Patrick Oxtoby won’t leave my mind. Since reading MJ Hyland’s This is How I can’t stop thinking about him.

Without wanting to ruin the plot the general premise of the novel is this – Patrick Oxtoby moves into a seaside boarding house after his fiancé ends their engagement. With a new job at the local mechanic, and some distance from his mother, he is ready for change. The relationships he forms in the new town will dictate the rest of his life.

 From the first paragraph I knew I was in for a character like no other:

 I put my bags down on the doorstep and knock three times. I don’t bang hard like a copper, but it’s not as though I’m ashamed to be knocking either.

 This is a man who analyses door knocks. Continue reading