I have often taken book reading advice from Sarra Manning from her column in Red Magazine – and enjoy following her on Twitter – so when I saw she had another book out, and having enjoyed one of her previous novels, I asked NetGalley for a copy – and was granted my wish.

Here’s the blurb:

“London. Nine million people. Two hundred and seventy tube stations. Every day, thousands of chance encounters, first dates, goodbyes and happy ever afters.
And for twenty years it’s been where one man and one woman can never get their timing right.
Jennifer and Nick meet as teenagers and over the next two decades, they fall in and out of love with each other. Sometimes they start kissing. Sometimes they’re just friends. Sometimes they stop speaking, but they always find their way back to each other.
But after all this time, are they destined to be together or have they finally reached the end of the line?”

Hands up – I ADORED this book! Some of this I’m sure is because I am very similar in age to Jenny and Nick – they were 2 years older than me (I was going to add at the start of the book – but TBH they stayed 2 years older than me throughout the entire book!) The book starts with their paths crossing at 6th form college in the late 1980s – and then spans the decades through to now, meeting them at various points across the 30 years. Generally a TFL station (although occasionally a New York station) features as the backdrop to that chapter.

I know Sarra Manning loves London (if you follow her on Twitter you can be pointed in the direction of some fabulous Rightmove finds in North London that she would purchase if she won the lottery!) and London is most definitely an extra character in the book – which Jenny loves with a similar intensity.

Lots of ‘major events’ in my lifetime are used as the back drop to new chapters – I blogged about a couple back in the day myself – and other times like GCSE results day and the new Millenium which I also remember really clearly. Weirdly something else I’ve blogged about – remembering your friend’s childhood phone number, and how parents answer the phone, also features! I told you I loved this book because I could empathise so much.

The story of Jenny and Nick twists and turns, with supporting characters appearing and disappearing throughout – just as happens in real life, and I don’t want to give too much away – as you need to go on their journey (see what I did there?!) with them.

I have to say that the final chapter – set in the present day – made me WEEP. I don’t think, as yet, many books have addressed the pandemic and what we’ve all been through in the last 2 years, and this was done brilliantly and felt very ‘real’.

I would highly recommend ‘London, With Love’ to everyone – and it’s out later this week on 5 May 2022.

A huge thank you to NetGalley, the publisher – and Sarra Manning – for such a fantastic book.