The Lost Ticket by Freya Sampson

genre: contemporary fiction

Libby’s visit to her sister is NOT the kind of trip into London you want to make. Having been dumped by her boyfriend and with nowhere to go, Libby knows she should be grateful that her sister has a room to spare. Feeling lonely and unlovable, Libby stumbles across the most unlikely new friend - an elderly gentleman named Frank who once had a chance encounter on a bus that changed his life. When Libby learns about it, her own life will take a pivot that she can’t even imagine.

This was fast and cute. Fairly predictable but not annoyingly so. I liked the romantic thread and while some of the characters felt pretty caricatured, Frank was delightful. The interplay of his story as an aging gentleman with Libby’s as a young woman in a rut worked for me. It engaged me every time I picked it up and even though it’s not a particularly lyrical or well-written back, it entertained me. Solid three and a half stars.