Yêu Anh Tới Tận Mặt Trăng... Và Quay Trở Lại

by Jill Mansell

Mọi cánh cửa trái tim Ellie Kendall tường chừng vĩnh viễn khép chặt khi người chồng qua đời trong một tai nạn giao thông. Nhưng cuộc sống cũ với quá nhiều ký ức và sự thương hại đã thôi thúc cô ra đi kiếm tìm một khởi đầu mới.
Jack McLaren, doanh nhân trẻ vốn yêu các phi vụ làm ăn hơn những cuộc hẹn hò lãng mạn, không thể ngờ người mình yêu từ cái nhìn đầu tiên lại xuất hiện trước ngưỡng cửa xin làm trợ lý, đẩy anh vào tình huống giằng xé: vừa phải né tránh thảm họa tình công sở, vừa khao khát có được cô gái mình yêu.

Roo (hay Daisy Deeva), một ngôi sao ca nhạc hết thời nơi Ellie chuyển tới, sống bất cần đời và liên tiếp phạm phải sai lầm cả trong quá khứ lẫn hiện tại. Tình bạn với Ellie đã khiến cô muốn thoát khỏi cuộc sống vô mục đích và sửa chữa những lầm lỗi đã gây ra.
Và một năm đầy xáo động của ba con người đã diễn ra trong khu phố nhỏ trên đồi Primrose...

Genres: Chick Lit, Romance, Fiction, Contemporary, Contemporary Romance, Adult, Ebooks

397 pages, Paperback

First published May 26, 2011

About the author

Jill Mansell lives with her partner and children in Bristol, and writes full time. Actually that’s not true; she watches TV, eats fruit gums, admires the rugby players training in the sports field behind her house, and spends hours on the internet marvelling at how many other writers have blogs. Only when she’s completely run out of displacement activities does she write.

Jill Mansell's books have sold over ten million copies and her titles include: Making your Mind up, Fast Friends, Good at Games, Sheer Mischief and Solo, among many others.

Reviews

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I spent a very happy 3 and a half hours on the hammock in the garden reading this!! The characters were really well created (especially Martha, she's possibly one of the most genuine characters I've ever come across in a book <3), the plot was predictable but lovely and the romance was ADORABLE. I LOVE ZACK!!! Oh and the fact that it made me laugh and cry just in the epilogue was the icing on the cake :')

[Fenia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book surprised me so much. I didn't expect it to suck me into it. The story,the characters,the writing. just WOW. Beautiful setting. A story about overcoming pain and loss. about guilt and forgiveness. True love. Firsts and lasts loves. Friendships. Love at the first sight.

I just loved this book. Ellie was such a genuine GOOD character,she was like an angel. Zack. just give me a Zack NOW!!! He's the definition of perfect. Roo such a complicated and true character. Tony,Todd,Yasmin,Jamie..even Elmo xD You can't help but love them all. I'm having my exams these weeks,so i didn't have lots of free time to read,so i just wasn't sleeping,i stayed up reading this. BRILLIANT. MAGICAL. Love it. ♥ (Already ordered more of Jill's books)

[Ena u zemlji knjiga · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ellie je upravo izgubila muža. Todd se ne može pomiriti sa gubitkom najboljeg prijatelja. Roo ima vezu sa oženjenim muškarcem. Zack je nesretan u vezi.... Sudbine nekoliko ljudi će se u ovom romanu ispreplesti na jedan neobičan način i pokazati kako stvari u životu ne mogu uvijek ići isplaniram tokom :) lijepo, toplo, duhovito, na momente tužno - preporuka!

[Mandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

While this wasn't the best piece of literature I have ever read, nor the best piece of Chick Lit I have read, I will say I had a hard time putting it down. The characters got stuck in my head. The multiple storylines were compelling, albeit some more contrived than others.

While some of the elements of the story were developed well, others were insufficient. As far as character descriptions went in general, I did have a hard time picture what Ellie, Todd, Zack, Jamie, looked like. I get that from the beginning, from the short time we 'see' Jamie development is not possible, but would have been later.

Also, there was an instance where Ellie was confounded by what to wear to the wedding with Zack. She stews over it, gets several new options, but in the end, when she's at the wedding. The readers doesn't know what she ended up wearing. Things like that confounded me.

I liked how this was a formulaic book, however, there was tension and unease with the thought of Zack and Ellie being together, how it did not happen right away, etc.

The entire time I was reading this book, I was thinking to myself, "this reminds me of a less great Marian Keyes book. I really miss her. While this book had me laughing a bit at times, it wasn't the same, nor was the capturing of asinine details and dialogue.

[Debra · Rating 4 out of 5]

What can I say? Jill Mansell's use of secondary characters always amazes me. Each one is as fleshed out as the main protagonists, just adding to the fun of her novels. While this one has an inordinate amount of guilt split up among everyone, all comes right in the end when each character is paired up with the loves (and in one case, the second love) of their lives. Well done! A fast and friendly read, Jill Mansell once again makes me smile.

[Rufi Angel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read a lot of Jill Mansell (she's kind of my comfort author, when I've had a bad day and I need an easy, fun read) but out of all her books I like this one the best so far.


Sure, the ending can be seen a mile away and happens in a bit of a rush considering the build up, and Roo's way of trying to make up for her past mistakes was over-the-top to say the least, but Zack made an extremely likeable male lead (unlike many of the male leads in Jill's other works) and you really feel the heroine's heart for Jamie. Actually, that relationship with Jamie was what gave this book more depth than most of Jill's other works. Tragedy was a powerful element to the plot, but was well countered with light and hopeful events. In any case, definitely a fun read that also had an impact on the heartsrings where it was needed. Definitely thought it was one of the better ones by Jill Mansell given she didn't use as many tropes with this one as she does with her other books (like the Funny Gay Guy or the Sassy Smartmouth Teenager... though she DOES use Dirty Cheating Husband).


I recommend it to anyone who wants something easy to digest, but wants just a teensy bit of depth.

[Elizabeth Camden · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Jill Mansell for her light, airy comedies with endearing characters and a lot of whimsy.... this one was a little different. Quite sad, actually....but I think it was that poignancy that made it such a powerful read. Two thumbs up.

[Siv30 · Rating 3 out of 5]

אלי קאנדל מאבדת את בעלה בפתאומיות. המוות הטרגי מותיר אותה הלומה וכואבת וחייה נעצרים. אחרי 18 חודשים חמה, טוני, מעביר אותה לדירה באזור טוב שם היא פוגשת ברו שתהיה לחברתה הטובה.

אלי מתחילה לעבוד אצל זאק, יזם חתיך שנשים רבות מחזרות אחריו. זאק נדלק על אלי אבל היא שעדין שקועה באובדן שלה אינה מביעה עיניין.

הספר מתאר את התמודדות של אלי עם האובדן, עם החזרה ההדרגתית לחיים ועם פריחת החברות, הידידות והאהבה.

אין שום דבר מפתיע בספר ואפילו הסוף שלו צפוי, אבל זה ספר חמוד ומתוק, משעשע לפרקים שעושה נעים בלב.

[Marina · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5 ik dacht al toen ik het begon te lezen... hhmmm dit komt me bekend voor en had het al gelezen maar was zoveel vergeten en hij was even leuk als de eerste keer!!

[Racheli Zusiman · Rating 4 out of 5]

ספר חמוד ומקסים ממש. כתוב טוב ומשעשע.
אלי מאבדת את בעלה הצעיר והאהוב בתאונת דרכים, ומנסה להתגבר על האבל ושברון הלב. החם שלה, טוני, שחקן מפורסם שגר בדרך כלל בלוס אנג'לס, רוכש דירה בשכונה נעימה של לונדון והיא משתכנת בה כדיירת, מתחברת עם רו, השכנה ממול, ומתחילה לעבוד כמנהלת משרד אצל זק, יזם חתיך ואחד הדיירים בשכונה. הספר כולל מספר סיפורי אהבה והוא פשוט מותק של ספר. מומלץ מאוד.

[Payal · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think I'd have liked it more had I been in the right frame of mind.

The major two things I hated about this book:
1. EVERYONE was paired off. And I mean EVERYONE!
2. No one was clear about what they wanted. Maybe it was a Brit thing because Americans are not this obtuse about wanting others.

I liked Ellie and Jamie's relationship. I liked that she missed the good and the bad parts. I wonder if she had any family outside of Jamie's dad. They were never even mentioned - not even to say that they weren't in her life. No siblings, no parents, no aunts or uncles. That seemed really odd. There were scant few women in her life. And the book failed the Bechdel test. This was the first book I read that used the word Malarkey (twice, mind). Was it written for Joe Biden?

For a book with 400+ pages, it was offering very little to its target audience.

[Alexander Van Leadam · Rating 1 out of 5]

I guess this is a literary romantic novel. Well, literary or not I could barely survive it. Everything is so sugar-coated that it loses all flavour. Even death seems painless. I wonder what makes people enjoy stuff like this and even rate it as "true to life", as some online reviews do. Others hit the nail on the head": "light-hearted and optimistic". We all need some form of escapism, I guess - even this one.

[sylvie ˚｡⋆୨୧˚ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars
I promise this story has a relevant meaning...
Ok, let me set the scene,
It's a Saturday morning and I'm waiting for the library to open so in the mean-time I go into Big-W; Dead set on getting Twisted Love. And then I see the sign *gasp* $12?!?!! Are they crazy? I'm not spending a whole $12 on this book. My mum would kill me, I already have a whole shelf of overpriced unread books. So with all the willpower I have, I walk away. I'm hoping for a $10 book if I'm lucky. A good girls guide to murder? No, it's also $12. Love on the Brain? No, I still haven't gotten over Love Hypothesis. Where the crawdads sing? No, it's the newly updated version of the cover, and *gasp* there's that dreaded unremovable sticker. I accept it as a sign I should just walk away. BUT WAIT. In a twist of fate I see another sign, this time its a bright yellow sign with the characters $5. Hell yeah. So as the cheapo I am I look around, I'm looking like a granny does at a Salvation Army on a Monday morning… then I see this beautiful periwinkle book spine with the cutest little purple leaves... 'To the moon and back'. Being the shallow person I am, it draws my attention and I pick it up. Okay, I think, this'll probably be a book I put on my TBR only to have it on there for 3 years.... but then I read the blurb; Sheer perfection.
---------------------------------------------------------------
This book, was intriguing from the very start, it tells you happens from the blurb but I doesn't stop my heart from aching. There were so many side characters with stories just as good- if not better then- as the main characters. I loved loved loved the character development. Roo's storyline was just perfection. Martha and Tony's relationship was just so heartbreaking but SO sweet

But in regards to Zacky and Ellie... Ms Jill really gave us crumbs.... but I ate them all up. I would have liked to see more of them as a couple (like a lot more)- because of what I did read it was VERY wholesome. HOWEVER, the way she wrote the insta-attraction, perfect person wrong time, push and pull, roadblocks, forbidden(ish) love, cow-ink-a-dink's were so frustrating but at the same time so enticing. I really liked this book as a light-hearted read (although it's definitely not short).

Overall, I'm very glad that I saw that bright yellow sign that day ;)

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[SOS Aloha · Rating 5 out of 5]

On the opening page, Ellie thanks her husband, Jamie, for ironing her skirt, “I am. Very grateful. Thank you, thank you, to the moon and back.” Each have separate commitments – Ellie is dressing for the Rocky Horror Picture show with her girlfriends; Jamie is attending a school reunion with his friend, Todd. Sadly, this is their last time together as Jamie is killed in an auto accident that Todd survives. The story kicks in 15 months later when Ellie’s former father in law, Tony, encourages her to move into a safer “flat” in Primrose Hill. Once Ellie moves into her new flat, other new things come her way, including a new job, a new friend, and the possibility of a new romance. Perhaps Ellie feels as though she has physically and emotionally traveled to the moon and back.

While Ellie is the heroine, the supporting cast has their own storylines that intertwine with Ellie’s. Mansell offers us a snapshot of daily life in Primrose Hill – how neighbors come to know each other and look after each. The story reminds me of the ensemble movie LOVE ACTUALLY. Like the movie, TO THE MOON AND BACK spotlights the love and heartbreak between family, friends, and lovers. The scenes flowed together and made it difficult for me to put this book down.

Mansell is well known in England for her “women’s literature” and that’s what drew me to review the book. TO THE MOON AND BACK gave me the opportunity to satisfy my Anglophile yearnings. I felt as though I was sitting in a tea shop, listening to the local hubbub in a London neighborhood. I cried, laughed, and ached with these characters. I realized that I, too, had been to the moon and back and I am thankful for it.

I received an ARC from Sourcebooks for this review.

[Dana Al-Basha | دانة الباشا · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I say I just loved this book I would be lying! This book was more than amazing, it was funny, romantic, made me drop a tear or two, and made my heart thudding wishing to know how it will all wrap up!



And I am not just talking about the main characters, I cared for every other character in the book. They all seemed real and they all were very human, for a few days this book was all I thought about. It has a bit of P.S. I Love You in it but 10 times better. I loved Jamie, Zack and Ellie. I loved Roo and Todd, I loved Martha and Tony. Even Geraldine and the old man. Every bit of this book... Especially that it was set in England. I have to get all the books for this author soon and read and read. I loved this book to the moon and back!

[Land of butterflies · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another book by Jill Mansell that i really enjoyed reading.

[Serena · Rating 4 out of 5]

To the Moon and Back by Jill Mansell tackles relationships on a whole new level and looks at what it means to love someone for better and for worse and in sickness and in health. While the novel is infused with Mansell’s humorous style, it is more serious than her other novels.

Ellie Kendall, the main protagonist, finds that losing the love of one’s life is not the end of the world, though it is devastating. She finds a way to move on with her life, though she’s cut herself off from all of her friends and family to do it and feels as though she’s drowning in sympathy. Meanwhile, Zach McLaren is a workaholic with no idea what his life is missing until Ellie literally walks through and into it.

Read the full review: http://savvyverseandwit.com/2011/09/t...

[Sonja · Rating 2 out of 5]

Had to stop reading this book, there‘s no way I will make it through more than 400 pages of this…illogical, predictable, a bit stupid (black mold - let‘s just cover it with a wallpaper 🙃).
Honestly, this book is a waste of time for me.

[Saar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prima boek alleen pakte dit boek mij minder dan ander boeken van Jill Mansell. Ligt aan mij, niet aan het boek!

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Fun, Fluffy stars of pure romantic silliness!

[Larissa Reinhart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very sweet. A lovely romance that made me cry, but delivered the HEA. A quick read, perfect for my vacation.

[Nida Kazi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whatever you could make out of this image above could described the story of this book to an extent. I'll only add this book covers many lovely characters.

[Charlotte Ashcroft · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a lovely story 😊

[Hannah Rosenthal · Rating 3 out of 5]

ספר מתוק אבל צפוי מדי.

[Jackie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The good, the bad and the ugly realities of life are explored with care,passion and thoughtfulness in a romance that has its own unique characters to cheer or jeer for.

[Batgrl (Book Data Kept Elsewhere) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sucked in by one of the daily deal prices on the blog Dear Author, I started reading the blurb at Amazon and totally got sucked in. "I really don't like chicklit" I told myself, but then after reading a chapter I wanted to know what happened next. Having it set in the London area was something I couldn't resist either - I've had a love affair with the city since I visited it in the 80s.

The death of Ellie's (our heroine) husband is hard stuff to read, and happens in the first few chapters. I get weepy over certain scenes (even if they're tropes) at the drop of a hat - so I was easily along for the empathy. But after reading the sample I did want to know more about how Ellie held up afterwards. (Thus the "oh dammit, I have to buy this, but it's on sale.") Because she gets into the habit of talking to her dead husband - not that he's present as a ghost - no, she clearly knows he's not there and that this is something she's doing to herself to cope. And she realizes it's not a good thing.

However so far it's not at all a serious book full of angst and such. I'm still giggling over the first time the hero (or I assume he's the hero or why else would he just pop into the story at that point)Zach gets a glimpse of Ellie on the street (she doesn't see him, so its all one sided longing on his part - foreshadowing!):

[5%, p 20] "...the effect she'd had on him was extraordinary; he couldn't stop looking at her. Whoever she was, he wanted to know more. Heavens, what a weird feeling; he'd never experienced anything like this before."

It was at "heavens" that I had to giggle. I somehow don't hear this coming from a man - it reminds me of something ladies a generation ago would say. (I have been teased for saying "goodness!" as this also sounds archaic. So I really shouldn't be laughing.) However, keep reading, and the banter between Ellie and a character you meet later - Roo - will redeem this.

Still reading, more later.

[22%, 91] Ellie, describing her father in law: "More like fairy godmother, the way you've been sorting out my problems."

Which is exactly what I'd dubbed his character earlier, when he helped her with her housing dilemma.

...Did not see secondary love story coming - I was looking for it to happen elsewhere. Nice.

...Still liking secondary story. Boy there's a hellish amount of guilt everyone's feeling in this book, for various reasons. Some a bit over the top, yet here and there it feels realish - in the sense that yes, I've known of people having to go through this. Or the parts where Ellie tries to get herself to stop crying - everyone knows the "I will now talk to myself and make myself stop crying" inner monologue thing.

...Now at part where Ellie is ill, yet Zack is still all moony over her. I was with the book on its "love from afar/friends while together" thing, until the illness. People with the flu are not people to pine over. No matter how much you love helping the person. Having frisky thoughts about someone with the flu = SO wildly not reality. Speaking as someone who's been ill a lot, I know this to be true. And it's even less likely that you will have frisky thoughts about your caretaker, no matter how cute, if you are well and truly ill.

You will gather from this that I rolled my eyes a lot during this part.

...Ok I really like Martha - the way she's described and the way she speaks. I'd quote her speech about how she's feeling on p 344, except spoilers. And also it would probably seem more melodramatic than real if taken out of context. But it really made me feel "this author knows something about losing someone in real life."

...May have to rethink my "it's not a serious book of angst" statement earlier. There's a lot of crying going on, for understandable reasons. Death and infidelity aren't just things you can brush off and claim don't matter or hurt. At the same time, it's not all misery, and these are serious problems that you don't just suddenly wake up the next day to find resolved.

Still am enjoying it simply because there's always plenty of hints that things will eventually be happier, and I do like some of the characters by this point. Now to see if the ending fulfills that hopefulness...

....I really like that there are characters of various ages - that it's not another story full of 20somethings.

...And yes, all ends well.

Originally I was going to rewrite this up to read a bit more like a coherent review, but bah, I'm leaving it this way.

I will add that this reminded me why I usually read historical romances - I'd rather be in non-contemporary setting to be in a truly escapist type of fun-read. While I enjoyed the settings and some of the characters, issues like the loss of a loved one and aging are things that come way to close to events in my own life, and thus the read is much less an escape for me.

[Leah · Rating 3 out of 5]

When Ellie Kendall loses her husband Jamie her entire world collapses. She throws herself into her job, and spends her evenings trying to keep her ever-decaying flat together. Until her father-in-law Tony insists she looks after his house in Primrose Hill. There, Ellie meets the enigmatic Roo, who brings some much needed vitality into Ellie’s life. When Ellie gets a new job working for Zack McLaren it’s the start of a new life almost. But will Ellie ever be able to let herself fall in love again, especially when Jamie was the love of her life. And what of Roo, with her very own secrets. One thing’s for sure, Ellie’s new life in Primrose Hill will change her life in ways she’s never known.

I’d like to let it be known that I love Jill Mansell. I’ve read the majority of her earlier novels, devouring them all a couple of years ago. However since her 2008 release An Offer You Can’t Refuse I haven’t read a Jill Mansell novel. I have the books on my shelf, but I just never found the time to manage to read them. I received a proof copy of To The Moon and Back, though, and I was desperate to end my Jill Mansell drought and I thought this was the best one to start with as it sounded very intriguing from the synopsis. And while I did enjoy the book, there were aspects I didn’t particularly like and it was only an average read for me.

To The Moon and Back, with the greatest of respect to Jill Mansell, has a fairly average main plot mainly because there isn’t much to it. Yes, Ellie is still trying to get over Jamie’s death but even that’s a stretch because after Jamie’s death the book skips fifteen months so we seem to miss the entire grieving period. So I would assume the plot is meant to be Ellie’s new life in Primrose Hill which comprises of a new flat, a new job and some new friends. It just didn’t really excite me, and it really didn’t hold my attention as much as I would like. To top it all off, Ellie’s new friend Roo is the kind of female I’m coming to hate: having an affair with a married man, believing he’s going to leave his wife. It’s so cliched and if I’ve read it once I’ve read it a million times and it’s gotten to the point where any sort of plot line that goes in that direction, no matter how vaguely, annoys me.

As for the characters, I must admit it took me a while to really take to Ellie as there just wasn’t much there for me to work with early on. Don’t get me wrong, I liked her a lot I just didn’t feel connected to her at all. Despite my reservations and annoyances over Roo’s plot, she was in fact my favourite character. She added some sparkle into the book, well, she did until she went on her mad mission to atone for her mistakes. I liked Zack McLaren and bar Roo he was a favourite, but again, there wasn’t enough substance to him. Despite dying in the first few pages, Jamie is fairly prominent in the book and from what I can tell he seemed like a very nice person, he seemed wonderful in fact. Jamie’s dad Tony is also heavily featured, as he and Ellie get on well and Tony was the realest character to me (which is funny, since he’s an actor!). Mainly though I just felt disconnected to them all. I wasn’t entirely fussed about what they did or didn’t do and that’s really the kiss of death with any novel. You have to be invest in the characters otherwise it’s never going to work.

Now it might sound like I’m totally hating the book, I didn’t, not at all. It was a decent enough effort and I enjoyed the fact that although Jamie died in the first few pages he is with us throughout the book as Ellie keeps him alive in her mind. The writing is classic Jill Mansell and is always a joy to read but the plot and most of the characters just didn’t really grab me. I feel awful for saying that I didn’t enjoy the book, as Jill is one of my favourite authors but this book didn’t grab me or speak to me like previous books of hers and I found myself getting bored as the book neared its conclusion and I couldn’t wait for it to end because I just wanted to get it over with. So although the book itself was readable enough, the plot and characters didn’t really speak to me like I would have expected them to and I just feel a little let down by To The Moon and Back. The potential was there, but I just didn’t feel it was utilised to its best ability.

[I'm Not · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is going to be an emotional rant (not in a good way) so there might be spoilers that I'm currently unaware of. If you don't want to read spoilers - feel free to skip this :D


So, I am not sure if I'm just in a reading slump where every book I pick up ends up boring the hell out of me after the first 50 pages. Or I have been picking up a lot of wrong books :D

So, now it's time to tell you something about this book (apart from my opinion that I know it's all over the place :/). It's a book about love and different kinds of love, obviously.

Ellie and Jamie are the cutest and laid-back couple I have felt immediate connection with. Alas, Jamie dies within the first few chapters and Ellie is left unmoored and not ready to start a new relationship any time soon.

Tony is a famous actor and Jamie's father who has long been divorced and becomes interested in Martha (God knows why. Because the author obviously doesn't.)

Roo is Ellie's new friend who just can't pick a right guy.

And now the feels!

I can't express how much disappointed I was with this book. I thought it was going to be mainly about Ellie and her new love interest. (It is about her but you kind of get lost after Tony and Martha's storyline starts developing) Since I am a huge fan of P.S. I love you (book only!!!), I thought I was going to cry my eyes out and run out to my computer and immediately order a hardcover from Amazon to cherish it for the rest of my life.

Why? Because, like I've already mentioned, I was just mesmerized with the first few pages. I loved the dynamics of Ellie and Jamie's relationship, their (flirtatious) jokes, their opinions about each other, etc. And Ellie's talks with Jamie's "ghost" were just, ah, heart-wrenching. I loved, LOVED that part.

I also loved Ellie and Tony's lunch conversation where they talk about Jamie not being an avid fan of PDA. I was amazed with how the author was able to make me cry on the beginning of a page, and laughing out loud by the end of it.

And I was delighted with Roo's almost peeing herself - it was hilarious and made me like her instantly. (kind of like with Rosie's friend from Love, Rosie)

But!

Then I got to the Zack part which is only a page or two for the first time he was mentioned, which was... Not all that great, imo, but hey, I was trying out a new author and I did not want to be too harsh (yet). Then the story about Ellie went on, which was interesting since I expected it to go that way, only to go back to Zack after some time and act like I'm supposed to care about him. Well, I didn't. I had no idea how he looked, how he smiled, how he talked, what he was afraid of, why he was drawn to Ellie besides her looks. I just knew he had some kind of a messy thing with Louisa who was boring me to death. Can't really see why a guy like that (if he's all that great) would tolerate that.

Furthermore, I had a major issue with his first impression of Ellie - he felt "something about that girl". O.K., we all get that "something" you can't put your finger on, but for God's sakes, no writer should EVER resort to that. What did he feel exactly? WHY? If you're not gonna tell me immediately, suit yourself, do it later. But you can't go on without ever telling the reader because then we just don't CARE!

The same thing happened with Tony and Martha. He felt SOMETHING. Oh, is that right? -.-
I did not feel the chemistry between them and no connection whatsoever so when they later on bragged about their fantastic sexual encounter, I just felt awkward because it felt like barging in on your grandparents. Eww. (Fyi, I have nothing about older people having sex - I've thoroughly enjoyed that movie with D. Keaton and J. Nicholson.)

Speaking of sex, there was one thing that also bothered me. Ellie is so hurt when Jamie dies and reproaches Todd for coming to pick up Jamie earlier than he was supposed to (while he was famous for always being late) and thinks to herself how they've missed the last opportunity to "have sex". "To make love" might be a bit cheesy phrase, but in this context it would have meant something completely different and would be more than welcome.

Going back to reading Cecelia Ahern's book, bye-bye!

[Goddess Of Blah · Rating 1 out of 5]

DUMB. DUMB. DUMB. SO DUMB IT HURTS.

JUST SHUT UP. YOU'RE STUPID.

NO MORE PLEASE! YOU DUMB B****


Jill Mansell's books (that I have had the misfortune to read) have so far been an insult to any self-respecting intelligent (or even semi-intelligent) audience. All seem to follow the same premise of ultra chick lit trash. Be prepared to lose brain cells when reading her trite, clichéd rubbish.

The heroine is generally naïve and either unsuccessful in her career or from a disadvantaged background. A confirmed sap, she's invariably misunderstood by our dashing rich “hero” - and is usually betrayed by a former boyfriend or she has suffered an unfortunate break-up from a long term relationship.

The hero's are all from the same chick-lit mould - a text book recipe shared by the uncreative of romance authors: tall, dark and handsome (and invariably wealthy). If she could create a romance novel with a hero suffering a receding hairline, a middle income and of average height - her books would have some depth. If one recollects Jane Eyre - the characters' of a romance need not be good looking.

I loath absolute chick lit – and all her books are thus. Great if you're a bimbo though – because these books are so light that they float. Enjoy.