Two strangers. Two chance meetings. One extraordinary love story… fall in love … and risk everything for a perfect stranger.
Tender, thought-provoking and joyful, Charlie and Nell’s unique love story will capture your heart and give you hope. Perfect for fans of The Sight of You by Holly Miller and Love Rosie by Cecelia Ahern.
‘I was utterly drawn into Charlie and Nell’s story and found myself shedding a tear one minute and laughing the next’ Emma Cooper, author of If I Could Say Goodbye
‘A glorious and unique love story, bursting with hope, that will break your heart then put it back together again’ Nicola Gill, author of The Neighbours
‘Wonderful and joyous’ ***** Reader Review
‘Brilliantly written and I think this will stay with me for a long time’ ***** Reader Review
Praise for Hannah Sunderland:
‘Delightfully romantic’ Isabelle Broom, author of Hello, Again
‘A compelling, quirky love story’ Miranda Dickinson, author of Our Story
‘An unconventional romance – real and raw’ Anna Bell, author of We Just Clicked
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Nell Coleman has a job she loves working phone lines for a mental health charity. One afternoon at a local cafe the only open seat is at a communal table across from a quiet, handsome Irishman. After heading back to work Nell regrets not having the bravery to ask for his number, fortunately for both of them, life has plans for the pair.
At First Sight is not the light-hearted rom-com I was expecting, I would classify it as womens’ fiction more than anything. Yes, there is a love story (a few actually) but at its core, it’s about loss, grief, healing, and learning to move on. Charlie and Nell are complex, well-written characters each learning to work through their own trauma and issues. The portrayal of mental health is well, and I feel, respectfully done, the acknowledgment that grief is never linear, and having more than one male character seeking out mental health help, are all pieces that I love.
Despite the sometimes heavy plot, it’s really hopeful and has moments of levity. A different reviewer called it “unconventionally beautiful” and I think that’s a perfect description. It’s definitely a rollercoaster of emotions and could be a trigger for anyone who’s dealt with the loss of a spouse (or anyone really) or suicide. I do recommend it, but tread carefully, it is heavy.
This was a beautiful story of an unconventional romance where two people have that instant connection but their lives are going in totally different directions. It’s a slow burn that covers so many emotional peaks while also having some truly laugh out loud moments. Nell works at a counseling hotline and Charlie is still nursing a broken heart and overwhelming grief after losing his wife two years earlier. The author did a great job of creating the conflicting emotions and that ever present tug of war with love, loss, guilt, and grief.
Told in the 1st person pov from Nell’s perspective for 90% of the book we learn all about their meet-cute and her side of the relationship, This leaves the reader largely in the dark about the grief and pain that Charlie is holding onto until the last 10% where he has finally turned a corner and we get to see some of his voice on the page. I thought this was a very creative writing technique and overall felt the book had excellent pacing and structure.
Although there is a romance blooming which is a central thread of the story, I’d say this is less a romance and more a women’s fiction about personal growth and moving forward to make positive changes in one’s own life.
The author did an excellent job of championing mental health advocacy and normalized the idea of reaching out and getting help. She freely allowed her male characters to show their emotions in the form of tears, fear, anxiety, and loss.
This was so much more than I thought it would be. Based on the editors blurb I was anticipating mostly light meet cute, rom com HEA with a cute nice story in between. It was that and so much more. Nell is a kind, compassionate person who is all about helping others. While at the local cafe grabbing lunch she finds the only seat available is at the dreaded communal table. When handsome Charlie asks if he can sit next to her she is truly flummoxed and has mostly lost the ability to form full coherent sentence! After they finish he leaves and she spends hours mentally berating herself for not trying to make a further connection with him. Surprisingly the next day she picks up the phone at work, where she is a mental health counselor and finds Charlie on the other end of the line. And so begins their journey to helping a friend, love. life, laughter, discovery. While their story line is beautifully written what I found must compelling was how the author treated such difficult and often verboten subjects with such grace, kindness and respect. Weaving in themes such as depression, loss, suicide, mental illness in general is handled in a cursory manner and glossed over and tied up with a bow in a few short pages. I found this is wonderfully emotional read and though did need quite a few tissues it was worth every single one of them. I am so glad I read this book and look forward to what this author has to offer up next.
I received a copy of this book from Netgalley.com in exchange for a fair and honest review. My thanks to Netgalley and Avon UK Books for the opportunity.
It’s so hard for me to write a review of this book. When I requested this story, I thought it was a ´love at first sight’ kind of love story. But even though is about love, I wouldn´t say is a romantic one. I’m mostly a sunshine kind of reader and I don’t enjoy sad stories that make my heart bleed. This is one of them.
Nelly is such a beautiful character. She is strong, and sweet, and fragile, and when she meets Charlie and all his emotional baggage, she doesn´t even hesitated to try to save him from himself.
I’m really grateful with the publisher for sending me an email explaining the difficult mental issues that are addressed in this book. But even if I knew it was go to be a different experience, this story made me really, really sad.
It’s beautifully written and that´s why is getting a 4 start review. I choose to finished this book because the author engages you, compels you to see inside the characters and yourself and deal with difficult themes like death and gilt.
If you are looking for a romantic love story, this book is not for you. But if you enjoy meaningful stories with heart break romances and emotional roller coasters, you are going to LOVE it.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
I’m giving this one 4.5 stars because it was really a great story. Nell and Charlie meet at a cafe and there is an immediate spark. They don’t exchange last names or numbers and leave it to fate to see if they will meet again. Well, fate has lots of plans for these two. I love books about love at first sight, especially when it isn’t insta love, when there are trials and things the couple has to go through to be together. This was one of those books, and it left you with all of the feelings spilling all over the place.
I started this book a few months ago and had to pause because I didn’t have any idea it would be so sad. This book is a punch to the gut and I don’t want to give too much away but it deals with suicide, depression, loss of spouse and grief. This book will stick with me for a long time.
Nell and Charlie meet again by chance and thus starts the up and down roller coaster that is their friendship. Nell works as a mental health operator. She helps counsel people that need direction, like addicts or someone contemplating suicide, so she understands how to empathize and is a good person to talk to.
If you are expecting a grand romance, this book will not deliver that in spades, but what you will get is a book that is full of feeling, and little comedic relief with Charlie’s uncle.
We see a person that is so far down in the depths of despair and how fate pulled him back into the land of the living. It wasn’t an easy road, and honestly we don’t see a lot of him after he is recovering, but this book will make you think. This book will pull all your heartstrings and make you see things from a different perspective. I enjoyed the second half of the book a little more than the first, it seemed to start slow but it moved a lot more quickly as the book progressed.
Thank you to Netgalley, Avon and the author for an early copy of this book.
I hate leaving less than amazing feedback. I feel awful doing it.but I also have a responsibility to be honest so here goes.
This book should have.content warnings. I rarely ever advocate for that.because some cw’s are ridiculous. No I don’t care if someone in the story has red hair. In the same vein, this book deals heavily with mental health, suicide ideation, and death of a spouse. Truly reading the blurb I thought I was getting a feel good romance. Granted there is a romance but that takes a backseat to the above story. It wasn’t something I truly.could read all the way through at the moment and I’m sure I’m not the only one who’ll have this trouble.
The two stars is because mental health is openly and honestly discussed in a positive and informative way and I appreciate that. Books don’t do enough of that so I can say that in itself is refreshing to see. I just wish I knew more of what I was getting when I picked this up. I’m sure its a great read for the right person just make sure youre in the head space to do so.
Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for the.ARC. in exchange for.an honest review. All opinions are my own.
At First Sight by Hannah Sunderland an extraordinary five-star read. This will be one of those that will divide the audience, some will love it like me and feel it’s the best story they will read this year and some will hate it, and that’s as the author has taken on such an emotive subject, as it deals with suicide and mental health but wow they did it so well, I lost my farther to suicide and used to work on a charity helpline that wasn’t for suicide but had a couple of calls through of people on the edge and its such a fine line, you always wonder what could I have said different, what did they do once they hung up? Nell and Charlie have a moment and sometimes that is all you need, but as Charlie lost his wife, he is a lost man, how can he ever get over that loss, the suddenness of the death is what is most difficult to get over, how a moment can change your life in so many ways. So many moments to change the path we take. Sometimes its timing and sometimes its fate, if you are looking for thought provoking, challenging yet thoroughly enjoyable reading then you need this story in your life. I enjoyed this author’s debut novel, but this one has cemented my need to read more, I will be keeping a stalkery eye on for what we will get next.