romance and the glamour of the Blackpool Tower ballroom and lose your heart to Henry and Fran and their brief but momentous love affair, then you’ll enjoy this novel all the more. Personally I was caught up in this sorrowful love story that is definitely one to remember and Henry Arthur Applebee, 85 and counting is a character that has left an imprint on my heart. My thanks to One More Chapter for inviting me to read this novel. I highly recommend it.