If you are looking for a feel good, heart-warming read, then Samantha Tonge is the author to deliver!.
The characters, the storyline, all of it slots together effortlessly and leaves you gripped from beginning to end. A must read!

Warm and fun read, one to take with you on holiday, pack it in to your beach bag and prepare to disappear in to the pages.

I found this story a bit different to Samantha's other stories. A tale of a lost suitcase with a diary of things to be done. Different people meeting and being brought together under different situations. Easy to read.

A really lovely heartwarming read. A tale of friendships, family, love and loss.
This shows how communities can come together, be it a child, adult or older person to help each other out and make sense of the difficult times in our lives.
I love the relationships between all the characters.
The whole premise of the lost luggage is really fresh and draws you in at the start.
I always enjoy books from this author and this one is no different.
Prepare to fall in love with Dolly and all her friends.

One of the most heartwarming books I’ve read in a long time. Beautiful, memorable characters bring some serious topics to the surface - grief and broken relationships. This book puts life into perspective and I’m grateful to have read it when I did.

Sisters Dolly and Greta lived together for almost 50 years. Dolly is alone this year and completely lost without her sister. Almost reclusive.
Each year the sisters went to a lost property auction at Manchester airport. This year Dolly wins a suitcase which amongst the clothes is a notebook from a lady, Phoebe, a recluse who hasn’t left the house for a year but includes a lists of firsts she wants to achieve .
This is an inspiring story as Dolly and her neighbours Leroy, and eleven year old Flo
This is a lovely, heartfelt book full of emotion and multi generational friendship. . Characters became real to the reader and I really enjoyed Samantha Tonge’s writing style. It was a brilliant story and I loved the references to various towns and villages in the North West ( all slightly changed) including the place I grew up in
Highly Recommended
Thank you to Netgalley, Boldwood Books, and Samantha Tonge for letting me read this book in exchange for an honest review

WOW. What a book! I raced to the end of this gorgeous book because I couldn't put it down! Samantha Tonge has done it again! An emotional and gripping story of family and friendship, with characters who feel like real friends! A truly wonderful story!

A brilliant read and one I really enjoyed. The characters are loveable and varied, the plot is one that is engaging and medium paced. I found myself completely drawn into the story and enjoyed the writing style.

An inspiring book about life , love and self discovery. Getting to know Dolly was a pleasure and I really liked her spirit. A book that will make you laugh, cry and feel uplifted

Lost Luggage is a story of second chances, love, redemption, rediscovery and hope. Dolly has lost herself in her grief, pulled away from those who care for her and isolated herself with only her goldfish for company when she purchases a lost luggage parcel that changes everything. When she discovers a journal of a kindred spirit inside the luggage case she sets out on a mission to find the owner and re-enter the world.
This story is emotional, raw, heartbreaking and inspiring. Please check TW before reading.

Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Rating: 4.5 Stars

Life-affirming, emotional, inspirational and simply fabulous, Samantha Tonge’s Lost Luggage is a book readers will be completely and utterly bowled over by!

Sisters Greta and Dolly have lived together for nearly fifty years. They’ve been through a lot together over the years, but they’ve weathered everything that has come their way during the past six decades. However, that has changed this year as Dolly is all on her own and feeling lost, alone and heartbroken. Every Christmas the two sisters would head to the airport for a lost luggage auction and in memory of Greta, Dolly goes on her own this year – and finds a gift that could end up providing her with the joy and happiness that has been missing in her life since Greta’s passing.

The luggage Dolly has bid on contains the notebook of a reclusive woman who might not have left her home for over a year, but who refused to let circumstance quell her spirit. Dolly, alongside her neighbour Leroy and eleven-year-old Flo, decides to take on the year of firsts which Phoebe had planned. Will Dolly find the strength and courage to make a fresh start for herself at 72? Is she ready to discover the notebook’s many secrets? Or will she come to the conclusion that some things should be left at the airport?

Samantha Tonge’s Lost Luggage is a wonderful book. Hopeful, heartbreaking and joyously uplifting, Lost Luggage is a feel-good and affecting read about the power of friendship, finding the strength to continue putting one foot in front of the other when life gets you down and healing that is sure to touch every reader’s heart.

In Lost Luggage, Samantha Tonge has written a wonderful book readers will certainly never forget.

On the surface this read could be a light, easy read however this book has layers. This book is the read that keeps giving, the more you read the more that get revealed adding pieces to the overall story. It’s a piece of writing craft work. There are subtle tells throughout which give clues to the bigger overall and it’s fascinating getting there. Thoroughly entertaining and so cleverly written. Great read.

Thank you Netgalley

Sisters, Dolly and Greta, have a tradition where every year they to go to a lost luggage auction and bid on a suitcase which they give each other as Christmas presents. This year Dolly is on her own since Greta has passed away. Dolly decides she will still go to the auction in honour of Greta. When she opens the suitcase she purchased, she finds a notebook of a reclusive woman who has hardly been outside for an entire year. Phoebe had planned a list of firsts, so with the support of her neighbours, retired Leroy and eleven year old Flo, Dolly decides that she will complete the list. At seventy-two, it is interesting to see if Dolly can have a list of firsts.

I found the idea of a lost luggage auction interesting. What would you learn about the person whose luggage you purchased? How would that affect your life? I'm pretty sure Dolly didn't expect how her life changed. The characters were very well developed from Dolly to her gay neighbour whose partner had just left him, to the eleven year old girl who is having trouble fitting in with others her own age. I liked how these friendships were multi-generational. I did find the story slow to start, but once Dolly starts completing "the firsts", the story picks up. As the story progresses we also learn about Dolly's and Greta's life together. I don't want to spoil this book for you, so will say no more about the plot. I will say that this book made me feel good. It was definitely uplifting and I loved how all the various storylines come together at the end. There were a lot of secrets that were the source of why various characters lives were the way they were. There are also many issues that the author touches upon that will make you think. As much as this story is called "Lost Luggage", once Phoebe's suitcase is found, it sets the characters on a road to find many other things; Finding out about themselves, finding out secrets, finding friendships, finding connections, and finding out what matters. Another winner from Samantha Tonge.

I would like to thank the author, the publisher and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read an ARC of this book. It was a fabulous read packed with brilliant characters and I was sad when I finished the book as I could no longer spend time in their company.

This was such a sweet and fun read, the characters were so loveable (Dolly and Flo have to be my favourites). The concept of the book was so interesting and unique. We get to follow Dolly who is on her journey of discovering herself after her sisters death. She keeps up the tradition of buying lost luggage every year which leads her to some interesting events. Dolly already has some great people surrounding her but the owner of this case she bought intrigues her. Phoebe, the lost luggage owner, had a diary where she writes about a list of firsts she wants to achieve.

This book is definitely a story of self discovery and it shows that it doesn’t matter what age you are, you can always learn more about yourself. There were a few twists in this book, one shocked me when I worked it out (I did only work it out a few chapters before it was actually mentioned) and the rest were very sweet and made the characters even more lovable.

As I mentioned before, Dolly was such a sweet person and was always open to anything, even if she was nervous and afraid sometimes. She was such a good inspirational person to her young neighbour, Flo. Flo was full of energy and I think she brought out the young side in Dolly. I loved when Flo started to attend Guides, this brought back so many childhood memories for me. All of the characters were very sweet, I would be here all day talking about them all!

I found this book was slow-paced at the beginning but it began to pick up more speed by the halfway point. In the first half of the book, I did enjoy getting to know these new characters and reading about their friendships. I definitely recommend this book for a sweet contemporary read!

Halfway through this book, I’ll admit to not knowing quite how my review was going to go. This is a slow burner but it’s only once you finish reading that you realise how important the early part of the story is and can appreciate what a fantastic job the author has done in developing each of the characters so that you can really empathise with them when events start to unfold.

Relationships are at the crux of the storyline and one of the most endearing is between elderly Dolly and her eleven year old neighbour Flo. Both contribute significantly to each other’s journey of self-discovery without really realising it and is a beautiful portrayal of the importance of inter-generational friendships.

There are some difficult topics within the narrative but these are handled with great sensitivity by the author. There is also plenty of humour to be found and i especially liked Dolly’s interactions with her goldfish Maurice!

Although I guessed the main plot twist before it was revealed, I loved the way in which the author dealt with Dolly’s emotional reaction to the discovery and how others helped her come to terms with it, reflecting the character of Greta as she had been portrayed through the recollections of others in the story.

There was lots to ponder over on reaching the final page and that’s always the sign of a really well-written book! Highly recommended!

With thanks to the author, Rachel at Random Resources and Boldwood Books for the opportunity to participate in the tour.

Dolly lived with her sister Greta; they had a routine where they would each buy a "lost luggage" suitcase at a regular sale and open the suitcase at Christmas. Greta passed away and Dolly's life deteriorated to TV dinners and the brink of depression. In opening her suitcase (for the first time solo) she finds a notebook of "monthly firsts" along with some jewelry that she guesses is important to the owner of the missing suitcase. With some encouragement from her neighbors, she pursues some of these "firsts".
This is heartwarming, lovely story. The cast of characters are all really unique and interesting

I loved under one roof by this author and this book was just as good and love how the author writes stories with multi generational characters and also writes with compassion and feeling about a lot of sensitive topics and also brings them out in the open. One of the issues in the story really struck a chord with me personally and the author did a good job of creating awareness and understanding and I loved the candid description at the end in the acknowledgments of the authors own experiences which inspired the storyline.

This is a story of self discovery and of love friendship and of finding peace with oneself to move forewords.

I loved the characters in e story particularly dolly and phoebe as they were so good for each other and helped each other when they needed it most and loved how fate or serendipity brought them together at just the right time.

This was such a beautiful poignant and heartwarming and uplifting read whivj will days with me for a long time.

Looking forward to what this author writes next.

Every year Dolly and Greta buy an item of lost luggage from Manchester airport and they use it as gifts for each other.
But Greta is not here any more and Dolly is not doing well. Her luggage purchase leads her to follow a list of new experiences to find stories and people that she did not imagine.
I loved the character, shy Flo who doesn't really want to go to Guides and Leroy whose heart is broken and above all Dolly who is healed by her friends and the stories she learns.

Lost Luggage is a story of loss, forgiveness, and personal growth. As a reader, I wanted to feel invested in this storyline and characters but, it took me a while to get there. At the beginning, I just felt like things were getting pretty repetitive. I understood that the main character Dolly had experienced a deep loss and had shut herself off from the rest of the world but, sometimes she felt "very woe is me..." to me. It just took me a while to empathize with her as a character.

There were several characters who entered Dolly's story and played a role in her experiences and growth. These characters are each from different background and influence the story in unique ways. There are older retired characters, young children, young adults trying to find their way, members of the LGBTQ community, and happily married heterosexual couples. As these characters interact, they not only impact Dolly but, they also impact each other. I really enjoyed how diverse this group of characters were. It felt very realistic to me.

There were several twists and turns through this story. Some of these twists I saw coming from a mile away while others honestly surprised me a bit. I think what might have surprised me the most was the impact which each event had on all of the characters. As they began to get closer, everything effected them even if it wasn't necessarily directed towards them. There is such a strong sense of community through that really started pulling at my emotions.

Lost Luggage is set in the English country side and this plays an important role on how the story evolves. The story takes its time but does wind up having a strong emotional pull. It does depict struggles with grief and struggles with an eating disorder so it may not be for all readers. It is a very character focused story so if that is what you enjoy, you may also enjoy this story!