Customer Reviews

Falling for You

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

What a fun book this is, a delight in every way. Jill Mansell is one of those Brit Lit authors whose books you cannot resist and cannot put down, and "Falling For You" is a perfect example.

With tongue in cheek, Mansell tells us about a modern-day Romeo and Juliet-type feud. But instead of the Capulets and Montagues, we have two very modern dysfunctional (or otherwise) families living in and near Bath, England. Many years ago, the teenaged son of the McKinnon family struck and killed the disabled daughter of the Harvey family in his speeding car. A trial found him guilty and sentenced him to jail, but an overheard thoughtless remark by his mother was never forgotten or forgiven.

Fast forward a decade. The Harvey father has passed away, but his wife Marcella, ferociously adoring stepmother of Maddy, Jake and the late disabled April, still keeps the feud going strong. That's fine with everyone--until Maddy falls in love with Kerr, brother of the man who struck down April. And even though Kerr was not even in the country at the time, Marcella cannot and will not allow a McKinnon anywhere near her family.

Along with this interesting tale are several subplots involving marriages, affairs, breakups and "hookups"--all told with such verve and charm that one cannot help but keep the pages turning. This is simply a gem of the genre. Enjoy!

I was initially drawn to this book for its setting. Being that Bath is one of my favorite places in England, I was excited to read a book that would remind me of how beautiful the place is. From time to time the book would take me back, and this I enjoyed.
As for the story, I dont really have too much to complain about. It was simply a good fast chic lit read. There were quite a few clues throughout the book that did not leave much to surprise, although one possible side story might have been seen as a mystery to keep the reader hooked.
Jill Mansell's writing style is really what propels this book. Her language is not so flowery and verbose that one gets bogged down in the words.
A definite recommend for Anglophiles, those who like cute romances, and those that just want to go back to Bath even if only in their minds.

Okay, so it was far fetched, but I really loved it. There were plenty of twists and turns, and plenty of storylines to keep up with, but I thought it was a fun, easy reading, summer book

Jill Mansell writes good comedy romance books. My husband allowed me to read one of these books to him on our trip from Florida to Ft. Worth, Texas. He drove the whole distance so that I could read the story about Poppy. This one, Falling for you was about Maddy Harvey an ugly duckling as a teenager, who, later developed into a beautiful young lady. She met a handsome young man at a party where he rescued her after she fell over a fense. They fell in love, but he turned out to be the brother of the young man who was believed to have run down and killed her sister. Excellant story!

I did not like this book at all. Not for a Mansell anyway. If it were written by anyone else, I might have given it more stars, but for Jill Mansell, it was just severely disappointing.

This is my third book for Mansell, and I was over the moon about the first two books I read for her, and thought I would be about this one too - as the reviews were outstanding - but I wasn't.

I didn't like the characters, I felt they were all shallow, and irritating. A lot of it was unrealistic, and everyone seemed to be falling in love in a matter of days! The twists and turns made no sense, and everything seemed a little TOO coincidental. And this book has pretty much VERY LITTLE to do with Maddy and Kerr - the supposed main characters of the book. It had a lot more to do with the secondary characters - mainly Kate and her family.

Yes, I found a lot of the text funny, but I never said Mansell wasn't funny. She's a good writer, she's capable of writing incredible books. So the writing was good, it's the plot I hated. I do have one remark though, at some point Will says, "let me just grab a shower" and that really bothered me because it makes no sense. You can't GRAB a shower, you take one, you have one, but you don't GRAB one. Sheesh! I really needed to get that one out.

Back to the story now, I think Den deserved a much larger part in the story than he was given, since the whole "concept" revolved around him and the accident he was involved in. Especially after everything you find out in the end, I think Mansell robbed him off his story, which I think would've been a very good one. This book should have been about Den, rather than Kerr, and should have revolved more around their family rather than Kate's extremely shallow and broken family.

And I really, really hate stories about cheating spouses. Honestly, I despise that. It is never right to cheat on your spouse, it is never okay. Cheating is hurtful and wrong. And I hate when people take that and make it into a story with a happy ending. A husband cheats on his wife, a wife cheats on her husband, but somehow everything works out great for them, and they live happily ever after. And verbal abuse is not okay either, it is often times worse than physical abuse, so again, I hated that Mansell used those aspects for her characters and made them seem like good people at the end.

So all of that being said and done, I did not completely hate the book. I know, go on, roll your eyes, "really?! you could've fooled me!", but I didn't! I enjoyed many parts of it. I just did not like the overall plot and a lot of the characters' roles. I've read a couple of Mansell's books and I know the difference. And this is why I'm being hard on her and on this book, because I know she's capable of a lot more. This just isn't up to par with her other books.

I'm still a Mansell fan, and I most definitely will be reading each and every one of her other books, but I don't expect every book to earn 5 stars out of me either.

This one certainly didn't.

All her books are consistent and reliable. You know a Mansell book is going to be hilarious and plain interesting from beginning to end. Her heroine is always a smart women in riduculous, but real, situations. I would recommend anything by her!!

Book was fun and characters were well developed. There is a portion in the middle of the book where the characters and plot run a little long. Would have liked to have more story on the "main" characters instead. But overall would recommend for any hopeless romantic out there.

This book was very easy to read, predictable and soooo unrealistic and cheesy. Even at times of 'trauma' this book came across unbelievably upbeat and happy clappy.

I carried on reading it as it wasn't awful to the point of throwing it against the wall. It would make perfect reading for a long journey or whilst sunbathing on holiday.

this is your typical buy-at-the-airport-and-read-while-crossing-the-atlantic kind of book; it's entirely average chick lit with the occasional venture into something a bit more original. it contains the usual transformation of an ugly duckling into a good swan, while the evil swan is transformed into a sad and ugly something-else. there is a mother-goose who protects her offspring to no avail (although in this case, the ducklings are not her own), and various other standard romance novel chicks and ducks.

for those who are looking for the equivalent of romeo and juliet, this book is a bad choice. the tragedy is not believable or heart-wrenching enough, and the romances are soppy, sappy and ridiculously predictable. still, for those who are looking for a moderately entertaining novel, fast enough to read on a long flight and not irritating enough to leave it half-read, this might be a good book to pick up. while the characters are bland and unsurprising, the story boring and predictable, the author does possess some bizarre quality that keeps the reader going. I don't know what it is, but I read the entire book in one sitting - perhaps it was the snoring of the person sitting next to me on the airplane that kept me going? either case, it is a quick read and it is what it is - an airplane novel pretending to be a big romance novel. remove the pretense and you're left with a pretty ok companion on your transatlantic flight.

Not Bad. It was quick and easy to read. This is the first book I've read by this author and not as impressed as I thought I would be.