Eight Perfect Hours

Product Information

In this romantic and heartwarming novel, two strangers meet in chance circumstances during a blizzard and spend one perfect evening together, thinking they’ll never see each other again. But fate seems to have different plans. That’s what happened to Noelle Butterby’s path crosses with charming, sweet Sam: possibly her soul mate.

In fact, once she knows her mother is okay, she doesn’t want to be rescued. Not only is she sharing great conversation, she has time to just be. Be herself. For the first time in a very long time. And they share eight perfect hours. Then fate steps in (or is it coincidence?) and the two meet again at the hospital. I really enjoyed this romantic story of Noelle and Sam although it took a while for this one to really get going for me. I thought it took several realistic turns. It did make me think more about fate, love at first sight, etc. and whether you are meant to be with someone. Nell is doing the best she can taking care of her mother and cleaning flats to earn money. Her former beau Ed has returned home and though he still doesn’t approve of the way Nell caters to her mother, he and Nell still spend time considerable time together. Sam is one of those serendipitous encounters. They meet during a snow storm. And again when the mutual parents are in the hospital. And agin….. A tune now,” says the DJ on the radio, “ to warm us all up. And what a swizz we can never have this at Christmas, eh, because it really is coming down out there.”

Customer reviews

When Noelle and Sam discuss the way they lived life after dealing with the deaths of people close to them when they were younger, Sam says he was afraid to stop living and we know that Noelle is afraid to live too much. What do you think of these different reactions to dealing with loss? Do you have any experience with tending toward one or the other? The road opens and the two carry on with their lives. But fate has other plans for this couple, as serendipity throws them together again and again. Perhaps there is something more in play here besides mere coincidence? Book Review Eight Perfect Hours by Lia Louis is a contemporary romance that is for those that believe in serendipitiy and twists of fate to find ones soulmate. The story is a slower build as the couple come together time and again. Q: Do you have any favorite books, movies, or tv shows that helped inspire you as you were writing Eight Perfect Hours?

This one didn’t quite have the same emotional punch for me, as DEAR EMMIE BLUE, maybe because I didn’t feel as much spark (it could be rated G) or maybe because much of the book takes place while the characters are apart, but the author does a fantastic job of coming full circle and returning to the secret held within the camera, much as she did, with the secret associated with the balloon in the last book.Our main character, Noelle Butterby, has just left her college reunion heartbroken and now she’s stranded in a snowstorm on the roadway. Her older car is unreliable, and she can’t charge her phone. A handsome stranger in a nearby car comes to the rescue and the two spend “eight perfect hours” together talking and connecting. Then the road finally clears up and they go their separate ways. Eight Perfect Hours is my second book by Lia Louis and she definitely has a distinct writing style. I loved the premise of this book and especially enjoyed the way that Noelle and Sam met. They had the perfect evening together amidst the bad situation they found themselves in. After that night, Sam stayed on Noelle's mind, even though the likelihood of her seeing him again was low. Or so she thought. Sorry - I couldn’t get that silly thought out of my head after finishing this adorable little gem of a book. Honestly, I’ve never seen so many convenient circumstances at work to move a plot towards its conclusion, but that’s really the point of this book: is life just a series of happenstance circumstances or does fate lead us to our destiny?

The night Noelle Butterby gets stranded on the motorway her life changes in an instant. As a blizzard hits and the road closes, Noelle starts to panic. Once her phone dies things go from bad to worse, that is until someone taps on her car window.

Noelle notices that if everything that went wrong that day in the snowstorm hadn’t happened, she and Sam may not have met. Do you think this is a random string of events with a happy accident? Or fate? How does the theme of chance versus destiny continue to play out over the course of the book?

Noelle is on a journey of self-growth throughout the book. She learns to stand up for herself and ask for help. She begins to take charge and go after her dreams. I really liked how Noelle grew and became more confident in herself by the end. The two strangers part, positive they’ll never see each other again, but fate, it seems, has a different plan. As the two keep serendipitously bumping into one another, they begin to realize that perhaps there truly is no such thing as coincidence. The Review:Special thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for sharing this amazing reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest thoughts. The camera wasn’t there. That’s something that hasn’t helped with the tears situation, either, the fact that Daisy’s camera full of twenty-four undeveloped photos wasn’t there in the time capsule. And granted, lots of things weren’t there tonight, including half of the attendees who’d sent in their RSVPs for the reunion, the photographer from the local paper, and the barbecue and beer tents the college had advertised. The snow and traffic had thwarted everything. But I know Daisy had put her camera in her plastic envelope along with her letter before it was buried all those years ago, and I’d known just from the weight of it when they handed it to me tonight, that it wasn’t inside. This is charming, funny and well-written, with wonderful, vibrant characters and a story that will win your heart. The chemistry between Noelle and Sam is ‘turn-the-fan-on-high’ palpable, but completely closed-door, so no raging fires, but those glowing embers are still hot enough! Apart from romance, it’s also just a wonderful story about two people growing into who they’re meant to be - leaving some aspects of the past behind, while also discovering how much other aspects have determined their future.