Don't Want to Miss a Thing - Jill Mansell

Things are getting busy with life lately (and I've been spending a lot of time with murder mysteries!) so I decided I needed a nice light, fun, feel-good, read. And I knew just the author to pick up! Jill Mansell always delivers a wonderfully warm chick lit read.

Don't Want to Miss a Thing is her latest North American release.

I was surprised in the first pages - this time 'round we have a male lead character. Dexter is a 'player' - he's got the looks, the money and no lack of female company in London. When his older sister Laura gives birth to her daughter Delphi, Dex falls in love for the first time in his life. Then the unthinkable happens - Laura dies. With no partner she names Dex as Delphi's guardian. Dexter is hesitant - he just doesn't believe he can raise this little girl...but he loves Delphi dearly.

He decides to permanently move to his weekend home in a small village in the Cotswolds. His new neighbours welcome him to the community and next door neighbour Molly offers to help out with Delphi. And could there be a little spark between Molly and Dex? The village is full of wonderfully warm, real, eclectic characters, each with their own story - and their own romantic entanglements.

Mansell's characters range from teenagers to older adults and those in between. Each  one is wonderfully drawn. Every reader will find a character that they can identify with and root for. It's impossible not to be drawn into their world and their lives. You begin to imagine yourself sitting on the stool in the local café, catching up on the local gossip.

Mansell is a master of the rom com story. Although we have lots of will they, won't they, near misses and close encounters, we know that in the end, things will turn out just as we want them to. (But Mansell still injects a dose of reality with some of the situations.) Really, who doesn't love a happy ending. And with Jill Mansell, the trip to that happy ending is oh, so enjoyable!

Don't Want to Miss a Thing was a wonderful, warm read - a perfect get away from it all tale filled with love and laughter.  Absolutely recommended. Read an excerpt of Don't Want to Miss a Thing.
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