On the one hand, if Essie hadn't written that letter - the one that only her best friend was meant to see - then she'd still be living like an actual proper grown-up, tucked up with Paul in his picture-perfect cottage, maybe even planning their wedding...
On the other hand (if her true feelings hadn't accidentally taken the internet by storm, that is) she wouldn't have moved into the attic flat on the square. She would never have met Conor. Or got to know Lucas...
And she wouldn't have found herself falling in love with someone she really, really shouldn't fall in love with...
I'd like to thank Anne Cater from Random Things Through my Letterbox for inviting me to be a part of this blog tour and Jess at Headline for my ecopy of This Could Change Everything to review.
Over the years Jill Mansell has become one of my go-to authors when I need to read something that will make me forget about the pressures of what's going on in my life and escape into the world of words and characters that you fall in love with. And in her delightful, colourful character of octogenarian Zillah she certainly has created a character that you wish was in your own life.
I'm sure we've all at some point wanted to send an honest, warts and all round-robin letter/email to our friends and family rather than an edited version as to what's actually going on/happened in our lives, well after a conversation with her friend Scarlett they agree to write a joke one and send to each other. But the best laid plans go awry when someone reads the draft version on her laptop and decides to send the draft version to everyone in her contacts list... which includes her boss, her boyfriend's mother, who was one of the subjects in said email.
At this point I was literally cringing along with Essie as it was obvious that the actions of that fateful email were not going to be good and it's not long before Essie finds herself single again, jobless and homeless. But that's where fate steps in and she soon crosses path with the delightful Zillah who offers her the attic flat in her home in Bath and shortly after she she seems to land on her feet with a job in the busy pub across the square but her heart sinks when she realises who her new boss is as he was partly responsible for everything that happened or so she thinks.
Zillah really was a guardian angel, she always seemed to be there just at the right moment to turn things around for people in their moments of need, and none more so in the lives of Conor and Essie who she met at pivotal moments in their lives and offering them somewhere to live. Zillah was generous to a fault, with her friendship, time and financially, and I especially enjoyed reading the sub-plot of her work at the hospice which both Essie and Conor get involved in. They really were heartwarming moments in what was a sad, bittersweet time of their lives for all involved and just goes to show that a simple action or gesture can mean so much to bring a much needed smile.
There was a whole cast of wonderfully crafted characters within this book, some you will fall in love with, others maybe not so much but I can honestly say that none were surplus to requirements as they all played their part. In particular Scarlett as you can't help but laugh at some of the hilarious scrapes she seems to get herself into.
If I had the luxury of time I would have devoured this fabulous, charming story in a single sitting as I adored this book, it really was the perfect tonic I needed to lift me out of a funk I was in. I'm sure when I look back at the end of the year that This Could Change Everything will be one of my favourite reads of 2018 as I simply loved it from start to finish. It had everything I look for in a good book, characters that you will love or hate, humour, a great plot but above all it was a story full of heart.
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