Perfect Timing, Jill Mansell

It's the night before her wedding when Poppy Dunbar meets Tom. He is tall, dark, and handsome with a quirky smile, and Poppy can't shake the feeling she's known him all her life. She can't go through with the meeting they arrange... but she can't go through with the wedding anymore either.

Suddenly notorious as "The Girl who Jilted Rob McBride" Poppy leaves for London and a fresh start. Soon she's installed in the bohemian household of Caspar French, a ravishingly good-looking young artist with a reputation for breaking hearts. But even in her new home and new life, Poppy can't get Tom off her mind. Until she's tracked him down, she'll never know if their meeting was destiny, or if it was just a matter of timing...

I adored Millie's Fling and based on that adoration I bought all the Jill Mansell books I could find at Barnes and Noble. But I have been hesitant to read any of them just in case it wasn't as good as Millie's Fling. I loved Millie so much I had a hard time really thinking I would like another main character as much. But I was wrong. Happily wrong.

I feel like Jill Mansell is the chick lit version of Maeve Binchy. I love the interconnected story lines that all come together in the end that they both employ. And I love, love, love Maeve Binchy so that is saying something about how I feel about Jill Mansell.

Poppy is such a likeable character. The many side characters are well developed and some of them are just so tender. Poor Jake and Claudia with their massive insecurities had me cringing for them. And the fact that everything happens in London adds to the appeal for me. I am doing a really rotten job describing this book. But I loved it and can't wait to read the rest of Jill Mansell's books now. My confidence in her has gone up.

How could I not love a book with this in it:

"That was what happened when you listened to a girl whose favorite film was The Sound of Music." (p.102)

Millie's Fling, Jill Mansell

When Millie Brady saves Orla Hart's life she doesn't realise how drastically it will change her own – not least because the boyfriend who was asking her to move in with him at the time stormed off in a huff. Actually, Millie's relieved. She's happy to enjoy a man-free summer in Cornwall. But Orla has other ideas. She's determined that Millie should meet the man of her dreams. Trouble is, Millie's taste in men doesn't tally with Orla's. The one who really interests her is Hugh Emerson, and he's the man with whom Orla's adamant she mustn't get involved...

I am so happy when things like this happen: I bought this book in a moment of weakness based on the glittery cover art. I knew nothing about it. Sometimes that leads to serious disappointment but in this case I ended up loving the book. Hooray for glitter not leading me astray!

This story was fun to read but not idiotic. It was light but not ridiculous. It is the best kind of chick lit. I literally LOL'd several times. I loved Hugh & Millie as well as the supporting characters. Hester's experience at the spa is exactly why I don't want to go to spas! It totally reminded me of this (except what happened to Hester might be slightly more mortifying!). Scroll to 1:56



And I learned about another UK candy courtesy of this description:

"Perched on one arm of the wooden garden seat, wearing a pink dress and hugging her knees, was a girl in her late teens with glossy waist-length hair the color of caramel, plenty of orange lipstick painted on her mouth, and a look of adoration in her eyes. It was the kind of look you saw a lot on the faces of the audience at a Tom Jones concert. Sort of dazed and gooey, like a half-chewed Jelly Baby" (p.150)

And this made me laugh:

"I love all this," Orla declared, "its so real and down-to-earth! No glitz, no glamour, no celebrities, just ordinary people living mundane lives, wearing chainstore clothes, and cheap shoes..." (p.156)

I am really looking forward to reading another of Jill Mansell's books!