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blancwene's review against another edition
1.0
Back when Gossip Girl was airing, my friend and I would watch it and play Relationship Bingo. Each season, we'd guess who'd hook up this time around, and then if it happened...well, you can guess the rest.
This entire book felt like Relationship Bingo. They swapped partners so often that it felt dizzying. This is real early, 90's vintage Mansell, and I just didn't find it anywhere as enjoyable as some of her later novels.
This entire book felt like Relationship Bingo. They swapped partners so often that it felt dizzying. This is real early, 90's vintage Mansell, and I just didn't find it anywhere as enjoyable as some of her later novels.
xanabertolo's review against another edition
3.0
Mais um livro típico de Jill Mansell :) Deixa-me sempre bem disposta!!
Lê-se num instantinho. Gostei :)
Lê-se num instantinho. Gostei :)
sharyn_swanepoel's review against another edition
4.0
To be honest, I was almost not going to read this one after the first chapter as I didn't like the main character.... but I kept going and in the end this was just like all her others - thoroughly enjoyable!!!
turophile's review against another edition
2.0
I’m a big Jill Mansell fan. She’s one of my favorite comfort, read under the covers authors. But I have a hard time recommending this one, a book from 1993 re-released in Digital in 2019.
Like most Mansell books, it’s chock full of quirky characters and interlacing story lines. Almost every character has a journey to go on and many become better persons and perhaps fall in love as the story goes along. Others learn to assert their independence. The central character is Izzy, an irrepressible single mom who’s been waiting her whole life for her big break. Shortly after the book begins, she’s hit by a car driven by Gina, whose husband just left her for his girlfriend whose pregnant. The cliched way for Gina’s story to play out would be for her to get back together with her husband. That doesn’t happen, but it opens the way for a story line that ruins the book for me.
The following comments are kinda-spoilerish, but the events happen toward the beginning and may bother other readers as much as they bothered me. Gina’s husband Andrew is a schlep. His character is thinly drawn and he has no redeeming qualities. It’s never clear why he drifted away from Gina to Marcy, who is another one dimensional character. What makes him worse, and the story worse, is that he sets his sights on Izzy’s 17 year old daughter Katerina and embarks on an affair with her. Yep, a 17 year old. Not sure what that amounts to in the United Kingdom, but in many states that would be illegal. This is such a turn off for me that I can’t rate this book more highly. Maybe in the intervening years since this was written we as a society have become more aware of the problematic nature (and potentially illegal nature) of such a romance. And right now, as I write this, the world is beginning to learn more about the real life sex-trafficking of underage women by Jeffrey Epstein, heightening sensitivity to this issue. But ugh, this was so unnecessary. There’s a slight acknowledgement of the problem here, but it’s more focused on the fact that Katerina’s living with Gina when this happens. Ugh, ugh, ugh. If the betrayal story line was necessary, she could have been of legal age. Yuck, yuck, yuck.
Sorry Jill, I love your books, but I can’t on this one. 2/5
Like most Mansell books, it’s chock full of quirky characters and interlacing story lines. Almost every character has a journey to go on and many become better persons and perhaps fall in love as the story goes along. Others learn to assert their independence. The central character is Izzy, an irrepressible single mom who’s been waiting her whole life for her big break. Shortly after the book begins, she’s hit by a car driven by Gina, whose husband just left her for his girlfriend whose pregnant. The cliched way for Gina’s story to play out would be for her to get back together with her husband. That doesn’t happen, but it opens the way for a story line that ruins the book for me.
The following comments are kinda-spoilerish, but the events happen toward the beginning and may bother other readers as much as they bothered me. Gina’s husband Andrew is a schlep. His character is thinly drawn and he has no redeeming qualities. It’s never clear why he drifted away from Gina to Marcy, who is another one dimensional character. What makes him worse, and the story worse, is that he sets his sights on Izzy’s 17 year old daughter Katerina and embarks on an affair with her. Yep, a 17 year old. Not sure what that amounts to in the United Kingdom, but in many states that would be illegal. This is such a turn off for me that I can’t rate this book more highly. Maybe in the intervening years since this was written we as a society have become more aware of the problematic nature (and potentially illegal nature) of such a romance. And right now, as I write this, the world is beginning to learn more about the real life sex-trafficking of underage women by Jeffrey Epstein, heightening sensitivity to this issue. But ugh, this was so unnecessary. There’s a slight acknowledgement of the problem here, but it’s more focused on the fact that Katerina’s living with Gina when this happens. Ugh, ugh, ugh. If the betrayal story line was necessary, she could have been of legal age. Yuck, yuck, yuck.
Sorry Jill, I love your books, but I can’t on this one. 2/5
whatjenreads's review against another edition
2.0
This appears to be a re-release of an older Jill Mansell and unfortunately, it’s obvious. I love her writing for good beach reads but this one just didn’t work for me. The writing is dry and stilted and I never connected with the characters. It’s very wordy and could use a good editing. Thank you to the publisher for the free review copy in exchange for my honest review.
annarella's review against another edition
4.0
This is the perfect for a summer day: engrossing and entertaining.
I love the setting, the well written cast of characters, the style of writing and the well developed plot.
The romance was very good and you couldn't help rooting for the characters.
Recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.
I love the setting, the well written cast of characters, the style of writing and the well developed plot.
The romance was very good and you couldn't help rooting for the characters.
Recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.
lisastein's review against another edition
3.0
I typically love Jill Mansell books. I love how there are lots of complicated characters who are flawed but kind and loving.
This book was sort of just overly complicated and confusing and I never fell in love with anyone. I was happy to keep reading because I was waiting for that moment when the tide turned. It never turned.
This book was sort of just overly complicated and confusing and I never fell in love with anyone. I was happy to keep reading because I was waiting for that moment when the tide turned. It never turned.
annarella's review against another edition
4.0
This is the perfect for a summer day: engrossing and entertaining.
I love the setting, the well written cast of characters, the style of writing and the well developed plot.
The romance was very good and you couldn't help rooting for the characters.
Recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.
I love the setting, the well written cast of characters, the style of writing and the well developed plot.
The romance was very good and you couldn't help rooting for the characters.
Recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.