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Our Stop
‘LJ’s honesty and style are unique’ Stylist
What if you almost missed the love of your life?
Nadia gets the 7.30 train every morning without fail. Well, except if she oversleeps or wakes up at her friend Emma’s after too much wine.
Daniel really does get the 7.30 train every morning, which is easy because he hasn’t been able to sleep properly since his Dad died.
One morning, Nadia’s eye catches sight of a post in the daily paper:
To the cute girl with the coffee stains on her dress. I’m the guy who’s always standing near the doors… Drink sometime?
So begins a not-quite-romance of near-misses, true love, and the power of the written word.
A fabulous feel-good romance for fans of Holly Bourne and Dolly Alderton.
What if you almost missed the love of your life?
Nadia gets the 7.30 train every morning without fail. Well, except if she oversleeps or wakes up at her friend Emma’s after too much wine.
Daniel really does get the 7.30 train every morning, which is easy because he hasn’t been able to sleep properly since his Dad died.
One morning, Nadia’s eye catches sight of a post in the daily paper:
To the cute girl with the coffee stains on her dress. I’m the guy who’s always standing near the doors… Drink sometime?
So begins a not-quite-romance of near-misses, true love, and the power of the written word.
A fabulous feel-good romance for fans of Holly Bourne and Dolly Alderton.
400 pages, Paperback
First published June 13, 2019
About the author
Laura Jane Williams
17 books636 followersLaura Jane Williams (she/her) is known as the queen of the meet-cute. She is the author of six rom-coms, as well as the forthcoming Lovestruck (June 2023). She is also the author of three works of non-fiction.
The rights to Laura's international bestseller Our Stop have been sold for television, and her books have been translated into languages all over the world. She loves romance, being a parent, and lifting very heavy weights.
Find out more about Laura on www.laurajaneauthor.com
The rights to Laura's international bestseller Our Stop have been sold for television, and her books have been translated into languages all over the world. She loves romance, being a parent, and lifting very heavy weights.
Find out more about Laura on www.laurajaneauthor.com
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 2,281 reviews
January 22, 2020
This was exactly what I wanted to read at the exact right time and WOW I really, really liked it! It wasn't a perfect book and there were definitely some parts where I felt like the will-they-won't-they dragged out a liiiittle too long, but this was still SO MUCH FUN and totally cheered me up on what otherwise would have been a really poopie Monday. I recommend checking out the audiobook bc it was partly narrated by Carrie Hope Fletcher and that honestly might be part of the reason why I liked this so much. With that being said, also def recommend this for fans of the Flatshare!
May 30, 2019
Our Stop is basically a millennial You’ve Got Mail - the author’s inspiration is evident even before the obvious references from Nadia. I love You’ve Got Mail. I thought I would love Our Stop. I wanted to love it so badly. The idea is wonderful - I was so excited about a weird pen pal relationship through the newspaper between two people whose lives keep intersecting without them knowing. I am a sucker for a good romcom, and I am a millennial -- I am the prime target! But man, I did NOT like this book.
My main problem is that Our Stop is *too* millennial. It’s millennial catnip: the tale of a sexually liberated and chronically irresponsible Girl who has a tech-y job (yay women in STEM) and a romantic mama’s Boy who is in touch with his feelings, sees a therapist, and most importantly, is very WOKE. There are constant references to millennial “things” - social media, diet and exercise trends, dating apps...it’s all a bit much. The writing is too millennial to the point of distraction. Why were there so many Random Titles and Capitalization and way-too-many-hyphenated-things? It felt like a Buzzfeed article in book form.
But none of that compares to the outright PREACHINESS. Like I get it, you’re liberal, you’re woke, you’re a feminist. Every page had some sort of lesson in consent, Brexit, emotional vulnerability, gender fluidity - I mean chill out. If someone like me, who generally agrees with the author, was turned off by all of this, I cannot imagine how difficult this book will be for less “woke” people.
Aside from the writing style, it just took way too long for Nadia and Daniel to meet. I was literally skimming pages after about 85% through thinking, “Hurry it up already.” Not a good sign.
Despite my strong distaste for the style of this book, I want to say again that the idea of the story is so entertaining and so good. And I think a lot of millennial women will disagree with my harsh analysis and love this summer read. While I personally can’t give this book more than 2 stars, I am sure I am in the minority and it will do just fine.
(Many thanks to Avon Books UK and NetGalley for the ARC.)
My main problem is that Our Stop is *too* millennial. It’s millennial catnip: the tale of a sexually liberated and chronically irresponsible Girl who has a tech-y job (yay women in STEM) and a romantic mama’s Boy who is in touch with his feelings, sees a therapist, and most importantly, is very WOKE. There are constant references to millennial “things” - social media, diet and exercise trends, dating apps...it’s all a bit much. The writing is too millennial to the point of distraction. Why were there so many Random Titles and Capitalization and way-too-many-hyphenated-things? It felt like a Buzzfeed article in book form.
But none of that compares to the outright PREACHINESS. Like I get it, you’re liberal, you’re woke, you’re a feminist. Every page had some sort of lesson in consent, Brexit, emotional vulnerability, gender fluidity - I mean chill out. If someone like me, who generally agrees with the author, was turned off by all of this, I cannot imagine how difficult this book will be for less “woke” people.
Aside from the writing style, it just took way too long for Nadia and Daniel to meet. I was literally skimming pages after about 85% through thinking, “Hurry it up already.” Not a good sign.
Despite my strong distaste for the style of this book, I want to say again that the idea of the story is so entertaining and so good. And I think a lot of millennial women will disagree with my harsh analysis and love this summer read. While I personally can’t give this book more than 2 stars, I am sure I am in the minority and it will do just fine.
(Many thanks to Avon Books UK and NetGalley for the ARC.)
August 9, 2019
If you follow *ANY* UK instagrammers you cannot help but have seen the fluorescent cover of ‘Our Stop’ being waved at the camera in multiple boomerangs. The author has developed an audience via Instagram, and I count myself among that population. Having read her previous two non-fiction efforts I was curious about her first novel and was willing to take a chance on a book outside of my usual reading genres. The number of glowing reviews it had already received from the aforementioned instagrammers led me to believe I might be in for a rom-com with a difference. ‘Smart’, ‘feminist’, ‘current’ the reviews say...well, let’s see.
There’s no doubt the author can write. The prose bounces along quite jauntily, the characters are largely individually drawn, I was drawn into the plot. No, my issues aren’t so much with the technical construction of the book but with the soul of it. If this is, as Instagram would have me believe, the women’s boom of the summer, then I would like it to have some value, to have something to say. This book has nothing to say beyond middle-class self-absorption.
I can accept that rom-coms / chick lit / poolside books can operate within the realms of fantasy. I didn’t care how Carrie Bradshaw affords all of those designers shoes on a journalists wage, and I don’t really care how the 20-something leads in this book afford to live such carefree lives in London. If there’s any merit to this book, I suppose you could consider it a lifestyle study of rich, young and white graduates in London.
They take trips to Soho Farmhouse, buy £85 bouquets, holiday in the Cotswolds and eat the occasional £10 cookie. One of them is buying a 2 bed flat, the other lives in a property owned by her parents. The characters talk about their ‘love language’ over truffle mac and cheese. Housing crisis? What housing crisis? But, anyway, I’m willing to suspend disbelief in the name of romance and comedy. Unfortunately there is very little of either. The only comedy to be found is unintentional, such as when Nadia declares Daniel to be ‘the one’ based on his social media profile of Michelle Obama’s autobiography and, umm, drinking coffee. The initial communication between the two leads via the newspaper is playful but never romantic, and eventually descends into a ‘revisit all of the characters we’ve met so they can tell you how much I love you’ sketch that is so trite it would make Richard Curtis cringe.
Cringing was probably my most common response to the story. Every time Romeo (yes, that really is his name) spoke, every time I was treated to another description of Nadia’s favourite stores to buy expensive dresses from, every time the author whipped out a sex reference so jarring it made me grimace. I say jarring because the prose is generally so middle of the road that to be told (on multiple occasions, if I recall correctly) that Nadia’s nipples were getting hard or that it has been a while since Daniel has ‘put the brush in the paint pot’ or that Nadia’s need a man to know that she ‘c*ms first’ is just..please, stop.
The approach to sex in this book could actually summarise my biggest complaint about it. Just as the scenes fade to black as the characters get to it, so does the author pull away from actually saying anything meaningful about the socially conscious topics she flirts with and which the book has already been praised for. They are there merely as backdrop, as little extras which exist solely to flatter the characters and author. The worst example of this by far is when Daniel stops his friend from sleeping with a very drunk woman, which results in a punch and a lecture on consent. The plot point exists only to show what a good guy Daniel is, continuing the age-old trope of women’s pain existing only to motivate a man.
The author desperately wants us to know how woke and liberal and well educated she is. She knows that men who put who feminist in their twitter bios are just ~the worst~ and, uh, working class people are important (but not important enough to exist within my book universe) and Lust (Love) Island is totally the most interesting show on television, because it’s *actually* about the social boundaries of gender and sexual attraction so I can enjoy it in really intellectual way rather than just admiring the half-naked bodies like the other plebs, oh and here is a telegraphed lesbian love story between these two identikit female side-characters and I’ll even use the word genderqueer which I got from the Teen Vogue YouTube channel babes!
Like I said, there’s no doubt the author can write. I’m just not sure she has anything to say.
There’s no doubt the author can write. The prose bounces along quite jauntily, the characters are largely individually drawn, I was drawn into the plot. No, my issues aren’t so much with the technical construction of the book but with the soul of it. If this is, as Instagram would have me believe, the women’s boom of the summer, then I would like it to have some value, to have something to say. This book has nothing to say beyond middle-class self-absorption.
I can accept that rom-coms / chick lit / poolside books can operate within the realms of fantasy. I didn’t care how Carrie Bradshaw affords all of those designers shoes on a journalists wage, and I don’t really care how the 20-something leads in this book afford to live such carefree lives in London. If there’s any merit to this book, I suppose you could consider it a lifestyle study of rich, young and white graduates in London.
They take trips to Soho Farmhouse, buy £85 bouquets, holiday in the Cotswolds and eat the occasional £10 cookie. One of them is buying a 2 bed flat, the other lives in a property owned by her parents. The characters talk about their ‘love language’ over truffle mac and cheese. Housing crisis? What housing crisis? But, anyway, I’m willing to suspend disbelief in the name of romance and comedy. Unfortunately there is very little of either. The only comedy to be found is unintentional, such as when Nadia declares Daniel to be ‘the one’ based on his social media profile of Michelle Obama’s autobiography and, umm, drinking coffee. The initial communication between the two leads via the newspaper is playful but never romantic, and eventually descends into a ‘revisit all of the characters we’ve met so they can tell you how much I love you’ sketch that is so trite it would make Richard Curtis cringe.
Cringing was probably my most common response to the story. Every time Romeo (yes, that really is his name) spoke, every time I was treated to another description of Nadia’s favourite stores to buy expensive dresses from, every time the author whipped out a sex reference so jarring it made me grimace. I say jarring because the prose is generally so middle of the road that to be told (on multiple occasions, if I recall correctly) that Nadia’s nipples were getting hard or that it has been a while since Daniel has ‘put the brush in the paint pot’ or that Nadia’s need a man to know that she ‘c*ms first’ is just..please, stop.
The approach to sex in this book could actually summarise my biggest complaint about it. Just as the scenes fade to black as the characters get to it, so does the author pull away from actually saying anything meaningful about the socially conscious topics she flirts with and which the book has already been praised for. They are there merely as backdrop, as little extras which exist solely to flatter the characters and author. The worst example of this by far is when Daniel stops his friend from sleeping with a very drunk woman, which results in a punch and a lecture on consent. The plot point exists only to show what a good guy Daniel is, continuing the age-old trope of women’s pain existing only to motivate a man.
The author desperately wants us to know how woke and liberal and well educated she is. She knows that men who put who feminist in their twitter bios are just ~the worst~ and, uh, working class people are important (but not important enough to exist within my book universe) and Lust (Love) Island is totally the most interesting show on television, because it’s *actually* about the social boundaries of gender and sexual attraction so I can enjoy it in really intellectual way rather than just admiring the half-naked bodies like the other plebs, oh and here is a telegraphed lesbian love story between these two identikit female side-characters and I’ll even use the word genderqueer which I got from the Teen Vogue YouTube channel babes!
Like I said, there’s no doubt the author can write. I’m just not sure she has anything to say.
May 16, 2019
*Many thanks to Avon Books UK and Netgalley for the advance copy in return for an honest review*
I was really excited about this book. The synopsis sounded really cute, Nadia sees a post in the local paper,
"To the cute girl with the coffee stains on her dress. I'm the guy who's always standing near the doors...Drink sometime?"
She realises it is about her and so begins the story...
It was cute, funny and sweet, and parts of it did make me smile. I would say that you would really enjoy this if you liked One Day in December. Its a light read, perfect for the summer.
Unfortunately it just too long to get going for me. The first half of the book was too slow, and more focussed on both of the characters' lives, their families and friends, rather than on them. It focussed on unimportant things, and it dragged. I also rolled my eyes at some of the blatent political statements. I think that maybe this author is anti Brexit and Tory! I mean I am too but i still dont want it shoved down my throat in a romance book. There was also a bit on consent, which is very important, but it was dealt with in such a heavy handed way.
I also felt that there was too much telling and not enough showing in this book. Even the sex scenes were a bit 'fade to black,' and there were so many long, boring monologues, it was a bit frustrating.
The characters were ok? Nothing special, they were likeable I guess, but I proably wont remember them. Nadia seemed quite immature, and her character didnt really develop that much throughout the story. I also really didn't like the way she handled the situation after she was stood up, it felt wrong to me, and made me cringe.
Moreover, I noticed a lot of spelling mistakes and typos, so think that overall the book could do with another really good edit!
To sum up, once this book got going, it was a light hearted, sweet romance book, but for me, there were just too many misses, and it took too long to hook me in. 3⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
I was really excited about this book. The synopsis sounded really cute, Nadia sees a post in the local paper,
"To the cute girl with the coffee stains on her dress. I'm the guy who's always standing near the doors...Drink sometime?"
She realises it is about her and so begins the story...
It was cute, funny and sweet, and parts of it did make me smile. I would say that you would really enjoy this if you liked One Day in December. Its a light read, perfect for the summer.
Unfortunately it just too long to get going for me. The first half of the book was too slow, and more focussed on both of the characters' lives, their families and friends, rather than on them. It focussed on unimportant things, and it dragged. I also rolled my eyes at some of the blatent political statements. I think that maybe this author is anti Brexit and Tory! I mean I am too but i still dont want it shoved down my throat in a romance book. There was also a bit on consent, which is very important, but it was dealt with in such a heavy handed way.
I also felt that there was too much telling and not enough showing in this book. Even the sex scenes were a bit 'fade to black,' and there were so many long, boring monologues, it was a bit frustrating.
The characters were ok? Nothing special, they were likeable I guess, but I proably wont remember them. Nadia seemed quite immature, and her character didnt really develop that much throughout the story. I also really didn't like the way she handled the situation after she was stood up, it felt wrong to me, and made me cringe.
Moreover, I noticed a lot of spelling mistakes and typos, so think that overall the book could do with another really good edit!
To sum up, once this book got going, it was a light hearted, sweet romance book, but for me, there were just too many misses, and it took too long to hook me in. 3⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
December 11, 2021
So, I did like this a little more than I thought I would. A little….
And ONLY because the humor wasn’t as crass as the beginning chapters were!
It did end really cute and charming and that was all fine and nice.
But, holy mackerel, can we stop with the period jokes?!?! Come on! There are so many funny and interesting things in the world that we don’t have to resort to middle school humor! Argggghh!!!
Nadia was iffy…..I didn’t fully connect with her because I felt she was incredibly immature for her age. It’s really tough for me to sympathize with completely selfish characters. I have to at least think the protagonist is a good-natured person in order to root for them.
There were heavy hints at politics which I’m not always crazy for. If I want to read about politics or the author’s views on politics, I’ll gladly pick up a book about politics.
Daniel was cool. He was a solid character and I loved the idea of missed connections and just missing each other in real life. But you have to go in with the idea that this book isn’t particularly believable. A LOT of things could have been solved via social media and cell phones.
There was a particular part about Daniel not having his credit card for literally 3 months and we have to accept the fact that he was okay with this and didn’t ever need it in that time. That was a bit silly to me.
Lastly, there was a callback later in the book from the early on ‘period joke’ that I wanted to mention about, but it is really gross and I want to give fair warning first. If you don’t want to read, good for you for not letting curiosity kill the cat and you can stop reading here. ⬅️
Okay, so the period ‘joke’ said, and I quote:
“The most memorable bloke was Period Pete, a friend of a friend, who liked performing oral sex on menstruating women, and who the three of us collectively decided must have an undiagnosed iron deficiency.”
Ummmmm gross!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 🤮🤮🤮
THEN, later in the book there’s a line “Do you know Pete’s Coffee Cart just around the corner? He does a great coffee.”
Hold up. For the love of all that is holy, do not tell me this unhygienic, foul man now makes people’s coffee. Just an odd and incredibly disturbing and gross observation. Typically, authors know not to use the same name twice in a book for confusion reasons. That name was a bad one to double book. 🤦♀️
And ONLY because the humor wasn’t as crass as the beginning chapters were!
It did end really cute and charming and that was all fine and nice.
But, holy mackerel, can we stop with the period jokes?!?! Come on! There are so many funny and interesting things in the world that we don’t have to resort to middle school humor! Argggghh!!!
Nadia was iffy…..I didn’t fully connect with her because I felt she was incredibly immature for her age. It’s really tough for me to sympathize with completely selfish characters. I have to at least think the protagonist is a good-natured person in order to root for them.
There were heavy hints at politics which I’m not always crazy for. If I want to read about politics or the author’s views on politics, I’ll gladly pick up a book about politics.
Daniel was cool. He was a solid character and I loved the idea of missed connections and just missing each other in real life. But you have to go in with the idea that this book isn’t particularly believable. A LOT of things could have been solved via social media and cell phones.
There was a particular part about Daniel not having his credit card for literally 3 months and we have to accept the fact that he was okay with this and didn’t ever need it in that time. That was a bit silly to me.
Lastly, there was a callback later in the book from the early on ‘period joke’ that I wanted to mention about, but it is really gross and I want to give fair warning first. If you don’t want to read, good for you for not letting curiosity kill the cat and you can stop reading here. ⬅️
Okay, so the period ‘joke’ said, and I quote:
“The most memorable bloke was Period Pete, a friend of a friend, who liked performing oral sex on menstruating women, and who the three of us collectively decided must have an undiagnosed iron deficiency.”
Ummmmm gross!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 🤮🤮🤮
THEN, later in the book there’s a line “Do you know Pete’s Coffee Cart just around the corner? He does a great coffee.”
Hold up. For the love of all that is holy, do not tell me this unhygienic, foul man now makes people’s coffee. Just an odd and incredibly disturbing and gross observation. Typically, authors know not to use the same name twice in a book for confusion reasons. That name was a bad one to double book. 🤦♀️
June 17, 2019
3.5 stars
Our Stop is a fun rom-com story about Daniel who has a massive crush on Nadia. Daniel keeps seeing Nadia on his 7.30am Northern Line tube on the way to work but he's too shy to approach her. To grab her attention, he decides to leave her a message in a London newspaper in the 'Missed Connections' section. Nadia is intrigued and keen to know who the mysterious Train Guy is. The two exchange a few messages in the paper, but unfortunately things don't go as planned and Nadia and Daniel keep missing each other, unable to meet...
Ok, you can say that there are a ridiculous number of coincidences in the book, but that's probably part of the deal with the rom-com genre, so I'm going to suck it up and move on. What bothered me though, was that the story itself is quite straightforward and does not need 360 pages to be told. I would say the book could easily lose one third of the volume, especially from the first half of the book where things are rather slow. Having said that, I did enjoy reading Our Stop.Who wouldn't when the main character is called Nadia?! Our Stop is a light sweet summer read for anyone craving a bit of a love story! It was a nice change for me and a breath of fresh air amidst the sea of mysteries and thrillers I've been reading lately. After reading this I'm all 'romanced-up' till 2020!
Many thanks to Avon Books UK for my review copy in exchange for an honest review.
Our Stop is a fun rom-com story about Daniel who has a massive crush on Nadia. Daniel keeps seeing Nadia on his 7.30am Northern Line tube on the way to work but he's too shy to approach her. To grab her attention, he decides to leave her a message in a London newspaper in the 'Missed Connections' section. Nadia is intrigued and keen to know who the mysterious Train Guy is. The two exchange a few messages in the paper, but unfortunately things don't go as planned and Nadia and Daniel keep missing each other, unable to meet...
Ok, you can say that there are a ridiculous number of coincidences in the book, but that's probably part of the deal with the rom-com genre, so I'm going to suck it up and move on. What bothered me though, was that the story itself is quite straightforward and does not need 360 pages to be told. I would say the book could easily lose one third of the volume, especially from the first half of the book where things are rather slow. Having said that, I did enjoy reading Our Stop.
Many thanks to Avon Books UK for my review copy in exchange for an honest review.
July 5, 2019
DNF at 10%
I am not the right demographic for this book.
This ROM COM may be a better match for those in their twenties? 🤷🏻♀️(There are positive reviews...)
I found the writing to be VULGAR and the HUMOR to be very over the top.
SPOILERS:
“The most memorable bloke was Period Pete, a friend of a friend, who liked performing oral sex on menstruating women, and who the three (of us) collectively decided must have an undiagnosed iron deficiency.”
Need I say more?
I am not the right demographic for this book.
This ROM COM may be a better match for those in their twenties? 🤷🏻♀️(There are positive reviews...)
I found the writing to be VULGAR and the HUMOR to be very over the top.
SPOILERS:
“The most memorable bloke was Period Pete, a friend of a friend, who liked performing oral sex on menstruating women, and who the three (of us) collectively decided must have an undiagnosed iron deficiency.”
Need I say more?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 30, 2019
A sweet funny story of perpetually late, disorganised, honest and kind-hearted Nadia and shy, all-round-good, romantic Daniel.
Nadia has just come out of a really bad relationship and feels she needs to change her lifestyle and daily routine to make it calmer, healthier, more organised. One of the changes in her routine is making sure she does get on that 7.30 am train to work. And so she does..on Monday, sometimes even Tuesday. Then life creeps in, late nights with friends, Netflix, too much wine..and the New Routine gets abandoned until next Monday. One day her friend Emma texts her that The Missing Connections, a lonely hearts section in the newspaper they both flick through on a regular basis, has a message describing somebody who sounds like Nadia. Naida is intrigued, so when her friend responds on her behalf, she is more embarrassed and excited than angry. Unfortunately, meeting each other in real life proves unexpectedly difficult as they keep missing their opportunities for months and months. meanwhile, the story goes viral and lots of people root for the Train Guy and Girl from #Our Stop entry to meet and fall in love.
The book was a bit slow at the beginning, but by the middle I was so involved that I couldn't put it down. It is lovely, heart-warming and very modern. Only in our times, it can be considered creepy to start a conversation on the underground train, but not so to search for somebody's recent and not so recent photos on Instagram.
Loved the story of Nadia's friends Emma and Gaby.
Recommended for anybody who loves romcoms and believes you can meet your One anywhere as long as you are emotionally ready.
Thank you to NetGalley and Avon for the ARC provided in exchange for an honest opinion.
My reviews can also be found on:
https://readingtonic.home.blog/
3.5 stars
Nadia has just come out of a really bad relationship and feels she needs to change her lifestyle and daily routine to make it calmer, healthier, more organised. One of the changes in her routine is making sure she does get on that 7.30 am train to work. And so she does..on Monday, sometimes even Tuesday. Then life creeps in, late nights with friends, Netflix, too much wine..and the New Routine gets abandoned until next Monday. One day her friend Emma texts her that The Missing Connections, a lonely hearts section in the newspaper they both flick through on a regular basis, has a message describing somebody who sounds like Nadia. Naida is intrigued, so when her friend responds on her behalf, she is more embarrassed and excited than angry. Unfortunately, meeting each other in real life proves unexpectedly difficult as they keep missing their opportunities for months and months. meanwhile, the story goes viral and lots of people root for the Train Guy and Girl from #Our Stop entry to meet and fall in love.
The book was a bit slow at the beginning, but by the middle I was so involved that I couldn't put it down. It is lovely, heart-warming and very modern. Only in our times, it can be considered creepy to start a conversation on the underground train, but not so to search for somebody's recent and not so recent photos on Instagram.
Loved the story of Nadia's friends Emma and Gaby.
Recommended for anybody who loves romcoms and believes you can meet your One anywhere as long as you are emotionally ready.
Thank you to NetGalley and Avon for the ARC provided in exchange for an honest opinion.
My reviews can also be found on:
https://readingtonic.home.blog/
3.5 stars
October 11, 2019
4.5 stars
I really enjoyed this light and witty RomCom.
Twenty-nine year old Nadia has had a few hard relationships and is disillusioned with love. Will she ever find her perfect guy? Her life was a bit of a muddle but she had a new plan and she will become a beacon of organisation and the rest will fall in place.
On the first day of her new plan she sees an advert in the ‘Love Connections’ column in the paper talking about “the cute blonde girl on the 7:30 train.” Could this be her?
Daniel is a romantic at heart but he lacks confidence. Vowing not to remain the underdog he places an advert on the ‘Love Connections’ column hoping to get the attention of the cute blonde girl on his morning train.
It was fun to read their ads back and forward and see them have a few near misses as their paths crossed and almost crossed several times.
An important part of the story is friendship and looking out for each other. Nadia has her best friends Emma and Gaby who give support and encouragement but even best friends sometimes have minor fall-outs.
Williams covers issues like gaslighting, consent and toxic relationships without sounding too preachy. Lots of laugh out loud moments, as both Nadia and Daniel traverse the minefield that is dating, kept me invested and lightened the tone of the sometimes heavy topics.
If you enjoyed The Book Ninja by Ali Berg & Michelle Kalus you will love Our Stop.
I received a copy from the publisher
I really enjoyed this light and witty RomCom.
Twenty-nine year old Nadia has had a few hard relationships and is disillusioned with love. Will she ever find her perfect guy? Her life was a bit of a muddle but she had a new plan and she will become a beacon of organisation and the rest will fall in place.
On the first day of her new plan she sees an advert in the ‘Love Connections’ column in the paper talking about “the cute blonde girl on the 7:30 train.” Could this be her?
Daniel is a romantic at heart but he lacks confidence. Vowing not to remain the underdog he places an advert on the ‘Love Connections’ column hoping to get the attention of the cute blonde girl on his morning train.
It was fun to read their ads back and forward and see them have a few near misses as their paths crossed and almost crossed several times.
An important part of the story is friendship and looking out for each other. Nadia has her best friends Emma and Gaby who give support and encouragement but even best friends sometimes have minor fall-outs.
Williams covers issues like gaslighting, consent and toxic relationships without sounding too preachy. Lots of laugh out loud moments, as both Nadia and Daniel traverse the minefield that is dating, kept me invested and lightened the tone of the sometimes heavy topics.
If you enjoyed The Book Ninja by Ali Berg & Michelle Kalus you will love Our Stop.
I received a copy from the publisher
June 11, 2019
This book is fab! Like the ice lolly, all different bits but altogether is just perfect!!
Nadia and Daniel, Daniel and Nadia, sigh, destined for each other.....but can they ever meet, through an advert Daniel places in ‘Missed Connections’ after he sees Nadia on the tube the book whirls you through a rom com of a story as they write back to each other but because of events keep missing each other....its a new and extremely up to the minute ( 2019 wise ) take on an old theme AND its done so well, really well, I loved them both, their good points, their insecurities, their personalities and was rooting, literally shouting for them to meet....
In parts the book is too funny and I was laughing out loud and re reading some of the lines, on point narrative on todays life and social media, politics ( non boring!!! ) and love, there is opinion and verse on everything about modern life and as said above all done so well
There is a part of the book I really loved, a surprising look at how grief re a loss of a parent can affect adult men, this was moving, poignant and integrated very well into all the humour, I also loved Nadia and her friends views on feminism and how they adapted it to various thoughts and situations
Honestly this book is amazing, I sooooo cant wait for the authors next book and loved every single paragraph
10/10 5 Stars
December 7, 2019
*minor spoilers*
- they didn't meet until about 80% of the way through the book
- Daniel is the most white bread boring ass character I have ever read
- the guy Nadia dates that is included in maybe 4 chapters was more interesting & appealing than him
- Daniel was given virtually no character traits other than having a dad who died & having a shit roommate
- Nadia was given virtually no character traits other than being in an abusive relationship & having 2 friends
- situations are constantly written in seemingly with the sole purpose to show you that Daniel is a Good Guy™
- the political & social commentary felt so out of place and not organic
- what was going on w/Nadia's friends felt so obvious to me and like?? didn't add anything to the story at all
- the constant "omg they're in the same place at the same time but don't know! omg they almost went on a date but didn't! omg almost met but didn't!!!" was EXHAUSTING and again, felt so inorganic
- so many grammatical & spelling errors like what!!
- MISSED CONNECTIONS ARE FOR PEOPLE YOU DON'T THINK YOU WILL SEE AGAIN NOT FOR THE GIRL WHO IS ON YOUR TRAIN EVERY FUCKING DAY JUST WALK UP TO HER AND SAY HELLO
- who tf wears a waistcoat with nothing underneath to a movie like Nadia come get your mans
- they didn't meet until about 80% of the way through the book
- Daniel is the most white bread boring ass character I have ever read
- the guy Nadia dates that is included in maybe 4 chapters was more interesting & appealing than him
- Daniel was given virtually no character traits other than having a dad who died & having a shit roommate
- Nadia was given virtually no character traits other than being in an abusive relationship & having 2 friends
- situations are constantly written in seemingly with the sole purpose to show you that Daniel is a Good Guy™
- the political & social commentary felt so out of place and not organic
- what was going on w/Nadia's friends felt so obvious to me and like?? didn't add anything to the story at all
- the constant "omg they're in the same place at the same time but don't know! omg they almost went on a date but didn't! omg almost met but didn't!!!" was EXHAUSTING and again, felt so inorganic
- so many grammatical & spelling errors like what!!
- MISSED CONNECTIONS ARE FOR PEOPLE YOU DON'T THINK YOU WILL SEE AGAIN NOT FOR THE GIRL WHO IS ON YOUR TRAIN EVERY FUCKING DAY JUST WALK UP TO HER AND SAY HELLO
- who tf wears a waistcoat with nothing underneath to a movie like Nadia come get your mans
January 8, 2024
This was a slow burn to begin with and I wasn’t loving the first 30%, but ended up finishing the rest in one sitting. It was predictable and cute, and I enjoyed how easy and light it was to read. A story about missed connections and finding ‘the one’. This is my second book of Laura’s and I love her modern references and sense of humour, but this wasn’t a favourite sadly.
May 30, 2022
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While Our Stop may have made me smile, once or twice, it mostly frustrated the living daylights out of me.
Our Stop implements a similar gimmick as quite a few other romances: from new book releases such as The Flatshare—where the two leads develop feelings for one another through post-it notes—to the classic You've Got Mail...
In Our Stop Nadia and Daniel develop romantic feelings for each other by carrying a sort of conversation, if not flirtation, in the Missed Connections section of a daily paper.
The premise is cheesy enough but I was ready to overlook it and enjoy the book as a light summer read.
Sadly, Daniel's approach of Nadia is definitely creepy...
Daniel first sees Nadia on his 7.30am Northern Line tube, taken by her he occasionally even overhears her conversations (and later on remembers something she said in one of these 'listening in' occasions and believes that he knows her merits on the basis of said conversations). Too shy to approach her directly, and knowing that if he were to do so she would peg him as a weirdo, he opens up about his feelings—or should I say attraction as it is hard to believe that he developed anything more than a infatuation—in the 'Missed Connections'.
As luck would have it a friend of Nadia reads this and recognises that “the cute girl with the coffee stains on her dress” is none other than Nadia! Quelle surprise! While Daniel knows that Nadia is young and good looking, those are in fact the two main reasons why he is so taken by this stranger, Nadia has no way of knowing that Daniel is actually who he claims to be.
I was once again ready to overlook this but the story ends up being way more virtual signally than I'd expected....which is a tad incongruous given the whole meet cute/rose-coloured romance premise of the book. If you want to write a fun and gooey romance go on...but then maybe you should avoid going on and on about how your female lead and her besties are real feminists (and why is it so hard to find a good-looking guy who is touch with his feelings and doesn't think that talking about what he feels with his male friends is gay) while showing us that your male lead is not like other men as he is a romantic, a good son, and knows all about consent, in fact, he would actually tell his walking stereotype of a 'guy' friend (you know the one who says things like 'bro' and 'dude', sleeps around, and says stuff like 'whatever man') that a very drunk girl can't possibly consent to sleeping with him.
Maybe if these topical topics had been handled with a bit more care and in a more convincing way, I wouldn't have been as annoyed. Having your female characters say time and again “we are feminists” doesn't make into actual feminists. Why do you have to acknowledge that they are indeed feminists? They are in their twenties, they have good millennial jobs, they live in London...your readers will assume that they are without the need for the author to use her characters as her own mouthpieces. I'm starting to get tired of these ugh-men books that have millennial women, so called feminists, lamenting on why are all men bad?!
And why carry this sort of discussion in a book that has the male lead observing, and worse still obsessing, over a young woman he has glimpsed a few times on the tube?
Nadia allegedly develops feelings for Daniel through his messages on the paper...she feels drawn to this unknown man (she immediately believes that he is just a normal guy rather than a creepy stalker) because he likes her and has publicly announced his interest in her. Feminism 1:1.
It seemed that Nadia develops feelings for Daniel merely because they have yet to meet (so he remains the ideal man in her mind) and because twitter users are rooting for them...and maybe because she loves You've Got Mail...these are all very good reasons, not.
Funnily enough both Nadia and Daniel are often helped by their friends when they write to each other...so that their messages are not entirely theirs. Which is why I had a hard time believing that Nadia is in love with this mystery guy aka Daniel rather than the messages he writes with the help of his friend and that do not truly reflect his identity.
Maybe I wouldn't have been so critical of this book if the story hadn't been so desperately trying to come across as in and 'up with the times'.
Another grating thing was that nothing much happens between the two. They have both side-plots through which the author can address certain topical and serious topics), they try and fail to meet , they have overly awkward conversations which should have been a source of humour but merely seemed over-the-top attempts to make us sympathise with these very realistic characters, and they both have another possible love interest.
To top it all of the succession of near misses was impossibly annoying...
I think if I'd read the book myself, rather than listening to the audible version, I would have left this unfinished.
If I were you I would find a less preachy and more genuine romance (especially since there is very little 'romance' to be found in this book).
While Our Stop may have made me smile, once or twice, it mostly frustrated the living daylights out of me.
Our Stop implements a similar gimmick as quite a few other romances: from new book releases such as The Flatshare—where the two leads develop feelings for one another through post-it notes—to the classic You've Got Mail...
In Our Stop Nadia and Daniel develop romantic feelings for each other by carrying a sort of conversation, if not flirtation, in the Missed Connections section of a daily paper.
The premise is cheesy enough but I was ready to overlook it and enjoy the book as a light summer read.
Sadly, Daniel's approach of Nadia is definitely creepy...
Daniel first sees Nadia on his 7.30am Northern Line tube, taken by her he occasionally even overhears her conversations (and later on remembers something she said in one of these 'listening in' occasions and believes that he knows her merits on the basis of said conversations). Too shy to approach her directly, and knowing that if he were to do so she would peg him as a weirdo, he opens up about his feelings—or should I say attraction as it is hard to believe that he developed anything more than a infatuation—in the 'Missed Connections'.
As luck would have it a friend of Nadia reads this and recognises that “the cute girl with the coffee stains on her dress” is none other than Nadia! Quelle surprise! While Daniel knows that Nadia is young and good looking, those are in fact the two main reasons why he is so taken by this stranger, Nadia has no way of knowing that Daniel is actually who he claims to be.
I was once again ready to overlook this but the story ends up being way more virtual signally than I'd expected....which is a tad incongruous given the whole meet cute/rose-coloured romance premise of the book. If you want to write a fun and gooey romance go on...but then maybe you should avoid going on and on about how your female lead and her besties are real feminists (and why is it so hard to find a good-looking guy who is touch with his feelings and doesn't think that talking about what he feels with his male friends is gay) while showing us that your male lead is not like other men as he is a romantic, a good son, and knows all about consent, in fact, he would actually tell his walking stereotype of a 'guy' friend (you know the one who says things like 'bro' and 'dude', sleeps around, and says stuff like 'whatever man') that a very drunk girl can't possibly consent to sleeping with him.
Maybe if these topical topics had been handled with a bit more care and in a more convincing way, I wouldn't have been as annoyed. Having your female characters say time and again “we are feminists” doesn't make into actual feminists. Why do you have to acknowledge that they are indeed feminists? They are in their twenties, they have good millennial jobs, they live in London...your readers will assume that they are without the need for the author to use her characters as her own mouthpieces. I'm starting to get tired of these ugh-men books that have millennial women, so called feminists, lamenting on why are all men bad?!
And why carry this sort of discussion in a book that has the male lead observing, and worse still obsessing, over a young woman he has glimpsed a few times on the tube?
Nadia allegedly develops feelings for Daniel through his messages on the paper...she feels drawn to this unknown man (she immediately believes that he is just a normal guy rather than a creepy stalker) because he likes her and has publicly announced his interest in her. Feminism 1:1.
It seemed that Nadia develops feelings for Daniel merely because they have yet to meet (so he remains the ideal man in her mind) and because twitter users are rooting for them...and maybe because she loves You've Got Mail...these are all very good reasons, not.
Funnily enough both Nadia and Daniel are often helped by their friends when they write to each other...so that their messages are not entirely theirs. Which is why I had a hard time believing that Nadia is in love with this mystery guy aka Daniel rather than the messages he writes with the help of his friend and that do not truly reflect his identity.
Maybe I wouldn't have been so critical of this book if the story hadn't been so desperately trying to come across as in and 'up with the times'.
Another grating thing was that nothing much happens between the two. They have both side-plots through which the author can address certain topical and serious topics), they try and fail to meet , they have overly awkward conversations which should have been a source of humour but merely seemed over-the-top attempts to make us sympathise with these very realistic characters, and they both have another possible love interest.
To top it all of the succession of near misses was impossibly annoying...
I think if I'd read the book myself, rather than listening to the audible version, I would have left this unfinished.
If I were you I would find a less preachy and more genuine romance (especially since there is very little 'romance' to be found in this book).
May 2, 2019
[ARC from Avon Books via NetGalley] There is a lovely story somewhere in this book, but it took a lot of motivation (and quite a bit of skimming) to get through to it. I think most of the issues could be solved with editing, though. There are still quite a lot of typos in the ARC manuscript, for example, that I’m sure could amended before publication. But I also frequently felt the need for a stronger editing, particularly when the characters’ inner dialogue got too long and repetitive.
Some other issues I had with the book however cannot be solved by editing:
1. In general, I found that there was far too much telling and explaning, and not enough showing, throughout the manuscript. Almost all contemporary pop culture references got to be explained by one character or the other, to the point where I felt that even feminism was mansplained to me. It was weird, considering the writer is a woman.
2. There were too many crossed wires, unneccessary (and unbelievable) coincidences, misunderstanding in the story, which took away any resemblance of agency from the characters.
3. The book alternates between third person narrated POV’s of the two protagonists, but at one point a third POV was offered that made little sense (and provided little advancement or insight in the story).
4. Both protagonists were described as being beautiful. I know this might seem harmless, but their lack of physical defects made them entirely uninteresting and much less relatable in their insecurities. Especially since all main characters seemed to be perfectly sculpted and athletic. For one second around the beginning I thought the love interest could be the guy with BO that Nadia immediately dismissed on the tube, and I was elated at the broken stereotype. That was not the case, obviously.
5. Nadia was a flawed protagonist who didn’t undergo any real growing up or changing throughout the story. All conflicts solved themselves because of fate rather than because characters actually moved foreward.
6. Also, Nadia seemed pretty dim for somebody working in AI. In fact, she’s never shown doing anything in her lab, no details of her job were ever given (aside from her apparent preoccupation with the way AI might affect working classes). I think it could be done better than this, but that’s probably because I’m used to Penny Reid’s books.
7. Daniel was text-book perfect. Like, his flaws were “interview” flaws, the kind that are actually qualities. And even his issues with anxiety around the beginning of the book were never really dealt with or resolved. They simply disappeared.
8. There were a number of sensitive topics thrown in the story, such as drug use and drunken sex, that felt like they were handled with superficiality.
On a personal note, I didn’t enjoy Nadia’s behaviour on the night she’s first stood up by Daniel. Without spoiling the story, let me tell you her lack of judgement felt wrong, but the way she handled things afterward felt worse.
And yet, this could have been such a lovely rom com. I really wish a good editor could take this manuscript off the market-testing phase and back into the editing room, helping the author navigate and some of the book’s current issue. I’m sure it has potential.
Some other issues I had with the book however cannot be solved by editing:
1. In general, I found that there was far too much telling and explaning, and not enough showing, throughout the manuscript. Almost all contemporary pop culture references got to be explained by one character or the other, to the point where I felt that even feminism was mansplained to me. It was weird, considering the writer is a woman.
2. There were too many crossed wires, unneccessary (and unbelievable) coincidences, misunderstanding in the story, which took away any resemblance of agency from the characters.
3. The book alternates between third person narrated POV’s of the two protagonists, but at one point a third POV was offered that made little sense (and provided little advancement or insight in the story).
4. Both protagonists were described as being beautiful. I know this might seem harmless, but their lack of physical defects made them entirely uninteresting and much less relatable in their insecurities. Especially since all main characters seemed to be perfectly sculpted and athletic. For one second around the beginning I thought the love interest could be the guy with BO that Nadia immediately dismissed on the tube, and I was elated at the broken stereotype. That was not the case, obviously.
5. Nadia was a flawed protagonist who didn’t undergo any real growing up or changing throughout the story. All conflicts solved themselves because of fate rather than because characters actually moved foreward.
6. Also, Nadia seemed pretty dim for somebody working in AI. In fact, she’s never shown doing anything in her lab, no details of her job were ever given (aside from her apparent preoccupation with the way AI might affect working classes). I think it could be done better than this, but that’s probably because I’m used to Penny Reid’s books.
7. Daniel was text-book perfect. Like, his flaws were “interview” flaws, the kind that are actually qualities. And even his issues with anxiety around the beginning of the book were never really dealt with or resolved. They simply disappeared.
8. There were a number of sensitive topics thrown in the story, such as drug use and drunken sex, that felt like they were handled with superficiality.
On a personal note, I didn’t enjoy Nadia’s behaviour on the night she’s first stood up by Daniel. Without spoiling the story, let me tell you her lack of judgement felt wrong, but the way she handled things afterward felt worse.
And yet, this could have been such a lovely rom com. I really wish a good editor could take this manuscript off the market-testing phase and back into the editing room, helping the author navigate and some of the book’s current issue. I’m sure it has potential.
June 13, 2019
The ARC of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
3.75 Stars
Full review here
Our stop is a very sweet modern romance. If you’ve ever been on the London tube you definitely can relate to Daniel. We’ve all been there, we’ve all seen a nice person and fantasize a little bit about it. I just want to warn you and say that this book definitely portrays a slow-burn romance. At times it can be infuriating because of all the missed chances at meeting Daniel and Nadia have but it’s all worth it. In the end it all comes together in such a nice way and I think the author did a fantastic job in describing their first IRL conversations, they were a bit awkward but also very caring and sweet from the very beginning. If you’re looking for a cute romance I highly recommend this one!
3.75 Stars
Full review here
Our stop is a very sweet modern romance. If you’ve ever been on the London tube you definitely can relate to Daniel. We’ve all been there, we’ve all seen a nice person and fantasize a little bit about it. I just want to warn you and say that this book definitely portrays a slow-burn romance. At times it can be infuriating because of all the missed chances at meeting Daniel and Nadia have but it’s all worth it. In the end it all comes together in such a nice way and I think the author did a fantastic job in describing their first IRL conversations, they were a bit awkward but also very caring and sweet from the very beginning. If you’re looking for a cute romance I highly recommend this one!
December 15, 2019
I honestly don’t know why, but this book annoyed the hell out of me. I wanted to chuck it across the room. It felt contrived and false and just totally unbelievable.
I like the idea of the book, but it just didn’t work for me. Sorry.
I like the idea of the book, but it just didn’t work for me. Sorry.
January 28, 2022
3.5 - fun read, got very frustrated in the middle and then didn't get to see enough of them together! Perfectly enjoyable, not overly special
March 6, 2021
Thoroughly enjoyed this one - a really great, readable, fun, funny rom com, with a lovely premise.
June 25, 2019
2.5 stars
This was a cute and humorous novel that resembles what can often be seen in a romantic comedy on screen. However, the premise surrounding the originating story makes it difficult for me to get behind this novel. I am all for unrealistic romance comedies and "meet cutes". But this plot line originates from this male main character overhearing the female main character (who's also coincidentally young and attractive) in a conversation and being interested in her from what she's saying. From there, he essentially stalks her. I'm sorry but if you're calling a spade a spade, that's essentially what he does. From knowing and watching her each time she takes the train to placing an ad in the paper to meet this woman he's obsessed over.
Again, I can typically get behind any unrealistic romance but this one left me somewhat uncomfortable even if parts of the story were humorous. It just seemed odd to be encouraging a romance that promotes stalking or obsessing over a stranger. Aside from that major plot point, it's a witty and quick novel that would be suitable for many who enjoy the contemporary romance genre.
***Thank you to the publisher for supplying me with a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***
This was a cute and humorous novel that resembles what can often be seen in a romantic comedy on screen. However, the premise surrounding the originating story makes it difficult for me to get behind this novel. I am all for unrealistic romance comedies and "meet cutes". But this plot line originates from this male main character overhearing the female main character (who's also coincidentally young and attractive) in a conversation and being interested in her from what she's saying. From there, he essentially stalks her. I'm sorry but if you're calling a spade a spade, that's essentially what he does. From knowing and watching her each time she takes the train to placing an ad in the paper to meet this woman he's obsessed over.
Again, I can typically get behind any unrealistic romance but this one left me somewhat uncomfortable even if parts of the story were humorous. It just seemed odd to be encouraging a romance that promotes stalking or obsessing over a stranger. Aside from that major plot point, it's a witty and quick novel that would be suitable for many who enjoy the contemporary romance genre.
***Thank you to the publisher for supplying me with a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***
June 26, 2020
This book makes me want to hop on the tube and find my soulmate, but unfortunately, Saskatoon does not have a “tube”, so I’ll have to settle for reading cute meet cutes instead of experiencing them.
Plot
Our Stop has only 3.7 stars on Goodreads, which shocked me. I’m giving this book 5 stars. It’s cute, witty, and actually had some genuinely hilarious scenes. I literally laughed so hard at one part that tears streamed down my face (the part where Daniel is attempting to flirt with some strangers while discussing avocado. You need to read the book to find out what happens.).
I absolutely love the plot of this novel. It felt like fate kept trying to bring Nadia and Daniel together, but awkward circumstances and miscommunications kept them apart.
Characters
The novel is split between two points of view (and a random third that was somewhat jarring, in the middle). Daniel has had a crush on Nadia since the moment he first saw her, when she was talking passionately with her boss about a charity she wanted funding for. When he found out that she rides his train, he’s always hoping that she’ll be on it. While Daniel is punctual, Nadia is not, and she’s always in a rush. I absolutely love how they balance each other out. One of my only complaints about this book (and many other romances to be honest), is that it ends too soon. I want to see the first 2-3 years of their relationship, please and thank you. All jokes aside, it does end a little too quickly, and I would have liked for a little more meat at the end of the story. The epilogue is also a little repetitive, as it repeats what was said in the final chapter. However, it’s still a satisfying epilogue that wraps up the story and the newspaper theme that carries throughout the novel quite nicely.
Language
I adore the author’s writing style. Nadia occasionally says the most crass things that made me laugh out loud, yet she isn’t necessarily a crude person. This made for a fun and three-dimensional character that I wish I knew in real life.
I recommend this book to those who are obsessed with the perfect meet cute and want to read a sweet romance that will make them wish they lived in a city with a subway.
This review appeared first on https://powerlibrarian.wordpress.com/
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My 2020 Reading Challenge
Plot
Our Stop has only 3.7 stars on Goodreads, which shocked me. I’m giving this book 5 stars. It’s cute, witty, and actually had some genuinely hilarious scenes. I literally laughed so hard at one part that tears streamed down my face (the part where Daniel is attempting to flirt with some strangers while discussing avocado. You need to read the book to find out what happens.).
I absolutely love the plot of this novel. It felt like fate kept trying to bring Nadia and Daniel together, but awkward circumstances and miscommunications kept them apart.
Characters
The novel is split between two points of view (and a random third that was somewhat jarring, in the middle). Daniel has had a crush on Nadia since the moment he first saw her, when she was talking passionately with her boss about a charity she wanted funding for. When he found out that she rides his train, he’s always hoping that she’ll be on it. While Daniel is punctual, Nadia is not, and she’s always in a rush. I absolutely love how they balance each other out. One of my only complaints about this book (and many other romances to be honest), is that it ends too soon. I want to see the first 2-3 years of their relationship, please and thank you. All jokes aside, it does end a little too quickly, and I would have liked for a little more meat at the end of the story. The epilogue is also a little repetitive, as it repeats what was said in the final chapter. However, it’s still a satisfying epilogue that wraps up the story and the newspaper theme that carries throughout the novel quite nicely.
Language
I adore the author’s writing style. Nadia occasionally says the most crass things that made me laugh out loud, yet she isn’t necessarily a crude person. This made for a fun and three-dimensional character that I wish I knew in real life.
I recommend this book to those who are obsessed with the perfect meet cute and want to read a sweet romance that will make them wish they lived in a city with a subway.
This review appeared first on https://powerlibrarian.wordpress.com/
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My 2020 Reading Challenge
July 16, 2019
I received a copy from Harper Collins Canada in exchange for a honest review.
Our Stop is definitely going to be one of those books where you absolutely hate it or love it. It gets really frustrating a lot of the times because it plays on the idea of fate. The idea that if you miss one beat or second, you might miss the love of your life.
Surprisingly, I was not annoyed at this story even though in the end, I kept slapping my forehead and kept screaming WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY CAN'T YOU GUYS JUST MEET. It also touches on insta-love as our main hero manages to meet our heroine and falls in love with the way she talks and her drive and determination for her main line of work.
Also, this book is so, so, so, important in representation of domestic abuse. Nadia came from a troubling relationship with her ex-boyfriend being emotionally and mentally abusive. He would always make her feel like it was her fault when things went wrong or that she was not good enough for anything. It was troubling to read and stomach but I was happy for Nadia who slowly gained her confidence and sought for help.
I also love our hero, Daniel, who was dealing with grief. His father passed away and as someone who was super important in his life, Daniel struggled with keeping it together to move on and live life. My heart went out to him and to his mother. I struggled not to cry a lot of the times. It was so real and raw.
I definitely suggest you to read more reviews before deciding to read this one. It's going to be a fight to not be too annoyed that they literally miss their chances of meeting always but it's fully enjoyable at the end when it does happen!
Our Stop is definitely going to be one of those books where you absolutely hate it or love it. It gets really frustrating a lot of the times because it plays on the idea of fate. The idea that if you miss one beat or second, you might miss the love of your life.
Surprisingly, I was not annoyed at this story even though in the end, I kept slapping my forehead and kept screaming WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY CAN'T YOU GUYS JUST MEET. It also touches on insta-love as our main hero manages to meet our heroine and falls in love with the way she talks and her drive and determination for her main line of work.
Also, this book is so, so, so, important in representation of domestic abuse. Nadia came from a troubling relationship with her ex-boyfriend being emotionally and mentally abusive. He would always make her feel like it was her fault when things went wrong or that she was not good enough for anything. It was troubling to read and stomach but I was happy for Nadia who slowly gained her confidence and sought for help.
I also love our hero, Daniel, who was dealing with grief. His father passed away and as someone who was super important in his life, Daniel struggled with keeping it together to move on and live life. My heart went out to him and to his mother. I struggled not to cry a lot of the times. It was so real and raw.
I definitely suggest you to read more reviews before deciding to read this one. It's going to be a fight to not be too annoyed that they literally miss their chances of meeting always but it's fully enjoyable at the end when it does happen!
January 17, 2020
Sweet but frustrating story of love on the underground in London
July 24, 2019
4.5 stars.
What a lovely story! I didn’t really know what to expect going into this one. The cover and synopsis caught my attention on NetGalley and I was delightfully surprised when I was approved.
If you haven’t heard about this one, it’s about Nadia and Daniel. Nadia tries to catch the 7:30 train each morning. Sometimes she’s successful, sometimes not. She’s trying to get her life in order and organized. Daniel always catches the 7:30 train. He hasn’t slept that great since his dad’s unexpected death. He notices Nadia, but can’t quite work up the courage to introduce himself. Until he writes into the missed connection section of the newspaper…
This is definitely one of my favorite reads of the year. I highlighted so many lines and could not put it down. There are so many near-connections in the book it’ll have you wondering will they ever meet!? (I actually did text a friend who had just finished it at one point because I was getting a little scared 😆
Both Daniel and Nadia are extremely lovable characters. I loved how their stories and lives overlapped and they didn’t even know it. It makes me think of how much stuff I could be missing in my daily life. We live in such a distracted time and are constantly doing something, scrolling through something. We have our heads down and aren’t taking in the world around us. It makes me sad that we live in such a distracted world… but I digress.
This book! It’s so great and fun and I would very much like my own Daniel please and thank you. Maybe I can be like Nadia and speak it into existence.
The paperback comes out February 20th in the US but you can buy the ebook now!
I received a complimentary advanced copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
What a lovely story! I didn’t really know what to expect going into this one. The cover and synopsis caught my attention on NetGalley and I was delightfully surprised when I was approved.
If you haven’t heard about this one, it’s about Nadia and Daniel. Nadia tries to catch the 7:30 train each morning. Sometimes she’s successful, sometimes not. She’s trying to get her life in order and organized. Daniel always catches the 7:30 train. He hasn’t slept that great since his dad’s unexpected death. He notices Nadia, but can’t quite work up the courage to introduce himself. Until he writes into the missed connection section of the newspaper…
This is definitely one of my favorite reads of the year. I highlighted so many lines and could not put it down. There are so many near-connections in the book it’ll have you wondering will they ever meet!? (I actually did text a friend who had just finished it at one point because I was getting a little scared 😆
Both Daniel and Nadia are extremely lovable characters. I loved how their stories and lives overlapped and they didn’t even know it. It makes me think of how much stuff I could be missing in my daily life. We live in such a distracted time and are constantly doing something, scrolling through something. We have our heads down and aren’t taking in the world around us. It makes me sad that we live in such a distracted world… but I digress.
This book! It’s so great and fun and I would very much like my own Daniel please and thank you. Maybe I can be like Nadia and speak it into existence.
The paperback comes out February 20th in the US but you can buy the ebook now!
I received a complimentary advanced copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
July 7, 2019
This is indeed 'Serendipity' reborn. I loved that movie and so was in no doubt got engrossed with this prettily written novel. With an exciting start (Nadia's first day of new beginnings), the story turns out to be unputdownable halfway through. I am not a regular fan of dual narration, but here I grudgingly admit that the technique was perfect.
There are so many near misses to make you groan aloud in frustration and will also push you to see it to the end. And the meeting at last . . . ah! it was so worth it. The train guy was right in front of her the whole time. If that is not a lesson to get acquainted with our neighbours, I am not sure what is.
Altogether if you are looking for an easy to finish, exciting romance, just go for this blindly. Mind you, better start believing in destiny and true love because as the story of Nadia and Daniel teaches us, miracles do happen.
There are so many near misses to make you groan aloud in frustration and will also push you to see it to the end. And the meeting at last . . . ah! it was so worth it. The train guy was right in front of her the whole time. If that is not a lesson to get acquainted with our neighbours, I am not sure what is.
Altogether if you are looking for an easy to finish, exciting romance, just go for this blindly. Mind you, better start believing in destiny and true love because as the story of Nadia and Daniel teaches us, miracles do happen.
August 21, 2021
I loved this one, it was a great introduction to Laura Jane Williams' books.
The synopsis of boy meets girl in an unconventional setting had me hooked, and as a commuter myself I always think about the lost love I might have had with someone on the London tube. There are sweet and funny moments that really charmed me, and which later inspired me to read other books by Laura Jane Williams like the Love Square and her latest release The Lucky Escape.
Both main characters are really likeable, and with every missed opportunity you find yourself rooting for Nadia and Daniel even more and celebrate when they finally get together. I'd summarise this by saying it was a lovely, heartwarming and cute read, perfect for a bit of summer escapism or to read on your own commute to and from the office. Also the grand gesture !!! I need to find myself a man like Daniel
The synopsis of boy meets girl in an unconventional setting had me hooked, and as a commuter myself I always think about the lost love I might have had with someone on the London tube. There are sweet and funny moments that really charmed me, and which later inspired me to read other books by Laura Jane Williams like the Love Square and her latest release The Lucky Escape.
Both main characters are really likeable, and with every missed opportunity you find yourself rooting for Nadia and Daniel even more and celebrate when they finally get together. I'd summarise this by saying it was a lovely, heartwarming and cute read, perfect for a bit of summer escapism or to read on your own commute to and from the office. Also the grand gesture !!! I need to find myself a man like Daniel
April 18, 2020
I hadn't really heard anything about Our Stop prior to starting this book and had only bought it on a whim because it sounded like something that would be right up my alley. However, while it was altogether a good book, it didn't fully live up to my expectations.
Our Stop was a very quick and entertaining read and it made me laugh out loud many times. I really liked the humor in this book even though there were a few sentences that were supposed to be funny in here I could have done without. Just like using "dipping one's brush into somebody else's paint pot" as a paraphrase for having sex ... yeah, I could've definitely done without that one. As for the characters, specifically the main characters Nadia and Daniel, I actually really liked them though it took me some time to start to remember who was who in each of their respective friend groups and whether any of the people Daniel was meeting, were people Nadia knew as well or vice versa. However, my biggest problem with the book was actually that it just dragged on a bit. It took a very long time for Nadia and Daniel to actually meet and the closer we came to the end, the more forced and unnatural it felt that they just kept missing one another and still hadn't found a chance to meet up.
So all in all, this was a very entertaining contemporary romance novel which is perfect if you're looking for something that'll put a smile on your face. And even though I didn't love this one, I think I'd definitely read another book by this author in the future because I actually really liked her writing.
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Our Stop was a very quick and entertaining read and it made me laugh out loud many times. I really liked the humor in this book even though there were a few sentences that were supposed to be funny in here I could have done without. Just like using "dipping one's brush into somebody else's paint pot" as a paraphrase for having sex ... yeah, I could've definitely done without that one. As for the characters, specifically the main characters Nadia and Daniel, I actually really liked them though it took me some time to start to remember who was who in each of their respective friend groups and whether any of the people Daniel was meeting, were people Nadia knew as well or vice versa. However, my biggest problem with the book was actually that it just dragged on a bit. It took a very long time for Nadia and Daniel to actually meet and the closer we came to the end, the more forced and unnatural it felt that they just kept missing one another and still hadn't found a chance to meet up.
So all in all, this was a very entertaining contemporary romance novel which is perfect if you're looking for something that'll put a smile on your face. And even though I didn't love this one, I think I'd definitely read another book by this author in the future because I actually really liked her writing.
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August 29, 2019
I absolutely loved our stop by Laura Jane Williams, it was a fun, enjoyable , funny and sweet read with characters I absolutely loved.
Daniel's character I couldn't help fall in love with, he has a massive crush on Nadia who he keeps seeing on the 7.30am northern line tube on his way to work and due to Daniel being shy he decides to grab her attention by leaving her a message in the London newspaper under the missed connections section and have to say I love the messages they pass in the missed connections.
I found the story a cute, funny and enjoyable read and in certain parts It had me smiling away looking like a creeper at my phone. it was the perfect light, funny, summer read that I needed.
I loved Daniel and Nadia's characters and loved how their lives overlapped and they didn't know.
Honestly I cant wait to read more from this author.
My rating ~ ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
September 5, 2019
Unfortunately, this book wasn’t for me. I really, really wanted to like this book. I mean, look at the cover art! It’s bright, gorgeous and paired with the premise seems like the perfect rom-com in a book. Sadly, there were just one too many things in this book that didn’t quite gel for me. I’ve read some reviews that are a complete 180 to mine though, so perhaps it was just me who didn’t get the FEELS with this book.
This story follows always-unorganised Nadia and completely organised Daniel in an opposites-attract romance. When Daniel decides that his unrequited love for Nadia, the breath-takingly beautiful woman on the train, has gone on long enough he posts an ad in the local newspaper’s Missed Connections. To his surprise, Nadia replies! What ensues is a slow-burn (emphasis on sloooooow) romance about two people who connect through Missed Connection posts and a sequence of convenient near-misses, before they finally meet.
So what prompted me to give this seemingly delightful rom-com my first 1-Star rating of the year? It was boringly slow. While I adore the idea of writing messages and falling in love without meeting (see my review of The Flat Share and Top Secret), this story just didn’t do it for me. The messages seemed a bit contrite and the chemistry just wasn’t there. Daniel always seemed to be more involved in the relationship (or… their Missed Connection) while Nadia never seemed to make up her mind. Quite frankly, almost nothing had happened at the half-way point in the book and I was sooo close to DNF. If this wasn’t an ARC read I would have quit. As it was an ARC, I felt obliged to finish but certainly didn’t warm up to the book.
While I didn’t feel the chemistry between Nadia and Daniel, I’ve still enjoyed books in the past that had this problem. I’ll admit, I generally Usually an action-driven plot can still make up for this but unfortunately this book was just so slow and hardly got anywhere. Plus, the humour was quite offensive to me and vulgar. I just couldn’t relate and this is what stopped me from rating this book 2-Stars.
“The most memorable bloke was Period Pete, a friend of a friend, who liked performing oral sex on menstruating women, and who the three (of us) collectively decided must have an undiagnosed iron deficiency.”
CHARACTERS
Nadia – A perpetually late, unorganised and intelligent woman. This intelligence is surmised from the fact that she worked in a robotics lab. Her emotional intelligence however was a bit stunted. She got petty and jealous over the smallest things and pined for her ex when she still apparently didn’t care for him. She was still a kind, considerate person though.
Daniel – He was a shy, romantic guy that had a secret level of confidence that was quite contradictory to his shy nature. His initial thought to message in the Missed Connections was sweet and that’s probably the adjective that best describes him. Sweet.
I have to admit, I feel absolutely awful about writing this review and have been putting it off for a while. I’ve genuinely tried to find something to say about what I enjoyed in this book. Lorenzo was the only character that I actually enjoyed reading about. He was straight-forward, snarky and a total junkie. His advice and comments were actually funny though and I enjoyed the chapters that involved him.
While there were issues with pacing and character development during this book, it was still written well in the sense that the sentences flowed easily. I would consider reading another book by this author in future, as It could have just been these particular characters that I didn’t enjoy.
This story follows always-unorganised Nadia and completely organised Daniel in an opposites-attract romance. When Daniel decides that his unrequited love for Nadia, the breath-takingly beautiful woman on the train, has gone on long enough he posts an ad in the local newspaper’s Missed Connections. To his surprise, Nadia replies! What ensues is a slow-burn (emphasis on sloooooow) romance about two people who connect through Missed Connection posts and a sequence of convenient near-misses, before they finally meet.
So what prompted me to give this seemingly delightful rom-com my first 1-Star rating of the year? It was boringly slow. While I adore the idea of writing messages and falling in love without meeting (see my review of The Flat Share and Top Secret), this story just didn’t do it for me. The messages seemed a bit contrite and the chemistry just wasn’t there. Daniel always seemed to be more involved in the relationship (or… their Missed Connection) while Nadia never seemed to make up her mind. Quite frankly, almost nothing had happened at the half-way point in the book and I was sooo close to DNF. If this wasn’t an ARC read I would have quit. As it was an ARC, I felt obliged to finish but certainly didn’t warm up to the book.
While I didn’t feel the chemistry between Nadia and Daniel, I’ve still enjoyed books in the past that had this problem. I’ll admit, I generally Usually an action-driven plot can still make up for this but unfortunately this book was just so slow and hardly got anywhere. Plus, the humour was quite offensive to me and vulgar. I just couldn’t relate and this is what stopped me from rating this book 2-Stars.
“The most memorable bloke was Period Pete, a friend of a friend, who liked performing oral sex on menstruating women, and who the three (of us) collectively decided must have an undiagnosed iron deficiency.”
CHARACTERS
Nadia – A perpetually late, unorganised and intelligent woman. This intelligence is surmised from the fact that she worked in a robotics lab. Her emotional intelligence however was a bit stunted. She got petty and jealous over the smallest things and pined for her ex when she still apparently didn’t care for him. She was still a kind, considerate person though.
Daniel – He was a shy, romantic guy that had a secret level of confidence that was quite contradictory to his shy nature. His initial thought to message in the Missed Connections was sweet and that’s probably the adjective that best describes him. Sweet.
I have to admit, I feel absolutely awful about writing this review and have been putting it off for a while. I’ve genuinely tried to find something to say about what I enjoyed in this book. Lorenzo was the only character that I actually enjoyed reading about. He was straight-forward, snarky and a total junkie. His advice and comments were actually funny though and I enjoyed the chapters that involved him.
While there were issues with pacing and character development during this book, it was still written well in the sense that the sentences flowed easily. I would consider reading another book by this author in future, as It could have just been these particular characters that I didn’t enjoy.
October 5, 2019
Our Stop by Laura Jane Williams
⭐️3.5⭐️
Lighthearted, sweet, modern rom-com
Nadia and Daniel are both on the 7.30 train every morning, that is when Nadia doesn’t sleep in and is then running late for work. Nadia's intelligent, single and pretty but completely disorganised. She has a job in AI (Artificial Intelligence) and is trying to get her life into order.
Daniel has a crush on Nadia and he just can’t work up the courage to speak to her on the train so in the hope to connect, he leaves a message in the ‘Missed Connections’ section of the newspaper, hoping she will read it.
The question is will they ever meet up, so many near misses will have you frustrated in anticipation. The story plays on the idea of fate and true love. There are some memorable characters in the story.
The clever artwork on the cover is an eye catcher. I think this book will appeal to those that love a fun, quirky and cute romantic story
Thank you to Better Reading for my copy in return for an honest review
June 17, 2019
This book was a snoozefest. Slow, long paragraphs and conversations that were kinda pointless, I ended up skimming this book to the point where I thought 'why am I even wasting my time reading this'. I mean, there was a bit about how he holds his mug but it's too hot so he switches to the handle with the other hand. Is this even necessary? There's just too much information in it that's not needed, just get on with the story.
Alas, I DNF'd this.
I'm not having a lot of luck with ARC's lately, I didn't enjoy the last 2 before this either. Give me strength.
I liked the idea of the story but it wasn't executed well for me. It didn't grip me and it was incredibly slow. I didn't care for any of the characters either, I mean the whole idea of Daniel falling in love with Nadia just didn't work, it was forced and didn't even seem plausible. He only assumes that she's his soul mate because he overheard her talking about something he liked, and she because she's a hot mess with coffee stains on her dress every day (??), looking frazzled but still flawlessly beautiful, unlike any girl he's ever seen
I just can't. Although don't let my review stop you from reading it, you might enjoy it more than me. It just didn't do anything for me.
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