Six Days by Dani Atkins is a warm romance that’ll quickly snag readers with a compelling dilemma for the main character. The novel then develops into a strong character-based story that will keep readers absorbed.
Gemma is living the dream as she arrives for the wedding of her mother’s dreams, to her dream man. It quickly becomes a nightmare as Finn fails to arrive. Indeed, within hours it begins to seem clear that he’s actively disappeared.
Pretty much everyone in Gemma’s life is convinced she’s been jilted. But Gemma can’t believe Finn would do this to her and remains resolute in her belief that something bad and unplanned has happened to him.
Even as the evidence that he left voluntarily starts to stack up, she harasses the police in an attempt to get them to open a missing person investigation. When they won’t, she does everything she can to search for Finn herself.
As the days wear on, Gemma has the occasional doubt, but she firmly rejects assertions from friends and family that she needs to move on. If Finn has truly left her, which she doesn’t believe, she’d have to hear it from him — which means she still needs to find him.
“Six Days” is told in two time streams, one which follows Gemma in the present, and one consisting of a series of flashbacks that date back to when they first met; each flashback takes her a bit closer to the present.
Normally I’m not a fan of this technique. I find too many short flashbacks choppy and disruptive to the flow of the story. However, here it works quite well. In part that’s because the early flashbacks are focused on helping us build a picture of both Finn’s character and his relationship with Gemma.
The specific events aren’t very important, at least until the flashbacks get very close to the present, perhaps two thirds through the novel. There’s a nice ambiguity throughout the novel. We absolutely see why Gemma fell for Finn, and why she thinks he’d never just leave her at the altar. But we also begin to see why others are so convinced she’s kidding herself, and that he’s bailed.
It’s hard to know for sure quite where this is going to go — sure, the conventions of the genre give you some hints, but it’s not certain Atkins has followed all those conventions.
I really enjoyed this novel. Gemma is a strong and believable character, as is her best friend Hannah. Most women will recognise some of their character traits and experiences and empathise strongly. Finn is a suitably complex character, so there is genuine doubt about his behaviour.
Importantly, the relationship between Gemma and Finn is well drawn. It’s complex and realistic, particularly in the uncertain early stages. Gemma’s reaction to Finn’s non-appearance is believable; so too is the opposing reaction of her friends and family.
This is a relationship novel rather than a straight forward romance, meaning it will likely appeal to readers who don’t see themselves as classic “romance readers”. That said, romance fans are also going to enjoy this immensely.
“Six Days” is an enjoyable novel, written with a light and easy touch. It’s got emotional substance, but is an easy and quick read.
ISBN: 978 1800246553
Copy courtesy of Head of Zeus (2022)
A selection of our Beauty and Lace Club Members are reading Six Days by Dani Atkins. You can read their comments below, or add your own review.
I’ve loved books for as long as I can remember, and I love sharing that joy.
I’ve been an avid reader for as long as I can remember, across all genres. There’s not much I won’t at least try. I’ve been an enthusiastic book reviewer for years. I particularly enjoy discovering writers new to me, and sharing good writing with others.
My career has included time spent writing and editing technical documents, but it’s fiction that really moves me. I’ve reviewed for a number of different outlets over the years, and have been a judge in literary competitions.
I’m now raising little bookworms of my own, which brings a whole new kind of joy to sharing books.
More of my reviews can be found on my review blog www.otherdreamsotherlives.home.blog .
I also enjoyed Six Days by Dani Atkins.
It was a different story to the usual love tale. Gemma’s loyalty to Finn showed out when she wouldn’t believe he had jilted her at the altar. She didn’t give up until the truth was revealed.
Thank you for giving me the chance to read this book.
It certainly didn’t take me six days to read this one! I loved getting to know Gemma and her husband-to-be Finn and the suspense of ‘did he’ or ‘did he not’ leave her at the altar!
This book has flash backs and present day stories and I thought they were nicely interwoven and not confusing.
Although at times a felt a bit conflicted at the choices of the characters, I quite liked this easy-to-read book. I would recommend to readers who enjoy a modern day romance with a hint of a mystery thrown in for added suspense and enjoyment.
Thank you Beauty and Lace for introducing me to this author – I will be on the look out for other Dani Atkins books now.
Truly enjoyed Six Days. It begins when Gemma is suddenly jilted on her wedding day. She’s literally at the church and her fiance Finn is a no-show. Gemma is completely and utterly distraught, even in the face of the overwhelming evidence he’s left her without a word. Even her father and her best friend seem to think the same, although they support her frantic efforts to find Finn (just in case he slipped and lies bleeding in his shower, and all that sort of thing). The story flips back and forth from the first time Gemma meets Finn – and she’s a total goner – but their relationship proves fairly complicated. Finn has a history of not being able to commit, so he simply moves on. When everything points to this happening again, Gemma still hangs onto hope. The present day story moves on through the six agonizing days after the wedding date. Emotional and nicely twisty and complicated, this was an excellent read.
Many thanks to Beauty & Lace and Head of Zeus for the review copy.
It was an unlikely or unusual match, after all he did steal her parking space, embaras her and generall exist… but Gemma and Finn over the years crossed paths and started something nice. There relationship grew with dates, food, interactions and meeting and remeeting over time.
It was supposed to be the romantic, happy day where they said “i do” but when Gemma was left waiting at the church for a groom that never came the story of them changed.
Surely they had too much going for them for him to run. But the evidence, the signs… no, Gemma would not give up hope.
6 days is the time you need to process what happened, or so they say. But Gemma would not give up on Finn, not until she heard it from him.
This is a book of stubborn resilliance and a tale of where it began. I found it a fun read and you hope with Gemma along the way. Thanks for the opportunity.
Six Days by Dani Atkins is a sweet romance and a mystery all rolled into one. It starts with Gemma Fletcher getting ready for her wedding to Finn Douglas, but Finn doesn’t show up at the wedding. The next six days see Gemma searching for Finn. Gemma will stop at nothing to find her one true love. Did he up and leave her jilted at the alter or has something sinister happened to him?
With relatable, likeable characters and a story line that grabs you early in the book, this is one book that is hard to put down. If the need to feed my family and sleep hadn’t encroached, I could have easily read this in a day.
Thank you to Beauty and Lace for the opportunity to read and review this book.
I really enjoyed reading this book. It was different to my usual picks. I enjoyed the twists and turns. The characters were relatable as well as likeable. The story line gets your attention right from the beginning, it was a hard book to put it down, very easy read, that kept you turning the pages. Will they or won’t they end up getting married in the end. What happened to Finn to make him not turn up on the most romantic day
Thanks beauty and lace for letting me read this, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
What a great read! The characters are realistic and the story shows how our lives are never straight forward. Lots of twists and turns keep you reading.
Thank you Beauty & Lace and Head of Zeus for the ARC in return for my honest opinion. I’ve discovered a wonderful new author to explore.