Jonathan is living a rather sterile and unfulfilling life since his wife left him for his best friend. He is now the head of his family's publishing firm which is struggling, has unresolved issues from his mother leaving him as a child, and he is afraid to commit emotionally to anyone. One day he finds a journal left hanging on his bike, with instructions to do something wonderful each day for the year

Hannah is a young woman whose self-confidence and optimism sometimes unintentionally ride rough shod over those she loves. One day the unthinkable happens and she is left to pick up the pieces.

The first few chapters of this book were word heavy and I found it hard to connect with the characters and storyline. But when the story did get going the flow was great and I was genuinely interested to find out how everything would turn out.

This was perhaps intended as a romance, but I thought it was more of a really good story that happened to have a romantic element in it. It was not at all what I expected and I thoroughly enjoyed it!

For a book that was presented as a romantic comedy, it lacked both humor and romance; I am not sure if the charm was lost in translation or never there to begin with.

I absolutely loved it. Thank you net galley and the publisher for sending a copy.
The plot, characters, their relationship.. I was in awe. The character building, the writing style was amazing. Would definitely read more books by this author.
I'll recommend this to everyone.

This book was not what I expected. It was far more emotional than I had anticipated. It was sweet, yet sad, funny, but serious. I really enjoyed this book, in some way I wish it gave me more of the romance and love story. I felt it was somewhat rushed to get to the end. I highly recommend this book.

Thought this was an okay read! I did like the premise and it keeps you in for a while but I found myself blanking at times, which is never a good sign. I do wish the story was wrapped up differently but nevertheless, it was okay.

Two stars lost in translation and last minute insertion of reluctantly patched romance parts! So I’m giving for three stars just for the idea of creating a diary to tell the people how to enjoy their lives, living it fulfilled, enjoying and feeling each moment, seizing everything they’ve experienced.

Maybe after seeing the cover I keen on reading something soft, swoony and relaxing but what I found out is a heavy dramatic book, with suffocating heavy issues like death, fatal illness, suicide, alcoholism, dementia! I wanted to drop the book and say “thanks, I had enough!” but as you know my stubbornness about not easily give a decision to dnf a book, you may imagine I continue reading but I also made so many frustration uhkhhhh, uhhhh, ooooo sounds!

At the end we see some romantic parts on the book which made me question them because it’s hard to believe only see a woman twice and think you found your soul mate. ( if we don’t watch a soap opera or last disaster Netflix rom-com movies) The hero and heroine’s reluctant chemistry and forced romantic attraction is not credible and satisfying for me! Maybe the book lost its real meaningful words to help me connect with the characters and love journeys because of the translation. Maybe my timing was not right enough to read this book because I craved for some chic lit romance and not so ready to deal with dramatic, heart-wrenching issues.

So let’s talk about the stories and characters:

There are two stories in this book are told separately. Hannah is in love and all set for romantic dinner with his soon to be fiancée (She thinks he will propose at that very same night) Unfortunately she doesn’t get the offer she’d dreamt of. Her boyfriend leaves her. (Please don’t curse at him or keep your ugly remarks before learn the truth!) Later Hannah finds out he’s suffering from Leukemia and he has only one year left to live (I told you not to be judgmental, didn’t I?) So Hannah gives him a diary about some daily suggestions to enjoy simple things of life which gives him pure happiness and positivity he needs for the last days of his life.

Other story is about Jonathan. Grumpy, whining, pessimist young man recently inherits father’s publishing company, divorced three years ago but he still feels bitter, resented. His daily habit is riding his bike to the park, locking it in the rack then going for a jog. But one day, he finds out the diary on his bike. The dairy filled in suggestions about how to enjoy your daily life and find happiness from small things. It is called: “A Perfect Year”

As you can imagine, at the end the stories intercepted but you can also imagine I didn’t enjoy the outcome so much. It was so predictable and cheesy for me. But I still like the idea to keep a journal about daily life’s small things bring us real happiness and put a big smile on our faces.

Let’s say, this is I don’t like it but I also didn’t hate it kind of book. It’s not fair for me to right negative things about the book. That’s not just my cup of Chardonnay. That’s all!

Special thanks to NetGalley and AmazonCrossing for sharing this Arc Copy in exchange my honest review.

Quite a nice read for a rainy afternoon. The story line is good and it keeps you hooked in. I did like the characters but still found some of them annoying at times and reactions to events over dramatized. I was a bit disappointed with the ending but overall a good read

Great read. The author wrote a story that was interesting and moved at a pace that kept me engaged. The characters were easy to invest in.