Allegra was brought up by her rather eccentric father when her mother abandoned her at birth. She dreamed of joining the police but when she failed the interview she decided to be the next best thing- a traffic warden .She is punctilious at her job- which needless to say does not really endear her to many. A yellow Ferrari is one she seems to constantly book. After a confrontation he tells her she is the sum of the five people closest to her & he dreads to think who they are! Allegra is definitely on the spectrum- & being prone to obsessions Allegra tries to find out who her 'five' are. Having read Celia Ahearn's books in the past I was expecting to be more engaged with this more than I was. I was close to abandoning this because I was becoming so irritated & bored with Allegra. Somehow she won me over & I read it to the end. Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this book.

It’s pains me to say this. Although it’s been a long minute since I read Celia Ahern, I just wish I hadn’t had got this one. I had it on preorder signed and with nice edging, now I’ve cancelled it as it would have looked gorgeous on my shelf however, not a book I’d want to read again I’m afraid. This was slow, hard going and the only positive thing I can say is, the characters were well developed. The story didn’t make me do much other than roll my eyes. I’ve never felt like that with other books I’ve read by her. Not sure what went wrong. I won’t stop reading her books though, I’m putting this one down to a one off (hopefully) Remember, these are my thoughts, you may like it better than me.

This unconventional yet mundane story about a woman longing to feel connected lacked the warmth and energy for it to have the uplifting feeling I was hoping for. Would I recommend?… Not really, I sympathised with the heroine but unfortunately didn’t find her story that compelling Read if you like: - journeys to build self-worth - characters finding connections - unorthodox heroine