The Man Across The Street by Marcie Steele @marcie_steele @writermels

Book Description:

Maybe I’m scared to be happy…

Meet Hannah – she’s been her mum’s sole carer since she was eighteen. Now alone after Martha’s sudden death, Hannah feels lost in the only place she’s known as home, Hope Street. Coming up to a milestone birthday, she’s wondering what her purpose in life is.

Meet Doug – a workaholic, he’s in the office from dusk ’til dawn, and when he has a heart attack. Now on the mend, he needs to de-stress his life and focus on living it, to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

Doug moves to Hope Street, number 35. Hannah lives at number 34, directly opposite. From the moment they meet, there’s a spark.

But there are secrets too. Hannah’s mum has been keeping something from her, her sister upped and left over twenty years ago, and there can’t be such a simple reason why Doug has moved to Somerley. Can there?

The Man Across the Street is the first of a new series by bestselling author, Marcie Steele. It features a host of characters living on Hope Street in the market town of Somerley, also featured in The Somerley Series. Each character will have their own standalone story in books to follow.

My Thoughts:

Hope Street is your typical working class street where everyone knows everyone as well as everyone’s business. Saying that, there isn’t really any overly unlikable characters. It reminded me a bit of the olden days when neighbours actually talked to their neighbours. Not just their immediate ones either, everyone in the street.

Hannah and Doug are fairly similar in personalities. Where as Doug has given everything up for his work, Hannah had given up her life to be a carer for her mum up until she died. Not far from a monumental birthday, I couldn’t help feel for her as she has missed out on so much of what many of take for granted.

You can feel the romance between Doug and Hannah right from them meeting. It was lovely to get swept up in it all and am sure I had a stupid grin on my face the further the relationship deepened.

It isn’t all romance though. We get to see the different relationships between the characters and see the bonds and friendships that have grown over time. There is also a real sense of family and makes you realise just how important they are.

The Man Across the Street is a charming and endearing read that won’t fail to put a smile on your face. I loved my first introduction to the street and characters and can’t wait to be back on Hope Street again. Marcie Steele is back with a bang and fans new and old are going to love this new offering from the author.

My thanks to the author for an advanced readers copy of this book. All opinions are my own and not biased in anyway.

The Man Across the Street is available to purchase from Amazon. (Please note that link used is an Amazon Affiliate link).