I listened to the audiobook, and it was narrated beautifully! I absolutely fell in love with the characters.

I loved how the story of Bethan and Lochy starts with notes being exchanged. Such a cute idea! I enjoyed meeting Bert and Ernie. Little Noah was so sweet, too!

There was drama and tension, laughter and tears, and above all, feel-good romance. This is what I would hope from a Miranda Dickinson novel, and I wasn't disappointed!

Such a wonderful cute story! I would love it to be adapted to the big screen!!! The building of their friendship is so well written and proves that friendship is a built of a strong relationship. And who doesn’t like cats!

I loved this romantic, feel-good book, which is about Bethan and Lachlan, who get close to each other, after each of them write notes to each other from their house windows. I loved both of their journeys in life, and how they were both working hard to overcome their struggles.

The audiobook narrators were amazing, and I loved the fact that there was a male and a female voice, as this really brought the story to life.

If you are looking for a sweet, easy to read novel which is filled to the brim with life experiences, love, romance, togetherness and good energy, then you will love this book. Highly recommended!

Many thanks to the author/narrators, publisher and NetGalley for a copy of this book.

Do people ever really get together by writing notes to each other in windows? I’m not sure they do, but I wish they would. The Start of Something is just a lovely, happy story for those incurable romantics out there. There are lots of times when I wanted to slap the two main characters, Lachlan and Bethan, just for being so pig-headed and not talking to each other! Come on, you’re adults, stop behaving like kids!

Bethan doesn’t want Lachie to know she is a single mum and Lachie doesn’t want Bethan to know he’s suffering from a severe leg injury, each have their own reasons for keeping things to themselves - for now.

Lachie is currently on leave from the army, recovering from a car accident. He has a dog and a cat called Bert and Ernie. The names made me smile and the antics of the two were entertaining throughout the story. Bethan has a three-year-old son called Noah, works in a garden centre and is trying to rebuild her life following a difficult break-up.

I enjoyed The Start of Something as an Audiobook, read by Claire Morgan and Simon Pothecary. They were brilliant and made each character seem real and believable. Particularly Claire, with her Welsh accent was fantastic, bringing the character of Bethan to life.

I would recommend The Start of Something for anyone who loves a cheesy romance. It’s an easy read or listen, and ideal for whiling away a few hours on the beach.

Thank you to NetGalley and HQ for the opportunity to listen to and review an ARC of The Start of Something by Miranda Dickinson.

Really enjoyed this sweet story although I had read a book with a similar idea recently. It was a lovely light read. Loved the Welsh narrator - but then I am biased as I grew up in Wales. I do love a happy ending.

Another fantastic immersive read, as usual Miranda Dickinson.
Lachlan alone in his flat observing life outside his flat wanted to communicate with the flat opposite, so starts a written conversation on his window.
Bethan just starting afresh in her new flat, notices the flat opposite has left a message, starting something!
I loved the suspense about the background of both characters their frustration at life but still hopeful.
I couldn’t put the book down, I had butterflies, moments of anger at the unfairness at times but most of all was consumed from start to finish, and left with the biggest book hangover ever!!

Lachlan is at home, recuperating from a car accident that cut his Army career short. Beth Gwynne is his new neighbour, a single mum to Noah, struggling to make a new life far from her native Wales. When Lachlan notices some bright flowers in a window, he reaches out and writes a message.
This is such a sweet story, some likeable characters navigating a path to romance that isn’t exactly smooth. There is a dramatic subplot regarding Lachlan’s accident and Beth’s job at the local nursery, which saves it from being too soppy and lends a more realistic tone to the narrative. A great read, heart-warmingly good.
Many thanks to NetGalley for the advance audiobook, brilliantly read by Simon Pothecary and Claire Morgan at Harper Collins Audio.

The Start of Something is a pleasant romance following two lonely souls who find love through notes in their window.

One of my favourite things about Miranda Dickinson books are the adorable, heart-fluttering moments she includes in the development of the romance. When Bethan and Lachlan first interact, the anticipation and excitement the characters feel is infectious. However, this does read like an insta-love book, which means the realistic element is missing.

Additionally, the inevitable conflict is too drawn out. Both Lachlan and Bethan's frustrations with their (easily resolvable) misunderstanding quickly become repetitive. Every time they considered one another; their expressions were the same until the resolution. As a result, I found it difficult to really invest in the love story because it spent too long as a broken relationship than a budding one. And despite my love of the characters as individuals, their story feels too lengthy.

The side characters bring some personality to the story and blend seamlessly into Lachlan and Bethan's lives. Since their personal challenges outside of the romance take up plenty of space in the plot, it was nice to have a wave of personalities to flesh out this element.

I usually adore the dreamy romances in Miranda Dickinson's books, but sadly this one just didn't work for me. Still, I enjoyed the authors warm and palpable writing and the personalities of her characters.

This one was just a very average and far fetched romance novel. I found it a little cheesy and highly unrealistic at times. The characters annoyed me a bit too. But overall it was an easy and simple read that did what it said on the tin.

This was an easy, lighthearted read. I did find it a bit silly and far fetched at parts, they leave each other a few window messages and suddenly they’re in love and the most important part of each other’s lives. I felt the storyline with Locky was included just to make it seem there was more to the book that window messages and the main characters romance.

I really loved this book and couldn't turn the audiobook off! It's such a lovely gentle story of a romance against the odds with enough intrigue and interest to not get boring. It gave me strong FlatShare vibes which was another of my favourite lighthearted reads. The characters were well developed and the plot moved at a nice pace. Overall I would thoroughly recommend giving it a read.

Thank you to Netgalley, HarperCollins UK Audio and Miranda Dickinson for an audio-ARC in return for an honest review.

What a delightful little read. A romantic love story which really comes to life. Really recommend.
The narrators; Claire Morgan and Simon Pothecary suit the characters perfectly.

This is a nice gentle story of two neighbors who live opposite each other. You can feel the story begin and stretch into something that makes you want more and more. Bethan and Lachlan have great chemistry when they do meet and you can picture what's happening so clearly

Nice, cosy read!
Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me access an advance copy of this audiobook in exchange for my feedback.

I blitzed through this book over the weekend as I just could not get enough. Light and witty I enjoyed every second. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was everything I needed to read right now. It is full of hope and feeling and positivity and all of that comes from a place of zero judgement so I just loved it.
This book is told from the perspective of Lachie and Bethan. I love a dual narrative, but I love it even more when there's the chance that those two narratives are going to cross paths and fall in love and you get the feeling that might just happen in this case right from the word go. This book is also the slowest possible burn. All the information we get about these two amazing people is just so slowly drip fed to us, they are so intriguing and so you just have to keep turning the pages!

Lachie is living in his flat with his cat and dog, we know he has been injured but we don't know how and we don't know what the fallout from that is going to be. Bethan has just moved into the flats across the street and we know that she has experienced some unhappiness but again we don't know what. It is almost infuriating waiting for details about these two and what impact that is going to have on the storyline. Of course being a dual narrative, as soon as we do get some key details, we switch back to the other side of the hedge-just so clever.

As mentioned above, this is full of the trademark Miranda Dickinson positivity. We know these two characters obviously have it tough but they are trying to make the most of it, trying to find the beauty in life and trying to work as hard as they can to ensure their own stamp on the world but they are also honest about how they're feeling, even if they don't always share that until the last minute. I love how we get to see Lachie open up at times. So often in this genre men don't share their emotions and don't talk about their insecurities, there's a stereotype for the male lead and being emotional isn't part of that so it was so refreshing that even though this book is full of hope, there are real human emotions shown from both our leading characters here. We see Bethan struggling with being a single mum and the pressure that society puts on mums and we see Lachie struggling with the grief of being separated from his usual personal and professional routine and the toll that that can take on a person.

I adored this story, the romance was so sweet and yet so intense and the storyline was unlike anything I've read before. I loved getting to know Bethan and Lachie. I loved the familiar North Yorkshire setting and I even loved learning a little bit about the inner workings of a garden centre. I highly recommend this book and I truly believe it is the book you need to read right now!

Lachie is recovering from an accident and trying to cope with the physical and mental challenges after being a fit strong army man. Bethan is trying to raise her son and escape the mess of her past. They live opposite each other and start leaving messages in their windows that starts a friendship. Can this be the beginning of something bigger? Great characters, heart felt writing that really takes you on both of their journeys

I started listening to this audio in the morning had finished it by the evening as I was enthralled by the gentle story I was listening to and also the great narration.

Highly recommended if you're looking for an audio book to put a smile on your face 😀.

Review for The Start of Something
by Miranda Dickinson

This was a lovely fun read, a nice romantic hint of comedy with engaging characters and a good story line.
I had the audio version which was well read and easy to listen to.
Recommend.

Is it one message in the window, or the start of something special?

I expected (and needed) an uplifting romance, with realistic relatable characters and a meet-cute with a difference - which is exactly what I got! The notes in the window were a sweet addition to this story and the side characters were as wonderful (shout out to Patrick and the team at Bright Hill Garden centre) as the villain was cunning. I loved that Bethan’s position as a single mother and Lachlan’s injury were handled with care, whilst really revealing a lot of the ups and downsides of their respective struggles. Bethan and Lachlan’s journey is well worth a read for any romance lovers and I’d really recommend it to anyone needing a boost right now! Also the narrators were sensational, completely brought the characters to life - so a double recommend for the audio version.

Huge thanks to the author, Miranda Dickinson, and publisher, HQ, for this advance review copy. Views my own. 5*