An absolute delightful read … makes the reader want to meet 90 year old Eddie who still has a zest for life !! Eddie works in a charity shop spending his days sorting through donations but occasionally he finds items that he thinks the doner will want back so ‘takes ‘ them aside just in case . One day Bella brings in Jake’s old belongings … still raw from his passing Eddie puts aside some special items and offers friendship to Bella and so an unlikely bond is formed . Eddie shares his life history with Bella she does the same and the duo help each other navigate their next steps in life .This is a charming book about love, loss and taking every opportunity you get in life

I absolutely adored this book. My favourite read this year. Eddie is the most delightful character and his relationship with Bella is so delightful. I can't recommend this book highly enough.

This is the story of 90 year old Eddie who works in a charity shop, saves mementoes from destruction, owns a hamster called Pushkin and oh yes, has never been kissed. He happens to meet 24 year old Bella when she is donating items and the two strike up and unlikely friendship.

Oh how I loved Eddie Winston, what a charming gentleman. It is no secret that I love a tale with an intergenerational friendship and that I adored this authors debut so I had no fears that I was going to enjoy this book but I did not expect the huge smile on my face through my time with Eddie. The conversations between him and everyone he meets are witty, engaging, and respectful. Eddie’s internal monologue and observations are hilarious and I couldn't help but laugh out loud on several occasions.

I also loved the other prominent characters in this book such as Bella, Marjie, Emmeline, Ham & Cheese and not forgetting Bridie, they all add a unique perspective into Eddies 90 years and we a perfect blend to compliment such a fantastic character.

A heart-warming tale of love at last. Gentle, romantic Eddie has never been kissed and thinks he's lost his chance at love at his age. He keeps a bundle of unsent love letters given to the charity shop he works for, hoping to unite them with their intended recipient. His friend Bella helps him. Through flashbacks to the fifties and sixties, we discover his lost love and why they could never kiss. A quirky story, full of friendship.

eddie winston owns a charity shop that keeps objects with a lot of history behind them.

the storytelling cannot help but evoke a lot of emotions out of the reader.

the friendship between eddie and bella is such a wonderful part of the story, that the reader cannot help but love their relationship.

the ending was so heartwarming. i read this whilst i was sick and it just made me so happy.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK, Transworld for this ARC.

Eddie is 90 years old but still works in a charity shop in Birmingham with his boss/friend Marjie for something to do. He rescues personal items like letters from dead people's belongings by taking them home. He even acquires a guinea pig that way and calls it Pushkin. One day 24 year old Bella comes in to donate some of her dead boyfriend's clothes. There are some personal items in with them that Eddie decides to look after because he is sure that Bella will come back - and she does.

Eddie and Bella become firm friends, spending lunch hours together. She finds out that at his ripe age he's never been kissed although he was in love once. So Bella makes Eddie an online dating account and accompanies his dating adventures.

This story has a lot of the traits of Cronin's first book "The Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot", what with the friendship of young and old and the flashbacks to someone's younger years, only that here we don't learn of Eddie's life from himself but through the eyes of Bridie, a professor's wife when he was a young student. He called her Birdie and carried a torch for her, but she was married and way too Catholic to ever act on her feelings.

The thing that surprised me a little was that Eddie is 90 but speaks, acts and dresses like a sprightly 60 year old. He just takes everything in his stride, whether it takes him to Brighton, Corfu or Pigeon Park in Brum. He is a gentle, warm soul who is even concerned with his guinea pig's love life, and is a match-maker between two of his neighbours. When Bella encounters a man she nicknames Ham and Cheese due to his choice of sandwich, he encourages her to meet up. However, Bella is still grieving, going to therapy and writing letters to dead Jake.

This is a heart-warming and at times funny story of friendship, grief and second chances. It is beautifully written, with quirky, life-affirming characters, and draws you in until Eddie, Bella, Bridie and Marjie feel like your friends. I had tears in my eyes at the end - the funeral and that thing with Jake's shoes, oh God.

"And she will have love, wherever she goes."

Also, I admit that I don't normally pay much attention to chapter headings as they are usually just numbers, but these are exquisite.

"Life is all about timing, in the end."

So true.

I loved this book! Eddie Winston is 90 and has never been kissed. He works in a charity shop disposing of the donations of the living and the dead preserving letters and other tokens of love and friendship. He meets Bella, 24, who has lost her soulmate and who makes it her project to find love for Eddie.

I loved both main characters and their developing friendship was beautifully portrayed.

You find out about Eddie’s past and meet the one he loved but could not have. Their lives cross again ensuring a smile on the reader’s face.

A delightful book - one to be recommended.

Jolly good, what a lovely book. Eddie Winston Is Looking for Love is full of giggles and laughter. What a nice setting of those two main characters, being far apart in age but not in caring about each other. Friendships to keep us going, even for Mister Pushkin. I am glad to add this book to my for-a-rainy-day shelf on Goodreads.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the book.

Fiercely hopeful, funny and brimming with tenderness this is a beautiful book with a unique premise and wonderful characters. I adored every word.

Eddie Winston is the kindest of souls. Volunteering in a charity shop in Birmingham, he works alongside Marjie, his boss who is also his friend, he thinks. When items come into the shop to be sorted, if Eddie feels they might one day be reclaimed, or are a lost love token, he takes care of them and adds them to his “shelf”. Living alone apart from his Guinea pig, Pushkin, Eddie has never been married, but has loved and lost, never forgetting his true love Birdie.

When heartbroken Bella wanders into the shop one day, Eddie knows she will be back, and when she does a beautiful and endearing friendship blossoms.

This book is so lovely, one of my favourite reads of the year so far. Heartwarming, compassionate and full of love, the relationships develop and grow and take you along with them. I absolutely loved it.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House UK.