The Accidental Family

Sophie Mills #2

by Rowan Coleman

A wonderfully warm and witty novel about starting again, from the author of The Memory Book.

Six months ago, city girl Sophie Mills gave up everything to move to Cornwall. All to be with the man she thinks she loves, and his two daughters who she knows she loves.

But adjusting to life as a semi-permanent mother in the countryside isn't quite as easy as Sophie imagined it would be. Designer shoes aren't nearly so readily available - not that she ever has any occasion to wear them - and her best pair of vintage Manolo's have already found their way into the girls' dressing-up box. Sometimes Sophie doesn't recognise herself; which most of the time makes her happy but every now and then scares her to death.

The hardest thing of all is making that final commitment to actually move in with Louis and the girls - she's been the longest paying guest of the Avalon B&B, St Ives in the history of the establishment. And as she tries to adapt to country life, her newly adopted family and discovering more about Louis's past, she begins to wonder if she's got what it takes to make it all work ...

Genres: Chick Lit, Fiction, Romance, Family, Humor, Womens Fiction, Contemporary

416 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2009

About the author

Rowan Coleman lives with her husband, and five children in a very full house in Hertfordshire. She juggles writing novels with raising her family which includes a very lively set of toddler twins whose main hobby is going in the opposite directions. When she gets the chance, Rowan enjoys sleeping, sitting and loves watching films; she is also attempting to learn how to bake.

Rowan would like to live every day as if she were starring in a musical, although her daughter no longer allows her to sing in public. Despite being dyslexic, Rowan loves writing, and The Memory Book is her eleventh novel. Others include The Accidental Mother, Lessons in Laughing Out Loud and the award-winning Dearest Rose, a novel which lead Rowan to become an active supporter of domestic abuse charity Refuge, donating 100% of royalties from the ebook publication of her novella, Woman Walks Into a Bar, to the charity. Rowan does not have time for ironing.

Reviews

[Koki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rodina ze dne na den je kniha, ktorá priamo nadväzuje na román Matkou ze dne na den. Kým v prvej knihe sme sledovali karieristku Sophie meniacu sa v matku dvoch malých polosirôtok Belly a Izzy a jej rodiacu sa lásku k ich "stratenému" otcovi Louisovi, v pokračovaní môžeme sledovať ako sa ich vzťahy vyvíjajú ďalej.

Sophie v úvode knihy krátko zrekapituluje, čo sa dialo v prvej časti, takže, kto knihu nečítal, nemusí mať strach, že by mu niečo veľké ušlo (možno ho skôr naladí prečítať si ako to celé vlastne začalo).

Sophie a Louis sú ako dve hrdličky. Aj šesť mesiacov po tom, ako sa Sophie vzdala svojej kariéry a presťahovala sa na vidiek za dievčatami a mužom svojho života, sú do seba zamilovaní a denne sa ubezpečujú o tom, že sa im to obom iba nesníva, že sa niečo také skutočne deje. Zvyšok recenzie nájdete tu: http://kokina1.blogspot.sk/2016/09/ro...

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Following on from The Accidental Mother, we pick up Sophie, Louis, Bella and Izzy six months down the line when Louis proposes. I found The Accidental Family as good as The Accidental Mother but felt it was written differently. Whereas I felt The Accidental Mother was more about Bella and Izzy, The Accidental Family focuses more on the adults.

All of the main characters returned along with a couple of new ones – Carmen, Mrs Alexander and Grace Tregowan who were all hilarious particularly Grace. Some of the plot lines were a bit easy to guess – from how the chapter when Wendy first appears was written I kind of guessed why she had disappeared years ago.

The main plot with Wendy/Louis is a well-used plotline but it still works and I enjoyed how Sophie and Bella picked up straight away how nasty and manipulative Wendy seemed to be. I thought Louis was flaky and it seemed that everything that was said in The Accidental Mother was false but all wasn’t as it seems and I understood how he was used to dealing with things by himself.

Sophie was as good as ever but it was a shame she didn’t have more interaction with the children because I enjoy having Bella and Izzy being the main focus rather than the adult troubles. I enjoyed her re-visiting her old haunts in London and realising she didn’t want that life any more. I also saw her pregnancy coming but it was a nice surprise.

I thought Cal was hilarious and I was glad he returned and found love (his stalking episode was really funny), along with Iris Sophie’s mother who also found love. Even Artemis, the cat, returned and had kittens.

I really enjoyed The Accidental Family and do wonder if there may be a third instalment. How much more the family can deal with, who knows?, but I wouldn’t say no to a third book – I could read about Sophie, Louis, Bella, Izzy and all, all day long.

Rating: 5/5

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just had a discussion with my senior students about what I liked to read and whether I could shut off the critical/analytical side of my brain and enjoy fluff--which, for anyone who's friends with me on Goodreads, is quite a laugh! Coleman's book, another 50 cent treasure from the Library's booksale shelf, is a perfect example. It's JUST interesting and JUST coherently written enough to give me a nice cheery fluff read. The plot line is 100% predictable, the characters (sassy gay friend, check; plucky non-conformist friend who runs a delicious sweet shop, check; unorthodox but loving and lately rediscovered mother, check. . . ) ditto, but it was a fun read. I would guess the next book (the first one, which I haven't read, is "The Accidental Mother") will be The Accidental Career"? Still, I'd pay 50 cents to read that one, too!

Nice, "lite" reading for a three day weekend in winter.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

this book was just ok until around page 200, then i couldn't put it down. more 3.5 stars...... cute, fluffy continuation to "the accidental mother"

[Lainy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Time taken to read - 2 days

Pages - 416

Publisher - Arrow Books

Source - Bought

Blurb from Goodreads

A wonderfully warm and witty novel about starting again, from the author of The Memory Book.

Six months ago, city girl Sophie Mills gave up everything to move to Cornwall. All to be with the man she thinks she loves, and his two daughters who she knows she loves.

But adjusting to life as a semi-permanent mother in the countryside isn't quite as easy as Sophie imagined it would be. Designer shoes aren't nearly so readily available - not that she ever has any occasion to wear them - and her best pair of vintage Manolo's have already found their way into the girls' dressing-up box. Sometimes Sophie doesn't recognise herself; which most of the time makes her happy but every now and then scares her to death.

The hardest thing of all is making that final commitment to actually move in with Louis and the girls - she's been the longest paying guest of the Avalon B&B, St Ives in the history of the establishment. And as she tries to adapt to country life, her newly adopted family and discovering more about Louis's past, she begins to wonder if she's got what it takes to make it all work ...



My Review

It says book two on here but according to FantasticFiction this is book 3, I hadn't read the first two so this was my introduction to all the characters. So Sophie moved from everything she knew and loved for Louis and his two little girls. As I hadn't read the previous books I had quite a lot of catching up to do, for example the weans mum who died had been Sophie's bestie :O Louis is her husband (they were estranged ad he ran out on her and the kids after an affair), when she died Sophie had been left to care for the kids, he came back and they fell in love. Obvs there is a lot more to it but that woulda been covered in books 1 and 2. Anyways Sophie has issues fully commiting/moving in but all that will change when they are committed to each other and the weans can't wait. However when something from Louise's past comes to the forefront everything is turned on its head and Sophie isn't too sure where she stands.

I think my problem is Louis went from being super focused/in love and seemingly perfect to quite a character turn and I really didn't like him. I wanted Sophie to get a backbone and Wendy needed high fived in the face with a chair lol.

It has drama galore, perfect for poolside reading with my pina colada, I absolutely felt for those wee girls, they were absolute scones and you just wanted to hug them. They seemed quite mature for their age but they had lost their mum and had a lot of change in a short time period and I think it is a credit to the author to sculpt their characters to reflect that in their behaviours/attitudes.

A wee bit car crash tv, you didn't want to put the book down because you wanted to see what was coming next. I can't say I loved the characters, I found them to be infuriating at times but a bad character is open a good pull into the story. 3.5/5 for me, I would read the previous books if I came across them but I don't feel the need to go get them, I would be interested in a book 4 of these though.

[Jesi Sarracino · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well this was a refreshing sequel to Accidental Mother. Where the first book left off, this picks up and gives you an update on the life of Sophie Mills. Throughout the book and the trials she faces, you stay connected to Sophie which is important. I think the author did a better job at keeping you interested but also letting your mind guess what was coming next. Great read!

[Novelle Novels · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars
This book is so good and emotional. I didn’t read the first book in the series which did affect it. I loved Sophie and how she was so amazing with the girls Izzy ant Bella. There are great secondary characters that I also loved.

[Brown Catherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty rubbish. I'm not the right audience for love stories. I've no patience with the comings and goings of the characters.

[Cosmic Butterfly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this!

[Stacey Simmons · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the second book of this series. Basically the story is about two adults and the hardships of becoming a blended family. Quite funny in places and really reminds me of Sophie Kinsella. If you liked the shopaholic series than you will like this book - but make sure you read "The Accidental Mother" first!

[Another · Rating 2 out of 5]

I went back and forth between thinking she should dump Louis and stay with him. I found him hard to like.

The more I think about this, I think the next book in the series should be "The Accidental Divorcee". Their relationship was just strange and didn't seem to be based on anything more than their love for his kids.

Strangely unsatisfying

[Anita Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This sequel to The Accidental Mother is wonderful and I want Sophie as my friend. Rowan Coleman has such a great way of making you really know and care about her characters. She must be a very caring, compassionate person who has experienced love and life at its best and worst.

[Katrina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like this and the one before it. I like it in the way of being a "cute" read. My only complaint is the author's not so subtle foreshadowing. I guessed the climax and whole book by page 70 something of over 300 pages. And I was right. But all in all it was a cute story.

[Katy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I stayed up until 4am last night finishing this book off. It's more 4.5/5 but Goodreads won't let me do half stars.
Yes, in a lot of parts it is your average chick lit book, but there are some extremely thought-provoking parts in the book, it's touching, and hilarious, entirely captivating.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this sequel to "The Accidental Mother" - though I wanted to punch Louis 95% of the time.

[Cynthia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well I was very disappointed in this sequel. I had loved the first one but not this one. The first premise was so adorable, the high spirited high flying high fashion career girl unexpectedly being saddled with the two young children of her dead friend. The portrayal of the children is wonderful and it remains wonderful in this sequel but the adults ... to make a new story Ms Coleman needed new conflict so all the nice resolutions we struggled to reach in the first book are turned upside down and it's like these two people - Sophie & Louis - are trying their darndest not to be together. Plot twist after plot twist unfolds and it doesn't seem to matter if there is character wrecking along the way as long as these two people are once again kept apart throughout the book till yet another happy ending. But I, like Bella, the oldest child, am skeptical. To keep up the conflict tension (because the UST that drove the original is gone now they have gotten together) these two supposedly loving mature adults run out on her and sister repeatedly so by the end the two children are the only main characters I like and want a happy ending for.

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

Third in a trilogy, but it's not necessary to have read the earlier books (although I did read the middle one a couple of years ago). There's plenty of backstory and an introduction that summarises the first book.

Sophie is the main character, a businesswoman who has finally fallen in love, and has also taken on a couple of young children after losing her best friend. She's likeable, and the children are delightfully realistic; some of their scenes are quite moving.

The first half of the book felt a bit tawdry in places, with endless mention of the characters' love-lives with very little love actually mentioned. But the second half was much more interesting; the whole is well-written, even if there's more bad language than I like. So, three and a half stars really.

Longer review here: https://suesbookreviews.blogspot.com/...

[Phylisha Stone · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely family/ love story. Sophie Mills is a young woman on the fast track in the corporate world when she becomes responsible for two young girls. The girls are the daughters of her best friend best Carrie, who was killed in an auto accident. The father of the girls then comes into their life on a permanent basis. Named as guardian to the girls before the arrival of their father, Sophie becomes ery much attached to the girls. After meeting and the girls father and getting to know him Sophie begins to have feelings for the girls father. As they eventually start having feelings for each they realize that they can both become parents as they have fallen in love.

[Chelsea · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a cute book. Extremely predictable, but amusing with a satisfyingly happy ending for all. I did find Wendy's complete 180 at the end a little unbelievable given how horrible she had been throughout the entire book, but I understand the author's need to make her apologetic in order to complete the big extended happy family. I thought both Sophie and Louis were kind of stupid and immature, but I suppose everything had to fall apart first in order for it all to come back together. Overall I liked the book, it was easy to read and would be a good beach novel.

[Donna McCaul Thibodeau · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is the sequel to The Accidental Mother. It's six months later and Sophie has left London to move to Cornwall, living in a bed and breakfast in the town of St. Ives. The next step would be marriage - are Sophie, Louis, Bella and Izzy ready for that?
I wasn't as charmed by this book as the first one, probably because it focused on Sophie and Louis and not Sophie and the girls. I found myself getting irritated at some of the decisions both adults made, but I still enjoyed reading the book.

[Kay Brassil · Rating 2 out of 5]

I went through the first book pretty quickly and mostly enjoyed it, so I was looking forward to getting closure in the follow up novel. While it was interesting enough that I at least finished the book, I was disappointed overall. I don’t feel as though a sequel was even necessary to the story and just dragged out a plot that could have been wrapped up in book one. The added characters took away from the closure that book one left you wanting.

[Diane Houdeshell · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

This book started off very slowly. Sophie seemed to be very unsure about marrying Louis throughout the book and when Louis discovers he has a 20 year old son, things don’t improve. Louis was a selfish, dumbass throughout the second half of the book and the fact that Sophie marries him as soon as she does was quite irritating to me.

[Betty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute and really enjoyed the English accents in audiobook. I had really enjoyed a previous Roland Coleman book but this one was selected at random and turned out to be a happy surprise from my book list.

[Brenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this back to back with “The Accidental Mother”. Perhaps that was too much Sophie for me. LOL I got a bit tired of Sophie’s insecurities, especially the middle third of the novel which made it drag for me. I did love the ending!

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good- good flow of story.

[Ranette · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was expecting a delightful family novel about second chances and instead, this book was mostly about the sex life of the adults. I wasn't impressed with this English book.

[Sarah-Jane · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF at 25%

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought it was a good book until the end. It just got to unrealistic.

[Debby · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed continuing the story begun in The Accidental Mother. Some realistic life challenges along with a lot of love and fun. (owned print copy)

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a continuation of The Accidental Mother. It was a light read, but really sweet. I enjoyed it.