Jill Mansell used to work in the field of neurophysiology and now writes full time. This book was published in 2014 and the story is based in the idyllic seaside town of St. Carys of England where readers fall in love with the characters of this lovely tale.
Sophie Wells is putting her past firmly behind her but finds it difficult to recover from bitter life experiences. She shuts herself down for good and is emotionally paralyzed. The only aim of her life is to be successful in her photography business. Sophie is hard working and easy to relate to due to reasons like refusing every date that she was ever asked on. She is determined to remain single for the rest of her remaining days and resists Josh’s determination and turns him down.
Josh Strachanis dangerously handsome and has a crush on Sophie that he simply can’t ignore. Hearrives at St.Carys to run the family hotel and he can’t understand why Sophie has zero interest in any man. Josh, who isn’t quite used to women, thinks Sophie has something more than what meets the eye. When Josh Strachan meets Sophie, it is an intense interest at first sight. He also can’t understand how he was deceived to work with Sophie’s friend Tula who has a crush on him and Josh has no intention of giving any sort of attention in return.
Tula, Sophie’s closest friend finds herself without a job and comes to St.Carys to start working at Josh’s family hotel. Tula has meanwhile caught the eye of a local playboy, Riley. She finds Riley handsome but he is not a boy she takes seriously. She wants a man with ambition and Riley seriously lacked it. She was a girl who was sarcastic, a bundle of fun and pretty. Her fun filled attitude to life and her obvious crush on Josh provides plenty of laughs along the way.
St.Carys has more than its fair share of characters including the charming but utterly feckless surfer Riley Bryant who is besotted with Tula. Tula Doesn’t like Riley Bryant as she finds him similar to her father- lazy, irresponsible and unemployed. Also, he is a serious womanizer who until now had eyes for every woman in St.Carys.
Josh and Riley, while equally handsome have completely different backgrounds and work ethics. They struggle to figure out why the two women they are falling for aren’t falling for them. The characters are very strong because Josh and Riley are handsome; Sophie and Tula are strong, independent women who don’t need men to make them feel good about themselves. There is also another plot line weaving itself into the story. Riley’s incredibly successful aunt, Marguerite Marshall has set her sights on Josh’s grandfather who in turn is still in love with his glamorous ex-wife Dot.
Dot Strachan who is the grandmother of Josh, is effortlessly stylish, with killer cheekbones, light blue eyes, a tanned complexion and a pretty smile even at seventy-two. There’s a lot going on in this book with many-layered characters and storyline interlaced with cleverness and elegance.
A collection of would-be couples in Cornwall must overcome secrets, conflicts and uncertainty to find love and their happy endings. Despite all the “laugh out loud” scenes in this book, it does have a serious side. Riley wants Tula, Tula wants Josh, Josh wants Sophie and Sophie wants no one. This book contains various cliffhangers with unexpected plot twists and character twists that lead to an expected happy ending from unexpected directions.
By : Anjalee Lunuwilage
Editorial Board – SSS 2019
