This was a delightful story from beginning to end. Very true to life with a quirky thread running through. Well developed characters that brought the story to life and a feel good conclusion. What more could you ask for?

It's Christmas 2020 and Ben feels his marriage is falling apart. He had met Daphne at uni and had once believed they were destined for each other but now they only row and bicker, it really doesn't feel like it. He begins to reminisce about Alice, another girl from uni who he had always expected something to happen with but Daphne arrived putting a stop to that. Over a drink with his best friend Harv (whose conversational range extends only to the Premier League) Ben begins to seriously consider that he made a huge mistake the night he got together with Daphne and not Alice.

A stranger in the pub gifts him a watch while Harv is at the bar. Ben tries to reject it - it doesn't work, the hands are stuck on one minute to twelve - but the stranger won't take no for an answer. Ben returns home, gets even more drunk and falls asleep in the attic with a box of memories from his days at uni, memories that remind him of Alice. Where he wakes up is not anywhere he could have expected.

This story is really a Christmas story but not so much that you can't read it on a hot June day. Part A Christmas Carol, part Quantum Leap, Ben bounces around time between 2006 and 2023 to see his past, his present and his potential future. He learns what he's done wrong, and what he can do about it to try to put things right. Like Scrooge, he can't change the past - though he can interact with the people he finds there - and he treats it like a trial run, rather than the experiment of Groundhog Day, never doing anything because he knows it won't make a difference, rather acting as he should have done.

The glaring issue.is, of course, 2020 didn't quite turn out how anyone expected so it slips a bit on those descriptions, but one can't hold the author to account for that. It just serves to highlight that no one saw it coming and how we have changed so much in 2020. That hardly spoiled the novel - I thoroughly enjoyed it. It is rare to find what is essentially a love story written by a man about a man and it was fresh to see a different view, and learn that men can be just as romantic as women and don't just have to write about the secret service, detectives and soldiers. I'll certainly be recommending this to friends and family.

I requested this without realising it was a young adult book so struggled to get into it however my 18 year old daughter enjoyed it. Havent added anywhere as it would be an unfair review

With an acknowledged nod to Dickens (clearly, A Christmas Carol) this is a wonderful light read by Ellen. It was refreshing to find, what was essentially, a romantic novel, written from the perspective of the male character. At first, the time travel jarred with me, feeling uncomfortable and rather contrived, but I was soon drawn in again by the expressive writing and believable dialogue.

A perfect book for curling up in front of a fire on a winter's night.

With thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for the ARC.

What a wonderful book. It totally captured my heart. Will they/won’t they. A love story in reverse as it moves through time. Unique. I loved it.

Such a beautiful story, I was really absorbed by it and found it an easy read. Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.

Well this was an unexpected gem of a book! This is a brilliant modern tale of redemption. Its December 2020 and Ben is having a nightmare, his marriage is unhappy for both of them, he feels powerless in his life - it's not good. So when he hears from his old friend Alice, he thinks this may be the answer, should he have been with Alice all those years ago? Would his life be different and successful nowif he had made different decisions?
The story takes us through love, heartbreak and loss, and rethinking the decisions that we made. From being an awkward self obsessed teenager to an adult, this is really brilliant!
Great read!! Really enjoyed the journey i was taken on and left me with food for my thoughts. Thank you

I really, really enjoyed this book. It was a magical, little gem of a story and I loved that it was not cheesy and that he was not an over-the-top alpha male. He was just a man trying to find his way back to love and finding himself along the way.

I couldn't put this down!
Ben is living a dull, uninspiring life with his wife Daphne on Christmas eve 2020. As she leaves to go on her staff night out, she makes it clear to Ben that they must discuss their life and their future. He is contemplating what his life would have been like if he had made other choices back throughout his life. Ben meets up with his friend Harv in the pub and meets a strange man who gives him a watch that is stopped at a minute to midnight.
As he goes back home he starts to go back through various times in his life and discover more about the choices he made and what he really wants out of life.
A lot like A Christmas Carol but absolutely enthralling. A great Christmas read.
"It'll be ok in the end....if it's not ok it's not the end!"

I loved All About Us. So beautifully written, that you instantly feel at home with all the characters. You know them, and really live Ben’s life with him. The ups and downs, you feel and share his happiness and sadness.

The Book has a similar, but different, premise to One Day, and also another very well known book. I won’t mention which one though, as that would give away part of this lovely story.
I don’t think anyone has looked back at some part of their life, and wished they could have done something differently. Or wondered what would have happened if they had chosen a different person, said different words, or held their tongue. Not only in romance, but life in general.
All About Us sees Ben living through the saying, “The grass is always greener”. Revisiting his past, seeing the same life differently, and also seeing himself differently. I won’t say any more, as I wouldn’t want to give anything more of the storyline away.

All About Us is a beautiful book, a lovely read, and I highly recommend it. Read it and see for yourself.

I really enjoyed this modern take on A Christmas Carol (even if I would rather be reading it in December with a hot chocolate).

I found myself speed reading through all the Alice sections, but I think that was due to my strong belief that Ben needed to STEP. AWAY.

This was a sweet read and a great first adult novel from Tom Ellen.

This was a light-hearted, fun and heart warming story. It had A Christmas Carol-vibes as Ben travels through time to work out if he was always meant to be with Daphne, his wife, or someone else. It was written well and it was engaging throughout. I enjoyed reading it - a perfect holiday or lockdown read!

This book gave me all the feels. I love Holliday romances and All About Us checked all the boxes for me. This was my first read by author Tom Ellen and I utterly enjoyed it. The writing style is unique, engaging and easy to follow. I found myself turning page after page and reading deep into the night.

I love stories told from the male protagonist's POV and for me, this made it even more special. Ben was a delightful and relatable character. On Christmas Eve he was debating whether the choices he made in his life were the correct ones and started wondering what could have been if he would've gone on a different path. Glancing into his past, present and future and seeing his relationship with his friends and family made me really emotional. I loved the modern spin on A Christmas Carol tale and I can wholeheartedly recommend it! It's the kind of Holliday romance you can read no matter the season.

This book is almost like a modern day version of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Don’t let that put you off this book, because this book is funny, romantic, heart warming and magical. Plus there are no visits from the ghosts of past, present and future.

I really enjoyed reading this book, I felt as though I connected with what Ben the main and character was going through. I got drawn in to his journey of discovery, when he magically goes back in time to relive parts of his life. Only to find out that in reliving some of these events not everything was quite as he remembered.

Ben isn’t in a good place, his career as a writer just hasn’t turned out how he’d expected it to. He also feels as though his marriage is going from bad to worse, so much so he’s starting to wonder if he chose the right woman.

It’s Christmas eve and Ben’s wife Daphne is getting ready to go to her annual works Christmas party. As she’s about to leave she ask’s Ben if he’s sure that he doesn’t want to go with her. He reiterates that he doesn’t want to go, and that while she’s out he’ll put up all of the decorations so the house is ready for the next day. Before her family descended on them as they were hosting Christmas.

However Ben ends up phoning his best mate and they spend the evening in the pub. At one point during the evening when Ben is left alone while his best friend goes to the bar. A scruffy old man comes up to Ben trying to sell him a watch. In the end the old man gives him a watch saying it’s any early Christmas present. Ben put on the watch and comments about it not even working.

After leaving the pub and a little worse for wear, Ben goes up into the loft to get the Christmas decorations. While he’s looking for them he knocks over a box and things fall out all over the place. When he looks at the items he sees that they are keepsakes starting from the first night he and Daphne met to other memorable and important events in their lives together. He’s surprised that Daphne had kept what she had as he didn’t know she was sentimental like that.

Ben obviously falls asleep in the loft, but when he wakes up the next morning he finds himself back in his bedroom at university. When he gets up he looks in the mirror and sees that he looks just like he did in the past, the only thing that he has with him from the present is the broken watch on his wrist.

This is the beginning of Ben’s Journey of discovery. Will he still think he chose the wrong woman to be his wife? While he relives certain parts of his past he notices things that he never noticed first time round. Then when he lives what his future could turn out like is it how he thought it would be? Had he chosen the right woman from the start?

With some humour, heartache and magic along the way. This is a really good modern day book.

Not my usual genre of book at all but it was very reminiscent of "sliding doors" and I enjoyed the change of pace that it gave and the storyline overall.

Lots of fun - a short but very sweet time travelling love story. Nicely written and an enjoyable way to spend the day. A perfect holiday or lockdown read. Not too taxing but far from boring. Read it - have fun!

Thank you to Netgalley for my advanced copy of this book in return for an unbiased review. the story 'All About Us' begins in a frosty atmosphere between Ben and Daphne. He goes for a drink with his friend Harv and manages to buy a watch from an old chap on the next table. Before he knows what's happened, he's woken up on 5th December 2005: the day he first kissed Daphne, leaving Alice behind. This is a magical fairytale with a message that the grass is not always greener. It's written very well with really likeable (and unlikeable!) characters and takes you in lots of different directions before Ben reaches the end of his time travelling journey. A great, uplifting book.

A very 'sliding doors' -esque piece that is equal parts authentic and charming. Fantastically written and a nice addition to this genre!

All About Us.........Not sure where to start with this review. I don’t know what I expected from this book or what sort of book I thought it was but I know how it’s made me feel.

Ben is married to Daphne who he met at Uni. How life is at a bit of a crossroads, he’s unhappy in his job, his marriage and his life in general. He receives a text from Alice who he perceives to be “the one that got away”
He has to make a choice......
I don’t want to say anymore about the synopsis of this book so that I don’t ruin it for anyone but I will say you should read it.

This book started off a bit silly, think Scrooge in a Christmas Carol or the movie Sliding Doors - but for me it had a serious undertone. We all make decisions everyday that have an affect on our future. What if we accepted that other job? What if our first love hadn’t broke our heart? What if we said sorry instead of walked away?
This book made me think of all the “What if’s” in my life and think about where I am now.
I read this book during the COVID lockdown and so I was in a thankful place at the time. My family is healthy and we were home together so for me this book reaffirmed I was happy with all of the decisions I have made in my life but I can imagine for some it could be a trigger.
Overall I enjoyed this book, it was a cautionary tale, Ben was seriously annoying at times and I could see why Daphne was unhappy too.
Ultimately it asks the question, if you could go back over your life, would you do anything differently?

Thank you to NetGalley for gifting me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I did enjoy this book and it had a real nostalgic appeal in places although I can’t say I was a huge fan of the main character. I liked what it had to say about not taking things for granted and taking control of your life.