Title: Swimming For Beginners

Author: Nicola Gill

Genre: Fiction

Publisher: Bedford Square Publisher

Publication Date: 14th September 2023

Rating: 5/5

Cover:

Summary:

Loretta has life under control.

She’s good at avoiding things that make her uncomfortable, she’s chasing a big promotion at work, and she’s marrying a man whose five-year plan aligns perfectly with her own.

Children do not come into the mix.

This all changes, however, when a stranger in an airport asks Loretta to keep an eye on her sleeping six-year-old, Phoebe. The stranger never comes back.

Loretta knows that Phoebe’s life will change forever from that moment. But so will hers.

This strange little person in fairy wings will turn Loretta’s world upside down and cause her to question everything she knows about herself.

Dive into Nicola Gill’s heart-warming and relatable journey into the power of a child’s love and its ability to transcend motherhood.

Review:

As soon as I read the blurb of Swimming For Beginners, I knew I wanted to read it. Happily I can confirm it is just as brilliant as I was hoping and that I absolutely fell in love with these characters. Loretta is a character that I really identified with from the get go, recognising parts of myself in her, which made me instantly invested in this funny, sad and beautiful story of a chance connection that deepens into something so much more.

Swimming For Beginners has some truly heartwarming and heartbreaking moments but what I loved is that not once does it feel saccharine at all or forced in any way. The relationships and the characters feel real, flaws and all, and the way the plot unfolds is gorgeously engaging from start to finish. I loved the way Phoebe, the little girl who Loretta finds herself tied to, burrows her way into Loretta’s seemingly ordered and efficient life plan. This is the first book I’ve read by Nicola Gill but it certainly won’t be the last. Swimming For Beginners is one of the books I’ve most enjoyed reading this year. Warm, witty, delicately poignant and genuinely touching – I highly recommend picking this book up!

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Thank you so much to Anne Cater of Random Things Blog Tours for inviting me on this tour and organising it. I kindly received a copy of the book from the publisher. My review is entirely my own honest opinion.

Buy the book:

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