I loved everything about this book. From the cover to the very last line. I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to review it.
Today should be one of the worst days of seventeen-year-old Hadley Sullivan’s life. Having missed her flight, she’s stuck at JFK airport and late to her father’s second wedding, which is taking place in London and involves a soon-to-be stepmother Hadley’s never even met. Then she meets the perfect boy in the airport’s cramped waiting area. His name is Oliver, he’s British, and he’s sitting in her row.
A long night on the plane passes in the blink of an eye, and Hadley and Oliver lose track of each other in the airport chaos upon arrival. Can fate intervene to bring them together once more?
Quirks of timing play out in this romantic and cinematic novel about family connections, second chances, and first loves. Set over a twenty-four-hour-
period, Hadley and Oliver’s story will make you believe that true love finds you when you’re least expecting it.
I loved that it took place within a twenty-four period but the author still managed to play with the timing and to have flashbacks. When Hadley and Oliver talk on the plane, the trip passes in the blink of an eye. But throughout the day we see Hadley looking back on her time sitting in cramped seats with Oliver and you really see their instantaneous connection.
What I really loved about this book is that it had the potential to be a fluff-fest. A girl on her way to England for a wedding falls in love with the boy sitting next to her on the plane. Sounds like a fun fluff-fest of romance. But it wasn’t. There was a lot going on with both Oliver and Hadley.
Hadley is on her way to her father’s wedding. She’s put off meeting her step-mother to be for so long and has no desire to meet her now. In fact she has no desire to be a part of her father’s new life at all. She just wants their old life back. She wants their family back.
Because of my own experience with parents in an unhappy marriage I usually can’t stand kids, teenagers especially, who want their parents to just stay together so their family can be happy. But I didn’t have this reaction with Hadley. For her, it wasn’t so much about wanting to turn back time to happier days as, she just didn’t understand what had gone wrong. She didn’t understand why her father would choose to live in England instead of with her. And her discovery of her dad and his feelings as a separate person from her and their family was just as important to the plot as the romance with Oliver.
I loved Oliver’s story as well and how it unfolded slowly despite the time constraints of the plot. It was well done and I liked him so much. I was so happy with the way things ended and the journeys everyone went on. It all felt like it was meant to be.