There Is A Light by Ban Gilmartin

​Such a beautiful little gem of a book! It truly warmed my heart and gave me such hope – no matter how broken you are, there is always a second chance to love!

There Is A Light is a heartwarming story set in Edinburgh following two very broken men in the 1980s and how they find each other and eventually, dare to open up to each other. I love second chance romances and this was certainly an emotional ride with second, third and fourth chances…

Jamie is a charmer, who might seem carefree, but who has problems with drinking, making bad decisions, chronically being late and messing everything up. But now he’s starting over, moving to a new city to be closer to his childhood best friend.
Jude is the opposite. He’s overstressed and depressed and has to convince himself every morning that he wants to live, even though he’s not sure that is true.

When Jamie gets a job at Jude’s family bookstore, Jamie immediately falls for Jude, but can they find a way of living and loving in their messy lives and not be too much or too little to each other.

This was such an emotional, realistic and heartfelt story with complex, messy and imperfect main characters, who nevertheless completely stole my heart. I just wished for them both to find happiness and to take a chance on love.

I also loved the side characters, with Jude’s feisty aunt, and Jamie’s best friend, the kickass, kind and amazing transgender woman Billie, and the LGBTQ representation throughout the whole story. And the pop culture references truly made my day! I loved the music references and the way Jamie held on to children’s fiction.

All in all, this was an emotional read, dealing with mental health and alcoholism in a realistic way, but it was also a book that was full of humor, hope, love and friendship and the important message to never give up on love or life. It’s a story that lives up to its name and truly shows that there always is a light even in the darkest moments!

Rating:
5 stars

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Author info:
Ban Gilmartin