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Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
another enjoyable read from this Brit Chick Lit queen,
By
This review is from: Take A Chance On Me (Paperback)
The problem - a cold wet rainy day and no urge to do chores...The solution - a pot of tea, a warm quilt, a comfy couch and....the latest North American release by Jill Mansell - Take a Chance on Me! Cleo has lived in the small town of Channings Hill her entire life. She works as a chauffeur for a local limo company, spends her spare time with her friends and family and hangs out in her local - The Hollybush Inn. She hopes she's found the love of her life in Will - he just seems to be everything she has ever wished for. Or is he? And what about Johnny - a now well known sculptor who teased Cleo mercilessly when they were youngsters in school. He's back in town and has charm galore and every woman in town seems to be drawn towards it, except Cleo - or is she? Yet again, Jill Mansell has created a fantastic fictional world populated with lovable, quirky characters. Cleo is incredibly good hearted and fun, but has no confidence that true love will come her way. The supporting cast is just as fun - her neighbour Ash is incredibly suave when he's doing his radio programme, but tongue tied when in the same room with Fia - the woman of his dreams, but Cleo's nightmare. The subplot involving Cleo's sister Abbie, her husband Tom and their past intruding on their present goes a little deeper. I'm sure it's a situation that has played out in many marriages and Mansell handles it with both pathos and humour. Why do I enjoy Mansell's books so much? Well, I love chick lit - especially Brit chick lit and Jill is one of the best! I always feel like I come to know her characters so well. They're people you'd like to have in your circle (okay - except for Will) and I could see myself happily sitting in the pub on karaoke night eating a hot pot. The plots are fun, lots of wrong turns and miscommunications. Her writing style is clever, humourous, breezy and addictive. You're not taking a chance if you pick up Jill Mansell's latest. You're guaranteed a warm, witty good time read!
4.0 out of 5 stars
cute read,
By
This review is from: Take A Chance On Me (Paperback)
I enjoyed the book. It was light and cute. I would recommend it to anyone that is a fan of ChickLit.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.1 out of 5 stars (23 customer reviews) 6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Hilarious Look At New Love, Old Love, and Second Chances,
By Tori Benson "reviewer for Smexybooks" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Take a Chance on Me (Paperback)
Favorite Quote:"You're not suppose to enjoy funerals. Next you'll be giving it 5 stars on Amazon."Living in a small town, Cleo has learned to accept the fact that there are just certain people you can never avoid no matter how hard you really, really want to. When her job throws her in constant contact with her childhood nemesis, Johnny La Venture, she's perfectly content to be civil while plotting his death scenarios in her head. But for someone she is trying to avoid, he is becoming harder and harder to ignore. Take A Chance On Me revolves primarily on Cleo. Cleo is dating the man of her dreams-only to find out he is married with 2 kids. Of course, she finds all this out in front of her sworn mortal enemy-Johnny LaVenture. Johnny and Cleo have been nemeses since grade school. As she hasn't seen him in years, it's only fitting he shows up to witness her most humiliating moment. The story progresses as Cleo tries to get on with her life and avoid Johnny-only to find he keeps popping up where ever she is. Throw in her ex boyfriend's soon to be ex wife, her best friend's unrequited love, and her sister's sudden shock when an 18 year old girl shows up claiming to be her husband's unknown child and you have a mad cap hilarious story that have you laughing the whole time. Jill Mansell is a master of light hearted romantic contemporaries that uses dry humor, endearing characters, and crazy romantic plots to write enjoyable stories you won't want to put down. Her characters are delightfully flawed and provide a realism that has you thinking, "I know someone like that." The storyline is relatively simple and with a fast paced enjoyable conversational writing style. It does switch to different POV's but I found that it adds a tete-a-tete feel to the book. Cleo is hilarious with her calm outside manner and her raging inner monologue. A pretty 20 something woman, she just wants to be loved. Unfortunately, life keeps getting in her way. Strong and self reliant; she has a vulnerable side she hides well. That is until the one person who has always made her doubt herself won't go away. Johnny is an enigma. Even though we are told of his cruelty to Cleo when they were young, you see none of that now. A happy go lucky fellow, he instigates himself into Cleo's life with an aplomb and cheerfully annoys & tantalizes her. There are actually 3 story lines here that intertwine; new love, old love, and a second chance at love. Each one is given equal time with no sacrifices to the others. The love scenes are off page but the stories are strong enough without them. The secondary characters add delish snarkiness and humor as they all scramble to find and keep love in a small village where everyone knows everyone's business. While there are some characters you will love to smack, it says much about Jill Mansell's ability as a writer to imbibe these characters with enough personality to make them matter to me in the end. At times I found the endless misunderstandings to be tedious. It's hard when you see what needs to be done and the characters won't cooperate with you. All in all, Take A Chance On Me is a delightful contemporary romp that explores love, friendship, and second chances in an engaging delightful tale. 5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Fun and Worthwhile Read,
By Butterscotch - Published on Amazon.com
Finally! A Jill Mansell book that is definitely worth reading. This book is a great place to start if you are new to Mansell, and a definite must-read if you're already a fan. Take a Chance on Me has all of the best parts of Mansell's books rolled into one; the comedy, drama, romance, subplots, and unique characters. All of the characters in this story have equally large roles, but the characters at the forefront are Cleo and Johnny. They have a shared past, as schoolmates but, as adults, have trouble finding common ground with one another. The other character (and their friends) - Fia, Tom, Ash, Georgia and Abbie, have equally good storylines that are mixed with romance. The book keeps you entertained throughout and gets going right away; often, Mansell's books are a bit slow-paced, but not this one. It was a good book and I'd recommend it.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Loved it!,
By Darlene "from Peeking Between the Pages" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Take a Chance on Me (Paperback)
Take a Chance on Me by Jill Mansell is the first book of hers that I've read but it certainly won't be the last. What a great and fun read! This was a really good book to just sweep you away for a while and give you more than a giggle or two although it has its serious moments too.Cleo lives in the small English town of Channings Hill where she grew up and works as a chauffeur. She's happy with her lot in life and has finally met the man of her dreams in Will. He's perfect - good looking, attentive, and seemingly in love with her! What more could a girl want? All I can say is never put all your eggs in one basket - the dream guy may not be quite everything you're looking for. Then Cleo's old nemesis Johnny arrives back in town. He teased and bullied her like crazy when they were in school. The worst thing is, in Cleo's view, is Johnny managed to make it big as a sculptor so now he's good looking and rich. To top it off he seems to have everyone in town gravitating towards him because of all that dripping charm he oozes. Not Cleo though - she isn't going to be sucked in. She knows what Johnny is really like - or does she? Will she too fall under the charms of Johnny Laventure? Then we've got Cleo's sister Abbie who has her own problems. She thought she was happily married to the love of her life but then she finds a letter that turns her life upside down. Did she ever really know her husband? Just what has he been up to? Abbie is steaming mad and upset - is she upset enough to do something she may regret later? Abbie is in for more drama than she knows what to do with. Then there's Ash, Cleo's best friend, who is a great character. He's a DJ and a really good one too with plenty of personality - everyone loves him. However, if you put him in front of a woman such as Fia who he has a huge crush on, he becomes this other person who can't even form a coherent sentence. Yet he's got the beautiful Georgia chasing after him and he can be himself with her and yet she just doesn't pull at his heartstrings like Fia. Poor Ash! Take a Chance on Me by Jill Mansell is full of fantastic characters and good story lines. I really enjoyed this novel and look forward to reading more by Jill Mansell. |
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