Hi there!
Welcome back to Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers.
Today, we’re joining Rachel’s Random Resources for a tour already in progress starring author Gordon Macmillan’s debut novel.
Songs For Your Mother
by
Gordon MacMillan
About the book...
I'm greeted by the strangest sight. A small dark-haired boy is standing there. It’s like he’s a human parcel, delivered to my front door.
‘My name is Luke,’ he says.
When Johnny meets Lauren in a bar in Santa Cruz, there’s an instant connection. On an American road trip with best friend Will, Johnny promises to return to the girl who has stolen his heart.
Until tragedy strikes, forcing Johnny to fly back home without ever seeing Lauren again.
Six years later, Johnny is living his life in London, even if he’s never forgotten the girl with the grey eyes and dark hair.
Until one September morning, he opens his door to find a little boy standing there – a child, Johnny quickly comes to learn, who was created that one magical night. Lauren is dying, and her last wish is to reunite five-year-old Luke with the father he doesn’t yet know.
Thrown into unexpected parenthood, Johnny finds himself navigating school-gate politics, Disney movies and tantrums, guided by the notes Lauren has written for him.
Life as an instant dad isn’t always easy, but as Johnny and Luke open their hearts to each other, Johnny is about to discover that life’s joy isn’t always where you expected it.
An emotional, feel-good read that will have you laughing while you wipe away a tear – readers of Dani Atkins, Mike Gayle and Jojo Moyes will be captivated.
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Like that catchy melody you just can't stop humming, once you start this book, you won't be able to stop. Grant it, I’m not certain if Mother's Day was the best day to finish it, or perhaps it was the most appropriate of them all, because it really gets you right where it counts. There's no way to turn your back on it. It's there. It's waiting with an open hand, and hurting heart... and yet all the more beautiful for it.
Johnny was on the road trip of a lifetime. Overseas with his best mate, taking in the lay of the land, never staying in one spot for too long, and making memories by the bucket load. It took a change of mind, a chance encounter, and a whole lot of fate to redirect his stars, but redirected they were for both better and worse. The better comes from his meeting the woman that would forever hold his heart...too bad the time they actually shared in each other's company would amount to hours versus a lifetime. You see, every decision we make, every roll of life's dice, sets us on a new path filled with unseen obstacles, joys, and sorrows. This time around, while things were looking up, they all of a sudden fell like a house of cards. Flash forward several years, and he's found footing again, though I wouldn't call it his own...until a little boy shows up and changes his stars once again, leading him on a journey of the heart he never could have anticipated to an ending that will have you captured heart and soul.
I loved the relationships the author built between the characters, both near AND far...though I shall not elaborate on the latter portion of that comment. Johnny had a support system built into his life that he never dreamed of utilizing in such a way...I mean, unplanned pregnancies are one thing, but to suddenly be thrust into fatherhood six years down the line is a whole other ball game! Without them, his best friends, his mother, his sister, and so on, he would have been much more lost than found...but thanks in part to them, and his own ability to learn as he went, each day may not have been perfect, but they were perfectly content together. It broke my heart every time he was talking with Lauren, reaching out across the miles on the connection they started so long ago. It felt so real, and yet I was so disheartened because they never really had a chance, and there were all these unknown forces that worked against them, yet only each party knew of their own troubles. You just wanted to turn back the clock so they could have their moment in time...but I suppose they did, and while short it poetically spoke to how powerful our connections, our relationships can be...even if only for a brief moment in time.
A wonderful read that will have you in tears, or at least it had me in tears, but will leave you with a smiling heart.
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About the author...
Gordon Macmillan is a debut novelist and former journalist who now works for Twitter in London.
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Special thanks to Rachel of Rachel’s Random Resources for the chance to bring this tour to you as well as the ebook for review. (THANKS!) For more information on this title, the author, this tour, or those on the horizon, feel free to click through the links provided above. This title is available now, so click on over to your favorite online retailer to snag your copy today.
Until next time, remember...if it looks good, READ IT!
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