Book Review: The One You Really Want by Jill Mansell

It all starts with a shiny, red, sit-on lawnmower. When Nancy spies her Christmas present from her husband sitting on the lawn, she realises the jewellery she thought was for her must be sitting on someone else. Her best friend Carmen isn’t surprised (she never liked Jonathan) and persuades Nancy to leave Edinburgh and come and stay in her luxury London flat – far too vast for Carmen since her husband, millionaire rock star Spike Todd, died. Soon Nancy’s met gorgeous Connor O’Shea, who lives next door, and his daughter Mia is matchmaking – not least because she’d like to see the back of Connor’s current pushy girlfriend. Meanwhile Carmen, who’s always been certain she doesn’t want another man in her life, feels a spark when a handsome charity worker called Joe calls round. But Joe’s not quite all he seems…

Yet another great book from Jill Mansell and a perfect holiday read. I couldn’t put this book down and ended up reading it over the space of one day whilst lounging around the pool. 

I have been a reader of Ms Mansell’s books for a number of years, finding them on the whole to be easy reading whilst not coming across as too flimsy (which I come across only too often in the ‘chick-lit’ genre). 

The main characters are charming and loveable, despite their many flaws, and I was able to escape into their world. 

The book was, for the most part, fairly light-hearted and certainly gave me a few chuckles and the few deeper emotional moments were dealt with sympathetically. 

This may not be a hugely intellectual piece of literature, however with several storylines running concurrently, this book is a great example of what I think ‘chick-lit’ should be – a light, girly, romantic and humorous read. Fans of Jill Mansell will not be disappointed and for anyone unfamiliar with her work, this book would be a great place to start. 

The book is released in electronic format and is currently available for free from Amazon UK. At that price, I’d definitely recommend you give it a try!