Mimi isn't looking for love when she spends a weekend in Goosebrook, the Cotswolds village her dad has moved to. And her first encounter with Cal, who lives there too, is nothing like a scene in a romantic movie - although she can't help noticing how charismatic he is. But Cal's in no position to be any more than a friend, and Mimi heads back to her busy London life.
When they meet again four years later, it's still not to be. Cal is focusing on his family, and Mimi on her career. Then Cal dives into a potentially perfect new romance whilst Mimi's busy fixing other people's relationships.
It seems as if something, or someone else, always gets in their way. Will it ever be the right time for both of them?
Many thanks to Anne Cater from Random Things Tours for inviting me to be a part of this blog tour and Jess at Headline for my ecopy of Maybe This Time to review.
Jill Mansell's new book Maybe This Time is like a series of snapshots where we get to connect with the main character Mimi at various points in her life. The story begins with the reader meeting Mimi from the moment she arrives in Goosebrook, a picturesque, quiet country village nestled in the Cotswolds, as she is going to visit her father. It dips in and out of her visits to Goosebrook until a more permanent move is made there several years later.
Her father Dan has decided to settle with his partner Marcus in this village and hopes they will be accepted. If they had not made the decision to move there it would be very unlikely that Mimi would have come across Cal. OK their first meeting may not have been the way to meet the man you instantly feel a deep connection with. The man of your dreams, that you feel destined to be with. But as she walks to the village from the train station she sees what she thinks is a man hurting a sheep when in fact all poor Cal is trying to do is get said sheep back on its feet. Misunderstandings put to one side, Mimi sees that magical smile and boom a zing of physical interest is ignited. One which she will find hard to quench or push to the back of her mind.
Fair enough, the reader would now be forgiven for thinking that the two characters have met let's just see how things unfold until we reach the crux of the story. But Jill Mansell hasn't made it easy for her two main characters and the title of the book couldn't have been more apt. Time and time again as you read through the story you think oh maybe this is the time that things can happen or maybe not. For it isn't all plain sailing and this read does make you stop and think that really maybe things are mapped out for us and that a specific time is waiting for everything to come into alignment.
Unfortunately we don't know when this time is and sometimes we just have to let fate decide what plan it has in store for us. I say all this because poor Mimi discovers that Cal is married to Stacey and they have a young daughter Cora. I don't in anyway condone going off having an affair but here I was thinking oh god maybe Cal and Mimi are meant to be together but how on earth can this ever happen? Should they have an affair? Really Cal is too charming and kind to do that? How will the author attempt to bring them together?
As I mentioned previously I viewed this book as a series of snapshots because we read about Mimi at a certain point and then the story moved forward a few months or even a few years. It did take me some time to settle into the rhythm of this pattern because I found myself getting used to reading about Mimi and then things jumped forward. But once I understood what the author was trying to do, it did prove effective in showing that when the time is right things could perhaps fall into place.
Mimi was a career girl, confident in her work and committed to doing a good job but she would openly admit her personal life wasn't as successful. Deep down she had a fear of commitment, of being rejected and being left out in the cold. Men have often turned out to be good to be true and she questions whether there is someone out there for her that is gentle, kind and decent, She harbours a spark for Cal but knows nothing can come of it but as Mimi travels to Goosebrook for a village event. Life takes an unexpected, dramatic and heartbreaking turn and to be honest it tore me apart that this occurred and I wondered was it all too convenient and would things fall into place all too easily. Or was it sent to test the characters even further both physically and emotionally?
Thankfully the characters were further put through their paces through many various situations and I enjoyed how they had to work for what they wanted and again wait for the right time if that would even ever materialise. Throughout there were so many missed opportunities and I desperately wanted Mimi to grow some courage and tell Cal how she felt, but at the same time she earned my respect that she knew he was vulnerable at certain times and that if she rushed into things then she would never stand a chance. At other points I thought come on now is the time but time and time again events and life situations conspired against them.
It was good the sole focus on the book wasn't only on Cal and Mimi and that other characters stepped forward. I loved Lois who became a close friend and confident of Mimi's. She was married to Felix but the scars of the recent past have deeply affected their relationship. The development of her character was fantastic and I thought it was brilliant seeing her going through so many changes and learning to cope with the new Lois. Events had seen major turns in her life and it affected her outlook and the way she views things with Felix. I wondered how would she work things out and would she come to a personal realisation about how she views herself and she believes others to view her. Another separate strand to the story was Mimi working for the writer CJ. Again he was another brilliantly written character who had a few life lessons to learn and really all the characters featured had lessons to learn but would any of them ever reach that critical point where realisation dawned and they knew what to do.
I knew what overall outcome I wanted for everyone but for Mimi I wanted the best result of all but as Cal ventures down a different path and Mimi observes from the sidelines the unification seemed even further out than ever. My interest was piqued as to how everything would come together and overall Maybe This Time was an enjoyable read. It was an honest read with plenty of life lessons with characters who were likeable and interesting but it just lacked that little something for me to transform it into a read that I couldn't leave out of my hands. Jill Mansell is an author whose books line several of my bookshelves and years ago when I first discovered her books I devoured them one after the other. So I know I love her work but this one, although it was very good, wasn't the best that I have read but I am glad I read it and will always read anything she writes in the future.
Thanks for the blog tour support Emma and Sharon x
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