Unfortunately, I have not been able to read and review this book.

After losing and replacing my broken Kindle and getting a new phone I was unable to download the title again for review as it was no longer available on Netgalley.

I’m really sorry about this and hope that it won’t affect you allowing me to read and review your titles in the future.

Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity.
Natalie.

I can’t say I’m always that keen on reading novels about cancer, it often feels just a little close to home. Bonnie and Stan could not have been more different, yes cancer was there just lingering below the surface, but it wasn’t the dominate theme. Instead Stuart brilliantly used it as a device to show us the meaning of real love, one that can be enduring and everlasting. She gave us Bonnie and Stan, a couple who had met in the 60’s, in Liverpool at the time of The Beatles.

You couldn’t help but be submerged in the excitement of the times, of Bonnie and Stan’s escapades in The Cavern, of Stan’s desire to make it big with his band the Best Boys. What I liked more than anything was Bonnie’s story, a woman ahead of her time, as she struggled in the male dominated world of architecture, batting against prejudice on her university course. A truly strong woman, but in the present, faced with the loss of her love, Stuart showed her other side, the vulnerability the fear and denial of Stan’s condition. It tugged at our heartstrings, it frustrated but somehow you knew she would find inner resolve and strength.

Stan, for me was a wonderfully romantic figure, the man you would want to marry, the best dad and the greatest Grandfather. I loved the relationship he had with Granddaughter Greya, the old and the new that shared a mutual respect and understanding and was wonderfully poignant. I loved his selflessness, his pursuit of happiness for his wife when he was no longer there, of making sure his family would be taken care off, able to cope without him.

The one thing Bonnie and Stan had in bucket loads was its humour, that had me chuckling away to myself on more than a few occasions, I particularly loved Terry, his conscience, the devil or angel on Stan’s shoulder.

Bonnie and Stan was a novel of finding the positive in a brutally negative situation, of finding happiness in the simple things, of an appreciation of family and most of all love, to holding on to it and never letting it go.

It was heartwarming, life affirming and an utter joy to read.

Set in the present day and the 1960’s, Bonnie and Stan is a wonderful story about love, about family and about life.
When Stan is diagnosed with terminal cancer it’s not himself he worries about, it’s his wife of 50 years, Bonnie. They are husband and wife, soul mates and best friends and it breaks Stans heart to think of leaving Bonnie all alone and with the help of grand daughter Greya he plans to find Bonnie a new love.
Bonnie and Stan are relationship goals, I just absolutely loved this pair. Stan is very much a see it how it is kind of person where as Bonnie is looking for a miracle, a cure for Stan. The love they have for each other was beautiful and it was nice having older protagonists to read about.
I loved heading back to the swinging sixties when Bonnie and Stan first met. It almost felt like I was being transported back to that time and was in the Cavern Club alongside them with the buzz pulsating from the pages and the music singing in my ears.
I sometimes find it difficult to read about cancer, having lost my 7 year old daughter to a brain tumour, it is a difficult subject for me but Anna Stuart has written this story with such sensitivity and passion and I will admit I may have had a wee tear in my eye one or two times.
Filled with wonderful characters Bonnie and Stan is a story I will definitely be recommending to others. I really didn’t want it to end and it’s a story that will stay with me for a long time.

Bonnie has finally.got the land and planning permission to build the house that she has designed and at her and Stan's time of life,anyone would think they are crazy to start over.

Architect Bonnie sees nothing standing in her and Stan's way,until circumstances threaten to derail what should.be golden years for them both.

Love,loss and longevity are major themes running through this story with the commonality of hope against all odds.

It is a love letter,  not just to the relationship between these two characters, but also the time they lived in.It's a love letter to Liverpool,the changing roles of women, and a hugely exciting time of change and challenge in the late 20th Century.

As the story travels back and forth in time, you become more and more invested in the urgency of time for Stan to achieve his dream for Bonnie before it is too late.

By the end your heart is a big bit broken and you feel a bone deep emptiness where Bonnie and Stan lived inside you. It's a beautiful and resonant story which I unreservedly recommend (alongside a large box of tissues).

Where do I begin with Bonnie and Stan ugh my heart swells when I think of them. You know I am forever harping on about those specific heart stay characters that cling on long after you have closed the last page. Well, meet Bonnie and Stan the perfect example of such well-written characters that you have an actual emotional and physical (tears, yes lots of those) reaction too.

The book ticks the want list of any reader perfectly. It has every ingredient necessary for the perfect reading experience. Flip-flopping back to Liverpool in the ’60s to present day. Now in their 70’s they are eager to build their dream home. However, with Stan receiving some shocking news the reality that he might not be around to see the house complete is overwhelmingly painful. That aside his top concern is that Bonnie shouldn’t be alone and there ensues the adventure we go on with Stan. With the flip-flopping back to the 1960s and seeing Bonnie’s story, it is beautifully brought to life on the pages.

The heart of this book is love, family and life. Taking none of them for granted and living your best life every day. I know you too will love to meet my new friends Bonnie and Stan. They have a cracking family who may be hiding some secrets too. The book is at the time of publishing only 99p on Kindle and also I highly recommend the audio book to the narrators Victoria Fox and Peter Kenny are superb. You can purchase the audio book here.

Dive into Bonnie and Stan today and leave them with your heart full of love and your mindset refreshed with the joy of life.

After 50 years together Stan still adores his wife... so why is he dating again?


Meet Stan and Bonnie who are in their mid seventies and are definite soul mates. They met in Liverpool during the swinging sixties when the Beatles were their soundtrack and the Merseybeat scene. They grew up together and have grown old together, raised their children who in turn have given them grandchildren. They finally decided to take the plunge and build their dream home but disaster strikes when Stan is diagnosed with a terminal illness.


Stan is running out of time and he can't bear the thought of leaving Bonnie alone so off he goes along with his granddaughter Greya in search of finding someone to replace him and give Bonnie a new love of her life. And she must never find out.......


I loved this book, packed full of emotion and humour, the characters were great and loved Stan and Bonnie, they remind me so much of my parents (who are thankfully still here today) with their stories of growing up in the swinging sixties. I loved the way the storyline alternated between the sixties and the present day as it gave me a feel for what it was like back then, from the descriptions of the music scene to the clothing, I think I would've enjoyed it too. This book is a slow paced read so don't expect to fly through it but It made you savour the story even more.


This is a bittersweet and heart-warming read, the story flows well throughout the book. I really enjoyed Anna's book which I read in a couple of days. This story had it all a little bit of humor, love, family, protectiveness to more sensitive and hard-hitting issues - I found I had a little tear in my eye at the end along with shedding a few along the way, so grab this book, curl up on the couch with a BIG bar of chocolate and prepare to have a few lump in your throat moments too. It definitely didn't disappoint.

I absolutely love this book despite the fact that it had my heart breaking and tears constantly streaming down my face!

The story flits between the present and the 60’s when Bonnie & Stan first met. In the past, Bonnie is a young woman at University in Liverpool when she meets a new friend who introduces her to The Best Boys….a band who are trying to make it big. She becomes one of their groupies and starts dating the Lead Singer Spike….but things don’t turn out as she’d imaged!

Stan is one of The Best Boys but what I loved about this is that you literally have NO idea which one he is until nearly the end of the book!

In the present, Stan has just been given a terminal diagnosis and him and Bonnie are trying to deal with it, with the support of their brilliant family and friends. However, Stan decides that he can’t leave Bonnie to be lonely so sets out on a mission to find her someone to keep her company once his gone…..

Honestly, this book is one of those books that gives you all the feels. I went through sadness, heartbreak, hope, laughter, happiness, anger and realisation……exactly what the characters are going through. Anna Stuart has done such a fantastic job of writing this so you genuinely feel all the emotions throughout.

The characters are brilliant! Bonnie and Stan are wonderful and have been married for fifty-four years and really are the best of friends and soul mates….who doesn’t want that?! Their family is hilarious! I particularly like Greya who was such a refreshing character…..watching her grow even closer to her Grandpa who is dying was heart warming and heart breaking all at the same time.

The search that Stan goes on to find Bonnie a new man is sad but hilarious and will have you both shocked and laughing out loud! And Dave’s growth throughout is fantastic. (I also loved Terry the Troll……)

The chapters going back to the past are brilliant, and really lets you get to know Bonnie and Stan and what they went through. As I say, it’s also intriguing and keeps you on the edge of your seat.

I can’t give this enough praise, I genuinely loved it so much and will return to it again in the future without a doubt. A beautiful love story that will take you on an emotional rollercoaster, much of which many of us will be able to relate to…the exact reason it’s such a tear jerker. Absolutely recommended from me, you NEED to read this!

Where do I start? I chose this book to read with my real life book club as I had arranged the blogtour and seen such amazing reviews from my fellow bloggers and suffering from FOMO it was an easy decision to select this book.

I don’t normally read romance or women’s fiction preferring a good serial killer than a weepy, but BONNIE AND STAN may have just changed my reading habits slightly!

Bonnie and Stan have been in love for over 50 years, nearing retirement and about to build their dream house when Stan is given the worst news and a diagnosis that turns everyone’s lives upside down. Stan can’t stand the thought of Bonnie being on her own when he’s gone so together with his granddaughter they sign up to an online dating app to find Bonnie a new husband which results in some very amusing and often heartbreaking results.

The story is told through present day and flashbacks to the 50’s when Bonnie first met Stan in Liverpool. She was studying Architecture in Liverpool University and he was a member of an upcoming band The Best Boys who dreamt of stardom and being the next Beatles.

BONNIE AND STAN is an emotional and heart warming read and whilst the story does centre around Stan, his terminal illness and impending death it never becomes morbid or uncomfortably sad. It’s a character driven story and whilst Bonnie and Stan are the main leads, the supporting cast of family and friends were absolutely wonderful. The bickering between their twin daughters, the relationship between Stan and Dave was so touching and Bonnie’s wonderful aunt Nancy and her wife Astrid are incredible characters which all give this story the added depth and layers to make the reader feel part of the family and the story.

I would definitely recommend this book.

Oh my goodness, what a beautiful and emotional read Bonnie and Stan is! How could any review I write do this wonderful and heartwarming book justice?

We first meet this charismatic couple when Stan is at the hospital about to be given some devastating news that will change everything in an instant. Poor Stan can’t bear the thought of leaving Bonnie alone, so sets out to find her a new love to share her life with after he’s gone.

The story is told in dual timelines, moving back and forth between the Liverpool of the swinging sixties when Bonnie and Stan first meet and the present day, as they, along with their family, try to come to terms with the devastating blow life has dealt them.

What follows is a beautiful love story that tells of a life well lived, full of the ups and downs, laughter and tears that we all go through in our lives. It’s a story of family and the difference our loved ones can make to our lives. But above all it’s a story full of warmth, hope and joy. Of a couple who have been through so much in their lives, but are still as in love today as they were when they first got together.

I loved the story of Bonnie and Stan’s early relationship in the sixties. The vibrant city of Liverpool is brought vividly to life as we learn all about Bonnie’s aspirations to be an architect and the exciting music scene that Stan is a part of.

The present day is an emotional read as Stan tries to come to terms with his own mortality, while Bonnie continues to believe that all is not lost and a cure can still be found. Add to that Stan’s desire for Bonnie not to be left alone and we have a moving and poignant story that tugs at your heartstrings.

I fell in love with Bonnie and Stan from the moment they were introduced. They felt so real to me and I was as desperate as they were for Stan to have the happy ending they so wanted for him.

A heartwarming and beautifully written story that moved me beyond words, Bonnie and Stan are characters who will stay with me for a long time to come. A story of life, love, loss and everything in between, this is a book that I would highly recommend.

This gorgeous, touching story just about broke my heart every time I picked it up to continue reading it! Bonnie and Stan are in their 70’s and have been together just about forever! They’ve settled into that comfortable time in their lives where they’re planning to move into their dream house (designed by architect Bonnie). Their adult twins are settled and happy and things are ticking along just fine … until they receive devastating news. Stan has cancer and it looks like their ‘happy ever after’ is about to be cruelly cut short.

Anna Stuart’s writing has that way of kicking you in the gut! Every time she mentioned Stan looking at his beloved Bonnie and imagining her on her own, I wanted to bawl my eyes out! In that way that the universe works, they are the perfect balance. When they receive their shocking news, Stan is pragmatic and more accepting, whereas Bonnie is immediately determined to find a miracle cure. I thought of the many people I know who’ve been in a similar situation and that initial reaction is “Why Me?” or “How could this have happened?” Almost everyone has that feeling that they’ll be the ones to defy the odds; they’ll be that one in a million that proves the medical profession wrong! That’s what Bonnie wants for Stan.

All Stan wants is for Bonnie not to be lonely. And so he enlists the help of his granddaughter Greya and secretly sets out to find the next love of his wife’s life!

Split between their initial meeting and growing relationship in Liverpool in the swinging 60’s, and present day, this is a fully rounded story of a couple who have truly lived their lives together as one entity. It seems inconceivable that they could be parted. I especially loved seeing a naive and innocent Bonnie grow into her character.

The 60’s playlist will resonate with anyone who’s a music lover, whether you were around in that era or not (see, I’m not giving away my age AT all!!) 60’s music is eternal and whenever one hears it, it immediately conjures up a certain image or scene. It’s the backdrop for Bonnie and Stan’s story and Stuart’s vivid descriptions of that time add lustre and intensity.

This is a poignant, emotional read, but the author never overdoes it. It’s never gushy and never maudlin. It’s moving and gentle and readers will be absorbed in a relationship that is so real, with its ups and downs and its unwavering, solid bond.

5 warm and fuzzy stars for this one. I highly recommend it!

5☆ An Incredibly Touching, Compelling and Heart Felt Contemporary Romance! A Must Read!

Bonnie and Stan is a heart warming and poignant read.

I always find it particularly hard to read any book where death and incurable illness is involved and normally I just can't read it.

But there was something about this book that really touched my heart.

Stan is dying and he is finding it really difficult to leave behind Bonnie his wife alone with no one.
So he decides to do the most touching and incredibly brave thing and find Bonnie a new partner before he dies, so she's not alone.
You see there is just something special about this book! Not many people could do what Stan sets out to do!

Although it is really poignant there are plenty of light hearted and Humorous moments, especially with some of the things Stan gets up too, in order to find someone worthy of Bonnie.

This is very much a character driven story and I adored Bonnie and Stan.
Their characters are so well written and believable you could feel their heartache, Strength, courage, warmth, love and determination.
I especially loved that they were from the older generation as you don't always get that in stories, so it was nice to see.
Oh and if you love the 60s era, your in for a treat!

The pace is a little slower but it feels right, just the right pace for the story to unfold.

Bonnie and Stan is a incredibly Touching, full of Romance, Compelling and Heart warming Story, with nice amount of humour to keep things light.
This is a story that I will be remembering for a while to come.

Would I recommend reading this Gorgeous Contemporary Romance..... without a doubt..... 100%.... Yes!!

Thank you to Trapeze Books for this copy which I reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

It's so refreshingly unique to see a love story set between an existing couple and that has spanned decades.  Love exists in many ways and as much as I enjoy a romance novel about new love, it's brilliant to finally see someone has written about existing love and how it is different but still beautiful, deep and strong.

The story of Bonnie and Stan moves between the 60s when they first met up to the present, where Stan has just been diagnosed with cancer and is trying to find his wife a new partner, unknown to her.  It is also narrated from both perspectives which adds a personal depth to the characters. 

The past narrative (60s) is very cleverly told as Bonnie is dating a member of the band who are all mostly known by their nicknames so as a reader you aren't sure which one is Stan and you spend a lot of time as a reader guessing and making judgement on the boys as to who is Stan.  Such a fun dimension to add to a story.  Ms Stuart creates an immersive picture of the 60s in Liverpool (I wasn't there but I imagine it was just like in this novel).  From the clothing, music and the attitudes towards women, love and sex she has created a wonderfully exciting setting for this part of the story. 

The present narrative should feel more sombre given the subject matter but instead, it's difficult not to feel uplifted and warmed by Stan's actions and his insistence that Bonnie is looked after and loved again.  To me this is the ultimate expression of love.  It really evokes that feeling of happy/sad crying when you have both feelings at once. (I'm hoping some of you know what I mean.  I get it when I watch Cats too).

This is such a poignant and beautifully written contemporary romance and I defy you not to love it.

This heartfelt story throws you straight into the crux of the narrative from the onset with such an emotional pull that I wasn't able to catch my breath for the remainder of the read. Within the first few paragraphs the love between Bonnie and Stan screams off the pages in a profound manner and for me it is the shinning glory of the story.

Cancer is a cruel and wicked illness that rips through families leaving gaping holes in its wake. I know first hand what damage it can do having lost both my Mam and Dad to this cruel and unforgiving disease....so I felt every moment of this book. But this story is much more than an illness it is first and foremost a story of love. Love that has spanned the decades from the swinging sixties to the present day. The narrative moves effortlessly between these time frames where love is the order of the day and what shines brightly off the pages.

I don't want to go into full details regarding the plot as I feel that that would spoil the reading experience. But this is certainly one story not to be missed. Bonnie and Stan is a book bursting at the seams with love that will melt your heart in this emotional rollercoaster that I couldn't put down.

BONNIE AND STAN; A CELEBRATION OF LOVE AND LIFE

This book has made me want to discover Midsummer Eve the Swedish way! So much so I’m even considering hosting a Swedish themed Midsummer Eve party. To find out why you’ll need to read the book. 🙂

As soon as I was invited to take part in the blog tour of Bonnie and Stan, I jumped at the chance. When I was told that Bonnie and Stan is a contemporary love story with the two characters meeting during the Swinging Sixties in the heart of the Merseybeat scene, I was so excited to read this book.

Call me naive, but what I hadn’t realised when I was offered to review the novel that when the story opens, Stan, now in his 70s has just received a cancer diagnosis. If I had realised that cancer was going to feature in this book I would have shied away from it. I know that is not everyone’s choice but for me and close people around me, cancer is everywhere and it scares the hell out of me.

But you know what – Bonnie and Stan is not scary or depressing at all, rather it is a celebration of love and life. It is beautiful and touching, with real, relatable characters. So much so that I’m very pleased that I did read it because I loved it. In fact, the plot only took a few pages in to grab me – and believe me, I was totally grabbed!

The story is juxtaposed between the Merseybeat scene in the heart of 1960s Liverpool when Bonnie and Stan meet; and present day when the couple are on the brink of achieving their life dream together.

The 1960s story is told from the point of view of Bonnie, a young architect student struggling for gender equality on her uni course (go Bonnie!). She also meets the Best Boys, a group of young lads desperate to be the next Beatles and keen to catch the eye of Brian Epstein. I wasn’t born in the 60s but I’ve always been fascinated by this era, so I loved this part of the story which featured The Cavern Club and even Cilla Black when she worked a cloakroom girl there.

The present day part of the story is told from Stan’s point of view. Following his terminal diagnosis, he is petrified of leaving Bonnie all alone when he passes. Hence, he comes up with the mad idea of finding her a new partner and goes online dating.

Bonnie and Stan is a touching novel with a charming and unique stance. It truly celebrates love, family and life – and as I say, now makes me want to celebrate Midsummer Eve the Swedish way! 🙂

Thank you to Tracy Fenton from Compulsive Readers for inviting me to be involved in the blog tour of Bonnie and Stan. Thank you also to Trapeze (Orion Publishing) and NetGalley for arranging my advance copy.

Last but definitely not least, thank you to Anna Stuart for writing such a beautiful and atmospheric novel!

A few days ago I also featured Bonnie and Stan in my Top Summer Reads You Shouldn’t Miss! blog post – so go, take a look if you haven’t read this already.

Bonnie and Stan was published on 30 May 2019, so is available now for you all to read.

Happy reading everyone! 🙂

After Stan finds out that he has incurable cancer the last thing he wants to do is tell his wife Bonnie. She is the love of his life and he would do anything for her. They are just getting ready to finally build their dream home and he is not ready to leave her. They had been together since the 60’s and he was convinced that she would not cope without him.
The book swings between both the present day as Bonnie, Stan and their family come to terms with the diagnosis and the 60’s when they first met and were in and out of the clubs in Liverpool as Bonnie became involved with the Best Boys – the group that Stan was part of. This was the time of the Beatles and the Cavern club when everything was about to happen.
I am going to admit now that Stan was not actually the character, I thought he was purely because as is sometimes the way with bands the members used nicknames and were not referred to by their real names for quite a bit of the book. That being said I really liked Stan. He could often be found talking to his troll keyring Terry which he used as a sounding board when he didn’t feel that he could talk to Bonnie for fear of upsetting her. The best bits for me though were when he decided to try to find a new partner for her. Enlisting the help of his granddaughter they went off on “dates” with quite varied results, none of which were really going to end well.
Bonnie is clearly not as unable to cope with things as Stan believes. A qualified architect she designed their dream home they are in the process of building. She is so sure that Stan will get better, you can’t help but feel her heart breaking as she slowly comes to terms with the fact that there will be no miracle and that any treatment will only prolong Stan’s life for a little while. With the support of their daughters and grandchildren the pair come to truly embrace every day as it comes taking in the little pleasures as much as the big occasions
There was one moment in the book that had me really sniggering but at the same time had me thinking that people of that age should really know better but you will have to read the book for yourself to see if you can work out what that is.
Sometimes you have to read something a little different just to cleanse your pallet and keep the joy of reading alive. With Bonnie and Stan I certainly got that. This is a book that explores what happens in a relationship when you think you should be finally slowing down and enjoying life but life throws you the ultimate curve ball and you realise that you may not have as much time to do it as you think. It is touching and at times funny but ultimately you will be hoping alongside Bonnie that maybe, just maybe things will turn out a little differently in the end.

Bonnie and Stan is a very gentle story, a story of a great and enduring love between the eponymous characters.

Now in their 70s, Stan finds that he doesn't have long left and it's breaking his heart to leave his precious Bonnie behind, on her own. Fair enough, they have twin daughters and several grandchildren but, as Stan thinks to himself, who is going to lift the roast out of the oven and carve the meat when he's gone. That's his job. With the help of their eldest granddaughter, Greya, Stan decides to try and find a new mate for Bonnie, someone who will look after her once he's gone.

We also learn of how Bonnie and Stan met, back in the 60s. This storyline is not as prominent as the current day one, but it's very important and explains a lot about their subsequent life together. It's also fascinating as this is not just any city in the 60s, this is Liverpool. We visit the Cavern Club, see Cilla, The Beatles. You can hear the Merseybeat loud and clear in this book.

Ultimately, this is the story of two people who have spent pretty much all of their adult lives together. It's such a lovely story but I admit I found it a difficult read at times due the subject matter, i.e. Stan's illness. But despite that, I was enthralled by it and the journey of discovery that both of them, but particularly Stan, go on.

In effect, Bonnie and Stan is a slice of life story. There are no great reveals, no twists or shocks, it's just following a family through a difficult, yet life-changing time. The writing is emotive and I loved the characters. It's very much a character-driven book and I liked that those characters were mostly older ones.

It's moving, it will make you smile and probably make you cry. It's really a lovely read.

There was so much that appealed to me about the story line of this lovely book: although I was originally drawn by the focus on the older characters I often prefer, I really liked the premise of the story with its look back at Liverpool in the 60s (I’m old enough to remember), the enduring love story, and that promise of strong emotional engagement. I did think it was a debut novel, and that I’d like to take a chance on the author – but hadn’t realised that Anna Stuart was the alter ego of esteemed historical author Joanna Courtney, but a complete change of genre.

I absolutely loved this book, and devoured it in one glorious afternoon. I’ve noticed a few reviews have mentioned a slow start, but I really don’t agree: I thought the book was quite perfectly paced, and I particularly liked that early exploration of the relationship between Stan and Bonnie – facing a devastating diagnosis, sharing the news with the family, then continuing with their day-to-day lives while endeavouring not to dwell on the future.

And I thoroughly enjoyed the way the present day story is punctuated by episodes from Bonnie’s early life in 1963 Liverpool, and her relationship with aspiring stars the Best Boys. The era is brought quite perfectly to life, authentic in all the small details: I particularly enjoyed the inclusion of real characters from the Mersey scene like Brian Epstein, Billy J Kramer searching for a backing group, Cilla in the Cavern cloak room, and everyone’s jealousy of the meteoric success of the Beatles.

The stories in both timelines are equally strong. Stan and Bonnie in the present day totally won my heart – it’s a sad story, filled with love: at times there were tears, but the book has a gentle humour throughout and manages to entirely avoid the maudlin. The relationships and interactions are just wonderful – lovely granddaughter Greya with her passion for everything eco, their two very different daughters with their tangled lives and relationships, the conversations with Stan’s mate Dave, and the different characters encountered as Stan tries to ensure that Bonnie won’t live the rest of her life alone. I even loved Stan’s conversations with Terry, his Troll keyring – might sound strange, but it works so very well.

The way the back story moves into the present is beautifully done – there isn’t a Stan in the 1960s story, a rather inspired idea and so intriguingly handled. And I absolutely loved the way Susie-Ann’s life had developed – eons away from her scally (but wonderfully caring) family. And the present day scenes in the Cavern were quite excellent, and very touching with Stan’s unexpected VIP status and the chance to erase past bad memories and make new ones.

I really loved this book – very highly recommended to all, and I’ll really look forward to seeing what Anna Stuart does next.

This is just the most endearing story. Bonnie and Stan is about, well…Bonnie and Stan. They are soulmates, who first met in Liverpool in the Swinging Sixties – they have now been together for 50 years, having raised a family and grown old together. When we first meet them, they have just received some news that turns their lives upside down. It’s a somewhat bleak start to a book – but the memories and stories that unfold are so wonderful and reveal the huge heart to this lovely book.

The book is structured through two time frames – chapters in the present day, and chapters set in Merseyside in the 60s. I loved how Stuart handled this structure – the two narratives work together to slowly reveal the story of how Bonnie and Stan first meet. The nostalgic sections primarily follow Bonnie, as she embarks on the adventure of starting university in Liverpool – but it’s only with the details that are filled in through Stan’s sections in present day that we begin to see the beginnings of their relationship. There is a real intrigue to this right up until the end – where does Stan fit into Bonnie’s narrative…? I also loved that in this way, it really is the story of both Bonnie and Stan – I connected with both of them equally and together they narrate different parts of their story.

As I’m sure will be the case for many others, I was completely drawn to the vitality of the Merseybeat scenes – the music, energy, fashions, glimpses of the Beatles, Cilla Black in the glory days of the Cavern Club – it all completely came alive for me. While this meant that for me these sections stood out most of all, there is also plenty to be found in the ‘present day’ sections. Here Stan, with the help of his Granddaughter Greya, enters the world of online dating – will leave you to find out why – but it makes for a quirky side-story. The whole book is full with interesting characters, who have helped shape Bonnie and Stan’s story.

This book made me feel so much (which I did expect), but also swept me away in a way that I didn’t quite expect. The intrigue of Bonnie and Stan’s story as it unravels, the energy of the Swinging Sixties and some really endearing characters all give this book such a wonderful energy.

This was such a lovely read, set partly in the 1963 and present day with the story told from both Bonnie and Stan’s perspectives.

I loved both characters but enjoyed Bonnie’s 1963 story the most as I’ve always loved anything to do with the 60s. I loved reading about the Merseybeat scene and getting glimpses of The Beatles and Cilla Black in the famous Cavern Club. I really did feel I was back there when I was reading the chapters set in 1963.

Stan’s chapters in the present day were poignant, but also fun as he goes on secret ‘dates’ to find a new husband for his Bonnie. I loved the relationship Stan and Bonnie had, it was so refreshing to read about a long and happy marriage in a novel. The love they have for each other is wonderful and something I’d love to see more in fiction.

There were a few minor characters that really helped the story move along. Dave, Stan’s friend and colleague is a bit of a dinosaur when in comes to women, and it’s lovey to see his character develop along the way. Greya, Stan and Bonnie’s eco granddaughter who helps Stan with the whole ‘dating’ idea, is like a breathe of fresh air and right on point with her passion for the environment. And of course I can’t miss out Aunt Nancy and her wife Astrid and the Midsummer party!

I thoroughly enjoyed this one and cannot recommend it enough for lovers of contemporary fiction.

What a soundtrack this book has!!! I wasn't born in the swinging sixties, yet I know all of the songs mentioned in this book, AND I was able to do a little sing song whilst reading it! 

If you were to open a dictionary and look up the word 'love', I wouldn't be surprised if you saw the definition as being 'Bonnie and Stan'. No matter what those two lovebirds went through, their love for each other seemed to get stronger and stronger with each passing day.

In this story, we get to follow Bonnie and Stan's life in the present, as well as in the early sixties when their paths originally crossed. A time where the Beatles were huge, and fashion was a statement nobody dare forget even now. Even though many years have passed, Bonnie is still by Stan's side, and visa versa, but the thing is, due to the fact that in the parts of the book where the sixties are mentioned and Stan was part of a band, they didn't use their real names. Bonnie wasn't always by Stan's side, though when Bonnie needed it the most, Stan rushed to hers with no questions asked. Can you work out which band member Stan was?

You really do need to believe in romance to appreciate every iota of this storyline, something which I have never been good at. That said, I totally appreciated the emotion behind the romance and the hurdles the couple had to jump over to reach the here and now.

Poor Bonnie and Stan have another massive hurdle to get through, one which will no doubt make your heart break due to the unfairness of it all. Like I said, I'm not a romantic sort, yet even my heart decided to smash. Life can be so, so unfair.

Anna Stuart took me on a journey I won't forget in a hurry. A journey which told the story of two characters who were written with incredible depth and warmth. I adored the authors powerful storytelling, and I feel that she captured the essence of Bonnie and Stan's love for each other, absolutely beautifully. Such a poignant, tender, loving novel with an absolutely BELTER of a soundtrack to boot.