ABOUT THE BOOK

This is the story of two women.
One old, one young.
One looking for new adventures. One looking for a purpose.
Both needing a friend.

And this is how, along with two little girls in need of a family, a gorgeous stranger, and a scruffy dog, they bring the whole community together every Saturday morning for love, laughter and a little bit of running…(well, power walking).

Some people come into your life when you need them the most.

MY REVIEW

What do you get when you have a stressed-out accounting exec, a down-on-his-luck mechanical engineer, two lovable nieces, a straight-talking, matchmaking fairy-godmother, and a hairy carpet dog named Bill?  A delightful Jules Wake novel, of course.

I became a big fan of Jules last year when I read the fun and cozy Notting Hill in the Snow. How thrilled I was to review another of her new contemporary romances.

Claire is a solutionist, a listmaker, an organizer, and a ball breaker. Until her independence, and her reluctance to ask for help catches up with her.  Her doctor orders her to take a month off of work to de-stress and bring her blood pressure down. Enter her free-loading and irresponsible sister, Alice who gives Claire no other option than to take care of her 11-year-old and 5-year-old daughters while she gallivants around India. What did Claire know about kids?  And what part of de-stress did Alice not understand? When Claire meets the feisty Hilda, a resident of the local elderly home, her life starts to change for the better as she discovers running.  Unknowingly…or not, Hilda reunites Claire with Ash, the arrogant sod who dumped her after a one-night stand and who has some problems of his own. In typical Hilda fashion, she has given Claire and Ash a mission to start a Parkrun in Victoria Park. Will it bring them together again, or is Claire done giving Ash chances?

Who wouldn’t love Ms. Wake’s amusing and engaging characters? Claire really does need a break. It was exhausting just reading what she was accomplishing each day.  It’s just a job and she has no friends because of it. With Hilda’s and Ash’s help and the love for her nieces, Claire makes some meaningful and extraordinary changes in her life that are poignant and heartwarming. Not to mention Claire’s notable accomplishment of helping organize the Saturday Churchstone Parkrun. A great feat in itself. As for Hilda, her outspoken and take-charge attitude is exactly what everyone needs to realize what they are missing when it comes to friends and family.  Of course, the sexy and charming Ash makes up for his past mistakes by being supportive and loving toward Claire and her family as well as a great friend to Hilda.

I love this feel-good book with its superb humanistic elements and realistic themes such as job burnout, depression, single parenthood, and abandonment.  Ms. Wake has a wonderful writing style that pulls you in and immerses you into a finely honed story that cleverly brings together a lonely group of characters who find a lovely happily ever after.  I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone who loves heartwarming stories with endearing characters and enjoys participating in Parkruns in the U.K.

Thank you to Ms. Wake for giving me the opportunity to read this book with no expectation of a positive review.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jules Wake announced at the age of ten that she planned to be a writer. Along the way she was diverted by the glamorous world of PR and worked on many luxury brands and not so luxury brands. This proved fabulous training for writing novels as it provided her with the opportunity to hone her writing and creative skills penning copy on a vast range of subjects from pig farming and watches, sunglasses and skincare through to beer and stationery. 

She writes best-selling warm-hearted contemporary fiction for One More Chapter as Jules Wake and under her pen name Julie Caplin, she writes the Romantic Escapes series. 

Between them, the two Js have written fourteen novels, The Saturday Morning Park Run being the latest.

Follow Jules on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

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