Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

All You Need is Love

3.75 of 5 stars 3.75 · rating details · 310 ratings · 19 reviews

This is a romantic comedy set in Liverpool about Sally Freeman - a twenty-something single mum and superwoman - and her bid to make her world a better place. Hopelessly in love with her is Johnny - an artist with not a penny to his name - and Spencer Knight - a rich city slicker with a Porsche and a penthouse apartment. Sally wants to improve the dreary estate where she li...more

Paperback, 352 pages

Published 2008 by Headline Review

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Add this book to your favorite list »

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 629)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Jun 05, 2010 Hestia Kibou rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

like 1 like · see review

Jun 03, 2011 Rea Sinfield rated it 4 of 5 stars

I have found myself reading a lot of books by Carole Matthews recently. I find them all easy reads which is the kind of book I like to read in between more in depth books. All You Need is Love was calling me from the shelf in Asda with a bright red £1 sticker! Now please tell me how could I walk over such a great authors book as new for £1? That is how I come to lay my hands on All you Need Is Love!

Plot

The story revolves around main character Sally Freeman who lives on a run down council estat...more I have found myself reading a lot of books by Carole Matthews recently. I find them all easy reads which is the kind of book I like to read in between more in depth books. All You Need is Love was calling me from the shelf in Asda with a bright red £1 sticker! Now please tell me how could I walk over such a great authors book as new for £1? That is how I come to lay my hands on All you Need Is Love!

Plot

The story revolves around main character Sally Freeman who lives on a run down council estate in Liverpool. Sally is a young single mum who is determined to make a better life for both her and her son Charlie and to do this she thinks she needs two things number one to get off of the estate and two is to find a man to help her with this. Sally decides to join on a computer course in order to improve her skills. It is on this course that she meets the man she thinks is perfect to changing her life around as he can offer her the world. But how will the man in question, Spencer Knight, feel about having to give her son Charlie the world too?
Will Charlie be able to except the new man in his mother's life or will is hopes of his mum and her ex Johhny get in the way of a happy ending all around?

My Opinion

I felt the relationship between each of the characters in this book flowed together nicely which truly helped to make the book enjoyable. There were parts of the book which were a little farfetched but I do not think this ruined the book in anyway. The main character Sally, took me on twists and turns of my opinion of her throughout the book and even now I have finished the book I am still unsure if I did truly like her!! I found at the beginning of the book, roughly 4-5 chapters, I really started to warm to her character as she came across as some kind of superwoman helping the ladies in her community and trying to better herself. I then found my opinion of her starting to change when she starts to date Spencer and I actually started to dislike the character very much and preferred to read about her son and her ex partner while her character took this change, which I found happened often in the book.

I did enjoy this book although I did find it a little frustrating not being able to enjoy the main character. I cannot say that this is one of Carole Matthews best books I have read but even still I still feel it is worth giving it a go just do not have to high expectations of the book. For a £1 I think I got my monies worth! I would be a little disappointed paying full price for this book. (less)

like · see review

Oct 17, 2011 Jayden rated it 1 of 5 stars

This book just went on and on...and on. I don't understand why Carole Matthews felt the need to put down every single emotion, every thought the main character was feeling. I tried to skip these paragraphs but realised I was leaving out three quarters of the novel. Most aspects of it were just plain ridiculous and unrealistic like "Sally" saying a 30 second speech that drives a large part of Liverpool to suddenly reform and live good lives, another thing was a rich guy like Spencer (younger vers...more

like 2 likes · see review

Mar 05, 2009 Barbara Elsborg rated it 1 of 5 stars

Apart from the chocolate ones, I have loved her books but I really didn't like this one. The voice of the mc drove me mad - She was supposed to be from a rundown Liverpool council estate but her language hovered between common (supposedly hip) and highbrow. The plot was completely predicatable - that might not matter to some readers but I do like a few surprises. The loser in love never got to give us his POV - which made him seem very shallow. What the hell did he see in this 'superwoman'? He h...more

like 1 like · see review

Jan 28, 2012 V H rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

One of those books where I could guess how it would end by the first page, but it was interesting to see how they got there.

The love story between Sally and Spencer moves a bit too quick and with some too over-the-top situations to be believable. Actually the love story parts of the books I didn’t really like, what I did like was the interactions of the residents on the estate and what was happening with Sally’s son Charlie. Charlie is like any other 10-year-old and young teenager and Matthews m...more

like 1 like · see review

Mar 28, 2009 Andrea rated it 3 of 5 stars

I'm not sure why but something just left me feeling a little off about this book. First, I didn't like Sally's best friend Debs. She wasn't supportive of Sally in anything and seemed almost condescending. I kept thinking "Why would you want a best friend like that?" And then, I'm not sure if its the way it was written or what", but I kept thinking that Sally was with Spencer just for his money, which really set me off. And then another part of the time I kept waiting for Spencer to just be using...more

like · see review

Dec 05, 2010 Nicolette rated it 3 of 5 stars

All You Need Is Love
By Carole Matthews
(Headline Review)

FROM the moment I started reading All You Need Is Love, I felt like Carole Matthews’ main character Sally Freeman was speaking directly to me. Sally, aka single mum and superwoman, lives with her son Charlie in Liverpool on welfare. She enrols for a computer course where she meets an instructor, Spencer. Spencer whisks Sally away to Cuba for the weekend, and she has to make important decisions for her life. — Nicolette Scrooby

(Published in...more

like · see review

Oct 08, 2011 Valerie Jaafari rated it 5 of 5 stars

carole matthews did a good book here ..sally freeman is a single mum living in a house estate ..charlie her son doesn't have any news from his dad and has a new dad as substitution sally ex boyfriend johnny whith who sally still have great relation ship
sally trully wants to improve her life and her son's one ..and would like to leave the house estate she lives in despite the great friends she has but he do want a better life for her son
while taking computer classes she falls in love with her t...more

like · see review

Sep 16, 2009 Leah rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-read-2009

Carole Matthews is a highly-acclaimed author and has novels out regularly – she has had two novels out every year for the past couple of years. As a huge fan of Carole’s later novels that’s great news to me that she’s so prolific. I’ve liked many of Carole’s books (The Sweetest Taboo, With or Without You, The Chocolate Lovers Club & Diet and You Drive Me Crazy) however there have been a few I haven’t liked (Let’s Meet on Platform 8 & It’s A Kind Of Magic). It two I disliked haven’t put m...more Carole Matthews is a highly-acclaimed author and has novels out regularly – she has had two novels out every year for the past couple of years. As a huge fan of Carole’s later novels that’s great news to me that she’s so prolific. I’ve liked many of Carole’s books (The Sweetest Taboo, With or Without You, The Chocolate Lovers Club & Diet and You Drive Me Crazy) however there have been a few I haven’t liked (Let’s Meet on Platform 8 & It’s A Kind Of Magic). It two I disliked haven’t put me off Carole so I was looking forward to All You Need Is Love.

All You Need Is Love is reminiscent of The Sweetest Taboo in the fact that there’s two men in love with one woman. All You Need Is Love tells the story of Sally Freeman – single mum and super-woman – who is fed up of life in a Liverpudlian “sink estate” and wants out. Out comes in the form of Spencer Knight, rich, handsome and charming. But what about Johnny, Sally’s ex? It seems he is still in love with her…

I really enjoyed All You Need Is Love. I felt it gave a different spin on a chick-lit novel. For starters, Sally is a single mum living on benefits whereas your usual chick-lit heroine is single, no kids and has a great job. I enjoyed that it was from a different perspective.

I liked Sally and found her a breath of fresh air from our usual heroines, as I mentioned. I found it irritating the way she constantly referred to herself as Single Mum & Superwoman; we got it, no need to keep telling us so. I felt Sally got better as the novel wore on, at first she just wanted to get out of the estate as quick as possible but as the changes came around and her opinion seemed to change she became much more likeable.

I also found myself rooting for Johnny, the hapless ex, throughout the novel. I thought he was a brilliant character and I loved his relationship with Charlie, Sally’s son. I thought Charlie was another great character but quite mature even though he was meant to be 10. Then again 10 years olds seem to be rather mature nowadays!

I didn’t really warm to Spencer to be honest, probably because I was rooting for Johnny. He was a good character I just couldn’t warm to him.

I loved all of the minor characters; Johnny’s mum, Dora (the Explorer!), Mrs Kapur. The community feel of the book was brilliant and thought Carole captured it perfectly.

The writing style of the novel was typical Carole Matthews’ style. We get chapters in first person from Sally but we also get third-person chapters telling us what is going on with everyone else. When I first read the alternate way Carole writes her novels it took a while to get into but it’s easy to read and gives you the novel from all angles.

When I sat down to read the book it was easy to get into and I found the chapters incredibly easy to read because of the shortness of them. It was good to know that if I only had 10 minutes I could read a chapter or three.

Overall it was a very enjoyable novel from Carole. She is a brilliant writer. I also have to mention the book cover – which is gorgeous! Carole is having all of her covers re-designed and these new ones are lovely. This one is purple with sparkly writing. Definitely one of my favourite book covers.

Rating: 5/5(less)

like · see review

Jul 23, 2011 Nicole rated it 4 of 5 stars

Sometimes you just need a predictable book. And this one definitely fits in that category. Nevertheless Carole Matthews was able to hold my attention with her dead funny descriptions! She really captures the atmosphere of Liverpool and that really reminded me of my days there this summer. And one thing is certainly true everyone needs a little bit of Beatles in their lives!

like · see review

Jan 18, 2013 Kristina rated it 5 of 5 stars

At first I wasn’t sure and I was going to give up on it but I read a bit more and more and I am so glad I did because its really nice story.
For starters, Sally is a single mum living on benefits whereas your usual chick-lit heroine is single, no kids and has a great job. I enjoyed that it was from a different perspective.
I would defiantly Recommend it.

like · see review

Nov 03, 2009 Anna rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: library-books

Read this while on holiday in half term, nice to read something where everyone lives happily ever after :)

like · see review

Mar 11, 2012 Iv rated it 1 of 5 stars Recommends it for: NO! I would not recommend it!

What a torture!I have never read such a stupid book.It was supposed to be fun,it has been a struggle page after page to the end.

like · see review

Jun 30, 2011 Sheena rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: chick-lit

3.5 Stars Didn't like it as much as the previous Carole Matthews Books But still a good read.

like · see review

Oct 21, 2012 Stephanie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

I loved this book :) a bit predictable but it was very heart warming

like · see review

Nov 14, 2010 Margherita Dolcevita rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: chick-lit-women

Molto carino e umano, belli i capitoli sulla riqualificazione del quartiere in cui vive la protagonista. Tuttavia è un po' troppo tirato per le lunghe e l'inevitabile finale giunge dopo troppe pagine, grazie alle quali verrebbe voglia di intitolare il romanzo "Le donne preferiscono l'amore quando non sono così cieche da non accorgersi che ce l'hanno sotto gli occhi". Certo che chiunque preferirebbe l'amore con uno come Johnny, ma se ne accorgerebbe dopo 3 pagine.

like · see review

Feb 03, 2013 Natasha rated it 4 of 5 stars

I started off loving each and every one of the characters. By the end, I still loved the book, but realised that Spencer was horrible, and Sally didn't really deserve Johnny (as much as I'd wanted them together in the beginning)

like · see review

Mar 18, 2010 Shelleyrae at Book'd Out rated it 2 of 5 stars

It was okay, predictable a little bland though

like 1 like · see review

Feb 17, 2011 Gemma rated it 5 of 5 stars

Brilliant read

like · see review

May 16, 2013 Marium Ahmed rated it 4 of 5 stars

May 15, 2013 Maricel rated it 4 of 5 stars

May 14, 2013 Chris Keen added it

May 14, 2013 Kat Fletcher added it · review of another edition

May 14, 2013 Detta rated it 3 of 5 stars

May 12, 2013 Sarah Schachhuber rated it 4 of 5 stars

May 11, 2013 Sharlene is currently reading it

May 10, 2013 Tracy Flanagan rated it 5 of 5 stars

May 08, 2013 Justine Bull rated it 5 of 5 stars

May 08, 2013 Amy rated it 2 of 5 stars

May 07, 2013 Tracy Ellis marked it as to-read

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 20 21 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

Recommend it | Stats | Recent status updates

combine
Other Editions (5)

More editions...

Genres

Womens Fiction > Chick Lit

19 users

Romance

2 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About Carole Matthews

Carole Matthews is an international bestselling author of hugely successful romantic comedy novels. Her unique sense of humour has won her legions of fans and critical acclaim all over the world.

A Minor Indiscretion and A Compromising Position both reached the Top 5 in the Sunday Times bestseller chart in the UK. You Drive Me Crazy reached number 8 in the original fiction charts. The novel Welcom...more

More about Carole Matthews...

Books by Carole Matthews

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About All You Need is Love

No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »

title link	preview: All You Need is Love
avg rating	preview: All You Need is Love Goodreads rating: 3.75 (310 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3407732-all-you-need-is-love?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327548427l/3407732.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3407732-all-you-need-is-love?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]All You Need is Love by Carole Matthews[/url]

All You Need is Love

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website