by Serena on September 22, 2011
To the Moon and Back by Jill Mansell tackles relationships on a whole new level and looks at what it means to love someone for better and for worse and in sickness and in health. While the novel is infused with Mansell’s humorous style, it is more serious than her other novels.
Ellie Kendall, the main protagonist, finds that losing the love of one’s life is not the end of the world, though it is devastating. She finds a way to move on with her life, though she’s cut herself off from all of her friends and family to do it and feels as though she’s drowning in sympathy. Meanwhile, Zach McLaren is a workaholic with no idea what his life is missing until Ellie literally walks through and into it.
“It was starting to concern her, just slightly, that it wasn’t quite normal to be doing what she’d been doing for the last year. Because Jamie wasn’t here anymore. And he wasn’t a ghost either. All she did was conjure up a mental image of him in her mind, talk to him and have him talk back as if he were real.” (page 18 of ARC)
In addition to the two main leads, there are some great side characters who are fleshed out really well, including the U.S. actor/father-in-law Tony Weston and the former girl band bad girl Roo. Todd, who was one of Ellie’s good friends before her husband died, is not as well fleshed out as the others — at least initially — but readers won’t mind because he’s sort of a stand in for Ellie’s deceased husband much of the time. Roo is a delight with all of her antics and her selfish nature, which as always gets turned on its ear when she realizes that the man she’s dating is a cheater.
Mansell’s got a wit about her unlike other authors in her genre, she’s connected to her characters in a way that makes readers feel like they are hanging out with friends, even if those friends are formerly famous. Ellie has a great deal of grief to deal with, while Zack must navigate his relationship with her very carefully and wait for her to be ready to begin again. Readers will enjoy the realistic way in which their relationship blossoms and their tentative interactions as they become friends and more. Todd and Tony round out the narrative, showing how events can change relationships in unexpected ways.
Readers seeking happy endings at the end of an evolutionary road will adore To the Moon and Back by Jill Mansell. When you need a pick me up, her books are there to cheer you up, provide a spot of romance, and tug at your heart strings.
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by Serena on July 26, 2011
A Weekend With Mr. Darcy by Victoria Connelly is a summer read for Austenites and those who want to have fun. Set in modern day England, Dr. Katherine Roberts works too hard as a professor at St. Bridget’s College in Oxford and sees her role as lecturer at the Jane Austen Conference as a way for her to get away and relax. She befriends regency romance author Lorna Warwick through letters and hopes that the conference will put a face to the name she’s begun to call friend. Meanwhile, Robyn is stuck in a relationship with Jace (Jason Collins) and is too worried about his feelings to express her own or to end their relationship. She decides that she’s not going to think about her life while at the Austen conference, but just enjoy herself before dealing with her fading relationship with her childhood friend.
“She thought of the secret bookshelves in her study at home and ho they groaned deliciously under the weight of Miss Warwick’s work. How her colleagues would frown and fret at such horrors as popular fiction! How quickly would she be marched from her Oxford office and escorted from St. Bridget’s College if they knew of her wicked passion?” (page 2 of ARC)
Women and their passion for Jane Austen’s characters seems never-ending, but does this passion for Austen sometimes prevent these women from living their own lives? And does it ensure that the men in their lives will never measure up to Mr. Darcy or Captain Wentworth? Connelly has created a cast of characters that have flaws and find themselves in situations they never expected. Dr. Roberts is a strong woman with a passion for sexy Regency romances, but her own love life is a disaster until she finds herself in situation much like Captain Wentworth, while Robyn is trapped by obligation in a life much like Edward Ferrars. It is an interesting correlation between Austen’s characters and Connelly’s female leads, as it demonstrates a new perspective on how these situations would be handled.
Connelly also creates a cast of characters that are fun and outrageous from Dame Pamela to Higgins the butler. And of course, what Austen spinoff doesn’t have its own Lady Catherine de Bourgh — in this case, it’s Mrs. Soames. A Weekend With Mr. Darcy by Victoria Connelly is a great romp in the English countryside with some gal pals and hot men that will make you giggle, squirm, and sit on the edge of your seat. A quick summer read that will have readers wondering if an Austen-filled weekend should be their next vacation.
About the Author:
Victoria Connelly grew up in Norfolk before attending Worcester University where she studied English Literature. After graduating, she worked her way through a number of jobs before becoming a teacher in North Yorkshire. In 2000, she got married in a medieval castle in the Yorkshire Dales and moved to London. She is currently working on a trilogy about Jane Austen addicts. The first, A Weekend with Mr Darcy, was published in the UK by Avon, HarperCollins, and will be published in the US by Sourcebooks in July 2011. The second in the trilogy, The Perfect Hero, was published in the UK in April 2011. She lives in London with her artist husband, a springer spaniel and four ex-battery hens.
This is my 34th book for the 2011 New Authors Reading Challenge.
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