Anyone who travels in a blizzard finds out how quickly one can get stuck while traveling and be at the mercy of others. Noelle Butterby was at her college reunion and while traveling home she was stranded on the highways. Her phone was dead. She had no charger. She needed to get home to her mother who was recovering from a stroke, What to do? Prince Charming, Sam Atwood, an American in a nearby car knocks on her window and asks if he can help. Noelle gets in his car to use a charger. I enjoyed this beginning of this book but almost too much time was spent being stuck on the M-4. Over time we find out about her high school friend, Daisy, who died in a car accident at the end of high school. Noelle has had a very difficult time getting over Daisy’s death and seems to be stuck in a rut. Her previous boyfriend, Ed, went to Oregon for an internship.

Despite having fun with Sam, there was no exchange of phone numbers. The story alternates between Finding out more about Ed and Sam. Noelle and Sam by coincidence keep running into each other. And Ed returns to England, There are many minor characters involved in the sweet story. This is a perfect book for a long rainy day, or a weekend snowstorm. My thanks to Atria and NetGalley for an ARC of this book. The opinions in this review are my own

If you love serendipity and fate then you'll love Eight Perfect Hours by Lia Louis.

Noelle is on her way home from a reunion type event at her college (high school) when she gets stuck in a crazy snowstorm that shut down the M4 and of course he cell phone has died. When a cute American stranger in the car next to hers offers to help charge her phone it leads to a perfect night chatting about life until the road is cleared in the morning.
She figured she'd never see him again, but life has other plans...

I loved the red thread aspect that weaved through the story. This book is much more than a romance. It's about stepping out of your comfort zone, helping care for parents and working through grief.

This was a wonderful story with likeable and relatable characters!

BOOK REVIEW: Eight Perfect Hours by Lia Louis

To believe in love... Can love be the victor over distance, time, circumstances or even choices made?... I (along with this charming story) will always be in “love’s corner” cheering it on!... ✨😎✨

T.I.M.E. Most Anticipated Books of 2021

Genre: Contemporary Romance
Sub-Genres: Forced Proximity Romance | Stuck Together Romance
Time Period: Contemporary
Location: England

IF YOU LIKE THIS BOOK THEN TRY...
The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren

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All my reviews can be seen at This Is My Everybody | Books, Lifestyle & Home Ideas for Simple Living | Denise Wilbanks at www.thisismyeverybody.com

♡ Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. I voluntarily chose to review it and the opinions contained within are my own.

Serendipity - the development of events in a happy or beneficial way.

When it comes to Noelle and Sam, how they met and how they came together was a series of fortunate events. From the first time they met in a blizzard that caught them on the side of the road for 8 hours. While Noelle may have just needed to charge her phone to check in with her mother, she found the time went by to quickly.

While they thought that would be the end of it, they find themselves crossing paths often. Both have suffered the loss of a loved one, and been deeply effected. Noelle is helping to care for her mother who suffered a stroke and doesn't really leave the house. Sam is struggling with the failing health of his estranged father.

While they both struggle with current relationships they find that they keep getting drawn to one another, finding the support they find from each other just might be what is missing.

This book had such a smooth effortless feel to the story, with intersecting moments that are slowly revealed. Both figuring out their lives and where they want it to go in the future, and just who they want to spend it with was so endearing.

This was more of a contemporary story in that I don't think anything but a kiss happened and while I tend to prefer more romance, I didn't even realize until the book was over, and didn't mind it.

This book was SO good. If you love a beautiful story about fate and love.. this one is for you!!! The book captured my interest and heart so fast. I was reading several other books at the same time and set them all aside to finish this one! A solid 4.5 stars from me!!! Thank you netgalley!

If you love a good story about fate, this is the perfect book for you! Noelle and Sam meet by chance in a blizzard on a highway in England and spend eight hours together before parting ways and returning to normal life . . . but their paths just seem to keep crossing. I absolutely loved the main character Noelle, and enjoyed journeying through her life with her as she came to terms with some hard truths about several of her relationships. This was such a fun and interesting ride and was just really really heartwarming. Highly recommend for a warm and cozy read this fall!

I truly have mixed feelings about this book. From the beginning I wasn’t sure I was going to enjoy it as I found the time depressing, and my view didn’t change until the last 15-20 pages. Everything just felt like it was “too much”. Perhaps it is just the nature of the author, and I have read reviews that love this author. I did eventually get my HEA, but it was a hard book for me to get through

I'm a firm believer in those little random twists of fate that can happen at any moment, so this novel had my name written all over it.

Unfortunately, this did not work for me. I never fell for any of the characters, there was too much time spent with a certain somebody, and I never felt the true romance aspect. Noelle and Sam's relationship was problematic and awkward. I know many loved this one and I'm curious to hear everyone's thoughts!

Many thanks to Netgalley, Lia Louis, and Atria Books for this ARC.

Noelle Butterby is stuck on the highway during a rare March blizzard. Her evening has gone from bad to worse with the cancellation of her college reunion event. Noelle begins to panic when her phone dies and she is unable to make care plans for her mother who had a stroke. Sam Attwood notices Noelle's distress and offers her to his charger. Noelle and Sam decide to pass the time together for eight perfect hours but then go their separate ways, reluctant to share contact information.

When Noelle and Sam keep running into each other, they begin to uncover their past stories of grief, guilt, and dutiful relationships.

I thoroughly enjoyed the journey of both characters and the interconnectedness of their experiences. Sam's father was a secondary character that I absolutely loved. I had a feeling of how this story would end but it was better than I pictured.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria for a digital ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. Eight Perfect Hours is available today!

After reading and loving Dear Emmie Blue, I was eagerly awaiting the next book by Lia Louis. Eight Perfect Hours was everything that I had hoped it would be. It is serendipity at its finest!

I adore stories about chance encounters, and this one certainly hit all of the marks. I loved how Noelle and Sam met. The whole situation was completely out of their control, and yet they were there together, meeting and spending the evening in each other’s company. Even though their time together was fleeting, there just seemed to be something at play, something more between them. Noelle felt something for Sam, something beyond just a fun night with a stranger, but she also knew that the probability of her ever seeing him again was very low.

When Noelle and Sam end up running into each other at various times and places, she can’t help but believe that Sam is somehow supposed to be in her life. She believes that it must be fate. I believed it too. I kept waiting on pins and needles for them to meet again, to witness their interactions, to simply luxuriate in the belief of something more.

Lia Louis has created normal characters, each dealing with their own issues, heartaches, and relationship woes. It was so easy to be swept up in their story, into their flawed, realistic, relatable lives. I experienced and felt everything right alongside them. I just felt so much while I was reading this book. There was plenty of tension, anticipation, and build up in this story. It made my heart beat a little faster and the butterflies flutter in my stomach. I laughed, I cried, held my breath, and I fell in love.

I wanted to put up a Do Not Disturb sign, curl up with this book, and completely immerse myself in this story. I wanted nothing more than to read this book nonstop, but I didn’t want it to come to an end. I wanted to savor every moment that I had left with Noelle and Sam.

Eight Perfect Hours is a special, charming, delightful novel. It is brimming with serendipitous moments that melted my heart and had a few twists and reveals that I didn’t see coming. I just wish that I could read it all over again for the first time.

Eight Perfect Hours will definitely be gracing my list of favorite books of 2021. I’m already looking forward to this author’s next novel!

*5 Stars

Eight Perfect Hours by Lia Louis
Contemporary chick lit romance. Clean.
Nell is doing the best she can taking care of her mother and cleaning flats to earn money. Her former beau Ed has returned home and though he still doesn’t approve of the way Nell caters to her mother, he and Nell still spend time considerable time together. Sam is one of those serendipitous encounters. They meet during a snow storm. And again when the mutual parents are in the hospital. And agin…..
Destiny. Fate. Serendipity. The red thread. Is all life prewritten? Are souls joined or fated at birth?

For every step forward, there are a dozen backwards in time. The majority of the story we are in retroactive or retrospective views by Nell.
It is a romance but very little is actual moving forward romance. There was simply too much time spent with the old boyfriend. At 60% I was still wondering who she would end up with.
I did learn quite a bit of British slag and definitions to words I didn’t know.

I liked the chance meetings between Nell and Sam and loved the final reveal.
All the retrospective in getting to know Daisy does pay off in the end.
Tears, and sadness and in the end, a love in the right time and place.

I received a copy of this from NetGalley.

Eight Perfect Hours is a romance novel that kicks off at a class reunion.

Noelle shows up to pull a camera out of a time capsule with the last photos taken of her best friend, Daisy, before she was killed in a car accident. Noelle wants to get back her hope for the future that she lost with her bestie.

Instead, the camera isn’t there and must be found when the entire time capsule can be dug out. A blizzard has caused the reunion to be cut short and rescheduled. Noelle gets stuck on the motorway on her way home, and gets snowed in for the night. She accepts the offer of her neighbor to charge her phone in his car. Enter Sam.

Noelle is fairly certain Sam has a girlfriend but she kicks herself for not exchanging contact information with him after the eight perfect hours they spent bonding. She goes back to her life and then boom—runs into him again. And again. She thinks it’s fate; he won’t call it that.

This novel explores the themes of loss, grief, and getting stuck. Losing a loved one too soon has ramifications that echo forward for decades. Which makes this another romance novel about the healing power of love. This is a frequent theme in romance novels but EPH is a bit different because friends and family are part of the healing by love process.

My dislikes for the book were completely minor: title isn’t my favorite but it’s not like I have a different title to offer up, and there was an awful lot of discussion about Sam’s chuckle-laugh. Was it supposed to be a nervous tic and if not, think could have cut out 75% of the mentions. Despite these teeny-tiny problems, the book had a lot of heart. It was sad. I don’t go in for family dramas and this was not a family drama despite the drama in Noelle’s family. I think the air-headed brother Dilly felt the least real but he was still decently sketched as the annoying brother.

This is a sweet book but not a light read. Perfect for those who broke up with a long-term significant other and want that decision reinforced in their romance novels.

Eight Perfect Hours was such a charming, and cozy read.

Noelle is stranded on the highway in the middle of a freak snow storm in England. She is hours from home, her phone is dead, and she is concerned about her mother left at home. Then she meets a handsome stranger, Sam. Sam comes to Noelle’s rescue and lets her charge her phone in his car. They then spend the next 8 hours getting to know one another. 8 perfect hours you could say. Noelle and Sam have so much in common and they really hit it off, but when the roads are finally cleared, they say an awkward goodbye and they are both sure they will never see each other again. Then fate steps in. Fate seems to be saying that Noelle and Sam are meant to be more than two strangers. Noelle and Sam start bumping into each other in the most unlikely places. Were they meant to meet each other and are they meant to be more? You will just have to spend a whole day curled up in bed reading this delightful novel to find out.

I think it’s safe to say that anyone who loved Dear Emmie Blue (I honestly don’t know anyone who’s read it that doesn’t fit in this category) will love @lialouisauthor ‘s new book Eight Perfect Hours out tomorrow.

Noelle’s on her way home after a disastrous school reunion where her ex brushed her off and she wasn’t able to locate the camera belonging to her best friend who died, the one that was supposed to be unburied in the school’s time capsule. Then things get even worse. The highway is closed due to a blizzard, Noelle’s phone dies and her car charger isn’t working, and she has no way to reach her home-bound, nervous mom who’s expecting her home any minute. This is the moment she meets American Sam, on his way to the airport, who offers her the charger in his car, and, you may have guessed, they spend eight perfect hours together stuck on the highway waiting for it to reopen.

Going into this one, for some reason I expected the bulk of the book to be about those eight hours, but that was not the case. Noelle goes home without exchanging contact info with Sam to face the life she has built but not necessarily the life she wants to be living. But as her path crosses with Sam’s over and over again in strange ways, Noelle wonders if fate is trying to tell her something.

Louis has a knack for writing sad—or maybe fragile is a better word—characters you can’t help but root for. And this book doesn’t avoid heavier topics. Suicide, caring for elderly parents, death of a close friends, infidelity, postpartum depression, irreparable family bonds. There’s a deceptive amount of depth in what reads like a sweet romance. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this one and loved how all the story threads wove together. Sam was a delightful book boyfriend and it was amazing to watch Noelle’s growth throughout the story. My one quibble is small. I would have liked more time with Sam and Noelle together, but I understand that the story was more about creating a full life and all the people who make that up.

Grab your copy tomorrow! Thank you so much to @atriabooks and @netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest opinion.

"Coincidence is language of the stars, for something to happen, so many forces have to be put into action." - Paolo Coelho

Eight Perfect hours to meet someone, eight perfect hours to feel a spark, eight perfect hours then you go your separate ways....

On a snowy evening, Noelle Butterby is tuck in her car after a blizzard closes off roads. But then she hears a tap on her window. It's Sam Attwood and he is in the car next to her and offers her assistance when he sees her having a hard time. Little did they know that this was one of many instances when they would meet. Kismet, chance or are the star aligned?

This is a charming book full of coincidences and witty banter between Noelle and Sam. This is a fast, entertaining, and cute book. It is a great book to curl up on the couch with on a cold winter day (any day for that matter). It's all about the journey here and although nothing completely blew me away in this book, it held my attention and was a pleasing read.

Thank you to Atria/Emily Bestler books and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

Noelle Butterby finds herself stranded in standstill traffic on the motorway during a March blizzard with a dead phone battery—with a broken port. Frustrated, she has a mini-breakdown witnessed by a nearby motorist. Sam Attwood, an American, offers help, so Noelle agrees to charge her phone in his car.

During the eight hours the road is closed, the conversation is easy between them, and Noelle can’t help noticing his handsome looks or deny the electricity when they accidentally brush against each other. But, when the road is cleared, Noelle returns to her life as a carer for her mother and professional cleaner while Sam returns to his job as a mountain guide in Oregon.

Despite thinking of him often, Noelle knows she’ll never see Sam again. Except, she does, more than once, in the most unexpected places. Maybe it’s more than coincidence, maybe it’s the hands of fate—but fate doesn’t always run smoothly.

As much as a love story, EIGHT PERFECT HOURS is also a novel about finding and allowing oneself to chase her dreams and not settling for anything less than the love and respect one deserves. The book also sensitively and compassionately explores depression, grief, family responsibilities, and aging.

Recommended for readers of THE LAST CHANCE LIBRARY, THE HEART PRINCIPLE, and, of course, DEAR EMMIE BLUE.

SO CUTE. I loved this so much and need more. I really liked the lighting and made me feel so cozy like I was in the midst of winter even though it's September and 90 degrees in North Carolina.

Attending your class reunion generally surfaces some unresolved feelings. For Noelle, attending her reunion has left her sad and flustered. Life just doesn’t seem fair at times. A blizzard unexpectedly interrupts the fun. The retrieval of their class’ time capsule is put on hold.

As she leaves, Noelle finds herself battle against the hazardous snowy conditions AND of course her phone is dead, which leaves her no way to contact anyone, let her alone her family.

In the next car, thankfully Noelle makes the acquaintance of a handsome American named Sam. Unusual circumstances can create unexpected bonds. Noelle and Sam spend the next eight perfect hours together as they wait out the weather.

But when the weather clears, will they find one another again in life? Are some perfect moments just that? A moment?

Curl up with a hot tea, snuggle down with a blanket, and let Lia Louis take you away for a few hours of heartwarming bliss and internal conflict as Noelle contemplates her boundaries and what she wants for herself.

I'm a sucker for books about fate. Yes, I believe in love at first sight and things that are meant to be - - all those gushy things. And I often wonder if I've walked past someone I knew in the past without realizing it because they've changed - or I was looking in the wrong direction. This is that kind of book. Not necessarily realistic (except to people like me who believe in coincidences not really being coincidence). It's an easy and charming read.

Oh Lia Louis thank you for another fabulous book.

I absolutely loved this. I was nervous that since I loved Dear Emmie Blue so much that this wouldn’t live up but boy did it ever! Once again she brought so many feelings up out of me while I read this. Noelle was so enjoyable to follow along during her journey. And once again the romance that Lia creates is so heartwarming.