Series: The Railway Lane #2 (Standalone)
Publication Date: 16th June 2023
Genre: Contemporary Small Town Romance
3.7 Stars
One Liner: Sweet and enjoyable
Workaholic Katy Smith is made redundant at the 5-star hotel she managed and achieved great heights. With the industry in a slump, Katy doesn’t find good job opportunities despite her glowing career graph. Drunk and sad, she applies for a job at random to find out that it’s neither a hotel nor an active railway station. But a job is a job, isn’t it?
Ryan enjoyed success as a chef in Rome before his career ended in a wreck. Back home, he has to deal with the mess of his parents’ broken marriage and his confidence issues. Katy’s arrival seems to have sorted the place but what about his career and future?
Can the two find a new beginning in the sleepy small town?
The story comes in the limited third-person POV of Katy and Ryan.
My Thoughts:
I quite enjoyed book one in the series and hoped this would deliver on the same level. Fortunately, it almost succeeds. While I did like the first book better, this one is charming in its own way.
Katy and Ryan are well-defined characters with their own burdens and issues. Bob’s character arc is well done, and I like the change we see by the end (even if it feels a little abrupt, as we don’t get his POV).
The side characters are often present and add to the small-town atmosphere. Harriet is more confident and happy in this one. Flora and Libby stay true to their characters. The adorable golden retriever, Paddington, also appears more than once.
My issue is with the info dump in the initial chapters. We get Katy’s life story in her first chapter and Ryan’s in his. Reading their backstories in the first and second chapters of the book feels like an overload. While some information is necessary, the rest isn’t. Furthermore, some details are repeated a few times as the characters converse with others. Removing the repetitions from the beginning would tighten the narration.
The plotline, as such, is predictable. But that’s why I read small-town romances (this is a clean romance with a few kisses), so no complaints. Moreover, it’s nice to see how Katy’s professional expertise brings better opportunities for the village without destroying its natural beauty.
The book deals with themes like family, relationships, home, love, friendship, self-confidence, etc. While most of them were handled well, I did wish for a little more depth in Katy’s relationship with her mother towards the end.
I suspect we’ll have to wait for Ethan’s book to fully sort out the family dynamics and past secrets. While there is a satisfactory resolution here, we also know there are a couple of loose ends.
I like that there are no third-act breakups or misunderstandings. The book sustains the feel-good vibes throughout.
To summarize, New Beginnings on Railway Lane is a cute, sweet, and light-hearted romance with strong supporting characters and a charming setting. This works great as a standalone but will be more enjoyable if you read book one.
Thank you, NetGalley and Boldwood Books, for the eARC.
#NetGalley #NewBeginningsonRailwayLane
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