Originally posted on Dreaming With Open Eyes

In 2013 I read my first and last book by Miranda Dickinson. I loved Fairytale of New York so much that I can't believe I haven't read another book by Miranda since. So much time has passed and my TBR has grown and grown. While I was shopping last summer, I was wandering through a bookstore and saw The Day We Meet Again sitting on the shelf. Do you know that feeling when you build a connection with a book instantly? ... It smiles at you and screams “buy me” so that you have no other choice but to buy it.

When I first saw this book on the shelf I was bowled over by how beautiful the cover was but the story inside is much more wonderful. Miranda Dickinson’ gorgeous writing and the intriguing format the story is told in really did make this a special kind of novel. While I was in quarantine in the end of last year, recovering from Corona, I took the opportunity to downsize my TBR a bit and finally started reading The Day We Meet Again and I haven't regretted it at all.

I loved the concept of The Day We Meet Again. At the beginning, we’re introduced to 32-year-old Phoebe Jones, who has completed a PhD in literature recently worked in publicity. She is on her way to Pancras Station to have a trip of her lifetime. Phoebe is incredibly nervous about this trip. Her friends don’t think she will go through with it, not even Phoebe doesn’t think she can go through with it but she has gathered all her courage and thinks that nothing can change her mind. Thats why she is way too early at the train station to catch her train to Paris. She didn’t expect there to be a delay with her train, well all trains heading from her station actually, a four-hour delay. This is not good, four hours gives Phoebe time to think and thinking is bad when you’re not sure you can go through with your plans.

Thats the moment when Pheobe meets Sam Mullins, a musician who is on his way to Scotland, hoping to find his father. As soon as the two meet, you can literally feel the sparks fly. They settle in a cafe awaiting the trains to start running again. The unexpected meeting and the kiss that followed changed everything for them and they didn’t expect to fall for one another in just a few hours. Anyway, Pheobe still wants to travel Europe and Sam wants to find his father so they decide to follow their jounrneys and if they feel the same about each other in one years time, they will meet by St. John Betjeman's Statue. Is their attraction strong enough to meet again after a year full of travel, music, laughter and tears?

This book certainly has the 'Aah' factor. I loved that chapters switches between Sam and Phoebe so the reader has the oppertunity to read from both charaters side of view. We are told where they are and what they are doing. The story wasn't as predictable as I thought it would be. There are a few unexpected twists to keep your interest.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I found I had to push through the a few chapters in the middle to keep my interest up but once I continued to read, I found it difficult to put the book down. The Meeting by the statue is my faourite part of the book. It’s so romantic! This is one of those moments that you wish to experience for yourself.

It was Sam who I completely fell for. I listend to the audio book while reading and I found his voice so sexy! The voice went very well with the character. What I liked most about this book is the fact that it seemed very real. The story is closer to what would actually happen in real life rather than some easy, no drama fairytale where everything is great all of the time. There’s definitely a lot of hard decisions that the characters face and it was really good in that aspect. In terms of a love story this one if so frustrating. I did have so many moments where I wanted to slap some sense into both Phoebe and Sam though! While they were apart, they agreed only to contact each other once a month. Well, that didn't last long and I did so enjoy their text messages as they began to get to know each other more. These two don't communicate well, and so I was never entirely sure that they were building foundations or holding on to something worthwhile.

Their journeys is dramatic, beautiful, chaotic and combined, a bit of a tearjerker. Its all that you can expect from a Miranda Dickinson’s book. I would love to go to the cinema and watch this on the big screen, it would make a perfect film.

Romance is so-so. Background characters and locations are great.

The first half of the book was great but the rest just fell flat for it dropped.it wasn’t even funny I got annoyed with all the characters and didn’t even care whether I should finish it or not. Very disappointing and underwhelming.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. This is a heartfelt and beautiful story which I highly recommend to anyone who loves a love story. A lot can happen in a year, this book is the tale of two people who agree to meet in a year if they still want to be together.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
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How can so much miscommunication happen in a book themed around communicating via letters, postcards, emails and phone calls?! This book drove me wild with impatience. The year timeline also sped up and down at a moments notice which made it a little hard to follow. Especially when it ended up being 18 months roughly in total. I would recommend as an easy chilled read but it’s not a book I’d reread.

An insta-love story with an almost immediate forced separation? Count me in on that. Miranda Dickinson’s novel tells a story of two strangers who meet during a prolonged train delay and fall in love. (Don’t you wish that could happen to you during transport delays?) The problem is, both Phoebe and Sam are about to start big, important year long journeys. Neither of them had planned on allowing for a relationship to complicate their trips. But in the space of several hours, they decide that if they feel the same way about each other in exactly one year, they will meet again at St Pancras station. If they don’t…well, they don’t turn up. No hard feelings, right?

It’s the start of a love story that just begs to be made into a movie. And in true movie style, Phoebe and Sam have made rules. They can send postcards to each other and texts with the occasional phone call. So it’s not quite the pining lack of contact that brings them back together at the end of the year. Rather, it’s the endless analysis of what he or she said or didn’t say that threaten to drive the couple apart before they’ve even properly started. Sam is off to find the father who left his life as a child and get over an awkward breakup. Phoebe is trying to spread her wings, gain confidence and live on a whim. Because they don’t really know each other that well, Sam doesn’t know that Phoebe tends to anxiously overanalyse everything and Phoebe isn’t aware that Sam can barely talk about feelings and his past. That’s where the fairy tale instant attraction love tends to wither rather quickly. With only limited contact, the pair hang on to every word of the other, examining it until they find a potential fault. Phoebe’s impetuous ‘I love you’ has Sam freaking out, followed by Phoebe convinced that she’s driving him away. Sam’s lack of in-depth discussion of finding his father has Phoebe convinced that he doesn’t want to tell her everything when Sam just doesn’t know how to say it.

Told in alternating chapters by the main characters in first person, this analysis of the other’s words got a bit wearing for me. Knowing exactly what was going on, I found the rehash of Sam’s/Phoebe’s take on whatever the other had/hadn’t said repetitive. Perhaps this part of the story would have been better told in larger chunks by one character so the reader didn’t have the omnipotent view. Phoebe’s jitters, which didn’t have a clear reason, were also irritating sometimes. It would have been good to have some backstory as to why she was so cautious to be on her own, especially given Sam had a rather detailed background. To me, Phoebe came across as immature which didn’t match her age or her educational background (I have no idea how she managed to write her PhD thesis when she is so indecisive)!

There are a lot of near misses in this book, especially towards the end. It’s a sweet idea, but bogged down by the continuous introspection and a lack of growth in Phoebe. Probably a good pool or plane read, but some nights I just couldn’t face the continuous revising of the characters’ actions towards each other.

Thank you to Harlequin for the ARC of this book. My review is honest.

3.75. A perfect book when you are looking for a light easy romance. The only thing missing is an epilogue.

I bought this book during one of Amazon's Daily Deals a few months back. I wanted to love this book, I really did. I loved the premise and I loved Sam! However, I found myself skipping through a lot of it and I really did not care for Phoebe.

Sam and Phoebe meet at a train station on June 14th. They instantly form a connection while waiting during a six hour train delay. Phoebe is getting ready to embark on a journey through Europe. She has been planning this for a while. Sam is traveling to his home country, Scotland. They decide to meet back in a year at the exact same spot that they met. At first, they decide to keep in touch vaguely at first thought emails and postcards. However, they text each other and sometimes call. I figured that during the year that there would be temptations for both characters and that one would cave. Luckily that didn't happen even though Sam was tempted. What I didn't like about this book is that the majority of it happened during the year they weren't together. So I didn't get to see Sam and Phoebe together a lot. When it did come time to meet back up, Phoebe got cold feet and had a friend leave Sam a message saying she wasn't going to meet him. That pissed me off. Even though they got together at the end, I am still only giving this one 3 stars.