Dear Dad by Giselle Green

Handsome, 28-year old, Nate Hardman is a frontline reporter with a big problem. Suffering from shell-shock and unable to leave his house, he’s already lost his social life and his girlfriend. Now his career prospects are sinking fast.

9 year-old Adam Boxley who lives alone with his ageing nan, also has big problems. Neglected at home and bullied at school, he’s desperate to reach out to his dad – and that’s when he sends his first letter to Nate. Only Nate’s not who he thinks he is. Will he help? More importantly – can he?

Across town meanwhile, caring but impulsive teacher Jenna Tierney really wants to help Adam - except the feisty redhead has already had enough of teaching. Recently hurt by yet another cheating boyfriend, Jenna’s now set her sights on pursuing a dream career abroad ... only she’s about to meet Nate - her dream man who’ll make her re-think everything.

The big question is; can three people desperate to find love, ever find happiness when they’re only connected by one big lie?

Author:          Giselle Green
Title:               Dear Dad
Published by: Yule Press
Date:               31st March 2016
Links; Uk:  Amazon US:  Amazon

My Review

This book will break your heart and then put it back together piece by piece, beautifully uplifting.
An emotional and very unique story about a young man called Nate who is suffering a lonely existence due to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, caused by events that happened during his time as a war journalist.
One day he receives a letter addressed to 'Dear Dad' from a young boy called Adam who is being bullied at school, in order to contact the boy he knows he must leave the house which is something he finds almost impossible.
Adam has a new supply teacher called Jenna who has also become aware of the bullying and she discusses it with Nate but also becomes aware of his problems so tries to help them both.
She feels guilty because she has accepted her dream job which involves a lot of travel, this means that she can't get too close to Nate or Adam but she doesn't want a relationship anyway because she knows she always gets hurt. Her last fiancé had cheated on her so she has major trust issues which were exacerbated when she found out that Nate has lied to her.
The way the relationship between Nate and Adam builds is absolutely beautiful and heart wrenching. Nate can't walk away from this little guy because he knows that he has absolutely no one else to look out for him but he is suffering too and doesn't know how much he can do to be of any use to him. Also Adam reminds him of someone else he used to try to protect when he was younger which brings back upsetting memories.
The experience of bullying that Adam went through at the school was very realistic as my son went through a similar experience where the school didn't  want to believe that bullying existed there and some teachers have funny attitudes to the ones being bullied so that part of the story strongly resonated with me.
This story was based on a really unique concept and I loved how the main characters were like pieces of a jigsaw that fit together perfectly to fill the void in each other's lives. Also it raises the issue of what the definition of a Dad is, Adam has a clear idea of what being a Dad is for him.
This story completely drew me in after just a few pages and I read it in almost one sitting. Adam's story was absolutely heartbreaking and his desperation and sense of sheer hopelessness was almost tangible. I also loved how Nate refers to Adam towards the end of the book as it shows the depth of feeling he has for the boy and eventually needed him almost as much as he needed Nate. If you liked 'About a Boy' then you will love this book.
Huge thank you to Giselle Green for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

To read our Q&A with Giselle please click here.

Sincerely
Book Angels x

About the Author

Born in Chiswick, Giselle Green was brought up in Gibraltar where she has extensive family. She returned to the UK to study Biology at King's College London, followed by an MSc in Information Science at the City University. She is also a qualified Astrologer, with a particular interest in medieval astrology.

Her debut novel Pandora's Box won the Romantic Novelists' Association New Writer's Award in 2008. Her third novel, A Sister's Gift achieved best-selling number one slot on Amazon kindle in 2012.