Review: Rumor Has It by Jill Mansell

May 28th, 2010 | 5 Stars, ARC, Architect, Business, Chick-Lit, Contemporary, Great Britain, Guest Reviews, M-O, Tycoon

by Karin, guest reviewer from www.savvythinker.com

Rumor Has It by Jill Mansell is an excellent book. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Mansell captures your attention from the first few paragraphs, then keeps it through the entire book.

The only reason it took me a while to actually get into the book farther was that I had prior commitments. And I really wanted to enjoy the book, not feel like it was just a to-do task.

Synopsis:

Tilly Cole’s boyfriend has moved out, without notice, taking with him everything that was his. While this surprises her, she isn’t exactly reeling. She goes to visit her friend Erin in a smallish English town. Her train back to the city is delayed, and she decides to investigate an advertisement for a Girl Friday.

The main characters

Right off the bat she is warned by the Max, the gentleman who hires her, that he is off-limits, as he is gay.

At first I wondered if he was just saying that and that he would end up being her love. But no, he is really gay, having left his marriage to Kaye, an actress. He currently has custody of their daughter who is a young teen.

The love stories

There are several love stories in this book, though the main one is between Tilly and Jack, a good friend of Max’s. Another is Kaye’s who finds herself courted by a fan, when she particularly needs it. The third is between Erin and Fergus.

What love scenes there are, are practically all off-page. But the love stories are strong.

What makes it fun:

What makes it fun is the degree of humor in the book, and the town is peppered with a cast of interesting to unusual characters, and as you would imagine, in a small town everyone knows everyone’s business – or thinks they do – frequently getting the news mixed up with both humorous and disastrous results.

It is a testament to the author’s ability that we care about these characters, even the ones that are inherently unlikable.

Warning (and Spoilers):

One of the characters is diagnosed late with cancer and dies quickly from it. The focus is not on the disease or its treatment, but rather on the treatment of the woman by her friends and others.

My take:

I give the book 5 out of 5. I enjoyed the humor, the friendships, the unfolding of the loves stories, each of which drew the characters into a richer sense of life and a fuller sense of love. I love a book with a rich milieu of friendships and love stories that seem believable, not so fanciful as to be out of the range of real life.

Have you read this book or any other books by the author?

I’m looking forward to reading others books by her.

Buy: Rumor Has It

Disclosure: the book was given to me to review. I was glad for the opportunity to learn this author’s work.