Thinking of You by Jill Mansell

Thinking of You by Jill Mansell

Copyright 2013 (orig. published by Headline in 2007)

Sourcebooks Landmark - Chick lit

424 pp.

Source:  ARC from Sourcebooks, a May 2013 release

What it's about:

I'm not sure how to describe what Thinking of You is about, because Jill Mansell's books always have so many strands but Ginny Holland is the main character.  She has just become an empty nester and is missing her daughter Jem's company so much that she decides to take on a renter.  She falls for a charming user (don't want to give too much away, here, so I won't go into detail about who she falls for) and so does her best friend, Carla. And, Ginny's renter is turns out to be a bit of a pain.  To get out of the house and away from her depressed renter, Ginny gets a job. Her new boss, Finn, just happens to be a man with whom she's had a bit of a nasty encounter, so she must win him over to keep her job.  Finn has recently had his heart broken and . . . I think he looks like George Clooney?  Or, maybe I just pictured him that way.  There's friendship and betrayal, misunderstanding that leads to a few slapstick scenes, romance and heartbreak and happily-ever-after for anyone deserving.

What I loved about Thinking of You:

Oh, sigh.  I just love Jill Mansell's books.  I started reading Thinking of You because the Boston bombing followed by the Texas explosion and idiocy in Congress started getting me down.  Jill Mansell's books are always uppers, so I knew reading one of her books would be the perfect remedy for a crappy week.  Thinking of You is no exception, although I found myself wanting to shout at Ginny and Gem and Carla, a few times.  Sometimes those plot twists and heartbreaks can be a little angst-inducing, but I closed the book with a smile on my face.  Ginny is a great heroine and I love the depth of the friendships in Thinking of You.  It's admirable the way they forgive and forget wounds inflicted upon each other and I love the reliability of those happily-ever-after endings.

Also, she used the word "malarkey" in there, somewhere.  You know how I love that word. 

What I disliked about Thinking of You:

The characters who are deceitful in Thinking of You are a little too obvious -- enough so that you want to reach in and shake the characters whom you know to be cruising toward disaster, but since everything turns out well in the end there is nothing at all worth complaining about.  

Recommendation:

Highly recommended, especially for escapist, beachy-type romantic reading.  I've been reading Jill Mansell's books since the 90's and they are reliably complex but light-hearted tales.  Her heroines tend to be very much alike in personality -- perky, witty, fun, sometimes clumsy or eccentric, always likable.  It never fails to surprise me how many twists Mansell throws into her books and how utterly she snookers me.  I had an idea who Ginny would end up with, but Jill Mansell is such a pro.  She always makes me doubt myself enough that I'm still pleasantly surprised at the end.  

Favorite photo of the day:

Sometimes you feel like a nut.

©2013 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Minis: The Walnut Tree by C. Todd, A Walk in the Park by J. .Mansell, Comet's Tale by S. Wolf & L. Padwa

The Walnut Tree by Charles Todd is subtitled "A Holiday Tale" and I'm not quite sure why.  It may end at Christmas, but otherwise it is most definitely not a Christmas tale.  In fact, it's more of a war tale with a rather lame romantic love triangle and a heroine, Lady Elspeth Douglas, who feels compelled to deceive her best friend, everyone in the service in which she's trained as a nurse and both of the men in her little love triangle.

Get the feeling I didn't like The Walnut Tree?  Well, I did finish the book.  That's saying something. But I think The Walnut Tree is flawed, a bit juvenile and extremely cliche.  Lady Elspeth (again, in a manner that simply does not make sense) ends up on the front line of an important WWI battle and after seeing the casualties, decides to imitate Sybil of Downton Abbey and become a nurse.  By this point, she's helped a friend deal with childbirth and has become engaged.  But, she then encounters an old friend and falls even more in love with the second guy.

In the end, I was able to completely predict the outcome of absolutely every plot point.  It's ridiculously obvious what has to happen at every turn and the tiny hint of a mystery that's tossed in like an afterthought is patently annoying.  Why did I keep reading?  I suppose the war scenes are rather interesting. And, even though the book was terribly predictable, I still wanted to get to the goal and read about the heroine ending up with her guy.  But, honestly, I do wish I hadn't spent money on The Walnut Tree.

Since I've read a number of reviews in which regular readers of Charles Todd have said The Walnut Tree doesn't live up to the mother-son team's normal standards, I'm planning to give one of their mysteries a try, soon, because I'm now doubly curious.  We'll see how that goes.  Not recommended unless you don't mind transparent plotting . . . say you're just a fan of historical fiction and/or romance but you're not picky.  Maybe then.  

I must warn you that the words "have" and "had" are so overused that they even appear in dialogue:

"You must know how much your presence had brightened the lives not only of your cousin but of the other three officers who are working with Sister Macleod."  -- p. 153 

Drop the "had" (or change it to "has") and that bit of dialogue is acceptable, if a bit awkward.  If this particular grammatical atrocity continues in the mystery I intend to read, I will never touch another Charles Todd book.  It truly is unbearable.  But, The Walnut Tree may simply be one of those books that was rushed to press with minimal editing and I figure almost everyone deserves a second chance.  

In A Walk in the Park by Jill Mansell, heroine Lara Carson returns to her childhood home in Bath, England, for the funeral of her father.  At 16, she was kicked out of the house by the father who never loved her and the stepmother from hell -- and they didn't even know she was pregnant.  Now, Lara's daughter Gigi is 18.  Lara's best friend will be marrying soon and it turns out Lara is in her father's will.  So, as much as she'd like to avoid the boyfriend she left behind, Lara will have to stick around Bath a bit more than she intended.

Flynn always wondered what happened to Lara.  One day she was suddenly just gone and he never heard a word from her.  Now that she's back with his biological child in tow, he wants answers.  

Evie is thrilled to finally walk down the aisle but on the day of her wedding, things are going horribly wrong.  After she cancels the wedding, her ex-fiancee won't let go.  Determined to prove he's changed, he pursues her with a vengeance.  But, there's another man wooing Evie.  Will Evie make the right decision, or is there even a decision to be made?  Is Evie destined to make bad choices and remain alone?  

There's always so much going on in a Jill Mansell novel that it's a bit mind-boggling.  I love her books.  They're cheery and plotty and terribly fun. I must admit, I felt dangled a bit more than I like, didn't buy into one of the major plot points and thought A Walk in the Park ended too abruptly.  And, yet, A Walk in the Park is classic Mansell and I enjoyed it.  Recommended, but not her best.

Comet's Tale by Steven D. Wolf, with Lynette Padwa, is a pet story in which -- get this -- the dog doesn't die in the end!!!  Awesome. You have to appreciate that, since most pet memoirs do end with a death.  

Comet is a rescued greyhound.  I had no idea greyhounds came in a variety of colors; you can see from the cover image that she has an interesting calico-like coat of brindle and black and shades between.  When she was rescued, Comet had been left in a cage with a muzzle on.  The author, who goes by the name "Wolf", had two golden retrievers in Nebraska.  But, because his spine was severely degenerating, he was living away from his family and their pets in Sedona, Arizona most of the year.  Colder weather caused even more trouble with his constant pain.

Lonely and depressed after being kicked out of his own law firm, Wolf eventually decided to consider adopting a greyhound and visited the home of some people who fostered quite a few of them.  Comet was off in a corner and appeared to be depressed, herself.  But, just as Wolf was about to make a decision to adopt one of the other dogs, she appeared at his side.  The choice had been made for him.  

Comet's Tale tells about how Comet became not only a devoted pet but also eventually was trained by the author as a service dog when his condition further deteriorated and he needed help with simple tasks like opening doors and picking up dropped items.  Comet's Tale is a deeply touching story.  The only thing I disliked about it was the fact that the author went a little nutso when he had surgery that helped significantly reduce his pain.  However, he eventually "redeemed" himself, just like a fictional character, thank goodness.  An amazing story of love and devotion between pet and human, highly recommended.  

As I was reading Comet's Tale, I found myself desiring to adopt a greyhound -- which is pretty odd because I really don't have the right personality to be a dog owner, although I tend to fall in love with friends' dogs.  The way greyhounds are used and abandoned or killed is truly appalling.  

Here's our little Isabel hanging out on my legs on a day that I stayed in bed feeling yucky, recently.  Rescued pets are the best. 

©2012 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Staying at Daisy's by Jill Mansell

Staying at Daisy's by Jill Mansell

Copyright 2010

Sourcebooks Landmark

Orig. Published 2002

501 pages

Daisy MacLean has had her fill of good-looking, dishonest men. Even when tragedy brings her together with her no-good, soon-to-be-ex husband's mistress, it's no great surprise. She's better off without him. Daisy's got a great job working at her father's hotel and she's perfectly content.

But, when the handsome athlete Dev Tyzack becomes a guest at the hotel, it's clear he's interested. Daisy tries to stay away from him, but it's nearly impossible to avoid such a magnetic attraction. Then, a former boyfriend shows up in need of a place to sleep. Josh may not be the handsomest man she's dated, but he's trustworthy and kind. Will Daisy settle for a relationship lacking zing or take a chance, again?

Maggie is in love but she's middle-aged and the man she's seeing is not interested in commitment. She's got to be realistic. Their arrangement is for only one purpose and, like it or not, she knows she will continue seeing him, even if it breaks her heart and she finds their clandestine affair humiliating. Will Maggie be able to give up the man she loves when he starts seeing someone else? Or is she hopelessly hooked on him?

Tara's dating life has been nothing but a string of disasters. One man after another has used her and walked out. Now, a former love has shown up in her life and he makes her feel loved and appreciated. There's only one catch: He's a newlywed. Is Tara being used or does he really love her? And, what if Daisy finds out? If there's one thing that will upset Daisy, it's finding out Tara is involved with a married man.

The cover of Staying at Daisy's says, "You never know what to expect when you're . . . Staying at Daisy's." Boy, that's the truth. In fact, I never know quite where Jill Mansell is taking me, when I open one of her books. She is a master at creating characters who are entangled with more than one person and confusing the issue of who everyone will end up with. She's a carrot dangler, really. It took me a long, long time to figure out who Daisy and Tara were going to end up with and what would happen to Maggie. I love not knowing. It's always so much more satisfying to read a romantically-themed book that isn't transparent and predictable.

Daisy is a slightly more subdued character than Mansell's usual heroine, but she's really no less spunky and admirable; and, there are lots of characters to love. The only real problem I had with Staying at Daisy's was that it seemed like the theme leaned toward, "Men are tremendously unreliable bastards, in general, but now and then you get lucky and find a decent chap." I think that was because Daisy, Tara and Maggie were all hurting or frustrated in some way. But, as usual, there was a lovable cast with a few people you wanted to swat for either arrogance, stupidity or for being just plain rotten. They're a realistic hodge-podge, really.

The Bottom Line: While I wouldn't say Staying at Daisy's is my favorite by Jill Mansell, I became every bit as immersed in the storyline and invested in the characters as I have with the rest of her books and I still highly recommend it. Believable, likable characters with plenty of spunk and wit, a nicely twisty storyline that keeps you guessing and delightful writing make Staying at Daisy's a winner. Infidelity, tons of innuendo and falling into bed with the opposite sex too easily tend to be a little annoying. But, the writing is done with such flair -- zippy dialogue and loads of surprises -- that I'm convinced there's no such thing as a bad book by Jill Mansell. Definitely recommended.

Cover thoughts: I love the cheery covers of Jill Mansell's books, although I don't think the content is clear from the covers and recent releases -- while colorful and lively -- also are hard to distinguish from one another. So, I like the cover but I don't think it says much about the content and I'm hoping there will be some changes to covers of future Mansell titles.

In other news: I've got a hair-pulling migraine, today, although at least my medication has taken the edge off it enough that I can look at a computer screen. Earlier today, I couldn't even do that without the light of the monitor causing blinding pain. So . . . I'll just keep this post "short" (for me) and chatter more, another time.

©2011 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Take a Chance on Me by Jill Mansell

Take a Chance on Me by Jill Mansell
Copyright 2010
Sourcebooks - General Fiction
432 pages
Jill Mansell's website

Cleo finally has the perfect boyfriend. He's handsome, sexy and loves her. It just figures that Johnny LaVenture, the boy who accepted a bet that ended up in years of torment for Cleo, is back in town. Can't some people just go away for good? When her job as a limousine driver puts her in Johnny's path, Cleo tries to leave the past behind. But, Johnny is not so easy to ignore, especially when that perfect boyfriend turns out to be quite the opposite of what Cleo expected.

Cleo's sister Abbie is having a rough time, as well. When she finds a letter hidden in a drawer, she suspects her husband's hiding an affair from her. But, after Abbie decides to get back at her cheating husband, she finds out she got it all wrong. And, now what will she say to her husband? He'd never forgive her if he found out . . .

I don't know how Jill Mansell does it; I really don't. I've been reading her books for many years (see my 2004 reads to appreciate a good Jill Mansell Overdose Year) and they are endlessly, unfailingly entertaining. There is no such thing as a typical plotline in a Jill Mansell book. They're all about love and life, getting knocked down and picking oneself up, finding love -- sometimes when it's staring you in the face and you've been skirting around it. But, each is completely unique in its characters and situations. Jill Mansell is a true original and an absolute genius at creating characters a reader simply can't help caring about.

Take a Chance on Me is, at its heart, yet another story of a broken hearts mended and found love. It is a funny, sweet, touching, wonderful story with several flawlessly interwoven plotlines and a magical ending. You will love Cleo, Johnny and the other characters. If you haven't read Jill Mansell, yet, and you like a story that you can believe in, characters you'll adore and a satisfying ending . . . run, don't walk to your nearest bookstore. And, don't fall for the crazy idea that her books are "just romances". Nuh-uh. No way. They're complex stories of relationships -- not just between one couple but more like a dot-to-dot with crossing lines of interconnected relationships, situations and dilemmas.

The bottom line:

A highly recommended story of love, loss, and learning to move beyond the painful hurts of the past.

Just finished reading:

The Human Bobby by Gabe Rotter - Book club material!!! I don't know what I'm going to say about that book. The ending had my head spinning. Also, you can see I'm not helping myself to catch up any, the way I keep finishing books when I'm already so dreadfully far behind on reviews.

But, I'm having fun. On to the next review . . . expect a little brevity (or, maybe you should cross your fingers, pray, or wish for brevity because everyone knows it's not my strong suit).

Spoiler warning: Michele's comment about the ending of The Reapers Are The Angels (in the comment section to this post) contains a potential spoiler, so please skip over her comment if you plan to read The Reapers, etc. soon!

Cheers!

©2010 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.