What a beautiful love story! But also what a complicated love story! What a mess Ness is in thanks to her job and her boss! I loved this story from first to last line! It's the first time I see a story talking about Carousel restoration and this makes this book very unique. I loved everything from the "love at first sight, but I don't know yet I am in love" thing to the lovely atmosphere that is around the lovely village Ness arrives in while looking for the lovely guy she has seen in the train in London and who dropped by accident his smartphone. Lovely story! I recommend it!

This was a delightful feel-good story, with a good set of characters. The book had just the right touch of wit and humour for my taste and the setting was perfect. "The Little Vintage Carousel by the Sea" would be a fantastic Summer read if romance is your preferred genre.

I received a complimentary digital copy of this novel, at my own request, from HQ Digital via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.

This is definitely my favorite 2019 reads so far!

Hi Miss Jaimie Admans, count me as one of your fans!

I never expected to fall in love with a book, the main character, and the love interest! OMG!

I reread the story a lot and I cannot still stop from smiling. I love the mystery man in the train concept, the exchange of numbers and texts, the exploration of the Pearlholme, the sweet and caring people in the area and the origin of the carousel.

The love story is not a fast flow, there is an attraction that develops into getting to know each other and eventually lead to having real feelings to each other. The sweetness and moments of Ness and Nathan make me giggle, it was not spontaneous which is awesome. No need for sex scenes or too much kissing.

I really hope that there will be an available hardcopy because I will buy one!

What a lovely feel good book. A mysterious stranger on a train. A spark of attraction. Finally brought together in an idyllic location. Throw I an emotional backstory, an intriguing mystery and a cast of hilarious characters. I loved everything about this book and really hope there might be a sequel. I do love this author's style of writing. Cover is gorgeous too.

What a sweet little confection of a book! The perfect summer read.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

A perfect summer read
It is joyful, fun and sweet. This book is just pure joy

Well worth a read

Just a perfect little romance, with the right touch of wit and a mysterious story within the story. I really enjoyed all the feels while reading this over a hot spring weekend.

The Little Vintage Carousel by the Sea is the perfect summer read! I smiled all the way through reading it. It was joyful, funny, sweet and absolutely infectious in its happiness!
Seriously... It's pure joy distilled into a couple hundred pages.

Ness is a fact-checker working for a London based magazine. She lives in a horrible flat, hates her commute, dislikes her boss and dreams of something different while being stuck in the mundane day-to-day of her life. She has a smile-thing/major crush going on with an attractive stranger she sees semi-regularly on the tube and one day he drops his phone which she picks up and tries to return to him but doesn't get a chance before he's lost in a crowd.
This sets the scene for a madcap scheme with her annoying boss and pregnant BFF (who works at the magazine) to write a series of articles as Ness tries to track down 'train man'.

Of course, Ness finds train man - who happens to restore carousels - and sets off to return his phone to him (with her boss's approval) in a sleepy seaside village in Yorkshire where he is restoring a mystery carousel.

You can imagine how it all unfolds...
An amazing guy, who is intensely private, falls in love with his train girl only to find out she's in the town under not entirely honest circumstances...
And that's why this isn't a 5 star read, I'm afraid.
All Ness had to do was tell Nate what was going on and everything would have been fine, but she didn't. She lied to him... A lie of omission, perhaps, but still a lie, and the mini-drama that unfolded felt like it was added just for drama's sake diminishing the shine of this book like a storm cloud on a sunny day.
It doesn't ruin the book though.
I loved Nate and Ness, they were perfect for each other. The setting was beautiful, the mystery surrounding the old carousel was captivating and I laughed out loud so many times... A little unnecessary drama can't destroy that.
That's why I whole-heartedly recommend this book if you're looking for a happy pick me up or something to read while chilling in the sunshine.

Vanessa (Ness) has a poky London flat, a job as a fact-checker for a leading woman’s magazine and a seemingly endless series of days that are all the same. From the sardine-like commute on the Tube, to mind-numbingly pedantic fact checking through her friend and mother’s constant ‘meddling’ to find her a boyfriend, she’s stuck in a rut. And what a rut it is. The bloom is off the rose where London is concerned, and she’s found it increasingly difficult to meet new people, or even find a reason to want to. But, defying all rules of the London Commuter’s Handbook, there is one person she’s encountered on the tube that intrigues her. Train Guy. Taller than most commuters, occasionally making eye contact, and frequently smiling at others – all things not acceptable, she finds herself in near ‘conversation’ distance one commute, until he hops off the train, dropping his phone in the process. She grabs it up – planning to return it, but his height combined with the crowd and her lack of coordination and fitness means he’s long gone.

Discussing this ‘encounter’ with her best friend at the office, they are overheard by the boss, and Ness is set with a task. Write up the story of her encounter with Train Guy, then follow it up with finding him, delivering the phone and falling in love. Easy, right? Oh so very not. For Vanessa is in no way a person who is comfortable with using someone to get herself ahead, and Nathaniel (Train Guy) is perhaps her perfect match. A bit goofy, a lot honest and utterly sweet – so very in love with his job of restoration and renovations with a specialty in antique carousels. And he’s on the coast in a small village to do just that. A Victorian-era carousel, hand carved, unlisted and previously unknown, with no attributions for artist or purpose – or even a “how it came to be”. Legends and stories, sure, but nothing real. And he’s got Ness arriving unexpectedly, delivered to his doorstep by well-meaning and wholly involved geriatric residents of the village.

Oh this was simply adorable: from Nath’s excitement about the find to his connection to Ness, and her ability to listen and get him to open up about the past that had so hurt him. She’s not divulging her real reasons for her unexpected trip and three-week break, and as the two are so clearly matched to one another to everyone BUT them, the input from residents, her parents and even the changes that occur between them are clever and full of heart. Admans created a lovely story with characters to adore and cheer for, and gives us a bit of insight into how one goes about rectifying a mistake, simply to set things right. Nath and Ness are lovely characters who are much better together than apart, and they finally find a way to make all of that work for them both.

I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via NetGalley for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.

The story was sweet and unique but I found it a little predictable and boring. I think for a quick summary and it will be fine but overall wasn’t my favorite.

Lovely easy to read feel good read. Gorgeous cover that drew me in. Nicely put story. Lovely sounding location. Lose yourself in this lovely book

What a sweet couple Ness and Nathan make! They hit it off from the very first minute - but both swear off relationships vehemently. Still, they can't seem to be without the other, so a wonderful friendship develops instead, which is - above all - full of laughter. And also with lots of talk about carousels (which I liked) and about movies (which I loved!).
But will there ever be more, especially with Ness' little secret that she is actually writing an article about her mysterious "Train Man"?

You can guess from the very beginning what is inevitably going to happen. Especially if you have seen "Never been kissed", to also name-drop a romantic movie. But the road to there was a joy to read, I really liked the characters and how they interacted with each other. The supporting cast is really only supporting (even so - the mum is quite wearisome!), the focus is clearly and solely on Ness and Nathan.

----SPOILER----
I would have expected the quest to find "Train Man" to be a bit longer + harder, with several clues finally leading to him.
Also, the final conflict was a bit too fast and too easily solved, with Nathan forgiving her everything almost immediately. I would have expected a bit more struggle. But I'm also a reader that doesn't need to much unnecassary drama, so it was actually also a welcome change to the usual books of that genre.
----SPOILER END----

This has been my second book by Jaimie Admans, and I enjoyed both very much. Will keep looking for other books by her!

This is a cute little read, started last night and finished before work this morning.
I adored this book, I smiled and laughed all the way through. I was initially attracted by the cover- the book definitely did not disappoint. I loved it and highly recommend this book.

I have been waiting so long for this moment when I can finally say that I've found a new 5-stars read!

Imagine going on the train during the morning rush. It's all crowded, and everyone's sweaty from the hot weather outside. You're feeling all miserable, having to go through the crush every morning to get to a job you don't particularly like. But then you see someone. There's a man. He looks up from his phone, makes eye contact with you, and smiles, with dimples and all, and you find your mood take a quick turn for the better. Sounds impossible? Well, Jaimie Admans has made it possible. She even made it possible for two strangers to meet like that and fall in love.

From the very moment they began talking to each other, I could already tell that Ness and Nathan would make the perfect couple. I couldn't stop smiling throughout, and having read a continuous array of serious books, this really made my whole being feel a load lighter.

And oh, Nathan, Nathan. He made me swoon all the time by how adorable he can be! His shyness, his nervous ramblings and clumsiness, I would take it all any time. Ness is a lucky woman to have him. And to have them both complement each other, bringing out only the best is amazing; even if their actions or words weren't the best, they made each other feel it was okay. Admans also added in a few more surprises into this romance, and I love them all. How original is it, to have a story revolve around a carousel!

That said, a romance novel can never be complete without a few hiccups. The one in this reminded me of Admans' previous book 'It's A Wonderful Night', but I felt the mistake the heroine made was handled a lot better here. The author took the time to smooth things out between the couple, and gave them the happily ever after they deserved. Honestly, I actually hoped that Zinnia would end up being reprimanded for giving the green light towards something that was totally an outrage of privacy. Or something. Heh. But things are good the way the author wrote the book, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

One cannot help but learn a thing or two about a particular wisdom in life: you should never let anyone make you feel inferior with the thing you love.

Thank you so, so much to HQ Digital for the ARC I received from Netgalley. This was a wonderful ride, and I'm definitely looking forward to reading this author's next book!

Loved this book first by this Author and won't be the last, Ness and Nathan were so likeable with both just meant to be together. I hope there is a 2nd part. Cover is lovely also.

Honestly, this was such a delightful book. I loved the set-up and premise of it, and I'm seriously contemplating a visit to a tiny British seaside town, hopefully right before the annual garden show! Both of the MCs were interesting and likeable, and I loved watching their romance build. The synopsis of the book is a bit misleading about how exactly (&for what purpose!) she "tracked" him down to Pearlhome - and even though I think her boss is a right witch, the set-up was a good one. There were, of course, mix-ups and miscommunications and secrets, and to my mind these did go on a little bit too long - but it didn't detract too much from my overall enjoyment.

I particularly liked all of the tidbits thrown in about carousels and restoring them - there was a very nice nostalgic feel to all of that information and had me interested in learning even more!

When Ness picks up Train Guys phone after he rushed off at a busy stop, she winds up late for work with his phone in hand and so her work gets involved in their story.



Nathaniel is a carousel and other old vintage ride restorer when he rings his phone the pair hit it off and after he invites her and her boss encourages her to go to meet him after she writes an article about their encounter which goes viral, she's forced to go.



In the idyllic village the pair hit it off, sharing ice creams and winning over the locals some of whom are hilarious and nosy too trying to get the couple together as they see they're a match!



However with Ness interfering visiting parents, a few truths from her boss after not doing her job work and she finds herself unhappier than ever back in London it will take a best friend to make things get better and love to have a chance...



This book starts off a bit like Our Stop did another fabulous book only in this one we have a viral article and a seaside setting along with plenty of interfering older people and ice creams too! Their love grew so naturally whilst a ghostly mystery undertones the novel too so we have an element of suspense and mystery. I also really liked the random job that Nathaniel has its a creative and unique line of work just like this book, it was a charming sweet love story and I totally recommend it!



Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!

A brilliant read that kept me entertained throughout. I felt for Ness, it’s always hard to chase your dreams especially when you are scared of getting hurt. If train man existed in real life I’m sure he wouldn’t be single for long.
Thanks to Jaime Admans and Netgalley for the advanced e book copy.

I read this book over a weekend, and it was an easy read. It’s a great feel good book, but you won’t be left guessing. I found the book very predictable. So much so, I could have written the ending myself. That said, if you’re looking for a cute romance novel to dive into on the beach this Summer, this book is perfect. Its a great book to relax with.

I fell in love with Jaimie’s writing when I was taking part in her book tour for ‘It’s a Wonderful Night’ last year, so as soon as she announced ‘The Little Vintage Carousel by the Sea’ and I saw the gorgeous cover made for it – I was already hooked and ready to go! Jaimie’s characters are always so likeable and memorable, that they live on in my heart months after I’ve read her stories. Ness and Nathaniel (sorry, I know he likes to be called Nathan but I love the name Nathaniel too much!) were most definitely a match made in heaven, with their clumsy and dorky personalities, you just can’t not laugh along with them! In fact, there were so many hilarious moments in this book that I found myself giggling at quite often and honestly, I don’t fully laugh at books that much! Bravo to Jaimie for making me literally laugh out loud!

The side characters also were an absolute joy to read about, with their quirky personalities, they had me giggling plenty as well. Especially Charles and Camilla, with their bladder issues – there’s nothing that makes a book better than senior’s who have been in love for years, bickering back and fourth like a proper old married couple. I was incredibly intrigued by the tale Charles and Camilla shared with Ness and Nathaniel, regarding the carousel. Who doesn’t love being told an old tale from way back in the day about two lovers and their tragedies? Count me in!

Ah, Pearlhome. What a glorious seaside town you are. Reading about this little town was an absolute dream and I can see why Ness and Nathaniel had struggling thoughts about going back to London once their time was up. It had everything you need from a seaside starting with ice-creams, a chippy, and the local pub. The carousel was a little icing on the cake to this town and if I remember correctly, I wasn’t that much of a fan of them myself as a little girl, however, that being said, after reading this book and getting to learn the ins and outs of one – I’d love to give it a spin one day!