Reviewed by Emma Crowley
Nick is the most intriguing man Nella has met in a while. He's a 9 in the looks department (no one gets a 10), he makes her laugh, and he keeps her company when she ends up in A&E. But they live hundreds of miles apart.
Then Nella loses her job. There's a perfect role on offer at a Cotswolds holiday retreat. The catch is that her boss would be Nick. And that makes Nick the one man she can't risk falling in love with.
While Nella struggles with her feelings, a Hollywood star has found a haven at the retreat. Lizzie's sworn off people - especially men - until her friendly new neighbours entice her out of her shell. Maybe she needs a flirtation - with gorgeous Nick, perhaps? Not with taciturn local Matthew, though, who definitely isn't a member of her fan club. Then an astonishing secret revealed changes everything . . .
Many thanks to Headline Review via NetGalley for my copy of An Almost Summer to review and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.
Jill Mansell always provides her loyal readers with fun, entertaining and engaging reads and this latest story, An Almost Perfect Summer, is no different. It’s packed full of characters and different ongoing storylines. I saw another review comparing it in a way to Love Actually and to be honest that wouldn’t be too far from a good description of it.
Set in a Cotswolds village, the descriptions of which were stunning, the story follows Ella and Nick and although they start out being the main characters, a whole host of other people join them and slowly lots of different storylines merge into one. I will admit to feeling slightly overwhelmed with the number of characters and trying to keep track of who was who and what was going on with them. But around the midway point, I found myself settling more into the pacing and plot of the book. I began to see connections emerging and I enjoyed trying to figure out how things would eventually pan out.
Nella and Nick first bump into each other in the local shop in the small village of Starbourne as Nella is trying to buy a bunch of flowers for her grandfather’s grave. Following an incident with Nella’s car leads Nick coming to her rescue and from that moment on a small spark is ignited but whether it turns into a roaring fire remains to be seen. Nella now lives in Manchester but had lived with her grandfather after her mother had passed away. She knows the residents there well and is very familiar with the area and all its quirks and eccentricities. After all in a small village everyone knows everyone else’s business no matter how much you try to keep things under wraps. Nella is a fixer, she loves solving other problems no matter how big or small and she brings this trait to her job working for nightclub owner Tommy. She keeps him on the straight and narrow but despite how good she is at her job she finds herself let go after Tommy gets into a bit of trouble. I kept thinking why were certain characters mentioned so much or those that I deemed to be lesser characters give airtime a such but I was surprised to discover further on that really every character was relevant and had their own little storyline. Yes, there were a lot of sub/mini plots but I found they all added to the charm of the overall story.
Through one way and another Nella ends back in Starbourne and working for Nick and the rental company he runs. There are several properties in the village which he rents out and Nella is now there as concierge to cater to every whim of the guests. It’s through this that we get to know some of the guests and the locals and come to know how they start to interact with each other. Here is where the specific focus shifted away from Nella and Nick and this was great because it meant the usual format of a book in this genre wasn’t being followed. The regular romance tropes weren’t apparent and it was brilliant that it wasn’t so clear cut as to who was going to end up with who or if indeed anyone at all.
As previously mentioned, a bevy of characters were introduced and all had different problems and personalities. Lizzie is a Hollywood actress who rents a house for several months from Nick. She is exhausted and completely worn out and just needs some time away from the bright lights of Tinseltown to rest and relax and decide her next move. Is she keen to continue on with her movies or is she ready to call time on things? As the months stretch ahead of her with no schedule to stick to will Starbourne offer the solitude she craves or will her kind and caring nature her see get stuck into the heart of things wanting to do good for others whenever she can? After all that’s what she realises she gets a kick out of, helping others because she has the ability to do so. Coming to the village might just be the best decision she has ever made. This compassionate and caring nature that she possesses is highlighted when she gives Cami, the ghost writer for her biography, a place to stay in her hour of need. I won’t go into details re Cami’s situation but I loved her as a character and was desperately hoping she would get the happy ending that she deserved. Well really every character that came into play I knew that I wanted the to end up with someone but finding the right person and reading about the obstacles they must overcome is half the enjoyment of the story.
Maeve is a young girl working at cleaning out the rental homes before going to college in the Autumn. Matthew is her Dad and they are still grieving the loss of the their mother and wife respectively. Again two great additions to the story and I was delighted to see that Maeve wasn’t treated like a baby and actually had a good solid and serious storyline and the way she handles things shows she is far mature than her age would suggest. Hugo and Tristan Peverell are the sons of the local estate owners. Hugo is down to earth and just a lovely all round character where as Tristan is an obnoxious, hideous man who prefers speeding around in his car causing havoc and drinking and partying with his friends. Dane Cruise is a celebrity artist renting another house of Nicks and has his assistant Billy to help. Again with this two I questioned their inclusion but Jill had things plotted out very well and was utilising her characters to great effect. The same could be said for Esme, who works in the local bar, and Jed another nightclub owner connected to Tommy. Why were they there but this was like one giant chess board with constantly shifting pieces and I just had to be patient and all would be revealed over one perfect summer as the title suggest.
Although not my favourite book by Jill Mansell, I mean there are so many to choose from if you’ve been with her from the very beginning and read them all which I have, I did still very much enjoy An Almost Perfect Sumer. It was the perfect antidote to the slew of Christmas books that I had read and a nice way to ease me into my January reading. You’ll get easily wrapped up in the charming and inviting writing. Observing the residents of the Cotswolds village for one summer provided me with a sense of escapism as you become hooked on the secrets and the romance unfolding. Overall a delightful read that everyone will find something to enjoy and take from.
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