Hello and welcome to my blog today... I will be reviewing The Accidental Housemate by Sal Thomas. Thanks to Rachels Random Resources for providing me with an ARC copy to review, this no way impacts on my review - all thoughts and opinions are my own.
𝐵𝓁𝓊𝓇𝒷
Cath Beckinsale is in a jam. She’s a single mum of three, with her 40th birthday in sight and a precarious hold on employment. And she can’t quite let go of her late husband Gaz, whose ashes are still in an urn on the kitchen table.
To make ends meet a student lodger seems like the perfect solution – after all, what’s one more child in the house? But when Dan flies in from the US, complete with guitar and chest hair on display, it’s immediately clear that he’s no teenager, but someone who quickly sends life in an unexpected direction.
𝑀𝓎 𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓊𝑔𝒽𝓉𝓈
This book was an absolute tonic!! I loved everything about it from the storyline, the will they won't they romace, the characters, the protagonists journey of self discovery and all the humour!
Set in Birmingham it brought many memories of my own childhood. And I laughed so much at the sentence about why brummies say mom but everyone else says mum. I regularly have this argument with my non brummie husband who insists my son writes mum 'properly' in my cards! We don't know why we say mom we just do!!
Cath is such a great character, she is witty, funny, extremely clever and hugely awkward. Most of her humour comes from her stress at not knowing how to talk to people so she masks it with comedy quips. She was so sweet and self deprecating and it was really satisfying to watch her grow throughout the book. Her relationship with her children was fantastic, especially with Leanne. The ease of their comraderie and the banter between them was something I aspire to have with my son when he grows up.
Her whole attitude and behaviour was very believable, her a widowed woman who loses her job and needs to look after her children but with no idea how to do so without the support of her husband was equally sad and uplifting.
Enter Sindy the hilarious best friend, Geoff the supportive father in law, Reggie the smart talking teen who is desperate to learn but resigned to his life circumstance, and Dan the dashing, sweet, clever and very funny American lodger who shakes things up for the better and helps Cath find a path that she is well suited to.
All in all this was a brilliant beach read, humorous (I laughed aloud so many times) quirky, inspiring and threw in a little romance to the mix, although this was not the main draw of the story. The main focus was the journey Cath took and how she found herself and her family.
I highly recommend this one!
𝒜𝓊𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓇 𝐵𝒾𝑜
Sal Thomas likes to string words together, hopefully in an amusing order. BBC Comedy once described her as 'that woman who keeps on sending us scripts'. She has performed as a stand-up, starred in an Edinburgh sketch show, tried her hand at film writing and sitcoms (all to zero financial acclaim) and finally settled on romcom novels as her genre of choice after realising the world can never have enough of the mirth-filled mushy stuff. She lives in Manchester, UK, with her husband and son - the two loves of her life. Her side hustle is managing her rampant anxiety.
Social Media Links –
Giveaway to Win a Signed copy of The Accidental Housemate, £15 coffee shop voucher and a heart shaped box of chocolates (Open to UK only)
*Terms and Conditions –UK entries welcome. Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below. The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over. Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data. I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.
Purchase Links