Romantic Novelists’ Association award-winner Gayle delights ... With a winning main character, this absolutely heartwarming story unfolds with just enough surprises and heft to keep readers engaged. A natural choice for fans of Helen Simonson’s Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand or any of the myriad recent books about cranky men finding late-in-life joy.
... [a] winning new novel ... a frothy sitcom premise...quickly sails into rougher waters ... Gayle shares [characters'] indignation, sadness, and anger in straightforward, unadorned prose. The simplicity is effective ... A late-story plot twist adds both tragedy and momentum to the tale, morphing it into a page-turner. The cinematic conclusion feels completely earned, leaving characters jubilant and forever changed.
British author Gayle (Half a World Away) returns with a winning tale of a lonely 82-year-old widower ... engaging ... While a late plot twist feels destabilizing, Gayle finds many endearing moments in Hubert and Ashleigh’s search for friendship and community. Readers will be touched.
Gayle leaves lad lit behind in this sentimental novel about a lonely widower living in England ... Gayle’s novel doesn’t exactly break new ground [...] and Gayle's prose is, for the most part, workmanlike. This novel is resolutely sentimental and ends with an unnecessary chapter that would have been better left out. But despite all that, Gayle’s book works for what it is, and that’s a testimony to the author’s charm and unfeigned sweetness—the reader can tell he cares a lot about Hubert, and his compassion is contagious. A little manipulative and a lot sentimental but sweet and charming enough that some readers won’t mind.
