In this Beth who describes herself as "a runner, a bolter, reliably Team Flight in a fight or flight scenario" finds herself having to 'step up' to look after her niece and nephew when her sister has a terrible car accident. As you'd expect it's funny from Beth getting fired from pass-the-parcel after giving one kid two prizes or ending up on the village Facebook group after putting her bins out on the wrong day to 3-year-old Ted calling "angry swimming dad" a "stickhead" or telling the hot swimming coach that "Aunty Beth put crayons on her face....but she wouldn't share." But it's also really poignant with a lot of depth and some really moving moments - I particularly enjoyed Beth's friendship with lonely octogenarian Albert, her next door neighbour. It's testament to Sarah Turner's talent that she manages to combine the two so seamlessly - in her debut fiction novel nonetheless. I especially liked the realistic timescale of this book and that whilst the ending was positive it wasn't the fairy tale ending it could so easily have been. It's difficult to convey how good this book is, so I'll just urge to read it for yourself instead....

Stepping Up by Sarah Turner a five-star read that steps up as you read. I wasn’t a fan of Beth at all, I really fell into her as she started stepping up. This was so well done, it didn’t hide any of the raw facts, the author didn’t hide the grit and reality. There is loss in this story and it is done well, its real and hard, showing us the true side of how we face it. There is humour and heartbreak in this as well as a great story.

I laughed, I cried, I laughed some more! Stepping Up by Sarah Turner is pretty special and tugged at my heartstrings. Aunty Beth steps up to look after her teenage niece, Polly and toddler nephew, Ted, following an accident. Over the course of the next year, Beth has to learn how to be a parent, coping with teenage emotions and toddler tantrums, all whilst trying to hold a job down, prove to her Mum that she can be capable of being responsible and also maintaining friendships. I was hooked from the start, and despite the sad moments and difficult situations, I found the book heartwarming but heartbreaking at the same time. It’s been a long time since a story made me laugh and cry on the same page but Stepping Up managed it. There isn’t a character who won’t melt your heart, one way or another, and Beth, in particular, grows in strength and confidence as the book progresses. She realises that perhaps she’s not as useless as she thinks she is and maybe people do need her after all, both colleagues and family and friends. 100% go out and buy this book if you want something easy and entertaining to read, but grab those tissues before you settle down, you’ll need them! Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK/Transworld for the opportunity to read and review an ARC of Stepping Up by Sarah Turner.

If you're after a heartfelt, entertaining novel that manages to be witty, sweet and NOT CHEESY (yay!), this is the book for you! I have a fairly strong aversion to clichéd, saccharine-sweet stories but Stepping Up manages to beautifully sidestep anything like that. Beth has never had any real responsibility in her life. She's unorganised, chaotic and wonderfully strings-free - she's single, has no dependents and spends a lot of time getting drunk with her best friend Jory. Then one day, her older sister Emma and her husband Doug are in a serious car accident. Doug dies, and Emma is in a coma. Beth, as the godmother to her young niece and nephew, agrees to look after them and suddenly, her life becomes very different! It's a book about family and relationships, trying to live up to expectations, the way grief can take so many forms and how you can grieve for someone even if they're still alive. It's got plenty of humorous parts to it, despite the subject matter - Beth's observations and thoughts are really entertaining - and Jory is a great character. Although I could predict some of what would happen right at the start, the story still feels really fresh and entertaining. I liked that the potential love interests for Beth don't take centre stage in this novel throughout - it's about her supporting her family and the impact this has on her life, and her needing to 'find a man' doesn't seem to be the be-all and end-all for her (despite her mother often asking her about it), which is a nice change from many other novels. I struggled to put down this book. It's so readable and felt like it struck just the right balance between its serious and lighter notes. The subject matter was dealt with so brilliantly and I didn't want it to end. I'd happily read many more novels about Beth and her situation and I think the ending was just right.

Beth would be the first to admit her life isn't ideal: early thirties, single, living at home, a string of abandoned jobs behind her. But it's hers, and it's comfortable. And it's completely uprooted when, following a tragic accident, Beth finds herself the guardian of her sister's children. Emmy might have thought Beth was up to the task of looking after a teenager and a toddler, but Beth, and her mum, aren't so sure. Will this be another things she quits, or can she step up and take care of those she loves? I've been a fan of Sarah Turner and her Unmumsy Mum blog since I had my first daughter, and as soon as Stepping Up was announced I knew I needed to read it. Despite the subject being very different to her blog posts, Stepping Up still has Turner's warm, funny style, offering a realistic depiction of bringing up children. Secrets, problems with communication, and struggling to properly empathise with others all cause plenty of drama over the course of this story and I found it hard to put down. I'd expected to laugh, a lot, what I hadn't expected was how emotional this book would be! Stepping Up is a thoughtful and sensitive exploration of grief and loss. And it's definitely going to encourage me to have that difficult discussion about wills that I've been putting off. I loved Beth and was rooting for her from the very beginning. Albert, Emmy's elderly neighbour, was another highlight, and was a delight every time he appeared on the page with his shouty text messages and gentle encouragement. This book really is a joy and I'll be recommending it to everyone I know.