On the way back from a school reunion party Noelle Butterby hits traffic on the motorway eventually coming to a stop due to heavy snow and a jack-knifed lorry.

She is in a bit of a panic as her phone has died and she needs to check on her disabled mother, who recently had a stroke. In the car next to her is Sam, an American who was heading to the airport to return home. He offers Noelle the use of his charger and for the next few hours the pair chat endlessly about everything and anything, then in the early hours of the morning the road reopens and they go their separate way.

Noelle’s old best friend who died when they were teenagers believed a Chinese proverb about an invisible red thread that connects those that are destined to meet and sure enough, Noelle and Sam now can’t help bumping into one another.

Eight Perfect Hours is a feel-good book that had me rooting for these two caring and likeable characters who after a chance encounter on the motorway now can’t stop bumping into one another. I loved the plot and the idea of the invisible red thread – I’d never heard of the proverb before.

There were some secondary plots involving ex’s family, and friends, which I wasn’t that interested in as they contained some characters that really got on my nerves, especially Ed and Dilly. However, luckily these didn’t spoil my enjoyment of the main plot which was heart-warming, realistic, and sweet.

The book feels very much like a plot from a romance movie with two people who clearly like one another but life and circumstances stand in their way but destiny, or the red thread, have other ideas. It genuinely is a beautiful book, which is well-written and had me gripped to the pages finishing it in just two sittings.