A review by portybelle
An Almost Perfect Summer by Jill Mansell

emotional hopeful lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

 I enjoyed this book from the beginning of the book to the very last page!

What made it so enjoyable was the cast of characters which Jill Mansell has created and, with one or two exceptions, I really liked them all. There’s Nella, who is a concierge at an exclusive Cotswold retreat and who we first meet when she crashes her car into a wall. There’s Nick who rescues her and takes her to A&E and soon after becomes her boss. There’s Lizzie, a Hollywood actress looking for a bit of peace and quiet out of the limelight. There’s Cami who is ghost-writing Lizzie’s ‘autobiography’ and is expecting a baby. There’s Hugo who Nick’s friend, Matthew who gets off on the wrong foot with Lizzie, Maeve who is Matthew’s daughter, Nella’s previous boss Tommy and his arch enemy Jed – and more! It may sound like there are a lot of characters to get your head around but it’s testament to Jill Mansell’s writing that they all feel fully rounded and I never found myself wondering who was who.

I felt there was a fair amount in the book about how first impressions aren’t always correct and it was interesting to see how some characters had to re-evaluate what they had initially thought of others. It was interesting as a reader too that the author gently led us to see that some of our first impressions were wrong.

Love is in the air in the village of Starbourne and I loved following the characters on their paths to happiness, some of which were more unexpected than others. I felt like I knew the village and its inhabitants rather well by the time I finished the book. There’s a sentence I came across which sums up this book (and many others) rather nicely: “What was it about words on a page having the ability to sweep you into another world so completely that it felt more real than the one you were actually living in?“. An Almost Perfect Summer certainly gave me a rather lovely escape from the real world while I was reading. I particularly liked the ending, which I won’t give away of course but which put me in mind of the end of one of my favourite films. Very romantic, a real lump in the throat moment.

I don’t know about An Almost Perfect Summer but this is an almost perfect feel-good novel. In fact, I’d go as far to say it is a perfect feel-good novel! The back of the book says it’s full of friendship, warmth and romance and that really does sum it up perfectly. Another cracker of a book from Jill Mansell, a real joy to read. I loved it!