Oh my, what a book this was!! I read it a few months back and have been putting off writing this review… not because I didn’t like it, but because I absolutely adored it and wasn’t sure anything I said would be good enough.

So here it goes, my attempt at telling you all how brilliant this book is! Beth is a quitter - she doesn’t stick with anything for long and so finds herself drifting through life with no real focus. That is, until her sister and brother in law are involved in a tragic accident and she finds herself having to look after her moody teenage niece and mischievous toddler nephew.

Beth quite literally had to ‘step up’ and how she blossoms as the book goes on. She is such a feisty, resilient and determined character! Sarah Turner deals with some really hard hitting themes and issues in this book, but she writes it beautifully and I found myself wishing nothing but happiness for Beth.

An emotional rollercoaster of a book, we feel the highs and lows that Beth, and the others go through. I loved the friendship that grows between Beth and her elderly neighbour Albert and Sarah really highlights the importance of checking in on those around you. Polly, her niece, is a fireball of emotions and going through the usual teenage angst whereas her nephew Ted is such a loveable wee rogue. Two completely contrasting characters and I loved how Beth learns to support nurture them both as the book goes on. Then there’s Jory, her best friend of so many years but a relationship that struggles to cope with all the demands on Beth.

This book has all of the emotions; grief, sadness, happiness, jealousy and love! You will find yourself cheering, laughing, despairing and crying your eyes out but mostly you will become so invested in their book and it’s characters that you won’t want to put it down. An outstanding, perfect read that I really loved!

I loved this book. Probably the best I have read so far this year. I was emotionally invested from the absolute beginning. I cried, I laughed and I was so sad when it ended. A totally perfectly timed book from start to finish. The characters and all so captivating. I absolute love Albert. I wanted to know more at the end which means the author not only pulled me in, but finished the book at exactly the right time. I will be recommending this book to others and looking out for more by Sarah Turner.

Loved this! The characters were all relatable and believable! It was a really well written story, full of fun. Great stuff

Stepping Up could easily have been your standard 'girl comes good whilst facing adversity' type of story. But it's so much more than that. Beth is plunged straight into family life, quite literally, when she has to take charge of her teenage niece and toddler. All the time holding down a job, dealing with an interfering mum and visiting her sister who's in a coma in hospital. Exactly.

Stepping Up is not an easy read, but the subject matter is written so beautifully that you can't help but be swept along on Beth's journey. Your heart breaks for her with every mistake and misstep, but still she keeps going, for the children, for her sister and for herself.

This is one of those books that you'll read again and again, it's a real comfort blanket story but with no sugar coating (alright, maybe a little). You'll feel better about life for reading it.

Sarah Turner's "Stepping Up" is a warm-hearted novel full of comedic moments while still managing to pull at your heartstrings as it relates to all the human emotions of its protagonist Beth. A horrific accident turns her world upside down when her brother in law is killed in a car crash and her sister is left in a coma. Beth becomes guardian to their children, a role she is totally unprepared for. Up to this she had led the life of a party girl, never stuck at a job or a relationship for long, but this is different. Now she has to 'step up' and be a responsible adult to her niece and nephew.
This is a great read, well crafted, witty and full of fun, peppered with emotional moments that will certainly have you reaching for the tissues. I loved it and was invested from the beginning. I would thoroughly recommend it to anyone who likes Marian Keyes, Jill Mansell or Sophie Kinsella.

An absolutely beautiful, heartbreaking, and heartwarming book to read all at once.

If you’re looking for lovable characters, and family dynamics with a bit of romance on the side, this is the book for you.

I would give this more than 5 stars if I could. Fantastic book! This is one of those books that you don’t want to end because its just so great but you want to get to the end to see how it ends! This book will see you travel from tears (by the end of the first chapter - have tissues ready) to giggling madly. I do hope there’s a sequel in the works as I not prepared to just leave Beth and Family quite yet. A absolute must read!!

Thank you Netgalley

The story overall was just ok. I didn’t connect with the main character at all. ,

As a woman in her 30’s myself, I can’t believe that somebody of a similar age was unable to do the basic life essentials, cook, clean etc. basically unable to ‘adult’.

I was looking forward to reading this book and I am pleased to say that it didn’t disappoint.

Beth lives a carefree and chaotic life and is suddenly required to ‘step up’ and look after her niece and nephew following a horrific accident. This story is wonderfully written and had me both laughing and crying at the same time. I loved the relationship between each of the characters, particularly Beth and Ted, and thought the story was easy to read and really well written. Thoroughly deserving of the 5 star review and I cannot wait to read any future books written by Sarah Turner.

Not my usual kind of genre but I really enjoyed reading something different, I thought it was a nice read and something I would recommend to my friends and family.

This was a fun, and touching story full of love, loss, grief, guilt and hope. I admit that I did not warm to Beth initially and struggled to find her relatable. She seemed very immature for her age and the complete lack of adulting skills *not related to the unexpected parenting role* felt more suited to a character who was not over 30. I did grow to like her more as the story progressed mostly because of her interactions with Ted, Polly and Albert.

There is a romance in this book but I felt that it was negligible and there was not a great deal of chemistry there (imo she had much better chemistry/connection with an 83 year old). The real heart of the story was Beth and how she grew into her role as a guardian and was able to embrace responsibility after years of quitting without trying. A solid 3 ⭐️ .

A beautiful story, thoroughly deserving of the five stars that I, and many others have given. The relationships in the book are so relatable and it's refreshing to read a book which centres around a family that has no toxicity in it - just a normal family, doing their best in extrodinary circumstances.
Sarah writes with such warmth, it's hard to believe that this is her debut fictional novel. I hope that she releases many more.

I thought I would be reading a nice romance story but there was something else.
The story is really dramatic.
Beth is a thirty*some-year-old who still lives with his parents. She doesn´t last more than 2 weeks in a job and has really important issues.
Suddenly she´s left in charge of her niece 16 years old and her toddler nephew because their parents had a very bad accident where the dad died and Beth´s sister is in a coma. Their will said that she was the one who should be in charge of their sons.
So the story is lovely, how she looks after them. How she engages with an old man, her sister's neighbor after clearing a bad feeling she had because once she vomited next to his house. And the friendship story and lastly romance with her best friend.
While I like the story overall, I couldn´t connect with the main character until the end of the book. I cannot get over that with 3o+ years she is not capable to cook properly for her and the kids, maintaining a house tidy, washing, and all the things you have to do when you are in charge of a house.

I guess that´s not what the book is about but as I couldn´t connect with her, the main character, I didn´t enjoy the rest of the stories within.

I was kindly gifted an advanced copy of this fantastic book on kindle by @netgalley and @randomhouse in exchange for an honest review. I picked it up as part of the prompt new beginnings for @neverending_netgalley and I’m so glad that i did. I read this book in less than 24 hours and I couldn’t tell you the last time I did that. This book was fantastic. I absolutely loved it. Beth was just wonderful and I think every single one of us could relate to her character in one way or another. As much as this book covered emotive topics it dealt with them in a lovely way. There were so many laugh out loud moments too. The relationship development between Beth and Albert was heartwarming. I don’t want to give too much away but I think everyone should pick this book up when it’s released in March as it was just perfect!! Deserving of all the stars ⭐️

In this Beth who describes herself as "a runner, a bolter, reliably Team Flight in a fight or flight scenario" finds herself having to 'step up' to look after her niece and nephew when her sister has a terrible car accident. As you'd expect it's funny from Beth getting fired from pass-the-parcel after giving one kid two prizes or ending up on the village Facebook group after putting her bins out on the wrong day to 3-year-old Ted calling "angry swimming dad" a "stickhead" or telling the hot swimming coach that "Aunty Beth put crayons on her face....but she wouldn't share." But it's also really poignant with a lot of depth and some really moving moments - I particularly enjoyed Beth's friendship with lonely octogenarian Albert, her next door neighbour. It's testament to Sarah Turner's talent that she manages to combine the two so seamlessly - in her debut fiction novel nonetheless. I especially liked the realistic timescale of this book and that whilst the ending was positive it wasn't the fairy tale ending it could so easily have been. It's difficult to convey how good this book is, so I'll just urge to read it for yourself instead....

Love love LOVE this book! Poignant, heart wrenching yet heart warming - tears in my ears one minute then laughing out loud the next.
The characters were likeable and relatable and got under my skin - I found myself thinking about them and desperate to read more. Couldn’t put this book down and didn’t want it to end. A truly wonderful debut novel - can’t wait for more.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The characters were so well thought out, so relatable and believable and I found I liked them all. The story touched on some very difficult and emotional issues from different character's perspectives, but the issues were handled really well by the author. That is not to say it was overall a sad tale, there was lots of humour and loveable characters. I thought the ending was beautifully written. A wonderful first novel.

The story follows Beth, who can't stick at anything until her sister and brother in law are involved in a serious car accident, then all of a sudden she is left in charge of her fourteen year old niece and three year old nephew. Thrown in at the deepend - can she rise to the challenge?

This is a thoroughly enjoyable, easy to read novel. Lighthearted but also carrying some serious undertones. I flew through it and really like Sarah Turner's writing style. While I enjoyed the ending, I would have liked to have seen more finality with some of the storylines - are we going to see a sequel?

Either way I will be keeping an eye out for future novels from the author.

<i>Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review</i>

I absolutely love this book! Beth has to step up and take care of her nephew and niece after their parents are hospitalised in an accident. From moving into their house and learning their routine, to finding out how to be a parent to small children, Beth learns an awful lot along the way, including a lot about herself. But will this story have a happy ending? The parents are in hospital still, and things don’t look good.
All of the characters are beautifully drawn, and really true to life. There are so many emotions in this book, I couldn’t keep up with them! As life does, things change from minute to minute, and Beth has to deal with all the crises as well as two small children who don’t know when mummy and daddy are coming home. All of this was extremely well portrayed and the story ran very smoothly.

Definitely 10/10!

This is my first novel by Sarah Turner and I am so glad I went out of my comfort zone and tried a different genre of books.

I am normally a crime/thriller kind of book worm and tend not to go further afield but the blurb on this book intrigued me and I am glad that I read this novel.

I have heard of Sarah Turners "unmumsy mum" novels but never ventured to them, but I will be doing now.

We meet Beth, a bit of a floater really, cant seem to hold anything down i.e. job, partner etc. She is thrust into growing up when tragedy hits home and she becomes guardian to her niece and nephew. Wow I seriously feel like this novel should be turned into a movie, its such a sad but at the same time feel-good novel and I loved it.

We go on the journey with Beth as she struggles with the difficult situation that she is thrust into but ultimately it was what she needed to grow up and get herself sorted.

If you love a good laugh out loud tear jerker then do grab a copy of this novel. I will be sure to be reading the back catalogue of Sarah Turners previous novels.

Thanks to Sarah Turner, NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me a copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.