Author: Jill Mansell
Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark
Publication Date: May 2015
Genre: Contemporary Romance / Women’s Fiction
Buy The Book: Amazon | BN | Audible
Description: Love is a complicated thing...
Lottie Carlyle is happy enough. Living in a beautiful cottage with her two adorable-sometimes-kids in an idyllic village, on good terms with her ex-husband, and with friends all around, everything is going just fine. But when she meets her new boss, her peaceful world is thrown into delightful, exciting, and frustrating chaos. Tyler is perfect for Lottie, but her kids do not agree. To make matters worse, the handsome and mysterious Seb appears on the scene, intriguing-and distracting-Lottie and charming her children, making it more and more difficult for her to make up her mind...
My Thoughts: Quite an enjoyable story, rich in detail and so character driven, I honestly had a challenging time who I wanted to see more of. Though Lottie and Tyler are major characters, there were also several that I felt a deep connection with. Cressida, Freddie, Mario, Amber, Jojo as well as Lottie’s children, Ruby and Nat who were quite bratty for two thirds of the book. Usually books with this many characters all with different storylines can be a challenge to follow and keep everything straight, but Ms. Mansell does it so seamlessly without dragging the reader out of the story.
As the reader gets to know Lottie, Cressida and Amber and how they are all connected, I loved how each of them are in a place in their lives where they need to make up their minds. Lottie needs to make up her mind about Tyler. Will she allow her children to dictate her love life? They like Seb, but he’s really just an overgrown kid himself. Will he be there when life throws hurdles in their path?
Cressida lives a solitary existence making greeting cards and spends lots of time with Jojo, who is her ex-husband’s daughter. I found this relationship surprising and a little disturbing, but I quickly warmed up to these two and realized how well they got along and felt bad that Cressida’s husband left her for not giving him a child but relies on her to take care of the child he has with his next wife. Wouldn’t have minded seeing that guy get run over by a bus. Cressida meets Tom and his son Donny and may have a chance at romance but will need to make up her mind about Jojo and her role in Jojo’s life.
Amber is dating Lottie’s ex-husband, Mario. She gets along wonderfully with Ruby and Nat (don’t get me started about how unfair these kids are towards Tyler dating Lottie) but she has trust issues with Mario and begins to wonder if his bad boy persona is just that or if he really is a liar and cheater. Amber needs to make up her mind about whether she needs to find someone who she can fully trust and will make her happy or if she should stay with Mario.
In addition to all of this going on, Lottie’s boss, Freddie wants Lottie’s help tracking down people from his past that he needs to make amends with, as he has already made up his mind about his life and the direction it will go.
My Final Verdict: A story with so much to unpack but leaves me caring so much about what happens to them is a book not to be missed. This book made me smile and cry. There were some laugh aloud moments and some moments of righteous indignation and irritation. What more could a reader ask for? Fans of romance and fiction will find something in this story that will tug on their heartstrings. You just need to make your mind up but save yourself the trouble of indecision and just go for it.
Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of Making Your Mind Up from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
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