An Offer You Can't Refuse - Jill Mansell

I admit it - I LOVE chick lit - and I think British chick lit is some of the best! I am so excited that Sourcebooks is bringing Jill Mansell's titles to North America! An Offer You Can't Refuse is being released today.

Seventeen year old Lola Malone is madly in love with Dougie Tennant. But Dougie's mother Adele is less than enamoured with Lola - she wants her out of Dougie's life. She offers Lola a large sum of money to do just that. Lola is horrified, but when a family situation necessitates a large cash influx, she is reluctantly forced to accept Adele's offer.

Fast forward ten years - Lola is back in Britain and the manager of a bookstore. I loved Mansell's choice of occupation for Lola.

"She craved a proper bookshop like an addict craves a fix. There wasn't much that could beat that gorgeous new-book smell, touching the covers and turning the pages of a book whose pages had, just possibly, never been turned before."

Or the customer who wants a book about insects that might have a pig in it. (Keep guessing - I'll tell you the title at the end of this post)

When Lola suddenly meets up with Dougie again and finds she is still madly attracted to him, she hopes that maybe, just maybe....it will work this time around. But when Dougie hears about the payoff, he wants nothing to do with her. She promised to never reveal the reason she needed the money, but how is she going to win Dougie back when he thinks she is nothing but money hungry?

Lola is an absolutely endearing character - someone you wish you had as a friend. The supporting characters are just as captivating, as are their story lines. Gabe is the male neat freak best friend, who through circumstances ends up living with Dougie's sloppy sister Sally. Lola's mom Blythe is a free spirit in love with a rumpled bear of a man who adores Monopoly. What will happen when Lola's real dad shows up again after twenty something years? Will any of them find true love?

An Offer You Can't Refuse is a fresh, funny, charming read that will have you rooting for Lola, her friends and family and love until you turn the last page. The writing is warm and witty. Mansell's About the Author end note gives you some idea...

" Jill Mansell lives with her partner and children in Bristol, and writes full time. Actually, that's not true; she watches TV, eat gum drops, admires the rugby players training in the sports field behind her house, and spends hours on the internet marveling at how many other writers have blogs. Only when she's completely run out of ways to procrastinate does she write."

An Offer You Can't Refuse was #4 on the London Sunday Times bestseller list in the summer of 2008. I'm sure it will be a hit here as well. I'm looking forward to reading Mansell's next title, Miranda's Big Mistake , when it releases in June of this year.

Read an excerpt of An Offer You Can't Refuse. Love the Shopaholic series? You'll love Mansell too!

Oh - that book title - Lord of the Flies!