Tips for Tuesday - Books: The Lost Passenger & Never Planned on You: Movies: Bonus Track

We may have been given complimentary copies and/or access for review purposes to any books, products, and/or any other visual or audio media mentioned below. Any and all opinions expressed here are our own.

Books:  The Lost Passenger & I Never Planned on You

Today we recommend The Lost Passenger by Frances Quinn. Trapped in a loveless marriage with limited access to her son, Elinor uses her escape from the Titanic disaster as an opportunity to disappear and become someone else. Although attempting to escape one's life and become someone else may be a tried-and-true plot device,  this book gives the idea a new and exciting spin with its connection to the actual historical events of the sinking of the Titanic. It has a strong heroine who is easy to root for. Her driving motivation for everything she does is her overwhelming love for and devotion to her son, which makes her quite relatable. There are also plenty of warm and lovely found-family vibes between Elinor and the family that unknowingly take her in believing she is one of their actual family members. All in all, it's a beautiful touching story. 

Today we recommend Never Planned on You by Lindsay Hameroff. After a drunk bet in London leads to matching tattoos and a one-night stand with a stranger, Ali is sure she won't see Graham again although she occasionally thinks of him. Years later, after leaving New York and her work as a chef to return to her hometown, she gets a job planning a high-profile wedding, and the groom turns out to be Graham. As the pair are frequently thrown together as Graham's fiancee's work takes her out of town, Ali quickly realizes, she has feelings for Graham, and he seems to feel the same way.

Although Ali lacks confidence regarding how she thinks others see her, she is strong and competent, with a really kind heart which makes her quite an admirable and likable heroine. It is annoying when she tries to act noble and do what she thinks is best rather than follow her heart and let others do the same. This is a common annoying trait in a book, heroine, however.

Graham is sweet and adorable and imagining hearing him speak in his English accent is just the cherry on top of the sundae of his already enormous charm and appeal. The side characters are mostly lovely too. Ali has great and supportive friends and family members who know her better than she thinks they do. Her and Graham's grandmothers are particularly endearing. 

The book is full of sweet moments between  Ali and Graham plus between Ali and various other characters. Plus, it has a cry-happy ending that feels like something straight out of a movie. If you love a really romantic story, you will enjoy this book.

Bonus Track is a mostly sweet coming-of-age story co-written by Josh O'Connor, an award-winning actor and one of the stars of the multi-award-winning and Oscar-nominated, Challengers. This film revolves around a driftless young boy named George.  George is a complete loser who is failing all his classes even music. Another boy named Max offers to help him in music if George helps him in math, but it turns out Max is quite aware that George would not make a good math tutor, he just wants to get close to George. The film is fairly pleasant and charming but a little bit rushed and underdeveloped. 

Bonus Track is available on Video in Demand for purchase or rental now.

And that's our view. Tune in tomorrow for Where-To-Go Wednesday.

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