How I enjoyed this book! Red has just moved to a new home with his Mum and Frank lives next door. A retired man, struggling with the grief from losing his wife.
Gradually, they build a bond, providing each other with what they didn't know they needed. A heartwarming, funny tale. Thoroughly enjoyed it and would highly recommend.

The premise here is thoughtful and definitely hooked me from the outset. Frank and Red become neighbours in a London suburb - Frank is a widower, a man struggling with life, and estrangement from his son, Mikey, and Red is a 6-year-old autistic boy (not explicitly stated but is evidently the case) who has moved next door with is mum, Sarah.

To start with, Frank is the grumpy old man next door. But over time, Frank and Red strike up an unlikely friendship, one that shows how bonds can cross age boundaries and how people can come out of it in a much better place.

There are some lovely themes in this book and it’s a great example of male bonding and how the unlikely can happen. For me, Red seems older than 6 . Parts of his reflection diary (written after being excluded from school) are far too accomplished for a 6-year-old. Also, Jake, Red’s nemesis, seems much more like a teenage bully than a little boy.

I enjoyed this but the first part is more accomplished and has better writing. Near the end, Coyne writes ‘… his heart about to explode through his arse’ and this is one example of the prose that seems sloppy. Some tighter rewriting would have made this a stronger read, overall.

All in all, a good read about triumphing over adversity.

A proper comfort warm hug of a book. A grumpy grief stricken Frank gains a new neighbour in the form of seven year old Red after the breakdown of Reds parents relationship. Red and his mother move in next door and a vibrant, noisy young child is not what Frank needs! But an unlikely friendship forms as they lean on each other to deal with their own trauma…. For Frank it is the loss of his beloved wife and the impact it had on this relationship with their only son…. And for Red it is dealing with the upheaval in his life, the rejection by his Dad and difficulties settling into a new school.
It’s a book that contains all that you’d hope for… smiles, laughter, tears. No shock endings or twists… just a whole heap of warmth.

4-5 stars rounded up

What a debut from Matt Coyne!
Frank is a curmudgeonly loner since the death of his wife, Marcie, whose ghost does her best to cheer him along or put him straight on a few things. His house and garden are now neglected and he’s turned his back on the world. Then Red and his mum Sarah move in next door. Red, which is not his real name as he’ll inform you, is six. He’s had to leave the security of his old home which he loves, his school and his best friend, when his parents marriage fell apart after his dad left for another woman. I’ll leave her description to Sarah as she sums her up so well. To say Red is a curious child doesn’t do him justice, his questions and thoughts defy description. Will Frank and Red be friends, or will Frank continue to turn his back on the friendly overtures?

Oh Red, Red! I fall in love with you as soon as I meet you on these pages. He’s a glorious child, creative, inquisitive, he asks baffling questions, his liveliness, his rhinoceros hide when it comes to Frank are all just a sheer delight. What a creation Matt Coyne!! His wonderful malapropisms from his childhood innocence are a joy to behold! He makes me hoot with laughter on more than one occasion and when he comes up against the class bully in his new school, I want to hug him and shake the bully. You really feel for him joining a new class, he’s an outsider and his loneliness at this point breaks your heart.

What of Frank? Yes, at times, he’s a pain in the proverbial as he’s so grumpy yet he’s also funny in his own unique way. The poor fella is deep in grief for the loss of his beloved wife and the unfairness of that which he feels it in every fibre of his body. His sadness seeps off the pages. Yet he is brought back to life in this fabulous story of an unlikely friendship.

It’s a terrific, emotional read, it’s moving and sad and my eyes do fill with tears on a couple of occasions but it’s peppered with delicious humour and definitely leaves me with a daft smile on my face! Despite the issues that the book deals with, it’s a wonderful and joyful book. Highly recommended.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Headline, Wildfire for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

I first heard about this book in the publisher's 2024 sneak peak showcase, and it immediately grabbed my attention, so when it became available on NetGalley, I jumped at the chance the read it.

I instantly loved Frank. I' not sure we're meant to, especially at first. He's a miserly, miserable, grumpy man who seems to hate everyone and everything, but there was something about him that just clicked and I couldn't wait to go on this journey with him. And then we have Red, who is the complete opposite - which isn't surprising given that he's a six year old boy. Because of that, I struggled to connect with him on a personal level, but he was equally as good a character creation as Frank, and I think they bounced off each other well. I think they each made the other character even better.

They give each other something: innocence and fun and wonder, trust and love.

Red teaches Frank to love again and to be brave, and Frank teaches Red to be understanding and, again, be brave. They're like the same soul at two ends of the spectrum of life, and they're just delightful.

We see chapters from Frank's perspective, and then from Red's. Some chapters are long, and some are a sentence long, it's like their inner thoughts. The scenes from Frank's perspective do go back and forward in time, but it wasn't confusing skipping in and out of it, and it felt like the perfect way to explore just what has happened to make Frank the way he is now.

I won't go into too much detail for fear of spoilers, but there are some difficult topics such as terminal illness, death, grief, loneliness, and bereavement, which I found very sensitively done. It felt very real and relatable but not over the top. It can be difficult to write what grief feels like, because there just aren't the right words, but Matt has done a pretty fine job in this book, and got as close as anyone I have read before.

Even though I heard Matt speak about the book, and I'd looked it up, I didn't 100% know exactly what I was expecting in terms of genre or feeling etc. but whilst it has its difficult points, it is like a cuddle, there's a warmth to it that doesn't always come through in novels.

I wasn't completely sure if this was Matt's debut book or not. Eventually I found out that whilst he has published non-fiction books before, this is his debut novel, and it is blooming fabulous for any author, let alone a debut one, to achieve something so utterly fabulous. It is one that you will definitely want to add to your TBR list and I feel very honoured to have been trusted with an early copy.

It is such a lovely book. There's lots more to it than that, but at the very basic level, it is lovely to read. Overall it's a book about friendship and caring, and it just leaves you with such a warming and cuddly feeling. I definitely recommend it to anyone who wants an uplifting story of redemption and love.

It's just so gorgeous and heartwarming and sad and joyful and life affirming, and I couldn't recommend it higher. Definitely one that'll make it on my 2024 best books list!

Red and his Mum have just moved into a new house having left their previous life with Red’s Dad and their comfortable home and school with friends. Red is a very perceptive child and wants to put on a happy face to keep his Mum cheerful.
Frank lives alone, his wife having died a couple of years previously. However, he see her ghost regularly and holds long conversations with her knowing she is always going to nag him about making contact with their son after an acrimonious argument because Frank and Marcie had withheld details of her illness, wanting to protect Mikey. Frank now won’t venture beyond his front door, afraid to go out or see anyone.
Red is a breath of fresh air. His view of life is simple and he wants to be friends with the Mister next door. He mistakes words - long words most 6 year olds don’t know, so he simplifies them, converting psychopath to cycle path when describing the class bully who starts to make Red’s life at school miserable. But he knows he can’t tell his Mum without upsetting her and making her feel guilty. He thinks if he tells his Dad, his parents can get back together and they move back to their old home, school and friends.
But life doesn’t work like that and what starts off as a chatty 6 year old interrupting Frank’s daily routine ends in a friendship which helps them both.

What a delightful read this is. It took me right out of all the sadness and misery in the world at the moment, and into the world of young Red, and grumpy Frank, aided by the ghostly manifestation of Frank’s late wife Marcie. What a character she was.
The author has a clear understanding of how a young child’s brain works, in its anxieties and assumptions, and the relentlessness of their questioning techniques.
He also shows a great deal of empathy with the widowed Frank, and how his grief has marooned him in his own home, to the exclusion of almost all human contact.
The reasons for Frank and his son Mikey being at loggerheads, not communicating, and explaining it as ‘ It’s complicated’ probably resonates with a number of readers. It’s a scenario which happens so often with families immersed in their own grief. It certainly did with me.
I laughed, chuckled and wiped away the odd tear reading this lovely story. Red’s mispronunciations were very amusing, as was his mimicking of words adults shouldn’t be using around children. Careful!
My only reservation was around the level of Red’s reading, writing and spelling skills for a six- almost seven year old. Red must be one very smart cookie! But I was happy to suspend disbelief, and give Red the benefit of the doubt.
I look forward to reading more from this author, as a debut novel this is a cracker. A feel- good book, for sure.
My thanks to the author and Netgalley for my advance copy of this book. Recommended.

This is definitely a feel good story. It’s a bit like a modern day ‘Goodnight Mr Tom’. A young boy moves next door to a grumpy old man grieving his wife. The six year old Red is optimistic, outgoing and a chatterbox ; the sixty eight year old Frank is pessimistic, introvert and monosyllabic (most of the time). And Frank talks to the ghost of his wife. Red has a tough time at the new school making friends while Frank has given up on his relationship with his son. Frank and Red are unlikely mates but circumstances throw them together.
It’s a lovely gentle story about grief, change, emotions, relationships. I did wonder about some of the things that Red is capable of doing - his reflection diary being a case in point! I suspended belief in the latter stages . An accomplished debut. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for a prepublication ebook.

A book about an unlikely friendship, six year old red and the grumpy old man that lives next door. Lots of humour in this story of two lonely people, a child new to the area and a widower who is lost since his wife died. Tears, laughter, this book is full of emotion and a real joy to read.

Thanks to Netgalley for an advanced copy

Grab this one or any of the author’s books at curl up and enjoy the wild ride. You won’t be disappointed.

A treasure of a read with more than a story- one of my books of the year
Franklin lost his wife a while back and has been living next to an empty house which suited him as it was quiet. The neighbours on the other side got him his shopping as he hasn't been further than the garden gate since. One day he hears a noise and finds a young boy bouncing on a trampoline, just what he didn't need, his peace is now shattered. Add to this, the other neighbours have gone away without telling him and his day is really made- not! Frank has been seeing his wife Marcie as a sort of a ghost. Occasionally she gets mad at him for his curmudgeonly ways and disappears for a few days. They have a son, who sadly blames Frank for not telling him that his mother was dying- something which was Marcie's choice and now they are estranged. Red, the young boy is curious about Frank and gets him talking and so sparks an unlikely friendship, one of mutual benefit, as both are lonely in different ways. The combination of experience and youth provides a wonderful platform for discussion and laughter and an adventure for Red who is just doing his very best.

Oh what a treasure of a book. I loved Frank, Sarah and Red each in their own individual very different ways. Frank has got himself into a rut, something Red also sees himself in and life has been difficult for Sarah but she is the person who does her very best to be positive, especially where Red is concerned. She nursed Frank's wife and so knows a little of his back story and is pulled between her work at the hospice and doing her best for Red. I smiled, I nearly cried, I wanted to read Frank's books. If you need a heart-warming story this could be the one- its one to restore faith in human nature. A brilliantly stunning debut novel I cant recommend highly enough.


For more reviews please follow me on Twitter or Threads @nickisbookblog
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This was a lovely read about two troubled souls learning to adjust to their lives as they now are. Six year old Red is coming to terms with his parents separation which has meant he had to move house to a completely different part of London where he doesn’t know anyone and has to adapt to being the new boy at school whereas sexagenarian Frank has struggled to cope since his wife died and is now living a small life within the confines of his home which he finds disrupted when Red and his mum move next door. The dynamic between the two characters is great and there’s a lot of humour in this but each has quite a moving story too which adds so much depth to this thoughtful read. I do like multigenerational reads but I do think that Red’s own troubles make this a much stronger story than many I’ve read before and I really loved this fictional duo.

“The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed.”

The most unlikely of friendships, but somehow, two people who are decades apart in age, are thrown together by circumstance and what follows warms the heart to see just how the relationship develops.

Six year old Red has had to leave the only life he’s ever known after his mum and dad separated. So he’s in a new home with his mum, miles away from his friends, and he doesn’t see much of his dad anymore either since he met Tits and Teeth (well that’s what his mum and auntie call dad’s girlfriend when they think he’s not listening).

He hates the new house, it’s tiny compared to his old house, he hates his new school, none of the kids speak to him, excluding him at playtime, and one boy in particular is a real bully. It’s no better at home, no one to play with, and then there’s Frank, the grumpy old man next door who’s really mean.

The only good thing about home for Red is the trampoline - not so for Frank however, from the minute he sees the blonde head jumping above the fence he senses trouble, and that’s not to mention the darned squeaking noise that accompanies the face appearing every second, especially as Red insists on talking to him and constantly firing questions at him.

It’s fair to say that things get off on the wrong foot - both Frank and Red are lonely, though Frank isn’t interested in anyone or anything any more, he’s become reclusive and doesn’t leave home since his wife Marcie died, he’s even fallen out with his son Mikey. He talks to Marcie constantly when she appears, but isn’t sure if she’s really there or whether it’s a figment of his imagination. Anyway, he doesn’t want a nosey little brat bothering him that’s for sure!

It was an absolute joy to see how this unlikely relationship blossoms. It was an emotional journey, but was peppered with lots of humour along the way and I loved it. Definitely recommended!

*Thank you to Netgalley and Headline, Wildfire for my ARC in exchange for an honest unbiased review *

Not an original story, but light and warm hearted. I enjoyed it, but found it lost its way towards the end, with rather a lot of introspection from a six year old. Also hard to believe that he'd be capable of completing a 5000 piece jigsaw in a few days (and how did it fit on the table?) as well as other stuff which I won't mention as I don't want to leave a spoiler.

I enjoy a heartwarming book, but must admit when I first started this I thought it was going to turn into one of the slightly saccharin genre where a grumpy old man changes his ways thanks to an unexpected stranger/ neighbour. However, although it does follow a similar trajectory, a bit like Frank I found myself warming to Red and really enjoyed their relationship and moments of farcical comedy, and well written grief.
Thank you to netgalley and headline books for an advance copy of this book

There really is something about books featuring unlikely friendships and found family isn’t there?
This is a light hearted, heartwarming story about two people who seemingly have nothing in common, trying to deal with the hand that life has given them. It’s really funny and touching in parts but drags and is a little superficial in parts. I felt like the characters could have been fleshed out a little further. Having said that, I did enjoy it and would read another from this author.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to review an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

This is an engaging, compelling and heartwarming story about an unlikely friendship between a six year old boy, Red and his elderly neighbour, Frank. Both are dealing with major life changes - Red with his parents’ divorce and subsequent house move and new school, Frank with agoraphobia linked to his wife’s death and estrangement from his only son. The story is funny, poignant and well observed. The writing evokes both tears and laughter in an authentic and believable way.

With thanks to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an advance copy.

Frank is a widower who drinks too much,smokes too much and swears too much. He is content in his miserable little world.

That world is shattered by the arrival next door of a six year old whirlwind called Red who refuses to be ignored.

What emerges is a battle between youthful exuberance and late middle age misanthropy and a tale of unlikely friendship.

This is Matt Coyne's first novel and I hope it won't be his last as I thoroughly enjoyed it!

I would like to thank Netgalley and Wildfire Publishing for the chance to read and review this book

Frank is old and tired and hates everyone and everything. Red is young and disillusioned and thinks everyone and everything hates him. This is a beautifully-told story of how two very different people come together, heal each other and find a positive new life. Laugh out loud, shed a tear in their lowest moments - a proper feel-good book.

Frank and Red is a joy to read, the opening pages had me howling with laughter.
Frank a widower is still grieving for his wife despite her ‘ghost’ popping up now and then. Estranged from his son, wanting nothing to do with his old friends he is leading an isolated agoraphobic life.
Enter Red a six year old boy who has just moved next door with his mother after his parents separate.Red is an intelligent talkative six year old now having to deal with the split, leaving their old home and friends and having to start at a new school. Driving Frank mad when he starts bouncing in his trampoline in the adjoining gardens he doesn’t stop ask Frank questions. Due to an event at school Frank ends up looking after Red for a week whilst Reds mother works in the day.
A relationship develops that helps both of them, with many laugh out loud moments and some of the wittiest dialogue I’ve ever read we have two wonderful characters with a depth that is breathtaking.
Dealing with subjects of grief and bullying extremely well that gives much depth to this story. This is an entertaining and joyous book, one of the best I’ve read in a long while. Well done Mr Coyne and thank you.
My thanks to net galley and publisher for the opportunity to review this book honestly.