Head over Heels

by Jill Mansell

Love is always just around the corner in a Jill Mansell novel - with a few surprises and a lot of humour on the way to happiness

Jessie has kept the identity of her son Oliver's father a secret for years. She's stunned when she discovers that the man in question, actor Toby Gillespie, has just moved in next door. The truth's about to come out. One glance at Oliver, and a little mental arithmetic, and Toby has the situation sussed. Meeting the son he never knew he had is the shock of a lifetime. It's a shock, too, for Toby's wife, the beautiful Deborah, though she seems to take it in her stride. Would Deborah be so relaxed if she knew just how close Toby wants to get to the mother of his firstborn? As the attraction between them flares up again, Jessie just can't see her way to a happy ending. But no one is quite what they seem, and there are more surprises to come...

Genres: Chick Lit, Romance, Fiction, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary, Adult, British Literature

448 pages, ebook

First published January 1, 1998

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

[TinaNoir · Rating 2 out of 5]

Of all the Jill Mansell books I've read -- and I've read many -- I think this has to be my least favorite.

It starts out pretty good with a small town atwitter over a big time movie star celebrity couple moving into their town. Except, one of the townspeople, Jessie, was in love with and had the secret baby of the male half of the movie star couple 21 years ago. So his moving to town is threatening to unearth one of her biggest secrets.

But soon this central plot point gets overshadowed by all the other stuff that happens in the book: Philandering husbands, secretly gay husbands, transgender husbands, philandering wives, promiscuous doctors, questionable paternity, meddling mothers-in-law, petulant teens etc.

Usually this author is able to manage multiple storylines and large casts of characters with charm, wit and a deft hand in keeping the story moving , fun and readable. For for some reason this one felt rather meandering, lacked focus, and none of the characters had any of the charm I am used to seeing in her books. My feelings for the characters ranged from exasperation to downright dislike.

Not a winner for me.

This is based on a copy of the book provided by the publishers

[Paola · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was a jumbled mess. Too many stories no real details beyond a few blips about each character and way too many characters.. So many issues but nothing was really delved into and none of the characters were interesting. The only real theme throughout this book was sex. Some getting it, others wanting it but not getting it, etc. One pathetic whiny brat after another. A total waste of time, this book sucked. I would not recommend this to a friend and I doubt I'll read anymore books by this author.

[Nicole · Rating 1 out of 5]

Amazon fail. They often repurpose older books as new when they go to kindle, sometimes even with different titles. This wasn’t on my goodreads account because I read it before goodreads existed.

Anyway, this book is from 1998.

[Kathryn Holmes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m pretty sure I read this 20 years ago although that is apparently the length of time I need to forget what’s going to happen in a book as I couldn’t quite remember! Jill Mansell writes lovely easy to read books that are like wearing your fave jumper - comfy. Whilst this is written 20 years ago, I don’t think it felt too dated either. There were parts of it that just wouldn’t wash nowadays as times have changed but on the whole it still stood.

[Catarina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mais um livrinho desta autora lido, e a opinião continua básicamente a mesma.
Humor, sensibilidade e boas horas de leitura, são já uma constante com estes livros, no entanto, este livro que poderia fácilmente ter sido um dos meus preferidos peco num aspecto que está presente em todo o livro, em todos os persongens...

Ao ser intitulado de "Amores Proibidos" e com a sinopse, fui levada a pensar que os protagonistas iam ter as habituais aventuras e obstáculos para que conseguissem acabar juntos. Ao invés o amor proíbido foi uma constante de todos os personagens. Todos eles se apaixonaram por quem não deviam, ou por já serem casados/comprometidos, ou por poderem ter relações de parentesco... Bem foi uma trapalhada tão grande que eu já só pensava: Vá porque quem é que a X se vai apaixonar? Apesar de estar casada com o Y e de ter 3 filhos e de ser irmã da W que se apaixona pelo R que namora com a P... enfim! Este foi o verdadeiro motivo para não ter gostando tanto da leitura como podia ter gostado.

No fim as personagens que se destacaram foram o Drew que é um querido, a Felicity que no fim tirou a mascara e o Jamie que coitado apesar de ser um badalhoco e um bebado de todo o tamanho até tinha sentimentos.

Portanto, este livro vale pelo já conhecido humor que a autora imprime aos seus livros, quanto ao conteúdo acho que foi um exagero o factor - Amor Proibido.

[Belinda Vlasbaard · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 sterren - Nederlandse paperback
Een boek over liefde, jonge mensen en niet meer zo jonge mensen. Over mensen met kleine kantjes, over relaties tussen verschillende generaties en hoe die soms fout lopen. Heerlijke feelgood weer dus. Zij is voor mij hierin toch de kroonprinses. Heerlijke uurtjes van ontspannen lezen terwijl de regen naar beneden klettert en ik heerlujk genoot van warme chocomelk met slagroom en dit boek.

[Christa Schönmann Abbühl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was in equal parts entertained and annoyed by this book. It is about village life and what goes on behind the facade. And everything works out in the end, but in such an obvious way that it did not entirely satisfy me. Also I was disappointed by the way certain characters were drawn. The famous actor for example was such a non-person, totally bland. The funniest thing to me was that the book is pre-internet.

[Anneke · Rating 2 out of 5]

3 stars

Classic Mansell: fun, lighthearted, romantic. I also imagine an Oprah Winfrey on the last page yelling 'You get a love interest! And you get a love interest! And YOU get a love interest!'

The amount of cheating kinda ruined it for me though.

REREAD: 2 sterren

Man man man, wat een achterhaalde denkbeelden zijn er aanwezig in dit boek. Ik kan niet teveel uitweiden want spoilers, maar tegen het einde van het boek wordt een bepaalde gemarginaliseerde groep belachelijk gemaakt. Dat viel heel erg tegen.
Verder is het plot nogal zwak, problemen worden veel te makkelijk opgelost. Niet zo'n goede Mansell.

[Raquel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gostei do livro, aliás foi o primeiro livro que li desta autora e gostei sinceramente. Fica sempre um suspense no ar do que o Toby vai decidir ou não. É uma relação de amor-ódio entre Jessie e de Toby em que estão a tentar a resolver as coisas do passado mas será que vão conseguir? Adoro os livros da Jill, mas adoro mesmo. Fiquei viciada e quando peguei neste livro tive que acabar de ler num ápice para ver como é que acabava a história.

http://aviciadadoslivros.blogspot.pt/...

[Meteori · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ovo je knjiga koju čitate kada vam treba samo razbibriga jer za nešto drugo i nije.
Mnogo likova čini priču, ali se čovjek nekako uspije izboriti sa svima. Pomalo ima elemenata sapunice, ali sve u svemu ok.
Nema umjetničku vrijednost, ali je poslužila svrsi.

[Ilse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alsof ik een Netflix serie aan het lezen was: perfecte low effort entertainment. Het einde was er ineens heel snel en voelde alsof het afgeraffeld was, ik had liever nog drie boeken doorgelezen over deze characters.

[Jacqueline J]

Too chick lit/women's fictiony for me right now.

[Rea Cobb · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have had this book sitting at the bottom of the pile for so long now but the time has come when I am out of books so I had no choice but to give it a try. I could not say it appealed to me. The copy I have got looks different from the one above mine is bright green with a picture of the back of a lady sitting in a deck chair which has no relevence to the book at all!!

This was the first book which I had read by Jill Mansell. I was loaned the book by a friend and I didnt recognise the name so I had no previous experience with this author to compare it with.

There are many main characters in this book who all seem to be entwined with the next character the book brings a mixture of content from lies and affairs to old relationships , affairs and many more surprising parts of the book.

The main storyline to the book is about a lady called Jess who ran away from her childhood sweetheart when she became pregnant. Years later when her son Oliver has grown up and working in the local pub, Jess's old flame comes to live in the village with his new family, but it soon comes to light that Toby her old lover still has feelings for her and is shocked when he learns that Oliver is indeed his son and the reason she left him all thoughs years ago.

Although this is the main story line there are many other things brought in around this plot involving these characters which also bring us more characters to the story.

I did find at a few points in the book that I kept getting the characters of lilli and lotti mixed up but this is not surprising how close the names are and they are usually in the same part of the story at the same time!

This was a very light hearted, easy read but was not the sort of book I would normally read and I do not think I would automatically look out for one of Jill Mansells books in the future as although I did carry on and read the book it didn't have me gripped in anyway there were a few points were I just wasn't sure if I wanted to carry on as I didnt fel as though I would miss out on much if I didn't complete the book.

I wouldn't recommend this to my friends as I find it quite hard to say any positive things about the book as I just did not find it interesting.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Com um sem número de personagens completamente diferentes Jill Mansell consegue fazer deste Amores Proibidos mais um livro de sucesso, dentro do género. Muito ao estilo de Donas de Casas Desesperadas a história centra-se numa pequena aldeia onde todos se conhecem e onde se sabe facilmente a vida uns dos outros. Mas o que pode ser uma vida aparentemente normal e pacata, depressa se esconde um segredo que nunca se imaginaria. O lindo filho de Jessie afinal é filho de um conhecido actor. No meio de casamentos aparentemente felizes pode esconder-se traição, homossexualidade, transsexualidade... e o que se espera numa casa com três homens jovens e solteiros? Muitas balbúrdia e muito sexo... pelo menos para um deles.
Gostei de conhecer a sensata Jessie, a insegura Lili, a coscuvilheira Eleanor, a enigmática Bernardette, o jovem veterinário Drew.
No fundo, o livro tem muito mais a oferecer do que o que a sinopse nos dá, até porque o principal segredo é revelado nos primeiro capítulos do livro. Mas muitos mais se seguirão, o que colocará muitas risadas no leitor, como já vem sendo habitual nos livros de Mansell.

[Yvonne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Afgezaagde verhaallijnen. Teveel verhaallijnen. Teveel personages. Teveel drank en teveel geklooi met jan-en-alleman. ;-) Nope, niet mijn boek dit....

[Irene · Rating 3 out of 5]

Echt álles is halsoverkop in dit boek, niet alleen de titel.

Ik denk dat ze halsoverkop ook vergeten waren om op de achterkant te vermelden dat je niet alleen Jessie volgt in het boek, maar ook nog 16 dorpsgenoten. Het schrikt de gemiddelde lezer ongetwijfeld wat af.. Het schrok mij niet zodanig af dat ik het boek weglegde, maar ik had wel 100/150 blz. nodig om echt lekker in het verhaal te zitten en iedereen te kunnen onderscheiden van elkaar.

Het wel en wee van iedereen komt goed aan bod. Vooral dat er veel halsoverkop affaires begonnen worden, want blijkbaar zijn velen niet echt gelukkig met hun huidige relatie/huwelijk. Verder schrikt het twee personages (aan het begin van het verhaal) ook totaal niet af dat ze er na 21 jaar achter komen dat ze een kind/vader hebben en is het direct de volgende dag allemaal koek-en-ei, ze hoeven niet te wennen aan het idee. Net als dat iemand hoort dat ze misschien een andere vader heeft, een politicus. De volgende dag/diezelfde week wordt DNA getest en dat allemaal zodat het meisje met de jongen kan gaan waarvan eerst gezegd werd dat het haar broer was. Kan gewoon ff tussendoor.
En dan heb ik het ook nog niet over de haat naar mensen die niet op het andere geslacht vallen.

Niet een superfijne leesbeleving, maar toch wel een beetje vermakelijk om te lezen. Het was in ieder geval voor mij niet Mansell op haar best.

Mocht je het boek gaan lezen; doe dan de groeten aan: Doug, Jessie, Lili, Drew, Jamie, Fecility, Eleanor, Michael, April, Bernadette, Toby, Sav, Dizzy, Deborah, Oliver, Moll, Lorna en ongetwijfeld nog wat andere voorbijgangers.

[Baca Buku · Rating 2 out of 5]

No doubt about it, this author writes well. I have read several of her books and while I didn't like them all, the writing was always good and often humorous.

This book is a soap opera. Really. It's structured like a TV series, jumping from one character to another, telling their stories but not too much because, you know, you need material for the next episode.

It starts out great. The first few chapters gave the premise for Jess and Toby's story and a glimpse of what I expected to be an interesting relationship.

But they act more like the bookends of this book. They seems like minor characters compared to the other characters in this book - and there are many, some more interesting than others (self-centred horny teenagers were the worst).

[Kristelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

If your vibe is a whole town of promiscuous people cheating on their spouse/significant others behind everyone’s back, then this book is for you. Pretty much every character was sex crazed and/or cheating. Some had terrible spouses so you didn’t feel as bad about their cheating, but some of them didn’t deserve it at all. With some of them, both spouses were cheating. There was even a horny teenager trying to get some from a full grown adult (thankfully that didn’t happen). There was even a gross scene where a full grown man was having impure thoughts about a newly turned 18 year old. I tell you, everyone was horny the whole book.

Anyways, there were a ton of character point of views and I didn’t really care for several of them. I skimmed a lot. But the story was entertaining and I generally liked the ending if you look past all the cheating couples. I read the whole book so it was an okay read.

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Head Over Heels by [Mansell, Jill]I was given this book by NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Jessie Roscoe is an interior designer with a secret. This is about to change when the unidentified father of her son moves into the house next to hers. A father and son meeting can't be too far behind. The father, Toby Gillespie, is married to a very understanding woman, Deborah. How will this all play out?

I enjoy reading Jill Mansell books. This book was so entertaining and easy to read. I was able to read this very quickly.

The recommendation is very high for this book.

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jill Mansell's books never fail to entertain, with humor and all kinds of shenanigans. In a small Cotswold town, Jesse is a single mom with a long kept secret. When the actor, Toby Gillespie, buys the house next door, secrets are revealed causing some awkward situations for Jesse's son and Toby's family. With many other characters and stories, it's a fun, escapist read.

[Ema · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just adore how quaint they are. Almost like ducks.

[readingwithmar · Rating 2 out of 5]

Normaal hou ik van de boeken van Jill Mansel maar dit boek was bijna niet door te komen, het is enorm rommelig, op punten ongeloofwaardig,er zijn teveel personages waardoor je met niemand echt mee kan leven, een teleurstelling!

[Cerys · Rating 4 out of 5]

Addictively jumbled I loved it

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice read, easy, romance.

[Veerle Vrheyde · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ouderwets, achterhaald, vrouwonvriendelijk en zo ontzettend stereotiep. Het eerste en het laatste hoofdstuk lezen zijn voldoende als de korte inhoud je aanspreekt. Doe geen moeite voor de rest.

[Ne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Com muitos erros de revisão, e sim vou começar a minha critica com este pormenor, os piores quando os nomes das personagens são trocados. Isto pode não ser suficiente para influenciar uma opinião final, mas tem o seu quê de significativo.
Em relação à obra de Jill Mansell:
O par Toby e Jessie acabou por fartar um pouco talvez por causa daqueles passos mais para trás do que para a frente. Assim a relação deles ou a resolução desta acaba por ser deixada demasiado tempo em stand by.
Pelo contrário, adorei o par Sav/Oliver no inicio e posteriormente o par Sav/Stevie. Pois, como podem ver este livro é só trocas, muitas trocas, traições e muitos segredos.
Outro momento marcante foi a ejaculação precoce do Drew!!!! É verdade. Fiquei um pouco chocada, porque nunca pensei encontrar uma cena desta num livro assim, ou em qualquer livro...
Assim, este livro acaba por estar recheado de bom humor, muita confusão amorosa, que nos faz ficar de cabeça à roda e nos obriga a agarrar bem forte esta obra. O normal em Jill Mansell para quem conhece as obras dela. Talvez por causa daquilo que disse sobre o par principal, ou pelo menos na sinopse porque no livro não é bem assim, acabou por ser um pouco inferior ao Irresistível Tentação.

Frase Preferida:
"- As nossas cervejas não se excedem - gritou Jamie. - Somos nós que nos excedemos com elas!", página 66

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

De achterflap doet uitschijnen dat dit boek voornamelijk over 1 personage gaat, Jessie. Maar dat is niet helemaal waar, het gaat eigenlijk over alle bewoners van het dorp waar Jessie woont, Upper Sisley. Je krijgt het verhaal ook te horen vanuit de verschillende standpunten van de bewoners.

Wat wel klopt aan de achterflap is dat het boek gevuld is met intriges, verhoudingen, ontluikende pubers en roddelende vrouwen en dat al deze gebeurtenissen elkaar opvlogen in hoog tempo. Voor mij lag het tempo soms wat té hoog. Iedereen ging vreemd met iedereen en verborg al dan niet al jaren dat hij/zij een kind met een andere man/vrouw had. Op den duur geloofde ik er niets meer van. Ik had het gevoel dat Jill Mansell hetzelfde verhaal in een wat kortere versie, waarin hier en daar een paar relaties geschrapt waren, had kunnen schrijven. Dit zou de geloofwaardigheid van het boek sterk ten goede komen.

Mijn kritiek op de geloofwaardigheid neemt niet weg dat ik het wel heel leuk en ontspannend vond om te lezen. Af en toe was het verhaal grappig en ook wat mysterieus, je wil tenslotte wel weten wie er met wie vreemdgaat en waarom die ene vrouw toch altijd met die andere vrouw telefoneert op zaterdag.

Als je op zoek bent naar een lekker makkelijk boek voor tussendoor is Hals over kop zeker een aanrader.

[Saloni Porwal · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was my first Jill Mansell novel, and a serious disappointment. I don't think I ever want to reread it. The main plot as described in the blurb is the secret baby trope. Personally, the big reveal came too quickly and too smoothly. The reaction felt inhuman and unnatural. Everyone was completely okay with it. But then the reason this was done to quick was because of the endless subplots. That is my main problem. The book involves too many characters from the entire neighborhood. Two-three subplots in a book are manageable, but this one had at least ten. Just as I started liking one, Mansell would divert the story to another one. I kept on reading with the hope of something interesting (maybe a twist), but none came. The focus never remained on a small group of characters, but rather the entire cast. Maybe it was an attempt to create an all-in-one masterpiece gone seriously wrong. I am seriously struggling to find anything good in this book except the fact that some subplots would have had quite an impact minus all the extras. I really doubt whether I will ever pick a Jill Mansell book again, but maybe I will because other fans of hers say that this was on of her worst works. I won't recommend this book to anyone unless you are looking for plot ideas.

Visit https://bookguru-bookreviews.blogspot... for similar book reviews.

[Nadia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Love is always just around the corner in a Jill Mansell novel - with a few surprises and a lot of humour on the way to happiness Jessie has kept the identity of her son Oliver's father a secret for years. She's stunned when she discovers that the man in question, actor Toby Gillespie, has just moved in next door. The truth's about to come out. One glance at Oliver, and a little mental arithmetic, and Toby has the situation sussed. Meeting the son he never knew he had is the shock of a lifetime. It's a shock, too, for Toby's wife, the beautiful Deborah, though she seems to take it in her stride. Would Deborah be so relaxed if she knew just how close Toby wants to get to the mother of his firstborn? As the attraction between them flares up again, Jessie just can't see her way to a happy ending. But no one is quite what they seem, and there are more surprises to come!

"A book about first love, infidelity, and treacherous gossip. I would say it was a rather long read, horribly draggy, and had too many characters in the story, that it was almost impossible to keep up. Imagine having to read 71 chapters, with close to 20 characters!Storyline was okay, although it had too much infidelity for my liking."

[Marcee Feddersen · Rating 3 out of 5]

http://www.anurseandabook.com/2017/11...

When an old boyfriend, Toby(a famous actor) moves back into the village, Jessie is shocked and worried. She has never told him that he has a son. A son that is now grown and starting his own life. But a son that looks an awful lot like his father.

Toby isn't thrilled to know that he had a son who grew up without knowing him, but adapts quickly. His beautiful wife accepts the situation with grace, although that may be because her attentions are frequently elsewhere, they seem to have a don't ask, don't tell type of marriage.

There is some weirdness as Toby's daughter seems to think she's in romantic love with her new brother -that provided a little ick factor. In the meantime, there's a local bachelor falling in love with a messy divorcee. And Toby and Jessie are finding their attraction may be rekindled.

Another great Jill Mansell book - it's so easy to get lost in her characters! It always makes me want to move to England because it seems like all you have to do to find your true love is to move to a new neighborhood! She usually doesn't write so many cheating characters though, that was a bit of a bummer.