#BlogTour-‘Maybe This Time’ by Jill Mansell

About The Book

When Mimi first visits her dad’s new home in the Cotswolds, she falls in love with Goosebrook and the people who live there. (Well, maybe not snooty Henrietta, who lets Mimi walk miles in the rain rather than give her a lift.)

There’s Paddy, with his flashing eyes and seductive charm. Friendly and funny Lois makes Mimi laugh. And seriously gorgeous Cal is welcoming and charismatic. Though Mimi loves her city life and her career, she’d be very happy to return to Goosebrook if it means seeing more of him.

Life is about to take some unexpected and shocking twists and turns. And Mimi’s path and Cal’s are set to cross again and again – but will it ever be the right time for both of them?

A confession-I really dislike the ‘chicklit’ label, in my humble opinion I think it is reductive, dismissive and off putting. Writers like Jill Mansell who craft in this genre  make their romantic comedies look effortless but I am positive that is not the case in constructing them. When badly done, they can become turgid and trite.

This is far from the case in her latest, Maybe This Time, now available in hardback wherever good books are sold.

Mimi is a twentysomething who loves her London based job but finds much to enjoy in the Cotswold retreat of her father, and his partner’s renovated cottage. They are struggling to adjust to village life and prefer not to engage but Mimi encourages them to get more active in it but it’s a small place which stops considering you a newcomer after you live there for 30 years.

She meets Cal on her first visit after a hilarious sheep rustling incident and you think ‘Aw, they would make a lovely couple!’ but Cal is married and has a daughter! Being friends is absolutely the only thing that they can be and you get the impression that Mimi isn’t particularly looking for a relationship at this point.

As the book progresses , you see Mimi grow as a person and find yourself so invested in her happy ending. But who she will end up with and how is all part of the charm of the novel.

In lesser hands this tale of city versus town life could have been formulaic and lifeless-but in the hands of Jill Mansell it sparkles as though it was her debut novel not her thirtieth.

I absolutely loved ‘Maybe This Time’ and would urge anyone to give it a go and not be put off by any stereotypes. Thank you so much to Anne Cater and her Random Things Tours for having me and Headline for my copy in return for an honest review.

About The Author

Jill Mansell is the author of over twenty Sunday Times bestsellers includiThe One You Really Want‘ and ‘Meet Me At Beachcomber Bay‘. ‘Take A Chance On Me ‘won the RNA’s Romantic Comedy Prize, and in 2015 the RNA presented Jill with an outstanding achievement award.

Jill’s personal favourite amongst her novels is ‘Three Amazing Things About You‘, which is about cystic fibrosis and organ donation; to her great delight, many people have joined the organ donor register as a direct result of reading this novel.

Jill started writing fiction while working in the field of Clinical Neurophysiology in the NHS, but now writes full time. She lives in Bristol with her family.

https://jillmansell.co.uk/