tillyjournals 's review for:

One Plus One by Jojo Moyes
4.5
emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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

Jess is a single mum to a maths genius, and a teenager who is being badly bullied. When her daughter gets the opportunity to go to a private school with a 90% subsidy, she knows she needs to find a way to get that money. Enter a maths competition, and millionaire Ed who offers to drive you and the kids to the competition, what could go wrong? Except everything in Ed's life is falling apart too- with a accusation of insider trading, and a very unwell dad. 

This is great, it's what I would call a contemporary or 'women's fiction' novel, rather than a strict romance, I loved Jess' two kiddos and their relationship a lot, and the slow burn of the romance was lovely. There is so so much character development, with basically EVERYONE in the book, and how I felt for the kiddos at times was almost heartbreaking. 

Its a page turner, heartwarming, and I challenge you to not like like the characters; even when they do things that aren't sensible. It was really lovely to see a desperate single mum in a book, and explore the lengths she would go to for her kiddos. The dad, just wow, that's all I can say without spoiling too much. 

Ed, I found hard to like at first, but I really warmed to him as the book went on, I really think his character arc is alone. worth reading this novel for.