Can love be found as easy as in a station?

Synopsis

Two people. One journey…

Millie loves her city life, her city friends and writing her true(ish) confessions column – but she’s starting to wonder if the grass really is greener on the other side, or if her heart really belongs back in Northumberland, with her mum who is struggling after the death of Millie’s dad.

Joe is happy doing what he does, writing games. He could do it anywhere, but since leaving home he’s lived believing that looking back means you’ve failed, and life is about taking chances and seeing the world.

So when the two meet up surely it can never work, their lives are moving in opposite directions. On different tracks…

My review

Millie has always wanted to live in London, and is happy that she finally is. She loves her city friends, her city life and her city job as writing confessions columns.
But as her career isn’t taking off as she imagined, she starts wondering where ‘home’ truly is. Is it in London, or is it still in Northumberland, where her mother still lives?
When going back to visit her mother, one day she literally clashes with Joe in King’s Cross Station. And Millie seems unable to forget her ‘Train – guy’, who becomes her inspiration for her weekly columns.
But Joe doesn’t know that Millie is writing about him, and the last thing he wants, is to be in the spotlights. While he loves going back home ‘up North’, he feels his future lays in London. And going back home is a sign of failure, right?
With their first meeting being so random, what are the odds Millie and Joe will meet again? And if they do, will it appear that the initial attraction was just a figment of imagination? Or even worse, just being one – sided?  

Oooooh, Zara Stoneley surely knows how to captivate her readers! And the way this book starts, is just perfect!
While taking public transportations, haven’t we all seen someone who caught our attention, and haven’t we all secretly hoped that once we caught his/her eyes it would be the start of an amazing romance?
And exactly how often does that happen in real life? Exactly, almost never! So what if it would happen?  

But what I liked about this book, was not how immediately the romance started, but how it was a game of ‘will they – won’t they’.
Millie knows that meeting her Train Guy is nearly impossible, as what if he were there just by sheer accident? What if he normally takes the train on another day, or was just in London for one day? So I loved how she remained hopeful that somehow she would see her guy again.
And that is only one of the things I liked about Millie. 

While I don’t approve of writing about your personal stuff all over the place, I could understand that Millie just had to do it for her job. And I appreciated how she kept tings vague, so that not everyone would know who she was taking about. I also had so much fun how she used her bumping into Joe as an inspiration and while writing her column used her imagination to exaggerate a little bit.  

It saddened me a little bit although, to read how Millie seems to have it all in London, but yet has doubts about where here ‘real home’ is. Realizing that reality doesn’t match with your dream is a bitter pill to swallow… 

And then there is Joe, who is going through the exact opposite… He feels his future lays in London, but he isn’t ready to ‘abandon’ his parents and his sister, who still rely on him.
While Millie is a real extravert, and on the verge of ‘oversharing’ (hmmm, makes me think of someone who looks like me 😊), Joe is rather introvert, and doesn’t want everyone to know his business. 

With being at so different points in their lives, and wanting to know how and when they would meet again, made me turn page after page. Their second meeting was both hilarious as sweet. I can never think of a red scarf without thinking of Joe! 😊 

It truly warmed my heart on these warm summer days seeing how Millie and Joe are meeting more and growing closer and realize that sometimes one clash can make you find love.

But as we read both point of views, we know that they are both also struggling with their blooming relationship. Can Joe live with the fact that his dates with Millie will be known to her readers? And what about Millie starting to feel restless in London? 

I truly enjoyed reading this book from start till end. It made me smile, laugh out loud, swoon, some bits made me a little bit sad. But I found it also nearly impossible to put it down! Zara Stoneley wrote a book that almost made me want to walk to my nearest train station in the rain, hoping to clash with my own Train Guy!