Of Love and Life: Making Your Mind Up / Second Honeymoon / Be Careful What You Wish For

by Jill Mansell, Alexandra Potter, Joanna Trollope

Making Your Mind Up: Lottie Carlyle isn't looking for love when she meets her new boss, Tyler Klein. Living in a beautiful cottage with her two adorable - sometimes - kids in an idyllic village in the heart of the Cotswolds, on good terms with her charming but hopeless ex-husband and with friends all around, she's happy enough with her lot. But Tyler's perfect for Lottie and quickly she falls for him - and he for her. Unfortunately, there's a problem. For reasons that are totally unfair, Lottie's children HATE Tyler. When a rival for Lottie's affections comes on the scene in the shape of charmer Seb, the children adore him, and he's certainly a distraction. But he's not Tyler - and he's not even at all what he seems. Lottie's got a problem - but thanks, in classic Jill Mansell style, to a tobogganing accident and a delicious series of mix-ups, all will be revealed and true love will find a way.

Second Honeymoon: When the last of their children finally leaves home, Edie & Russell have very different reactions. Edie is lost and unsure of her role now she is no longer needed as a mother. Russell is delighted to have his wife back and ready to move on to the next place of their marriage. But life hardly ever goes to plan. A totally engrossing family drama.

Be Careful What You Wish For: Heather Hamilton loves making wishes - I wish my hair didn't friaa in the rain, I wish there were no traffic jams, I wish I could meet the perfect man- but all to no avail. Until one day she is given a lucky sprig of heather, and all her wishes start to come true. But sometimes what we wish for doesn't turn out quite the way we expected.

384 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

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

[Lesley]

Making Your Mind Up 5* by Jill Mansell.
Delightful story. Set in a small Cotswold village the book follows the lives and loves of several individuals in a way that makes you feel part of a tight knit community. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

Second Honeymoon 3* by Joanna Trollope.
A tale of a family where the grownup children have left the nest and then for one reason or another come home to live again (much to the disapproval and dismay of the father). I found it difficult to engage with the story, I think because I didn’t actually like or care about any of the characters!

Be Careful What You Wish For 4* by Alexandra Potter.
After being given a sprig of lucky white heather by a gypsy, surprising things start to happen to Heather. Queues and red traffic lights are a thing of the past, a seat on the Tube is no longer a problem. An adoring new boyfriend? Tick. A lodger to help with the mortgage? Okay he’s a stand-up comic, a species she hates but one can’t have everything. Is this all a coincidence, or is the heather magic? A humorous read.

[Becky]

Couldn't get into the second two, but I loved making your mind up!