Dear Reader,

Annie meets Guy while she is painting balling with friends. After a mishap with a G&T he lends her his cloth hanky (who even carries them anymore?) to mop up. Annie leaves the paint balling early en route to the airport, Venice is calling. However a terrible accident puts a stop to Annie’s travels and in fact sends her back to her home town in Wales to recover.

Guy met Annie at his stag do at paint balling (not his idea, blame his so called best mate Charlie). He gave her the hanky he had with his company printed on, The Repair Guy. After his wedding to Sarah and the birth of baby Maud. It should be a happy ending for Guy except his world has come tumbling down around him.

Annie remembers Guys hanky months after her accident and decides she must send it back to him. This sparks a sequence of back and forth letter writing, emails and texts. Annie lives in Wales and Guy lives in Tunbridge Wells, not exactly close enough to just pop by. Can they make it work between them?

Told from both perspectives in alternating chapters. We learn about not just the main characters but a small bit of about each of their close friends and families. Enough to become fully invested in them separately before they fully connect with each other.

The story itself has an undercurrent of miscommunication about it. Both Annie and Guy at the beginning of their letter writing, neither were being completely truthful. This led to a lot of confusion and lack of trust between the two.

I have to admit I really enjoyed this book. It was a great story, I feel like it had elements from all different ideas in the real life for example The Repair Shop on tv (Guy’s Job) and even a hint of Gavin and Stacey with their location difference. I found this made the book as a whole more relatable.

I loved this book each paged was beautiful written. The characters had amazing chemistry between them. I loved that there allot of writing letters and emails in this book. I love that when there two people emailing back and for each other. I loved the fact the story based in South Wales and focused on the valleys my area of the world I live in. It’s such a heart warming story I love. And always remember this book.

Betty and Guy have one fleeting meeting and then go their separate ways. Life then implodes for both of them, but when they reconnect months later, they want the other to think they still have the perfect life. Can they admit the truth to each other?
A great read. I liked both characters and how it was told from both of their points of view.

Another superb book from Laura Kemp. It has many 'will they, won't they' moments. Lovely characters and great settings in South Wales and Kent.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an early review copy.

On Guy’s stag night, he meets Betty and after she spills her drink he gives her his handkerchief.

After many months, Betty is involved in an accident and has returned to live with her mother as she recovers and gets her life sorted. When she comes across the handkerchief, Betty decides to return it, but the only address she has of Guy is: The Repair Guy from Tunbridge Wells.

From there starts their friendship, communicating through letters and emails. But not being honest with each other.

I loved this book, how they write to each other, it’s lovely to receive a letter through the post, which doesn’t happen so much now, having something in your hand to touch and read.

I felt for Betty, the accident and how her life changed following it. Guy, also had his issues, and having to work through them. Both characters had their faults, but they tried to sort these out to make their lives better.

Recommend this book.

When Betty meets Guy, little does she know it’s the day that is going to change her life forever.

When she realises she still has something that belongs to him, Betty decides to return it with a letter. A perfect solution – as Betty doesn’t need to tell him what happened that day.

But for Guy, Betty’s letter is a sign of hope in a world that is crumbling around his ears. So, he writes back.

Can letters turn to love with someone you’ve only met once…?


I loved Kemps older works but found something lacking in this most recent offering that I can’t put my finger on.

The characters were likeable, somewhat relatable, and were well developed, and the setting of the Welsh mountains was striking, but I really struggled to connect. The want to pick it up was lacking and I felt myself drifting when reading.

I would still recommend as it’s a fairly easy read but perhaps don’t go in expecting to be blown away.

I really enjoyed this book. I loved the fact that actual proper pen and paper letters are exchanged, there is nothing more thrilling and personal than a hand written letter dropping onto your doormat for you to hold and read and keep forever. Betty and Guy are wonderful people and even better when they are together. They each have a past, baggage that they are dragging around with them, some that’s been with them for so long that they don’t even realise it’s there. To be together they each need to sort through their baggage and have a good clean out and have a good hard look at themselves. I love how they help each other do this, but also how they draw strength from each other to be able to tackle things alone. The twists that unfolded as they pulled back layers of themselves were brilliant and had me hooked. All the side characters were excellent in adding depth to the plot and in drawing more out the lead characters.
It was such a brilliant read, and very relatable in places; there comes a time when we all need to have a bit of retrospection in order to move forward and open up and trust others.

I love this type of story and I loved this one as it's sweet, uplifiting, and life affirming.
Life can be tricky and funny: what happens to Betty and Guy is life with some bonus.
I liked the storytelling, how the characters were developed, and the plot.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Betty met Guy on the day her life changed. Attending a team bonding paintballing session PA Betty was multi-tasking taking out her colleagues and ensuring that the buffer lunch she had ordered arrived on time. She bumps into Guy, hiding away from the action in a hut. He's there on a stag activity organised by his best mate and they get talking, sharing a G&T in a tin and using his handkerchief when it fizzes over. As she leaves she is hit by a car as she crosses the road and leaves her heading back to her hometown in Wales to recover.

Guy is still getting his head around the fact that his now-wife had an affair whilst they were on a break which resulted in her falling pregnant with the much-wanted baby he always dreamt of. For four months they played happy families before Sarah had a DNA test completed on Maud. On a downward spiral, he is surprised to find his handkerchief returned to him in the mail from Betty. Kickstarting a pen pal friendship of sorts, except they only share the truths they wish were true not their realities.

As their lives interweave they meet again in person and slowly begin to share truths from their lives and blur the line of friendship. But is Guy ready to leave his ready-made family behind? Is Betty ready to overcome hurts from the past and stop sabotaging her future?

Loved this. Wasn’t sure where it was going to begin with but then it started to take shape and the story evolved. If you want a good read for summer then Laura Kemp does not disappoint. Her story of Betty shows how a life event can change you and bring about changes. It really made me think and evaluate how I look at life choices. 5 stars from me, recommend this book.

On the day that Betty meets Guy, her life is changed forever. She never thought she'd see him again, but a few months later, realizes she has something of his that needs returning.
So, she writes him a letter which means she doesn't need to tell Guy about what really happened that day, and the secret she's been hiding.

For Guy, Betty's letter arrives at his repair shop at the perfect time. His whole world has come crashing down around him and for the first time in a long time, he starts to feel hopeful.

This was such a heartwarming and wholesome read. A completely character driven book, I loved the personal growth both Betty & Guy possessed.

Both harboring secrets of their own, they slowly connect with each other through letters and emails & eventually meet which leads to so much more.
It was heartbreaking to see them both go through so much all of a sudden. The 3rd act breakup had me sobbing but the end had me grinning with happy tears.

Thank you Netgalley & Orion books for the arc in exchange of an honest review.

I liked this book, and there was enough there to keep me reading until the end, but it lacked something. I wasn't wowed by it. The letter writing was nice, given the age we're in. I also enjoyed the scenic descriptions of the Welsh countryside. I think the problem was that I didn't engage all that much with either Betty or Guy. I was left feeling a little flat towards the end, just when I'd have hoped to have felt uplifted. There was nothing wrong with the ending, it was the fact I hadn't felt pulled in by either Betty or Guy. With thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Guy and Betty briefly meet on Guy’s stag night, where he offers Betty his handkerchief to wipe up a spilt drink. Fast forward several months and, after being involved in a devastating accident, Betty returns the handkerchief by post to the only detail about him that she can remember – that he’s The Repair Guy from Tunbridge Wells. Betty has returned from London to Wales to live with her mother while she gets her life back together. Her and Guy become friends through letters and emails, but it’s clear they are both hiding things from each other.

I loved this book! I liked the idea of Guy and Betty becoming ‘pen-pals’, a written letter being something which you rarely see these days, but just reading the correspondence between them both warmed my heart! Betty is lovely, and I so felt for her following the accident and how difficult it was for her to come to terms with it. Guy is equally lovely, but he had different issues which he was having to deal with. They both had their flaws and made mistakes, but I loved following them trying to work these out and sort their lives out.

The storyline flowed along well, and by a couple of chapters in I was hooked! I loved the Welsh/English divide and it reminded me of a well-known TV program (I’m sure I don’t need to spell it out!)! This book turned me into a hopeless romantic, and I found myself loving Guy and Betty more and more as the book went on! This was a beautiful, charming and funny love story! Would recommend!

This was a good book overall. It was well written, the characters were generally well developed, there was adequate growth and a good ending. It had all the pieces to make it perfect.

However, for some reason I personally struggled a few times to remain engaged. The book was good enough for me to persevere to the end, but it really struggled to develop a deeper connection to the characters.

I would still recommend this to others, and I do want to read more by this author. So I guess it wasn't too bad.

The publisher kindly provided ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

A well written contemporary romance, written on a backdrop of loss, secrecy and heartache, with plenty of humour and warmth.

I loved Guy and Betty's letters to each other, they were full of sarcasm and wit, however as their story progressed to talking in real life there was a bit too much mush for me.

There are some great characters, particularly Guy's Granny and Betty's colleague Megan.

Overall, not quite for me but pleasant enough for me to finish. If you like a mushy romance story then this ones for you.

This is a nice light read but the ridiculous lies spoilt this book for me. Betty has to be one of the most annoying characters I’ve come across in a book and I was frustrated with her. I actually wanted to get her and Guy together and make them be honest with each other.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in return for an honest and unbiased opinion.

Didn't love this as much as I had hoped. I liked Guy as a character, he seemed to have the most interest. I found I din't really like Betty. There was just something about her that I just didn't really get on with. I thought the story and concept were interesting but didn't wow me unfortunately.

A charming read……. Betty and Guy meet when both their lives are at different points - Betty a go getter with a high powered job Guy about to get married … but things change for them both …. What starts as penpals develops into more than a friendship but not without challenges on the way … loved this book very uplifting with other topics touched on really well

I love Laura Kemp as an author so knew I would enjoy this as well, I was so happy when I was approved to read this ARC. What a lovely story and heart warming.

Read and reviewed in exchange for a free copy from NetGalley. I struggled to really get into this and become invested in the characters, despite liking the concept of a chance encounter and becoming pen pals. That said, Kemp created vivid imagery, and her descriptions of the Welsh countryside were beautiful.