This is a new Jill Mansell, so it almost speaks for itself. Even though she exclusively writes lighter British romances, Jill Mansell is one of those authors whose books I actively seek out time and time again, and this book definitely checks the boxes for me.
Didi Laing and Shay Mason fell for each other as teenagers during a school trip on a magical snowy evening in Venice. For six months, they were blissfully in love, until something happened that changed everything for them, and Shay left for the city. Years later, Shay returns to the Cotswolds to help his dying father fulfill a dying request, and he finds Didi (somewhat unenthusiastically) engaged to another man. Since this is Jill Mansell, Didi and Shay continue to get their timing wrong, while the reader wonders whether the two of them will ever get their happy ending.
This is a sweet book, and I love both the setting and the characters. I could complain that if Didi and Shay ever just spoke to each other, they might have solved all of their problems, but it would not be a Jill Mansell book without continued miscommunication (or lack of communication at all) between the main love interests. At the same time, I was drawn to the supporting characters more than I was to Didi and Shay. Rosa, mourning her late husband, and Red, trying to wrap up the loose ends of his own life after a terminal diagnosis, were my two favorite characters in this book, and I was drawn through by the two of them more than the main plot.
I’ve said it before and it continues here, that you don’t read Jill Mansell for her high literary content. However, if you want a feel good, very light romance/chick lit novel set in one of my favorite places in the entire world, then this is a fun one. Get cozy in front of a roaring fire or under a warm blanket , pour yourself a glass of wine (or hot chocolate,) and let yourself get lost for a few hours (or a weekend depending on how many times your children interrupt you.)
Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. It has not influenced my opinion.