Well after a lot of heavy fantasy books, I decided to give my brain a bit of a break and catch up on some of the books I’ve got downloaded on my Kindle. I’m not one to dismiss chick-lit as useless or mind-numbing, and I definitely don’t use chick-lit as a derogatory word. When it’s well written, I find it more like a warm, comforting, relaxing experience, more like watching a lovely film.

And this one was quite lovely. When I first got in to reading, I used to read quite a bit of Jill Mansell, she seemed to be quite a popular option at my local charity shop where I used to buy my books for 25p a pop. But it’s been a while since I read any of her books, so when this one came up in the ‘Top 100 free’ list on Kindle, I just couldn’t say no!

The book starts with a fateful ride-on lawnmower. Not exactly the romantic Christmas present a woman wants to receive from her husband,and especially not when she’s just received a Christmas Card from a jewellers through the mail. It’s not hard for Nancy to put two and two together, and she decides to leave her husband and move in with her friend Carmen in London.

Carmen is still grieving for her late husband Spike. He was in a supremely successful rock band with his brother Rennie, but he also liked to experiment with drugs, which led to his untimely demise. And when Rennie rocks up on Carmen’s doorstep, she can’t deny that she feels something for him, try as she might.

The book contains a lot of speedbumps on the way to true love for each of the characters, who I came to love so much by the middle of the book that I was sat hoping and praying that they’d end up with the right people. Of course, you can tell quite early on how the book is going to end, but that doesn’t stop you from laughing and crying along with the characters and enjoying a thoroughly good read.

I’m only giving this book four out of five because I think some of the characters were just a little too stereotyped for my liking, but a brilliant read nonetheless.