I enjoyed this sweet, at times angsty, contemporary romance book with a twist.

I really felt for the main character, Noelle; she’s been dealt some tough blows in life. I do wish that she would stand up for herself, especially where her family was concerned. However, that is what makes the ending so satisfying.

We don’t get much from Sam’s character, but he was a great leading man. Honestly, I would have liked more from Sam’s POV.

In the end, the author did a great job of weaving in little coincidences as San and Noelle's lives continue to intersect. Overall, an enjoyable read!

4.5 stars / This review will be posted at BookwormishMe.com today.


Noelle just wanted to attend her college reunion and pick up Daisy’s envelope from the time capsule. Truth be told, she also wanted to “run into” her ex Ed and see how he reacted to seeing her once again. But nothing ever goes as planned, especially for Noelle.

First, Daisy’s envelope is missing the all important camera that Noelle was after. Then a major snowstorm hits and Noelle is stranded on the highway heading home. Home is where her mother, still recovering from a stroke, is alone. And of course, Noelle’s phone battery is now dead and the charger isn’t working.

Anything that can go wrong will, until Noelle meets Sam. Sam is in the car next to her. Sam is kind enough to offer to allow Noelle to charge her phone in his car. An extra perk, Sam is beautiful. It looks like Sam and Noelle have quite a night ahead, stranded on the motorway.

This book is funny and sweet and thoughtful. Noelle has been through so much. Puts everyone’s needs ahead of her own. From the very beginning you will want to root for Noelle to succeed and have happiness. Lia Louis has created a perfect little story in which sometimes things happen for every reason and none at all. Noelle’s and Sam’s lives have intersected at the right and totally wrong times for both of them.

I loved this novel from start to finish. It kept me engaged, it kept me wondering, and it made me happy. A little bit of life and romance and tragedy all rolled into one perfect little book.

I really enjoyed Dear Emmie Blue so I was looking forward to this book. However, it was so similar. The books starts out with a letter. Beyond that, the story line is different but the mechanics does not differ as much. Cute read but I was wanting something more.

Noelle and Sam meet when they become stranded on the motorway due to a blizzard. Although both feel an unexplainable connection to the other, there’s little hope their paths will cross again—Sam is headed back to the U.S., while Noelle calls the U.K. home. But in a series of kismet run-ins neither could have expected, they begin to think maybe there’s no such thing as coincidence after all.

I devoured this one! Lia Louis has officially cemented herself as an auto-buy author for me. I loved DEAR EMMIE BLUE, and EIGHT PERFECT HOURS did not disappoint. This is a perfect read for fans of the film Serendipity.

A note: Despite the wintery cover, this isn't a "holiday" romance. It actually starts after the holidays, with a late winter blizzard, and moves through the year. So you can truly read it any time of year.

I was given the opportunity to read Lia Louis' first book and couldn't get into it, I struggled to connect to the plot line and characters. I wanted the second book to be different, but again I couldn't get into it.

Noelle is heading home to her ailing mother after a high school reunion semi-disaster when a storm hits. Traffic is stopped and the road is completely blocked. Left alone in her old car, with a dead phone, Noelle has a breakdown. The reunion wasn’t at all what she needed it to be and her ex, a man she doesn’t years of her life with, barely gave her a courtesy glance… Now she is stuck in this storm, unable to get in touch with her mother and wallowing.

When a knock on her window reveals Sam, a handsome American stranger offering help, she decides what the heck…

So, for the next eight hours, she sits and converses with Sam and has the time of her life. By the time traffic is able to flow again, she doesn’t want to leave this encounter. And instead of exchanging information with him, the two part with a simple goodbye, thinking they will likely never see one another again.

But, when the two keep bumping into each other, how is Noelle supposed to ignore fate? It doesn’t help, though, that her ex is sort of back in her life and Sam is not quite unattached either. So, while trying to do the right thing, they still feel this pull to one another.

This book had me feeling the ups and the downs, for sure! I laughed out loud and I was brought to tears. This was definitely an emotional read. I really loved this story and just Noelle and Sam in general.

Wow. 5 Stars. This was such a sweet and heartwarming read that I just lost myself in. I loved Noelle and felt for her predicament of having to choose between her family or herself. Relating to some of what Noelle experience in life, tugged at my heartstrings. I also enjoyed another of her books - Dear Emmie Blue.

Noelle Butterby, has just left her college reunion heartbroken and now she’s stranded in a snowstorm on the roadway with a dead phone. Sam, who is in the car next to her comes to her rescue.
Thank you to the Author, Publisher and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Atria/Emily Bestler Books for gifting me a digital ARC of the latest book by Lia Louis. 5 stars for a romantic book I just needed to read right now! If you haven't read Dear Emmie Blue by this author, stop and do that immediately! These two books have cemented Lia Louis as a must-read author for me.

Noelle is driving back from a college reunion when a blizzard shuts down the highway (sorry, motorway!). Noelle is desperate to let her mom know she's okay but her phone is dead. A handsome young man, Sam, comes to her rescue as she sits in her car crying, offering her a battery charge in his car. They pass the next eight hours as if my magic until the road clears and they are sent back to their lives. But fate may have another plan, because Sam and Noelle keep seeming to run into one another.

This was just a perfectly-written story of hope, being true to yourself and your dreams. Life is not about settling but grabbing onto those dreams with both hands and with someone who is in your corner. I raced through this book because I just had to see how it all ended. Don't miss this one!

“Maybe it isn’t fate, maybe it’s choice. Maybe it’s always been a choice.”

EIGHT PERFECT HOURS begins with a disaster turned meet cute when a blizzard strands Noelle and Sam together on a motorway. Their chance encounter seems less like chance as they begin serendipitously bumping into each other months later. This is a cute story that, similar to @lialouisauthor previous novel DEAR EMMIE BLUE, stays grounded with realistic plot points including grief and mental health. It’s a story of taking risks, learning to move on from the past, and discovering it’s worth it to wait for someone to love you for who you are and not for who you could turn out to be. If you liked DEAR EMMIE BLUE, you’ll enjoy this one as well!

Thank you to the publisher for my review copy. All opinions are my own.

Tell me why (ain't nothing like a heartache, tell me why)....yep, now that song is in my head. You are welcome. For real...tell me why I do not see Lia Louis all over everything? Lia Louis = MUST READ author for me. I mean. You get it all.

Lovely characters
Real hearts in my eyes romance
Happily ever after's
Real life flawed characters
Quirkiness...I call it. That's a word
I could go on and on...

I adored this book. Again. I also adored Dear Emmie Blue.

I'm not going to go into the synopsis....read the full synopsis if you want the low down of what this novel is about.

I am going to say this. If you like Quirky, British and just full out delightful....pick this one up!

I loved Dear Emmie Blue, so I was so excited to get my hands on an early copy of Eight Perfect Hours…and it didn’t disappoint. It was ooey gooey romantic perfection!! I really enjoyed the way everything unfolded and all of the connections. Everyone got what they deserved in the end.

An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place, and circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle. But it will never break.
—ancient Chinese proverb

I was lucky enough to score an ARC of Louis’s previous novel Dear Emmie Blue and I absolutely adored it! So needless to say I was excited when I received an email from Atria Books inviting me to read an advance e-galley of Eight Perfect Hours!

Lia Louis did it again! Another sweet, heartwarming romance with charming and unexpected twists. A beautifully written story about fate, love, friendships, and finding yourself. The characters were so endearing and completely relatable. I appreciated the way Louis portrayed the struggles of grief and mental health. This one gave me all the feels!

4 ⭐️
Read EPH if you enjoy;
⏳Feel-good, swoony romance
⌛️Kismet / Serendipity
⏳Mental health representation
⌛️Good Character development & growth

Pub Date 9/28/21

I definitely recommend adding this one to your TBR. If you enjoyed One Day in December, or The Flatshare, you’ll Love Eight Perfect Hours!

Thank you @AtriaBooks and @Netgalley for the e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

#AlisReads #flippin_and_sippin_mn

This book gave me the tingles! The sexual tension! Sigh....

Louis gives her readers a gorgeous new contemporary romance in "Eight Perfect Hours." If you loved Emmie Blue, you'll love the fated love story of Noelle and Sam.

After spending eight hours huddled together during a traffic jam in a snowstorm, running into each other at a hospital and accidentally getting hired by him, Noelle is convinced fate keeps throwing Sam Attwood in her path for a reason. How lucky can a girl get?! So many twists and turns arise and they both have to overcome past relationships, family, friends and careers before they are ready to give in to their attraction.

My only complaint is that I wanted this book to last longer and give me some steamy scenes. It's definitely in the "sweet" romance category. Pick it up if you need to believe in soul-mates and fate again.

This story completely swept me away. With fate a focal point in this romance, it had such a dreamy quality to it that left me in a stunned state after finishing. I love full-circle moments in a story and this might be one of my favourite endings!

After both being stranded on a highway during a blizzard, strangers Noelle and Sam spend—much like the title suggests—eight perfect hours together in the warmth of a car. Despite being forced to go their separate ways, life has a way of bringing them back together.

There’s a bit of a love triangle within this romance, but I promise it serves a purpose. Both still haunted by the loss of a loved one, while Sam is scared to stop living, Noelle is scared to start living. These two coming together to discover a world beyond their comfort blanket was beautiful.

This was heavier than I expected, with its topics of grief and caring for family, but it had plenty of lighthearted moments, too. I still find myself continually thinking about the cleverness of this story. It was so memorable.

3.5 stars

Eight Perfect Hours was a bit like a Hallmark movie. Noelle is on her way home from a school reunion when she gets stuck on a major highway during a massive snowstorm. It’s there she spends eight hours with another stranded motorist. It feels like fate to Noelle, but they part without exchanging contact information, and she never expects to see Sam again.

Noelle’s life felt stagnant. Her mother is needy and won’t admit she needs help, her job is going nowhere, her brother is unreliable, and her ex-boyfriend is back in town after a painful breakup. I think this is why she clings to the idea of Sam.

But fate keeps bring them back together, even when it doesn’t seem plausible. Eight Perfect Hours was sweet and heartwarming even though it was bit predictable and cliched. It was a good story to lift your spirits.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the review copy.

I didn't make it very far into this book. The description sounded like a lighthearted cute read, but I had a really difficult time getting into it. I didn't find the characters interesting and the story was just so slow to me. This one was a miss for me.

This was a pretty cute romance. Angsty but cute,

This is a classic missed-opportunity trope. There are some of the typical things associated with that trope that I did not like, like emotional cheating, and actual cheating. but I will say that it was pretty well done. (I think this is somewhat similar to One Day in December but without all the messiness)

There is a plot twist that is a bit wild, I did not see it coming but it just made the missed opportunity thing THAT much better.

Overall, this was a quick and relatively easy read.

TW: depression, anxiety, suicide, emotional cheating, cheating, post-partum depression, hoarding

Thank you to Netgalley and Atria for the opportunity to review. All thoughts are my own.

Thanks to Atria for the free book.
This is a perfect book for when you're wanting something light and easy to go through. I loved the beginning of this story, which is where the title comes from. Noelle and Sam get stuck in a blizzard on the freeway for eight hours. I loved the organic relationship that happened during this forced proximity. But the middle of the book dragged a bit for me, and I was left wondering how it was going to end, and not in a great way. But I did like how everything tied together at the end of the book.
If you're looking for a fun, quick winter read, then this will be the book for you. Read it now if you're ready for cooler weather, or save it for that first snow.

This book is as sweet as cotton candy!!! Noelle is driving back from her college when a blizzard hits! The roads are impassable and her phone is dead. Sam is also in the same blizzard and has Noelle come and hangout in his car. It was a wonderful 8 hours! They don't exchange phone numbers and they think they won't see each other again. But fate has other plans!! This was a heartwarming book that is an easy afternoon read. I loved the characters and this is a wonderful book to spend your time immersed in. I received an advanced readers copy and all opinions are my own.

I was really looking forward to this book, but at 25% in, I put it down. I found the book to be very slow and I had a hard time keeping myself invested in the storyline. I could not relate to our main character, making the story difficult to enjoy.