I love love love this book! I could not put it down. There was a serious depth to it that surprised me but I truly loved. The writing in this is amazing and I was laughing so hard during some parts. Grief is hard to write about but this was an amazing journey towards healing.

Catherine (Cath) Beckinsale, 39, is mother to 3 children. Jack is a toddler, Eric is in middle school, and Leanne is in the first year at university. Cath’s “significant other” , Gaz, passed away suddenly 3 years ago. Even though Leanne tries to get Cath to spread his ashes, she refuses so they are still sitting on a table nearby.

Cath’s best friend is Sindy whose husband is away often as he is on deployment with the Army.

Cath works as a classroom assistant in a school for struggling students. She loves her job and her students even though she ends up doing the teaching while the real teacher sits back and can’t be bothered. But when she catches him doing something he shouldn’t at school, she tells him to stop. Fearing her reporting him, he turns the tables on her saying she was the guilty one resulting in her losing her job. Although she has some insurance money from Gaz, she needs to be careful with expenses so as to not have to touch her savings. When a friend suggests she take in a lodger from the U.S. who is attending classes nearby, she accepts. It turns out he is a handsome man named Dan who is nearly her own age.

I have mixed feelings about this book. On the plus side, I found Cath to be very intelligent and caring. On the minus side, I found some of the humor to be silly and some of it left me trying to figure out what she had said. All in all, the book, while being lengthy, tells the story of a woman who is working hard to care for herself, her family, friends, and others that touch her soul. It’s certainly a different type of read but one that I hope readers will enjoy.

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Cath loses her job in a school so is persuaded to take on a lodger. She has a busy life with 3 kids, but is still sad about losing her husband. She’s a kind hearted woman that you will love.

It’s an easy read with substance. The characters are funny and witty, with a bit of immaturity. The storyline is good and it’s well written.

A lovely book that will make you laugh and cry.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for a copy.

2.5/5 stars

I received an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was hard to get into for me mostly because of the writing. It had an okay-ish plot, but the writing felt like it was thrown together. Sometimes it felt like a good amount of detail, most other times it just didn’t make sense.

For example, I didn’t know Eric, one of the sons, was 13 until maybe the last 1/3 of the book cause if it was mentioned, I never saw it, so he was just a mysterious character I couldn’t fully form in my head. The other characters, too, didn’t feel fully developed and they couldn’t stick in my brain, so I was constantly mixing up names and getting confused as to who was who.

Cath, the FMC, is insanely awkward (not quite loveably awkward, it’s a bit much) and she has some redeemable traits about her, but it’s a little difficult to like her. She’s a 39 year old widow with three children and I don’t get why she acts certain ways throughout the book. Maybe it’s just cause she’s not fully fleshed out as a loveably imperfect character, but she fell short for me. Though I do think it’s a combination of poor writing, the need for more character development, and a bit too much immaturity (example: she keeps bashing on Dan for being immature and he’s 36, only three years younger than her…).

I’d probably rate everything as “okay” except for the poor writing. I had to push myself to get through the beginning, but it got a little better after. Though I had to push myself a little to finish it. There also wasn’t much romance for a book that seemed like it’d center around it. All in all it’s an “okay” book, but lots of room for improvement.

A hilarious lighthearted book with a quick witted sense of humour that I enjoyed! Cath is a single mum and too make ends meet she invites a exchange student into her home but what she gets is not so much teenager and more man. I think most parents will be able to relate to Cath and I loved that instead of getting angry she used humour to cope with the challenges of raising three kids. The characters are quirky and fun and I had a great time all the way through reading this book which is what I think the author was aiming for. I can't believe this is a debut book as I for one had a ball and highly praise the writing style.

An entertaining read that had plenty of "moments", happy, sad, crazy, etc. Every emotion that could be stirred up, was. As this no longer young mother works hard to keep her family happy, she will find her own happiness in the least likely of places.

Cath is a single mom of three who still talks to her husbands ashes as though he were still alive. When her eldest daughter Leanne goes off to uni and she gets laid off from her job at the same time, she doesn’t know what to do with herself. She decides that at least to help make ends meet that they will take in a lodger. From her social media stalking, she expects a dorky teenager, but instead winds up with a hunky thirty-something man named Dan who turns all their lives upside down, in the best way. He makes things less sad for her and makes things more tolerable for the kids and has them all opening up in a new way, including himself.
This was heartwarming, but I found myself literally laughing out loud at parts. Such a great story about grief and loss but then also about reinventing yourself and believing in you and what others see in you.
Can’t wait to see what this author comes up with next.
Thanks to One More Chapter and NetGalley for this eArc in exchange for my review.

Just what I needed during a very stressful time in my life: a light-hearted romantic comedy that I tried to pace myself reading but just couldn't put it down and had to get to the finish line!

In The Accidental Housemate, Cath is trying to make ends meet after the death of her husband and becoming a single mom to three kids, all the while without a job. When the opportunity to take on a lodger pops up, she jumps on it. Boy is she surprised to find the university student is not quite the young boy she thought he'd be. Dan is American and much older than her imagination led her to believe...and the chest hair!

This book will have you all up in your feels. While there are sad elements to the story, overall you will have a smile on your face. The characters are loveable, even if some are disagreeable. This is a sweet romance, not too steamy.

Thank you to Harper Collins UK, One More Chapter, and NetGally for the ARC. The opinions expressed are my own.

This book was a bit heavier than I thought it would be. Mom of 3 agrees to host a student, while still dealing with her grief. I thought the story was interesting from the start, though it could have been shorten by about 100 pages. I also thought the humor was a bit cringey, but as a mom of 3 thirsting over a 30 year old man, maybe their humor in real life would be cringey. I think this books needs to marketed more as fiction was romance on the side. Thanks a ton to the author and NetGalley for the arc!

Enjoyed this debut novel. Lots of LOL moments but also some sadness around coping after the death of Gaz. The overall story was uplifting as a family moved forward and helped others, with a few hiccups along the way and a will they, won’t they romance storyline.

A funny yet poignant story about a woman coping with grief and single motherhood: Cath's story is relatable, and she is an easy character to like. She struggles with herself, her kids and life in general but is clever and compassionate. Taking on a lodger proves to be life-changing and results in an emotional rollercoaster for the couple and the reader. I loved the laugh-out-loud moments in this story that balance the sadness and life battles so well. It's an easy read and perfect to escape with.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

This was absolutely brilliant. Loved, loved, loved the characters and it was just so heartwarming and uplifting. Highly recommended.

The Accidental Housemate tells the story of Cath as she is dealing with becoming a single mother of 3 and trying to support her children in their different endeavors while still financially supporting them. To solve her problem, Cath decides to bring in a student lodger after her oldest moves out to college.
I enjoyed Cath's quirky and almost clumsy self, along with the world she is placed in. There are plenty of well-fleshed-out side characters.
This book has great pacing and is a great balance between heavy and witty, with both deep moments and events filled with humor.

I very rarely do this with ARCs, but I have decided not to complete my reading of this one as I'm having too many issues connecting with the characters and the storyline, and I don't feel like it would be fair to finish just to force a bad rating. Since we must leave a star rating, I'm going to put an average rating down of 3 stars in acknowledgement that I did not finish this to actually give it an accurate rating.

The main character is honestly way to blunt and harsh with anyone who dares to upset her and it's actually quite upsetting for me to read someone who is so quick to anger and insult. She also has made so many comments about sugar being terrible and making you fat and it has made me just not enjoy or sympathize with her at all.
According to other reviews, it appears this is not much of a romance as it is women's fiction, and I wish the marketing and description had reflected that before I picked it up.

Thank you for the ARC and the opportunity to be an early reader. While this book wasn't for me, I hope this book is a thumbs up for other readers.

Cath suddenly lost her partner three years ago. She is having a hard time moving on from the grief and memories. When she is wrongfully terminated from her job, she takes in a college student as a boarder. What she was expecting was a teenager, what she got was a man closer to her own age. Yes it does go there as you would expect, but the book is so much more than that.

Very funny at times, although some of the humor is a little juvenile.

Labeled a romance, this book is really about Cath moving on with her life and the way she also helps others along the way. I loved the relationship she had with her children. There were times she wasn't present enough, but through growth and time, she is determined to make everything work.

The cast of characters is quite entertaining.

I would read more by this author.

Thanks to netgalley and One More Chapter for the arc.

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

I enjoyed reading this book.

Cath works as a teaching assistant and her life hasn’t been the same since she lost her husband. Even though her life has stayed the same, almost predictable, she doesn’t feel the need to make changes.

But, when her job is no more, Dan comes to live with her, as a lodger and Cath’s life is not as it was.

The story covered some hard subjects which the author handled sensitively.

I recommend this book.

A great read, ideal for holidays or me time.
Funny, entertaining and insightful. Life for Cathy has become predictable, a widow of three years she has existed until a job loss forces her to take in a lodger to make ends meet. Supposedly a university student
A laugh out loud family saga cum romantic comedy which had me laughing out loud .
Loved it and would recommend
Thank you to Netgalley, Harper Collins Uk- One More Chapter and Sal Thomas for letting me read this book in exchange for an honest review

3.5!

Cath Beckinsale is a mother to three and recently widowed from the death of her long-time partner. After a tumultuous part-time job ends, Cath is forced to make some changes to her life and family unit. One of these changes is accepting a student lodger from the local University. She expects an 18 year old boy from Kansas and instead gets a 30-something man from Arkansas.

I’d like to start by saying, I don’t think this book should be marketed as a romcom or even a romance really. Although there is a love story aspect to it, this is really about Cath and her navigating some big changes to her life three years after the death of her long-term partner. Some of the changes include a love interest but also a daughter going off to college, a teenage son going through puberty, the toddler being a kid, and personal struggles with her job and students. This story just feels more like a general fiction story with a bit of love for a happy ending.

The start of this story seems to move a bit slow. We have a lot of big emotions that every character seems to be facing and although we’re only in Cath’s head, it just took a long time to get into the meat of things (and maybe this goes back to how it really isn’t romance since the romance doesn’t start until halfway through).

Some things I think were done really well - the way that the big emotions were handled. Cath acknowledges that she’s never felt like she’s known who she is and so this whole journey in finding what’s right for her is done spectacularly. We see some screw-ups and the bad things behind some of those big emotions that she doesn’t handle well but we also see some compassion, love, and forgiveness along the way!

Cath is still grieving her husband after three years. Now, she looses her job, feels lost with her kids, and needs money. To solve her problems, she rents a room to American grad student, Dan.

This was a good book! BUT, do not go into this thinking it’s a romcom. It has a lot of funny parts, it’s a story about grief and finding your place in the world. I really liked Cath and how she strove to be a good person even though it was really hard at times. I also loved Dan, especially when he started melding with the kids and her family. Their relationship was well thought out and I enjoyed the slow burn.
The kids were a great comic relief. Honestly, this read like a great classic British romance movie filled with heart and sadness.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the gifted copy. My reviews are always honest.

A romcom with a mixture of comedic moments but underneath this lurks a novel that embraces some social issues. A mother bringing up 3 children after losing her partner and struggling to make ends meet after losing her job yet she does not look for unfair dismissal. She takes in a lodger who helps her find herself and move on