I loved this story. Lia Louis wrote a beautiful and funny story about fate and finding your way. I really enjoyed it and will definitely have to read other books written by Lia Louis.

Thank you to Netgalley for the gifted copy of the book.

It is perfect for readers who enjoy plots based on destiny and serendipity. Noelle and Sam meet when stranded in their cars during a snowstorm and feel almost like a magical connection between them though they just literally met only that night. After hours together talking like good friends, they leave and keep coming across each other often enough to wonder it if was simply coincidence or something beyond. These chance encounters keep bringing them closer especially when Noelle keeps facing multiple problems in her life. But both are with other people in their lives and they need to decide how they want to go about their lives now.

It is a feel-good novel perfect to read on a snowy day with a hot cup of coffee but it did take me a bit to actually get interested due to the slow pace of the book. It could have been shorter and still have had the exact same impact. I had this issue with Sam that he never took initiative at all , it was always Noelle who had to risk and open up or take the first step. His passiveness can be blamed as his character flaw but it was not fair to Noelle. I definitely enjoyed the author's previous book more than this one.

Thank you so much @AtriaBooks & @NetGalley for giving me this eARC in exchange for my honest and unbiased review (Release Date | 28 September 2021)

SYNOPSIS | Noelle is on her way back from a high school reunion when she gets stuck in a blizzard on the motorway. Her mum is very dependant on her, so she needs to get in contact with her but her phone is dead. To her surprise, there is a man (Sam) in the next car over from her who is willing to let her charge her phone & they end up spending eight perfect hours together whilst the roads clear. Will they ever meet again?

WHAT I LIKED:
- I LOVED Dear Emmie Blue & this is another fantastic love story
- the kismet vibes were *chefs kiss* (although you do need to dispel your disbelief)
- it was just a tender, heartwarming & sweet little story about fate & hope
- there is so much packed into this story from independance, post-natal depression, parental relationships, agoraphobia to name a few

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
- love triangles just aren't my favourite romance trope

This was a great read! Noelle reminded me a lot of my best friend, who is in a similar life situation. I think this will be a book club hit and I can’t wait to read it with a group of friends to talk about it more!
Thank you to Atria books and Netgalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review!

This was a lovely book! Noelle is stuck in her life. She lives with her mother who is totally dependent on her and has put all her dreams on hold. She goes to her reunion and is stuck on the road home because of a snow storm. She meets Sam, the guy in the car beside her and spends eight perfect hours with him. They continue to run into each other and slowly begin to think maybe there is a reason. It was a sweet journey of them realizing what they want in life and deciding to go for it. This was a magical love story!

Review posted on blog: https://books-are-a-girls-best-friend.com/

Do you Believe in Kismet?

I can’t really say that I do, but Eight Perfect Hours gave me pause.

The night Noelle Butterby gets stranded on the motorway her life changes in an instant. As a blizzard hits and the road closes, Noelle starts to panic. Once her phone dies things go from bad to worse, that is until someone taps on her car window.

Enter Sam Attwood. A very attractive American who is also stranded on the motorway. When Sam notices Noelle’s distress, his first instinct is to help.

With no end in sight, Sam and Noelle decide to pass the time together, talking, laughing, and sharing stories.

Once Eight Perfect hours pass, however, both think that’s it - yet neither can forget the other. The reason? Kismet.

That’s right, I said Kismet. As in FATE, Destiny.. the whole nine yards. An unbreakable connection that exists between two people regardless of where life takes them.

Believable, heartfelt, sweet, and genuine, Eight Perfect Hours by Lia Louis is a novel that will carry you away and give you hope, when you need it most. While I thought it was a tad unrealistic, I adored it and admit to hoping such relationships existed in real life.
4.25 Stars

A fabulously sweet buddy read with Kaceey.

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for the arc.

Published on Goodreads, Twitter, and Instagram.

My heart broke for Noelle initially. She’s the rock for others, but has no one to lean on. It’s one catastrophe after another with her, left to figure it out. She feels obligated to bear the weight of peoples’ problems on her shoulders. The constant weight of being the person everyone turned to and the belittling of Noelle’s time and worth aggravated me through this story. It made it hard to connect and empathize with Noelle. I have a hard time when the story revolves around stagnation of growth for the main character. More than half way through the book, Noelle's situation did not change, she was falling back into old patterns with nonexistent growth.

I enjoyed the serendipitous idea of Noelle and Sam. The intertwined moments of their life that have connected them without them knowing. Their story was what I enjoyed most about this book. Their interactions were heartwarming, sweet, and had all the classic romance elements. I wished there were more moments in the book that focused on that rather than Noelle and her journey.

All in all I was slightly disappointed with the overall story of this book. I think I craved more of the romance aspect and less of the women’s fiction. I enjoyed Sam the most and even Ed because he was written as the perfect antithesis to Sam’s endearing personality. My overall disappointment came from Noelle and the way she was written. I think if you are looking for a quick read, it’s worth checking out. Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for this ARC

This was a sweet enough romance. The premise sounded quite intriguing and I think the author delivered. Though it didn't quite equal the magic of her wonderful Dear Emmie Blue, I think this is a solid enough romance. Happy to recommend it to staff.

This is a story of romance, but also has many complex layers to it. Noelle, while painfully unselfish and who cares so deeply for the people around her, has very little time to fulfill her own dreams. And all throughout, she is going through her own struggles and grieving her friend’s death. It was difficult to watch her put others’ needs before her own. While the connections and interactions between Noelle and Sam were adorable, by the last one it was almost too unbelievable. But overall, it was well written and I quite enjoyed it! Thank you to Atria books and NetGalley for this e-ARC.

What an absolutely lovely book! When she is trapped on the highway in winter weather gridlock, Noelle is absolutely distraught. Plagued by unresolved grief over the death of her friend Daisy, overwhelmed by having just run into her ex Ed, and wracked with concern about her unwell mother, Noelle is at her wits end. Enter Sam, a handsome, mountain climbing, American motorist stuck in the same jam as herself. Eight perfect hours together ensue, and when the traffic has cleared, Noelle leaves changed by the encounter with a person who she felt immediately comfortable and safe with, and understood by.

As their chance encounters continue and Noelle begins to wonder (egged on by her best friends Charlie and Theo) whether or not this is fate, the reader is also invited to ponder the themes of mental health, fidelity, healthy boundaries, family systems, and much more. I absolutely adored this story, and it has made me want to read Dear Emmie Blue right away! I loved these characters, and I loved this book.

I'm always drawn to a book where the hero and heroine are forced to spend time together. Trapped in a car during a snowstorm? Well, that's even better.
This was a fun, quick read. Great characters, engaging storyline and a sweet romance that kept me hooked. I strongly disliked Ed, but I think that's the whole point. The author's careful exploration of a universal challenges, stepping out of one's comfort zone, overcoming obstacles and truly embracing life, will resonate with many readers. I recommend Eight Perfect Hours to romance readers who enjoy a quirky story with a satisfying conclusion.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the complimentary copy. All opinions shared here are my own.

Special shout out to Isabel from Atria books for providing me an e-galley for this book!

Immediately I was drawn into this story- and it started with one of my favorite scenes. Noelle was driving home from a school reunion and ends up stuck in a huge blizzard on the highway, phone dead, and just beside herself.
By luck she is stuck next to a handsome American man who has a working phone charger in his car.
Sam invites her into his car - and the Eight Perfect Hours begin.

Then the road clears and she doesn’t see him again, or have any of his contact info.

But as fate would have it, they find each other again.

I really loved each and every character and found them super relatable in their own ways.

This story is charming and full of hope and adventure and sorrow and heartbreak and loss.

I was sucked in from the beginning and stayed up til 3 AM to finish.

Highly recommend for anyone who enjoys a quick but layered chick lit with a dash of seriousness.

P.S. did Sam just become my new book boyfriend??

Lia Louis makes my heart swell. The perfect mix of romance, heartbreak, laughs and love. You will fall in love with Noelle and Sam over and over again. After spending 8 hours trapped in a storm together, Sam keeps appearing places Noelle is. She thinks it is fate, he doesn't believe in fate or signs. This is the book you want to snuggle up with on a snow day, with a blanket and some cocoa! Thank you to Netgalley for the arc!

You know how sometimes you just need a feel-good book to reboot your heart after a long week (month…year)? Well, this fit the bill perfectly.

Noelle just left her class reunion sad and frustrated. A blizzard unexpectedly interrupted the festivities that were to include the opening and retrieval of items from a time capsule.

Leaving the party, Noelle finds herself stuck in her car on a snowy highway. With her phone dead, she has no way to contact her family.

In the next car is a handsome American named Sam. who comes to Noelle’s rescue and the two spend the next eight perfect hours together until the roads are cleared.

Will Noelle and Sam ever see each other again? Did fate bring them together? Or was this just a chance meeting… like two ships passing in the night?

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.

The author opens the book with the proverb regarding the invisible red thread. (Are you familiar with it?)

It is a beautiful adage that tugs on my heart every time I read it.❤️❤️

This was my second read by Lia Louis and I adored this book as much as her previous Dear Emmie Blue.

I cannot wait for her next.

A buddy read with Susanne

Posted to: https://books-are-a-girls-best-friend...

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books.

Two strangers trapped together in a car during a blizzard. Afterwards they part thinking they will never see each other again. Fate has different plans for them. This was a slow moving sweet book with a predictable ending. Thank you to net galley for an advanced readers copy.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of Eight Perfect Hours.

I'm not a big fan of romance novels since they all tend to sound and read the same, but the premise was intriguing; how two strangers meet one fateful day, spend eight amazing hours together, and keep bumping into each other as if their destinies are intertwined.

The concept of a soulmate, of being destined for one particular person, is a tale as old as time, and in Eight Perfect Hours, Noelle Butterby and Sam Atwood discover they are meant to be, even if they don't quite know it yet.

Eight Perfect Hours is a typical trope-y romance; Noelle is an awkward, shy woman in her early thirties, with dreams to open her own florist business but (naturally) resigned to a dead end job cleaning houses and caring for her mom, a semi-invalid.

She's still nursing a broken heart after breaking up with a long-term boyfriend of over a decade when she meets Sam Atwood, a hot, hunky (naturally, every man is a hottie in these books) mountain climber. I picture Chris Hemsworth in this role.

Noelle is not likable; she a typical 'heroine' in these types of books; always second guessing herself, making excuses for not moving on with her life (mostly because she's scared, which I understand and respect), dealing with unruly family, in this case her mother and bratty, selfish younger brother.

She's a doormat, wishy washy, and never takes charge of her life. When opportunities come her way, it's the people in her social circle that encourages her to move on with her life, like her ex-boyfriend, who is not a terrible guy, but not great, either.

Things happen to Noelle instead of the other way around and she just takes them.

Sam Atwood is a decent character, and though we don't get his POV in the narrative, I liked him well enough.

I didn't understand why he and Noelle was meant to be until the end, which I thought the author wrapped up nicely.

But, it was hard for me to see Noelle and Sam together since there was no chemistry between them.

I did like Noelle's friend, Charlie and her ever supportive husband, as well as Noelle's kind neighbor who always drops everything to care for Noelle's mom.

I liked Eight Perfect Hours a bit better than Dear Emmie Blue. Fans of romance novels will really enjoy this.

Loved the theme, Loved the growth, the pace was a bit plodding. Loved the ending. Three stars is a very solid review score. I would recommend every three star book I rate.

This was a cute and easy to digest rom-com on the one hand, but had a lot of deeper themes as well. Both of the main characters, and some of the side characters, have some obstacles to overcome, some of which have been dogging them for years. It was really well written and had a main character you can root for.

I'll start by saying that I loved the ending of the book. Not just the resolution, but the last third or so. The first part of the book was a bit slower than I wanted it to be, and I wasn't entirely sure how things would resolve. Throughout the story you were rooting for the two characters to find happiness, even when it seemed like that wasn't going to happen for them. The tension the author created between the characters is exactly the type of story I like to read, and it lead to a very satisfying conclusion.

Have you ever wondered why fate put you in a certain place at a certain time? Well Eight Perfect Hours is a feel good story that makes it all make sense! The characters are well written and I could totally see me being friends with Noelle and Charlie IRL!