Du och jag för alltid är helt underbar feelgood fylld av humor, charmiga relationer och spirande kärlek. Jag fullkomligt älskar Jill Mansells karaktärer och hennes fantastiska berättelser, hon har förmågan att skapa liv i karaktärer och miljöer så läsaren tydligt kan se varenda detalj ur boken framför sig. Jag satt försjunken i handlingen under hela bokens gång, och kan inte göra annat än rekommendera denna feelgoodpärla till er alla.

Alla karaktärer är unika, djupa och trovärdiga. Jag fastnade direkt för Lily, Patsy, Eddie, Dan, Coral och Declan och deras härliga relationer till varandra. Under läsningen gång kändes det nästan som att jag befann mig i samma rum som karaktärerna, allt på grund av den inbjudande, familjära känslan.

Handlingen kändes lättsam och vänskaplig, jag kunde känna igen mig i många tankar och känslor som karaktärerna hade. Jag älskar dessutom den härliga humorn som under hela bokens gång pågår mellan karaktärerna, det är flörtigt och lekfullt samtidigt som det är skrivet med känsla och kärlek. Jill Mansell har återigen skrivit en feelgoodpärla värd att läsas!

Det är ingen hemlighet att jag älskar Jill Mansells böcker, och Du och jag för alltid är enligt mig en av hennes bästa. Kärleken spirar, relationer utvecklas och den brittiska miljön är lika vackert beskriven och väl gestaltad som vanligt. Detta är feelgood när den är som bäst!

Love all of the stories I have read by Jill Mansell, but this one was particularly fun, interesting and different!! Such a fun twist having the storyline involve hiding a celebrity in the small village of the main characters.

Lily's mother Jo, died when she was eight, every year since then on her birthday she has had a letter to open from her mother. Now at twenty-five she has reached the last letter. What a wonderful gift to be left, but now it seems that Lily is very much on her own.

Although of course she has wonderful friends in Patsy and her rather annoying brother Dan. Then there is Coral who although now widowed, was friends with Jo and took her in and brought her up from the age of eight. The proverb "...it takes a village to raise a child..." is very much how Lily feels and how I felt after having read this book.

Patsy, is forever on her first date. Time is ticking by fast and she really is not sure if she will ever have children. She could be destined to be single.

Coral is still very much in love with her husband, Nick despite his sudden death. She throws herself into her work and thinks that maybe when the time is right she will feel something for someone else again. That again comes sooner than she thought when Declan appears.

Declan is the man who Lily's mother was only ever in love with, truly. Can he be a part of Lily's life nad will she learn even more about her mother now that the letters have stopped?

When Eddie appears in this little Cotswold village, Lily sees that maybe she might have found her true love but with Eddie there comes a catch?

This read has everything packed in and you are within the first few pages caught up with the lives of these women, you cry and laugh with them in equal measure. There is plenty of romance, some rather trying moral questions to answer but what this is a wonderful read to lose yourself in. I wanted the happy ending, and I had to keep reading until I got there. Another excellent book from Jill Mansell

A feel-good book. I loved Lily and honestly, all of the characters. Mansell does an awesome job at portraying people honestly but not cruelly. The romance was sweet and yes, a tad bit predictable, but it was a fun, light read just when I needed it.

It took me a while to get into the book, but once I got into it I thoroughly enjoyed it, as I usually do books written by Jill. I always love the way she incorporates multiple storylines into her books and how every storyline is interesting. This book was no exception.

Reading the book blurb, I expected this to be fun, engaging read. Plus I am a sucker for best friends-turned-romance chick lit. It gives you enough feels, keeps you engaged and entertained enough. That’s what I expected. Sadly this one didn’t meet the criteria.

Narrative

It’s a third person narrative. I started the book and it seemed harmless enough. But... the plot was such a mixture, like a badly made salad, if you will. I wanted to enjoy it, but I really couldn’t.

The story and plot

Oh boy how I despised the story was turning out to be. I was so mislead about the whole damn blurb! It suggested two long-life friends turning into more, the movie star as the third wheel and Lily’s backstory right? You are so wrong! As you can already see it’s too much of a plot for one book. But hey there’s more. The story includes 10 other point of views, yay!! * If looks could kill, my e-reader would be on fire*. You know when you decide to go for a movie with your close friends, and annoyingly there are some new faces tagging along with you. This book felt like that!
Here’s the thing, the many characters in a novel is not a problem. It’s their off-point story telling like this that kills a decent idea. What the author has done is squeeze at least three more love stories into the novel. So the leads as per the blurb just end up being a joke. They are in the background.
Plus the big “conflict” that every romance novel has? It’s hardly convincing, it is as an afterthought and gets resolved in three pages. The author can surely write well, but in this one read like she didn’t bother.

Pace

Pace is okay, was engaging. I kept reading on in hopes to find a meaty interaction between the main leads. Sadly that didn’t happen. How do you like book that is an engaging read but with terrible plot? I feel tricked!

The characters

The main leads are immature. The appeal of quirky characters finding the “one” is appealing but this novel made a caricature of that.
I didn’t like any of them. In fact most of the characters seemed similar; they were just an extension of the other characters. Plus with multiple characters and their point of view, you didn’t even get to know them really well.
So okay maybe their mannerisms are similar, happens. The physicality too? All the females look the same in the novel, as per description. Same goes for the guys. So many characters and all same.

Last Thoughts

There were some funny moments but they weren’t enough to float my boat. I regret reading this. It wasn’t horrible writing, in fact it was good in certain parts. However, the book really was a hodgepodge , a terrific mess. So many plots and unnecessary side stories. The only reason I completed is coz I hate leaving a book unfinished.
The thing is I was expecting a keep-your-brains-aside but fun to read experience and this didn’t even match that. If you like the best friend-romance thing, you’d be better off reading [b:Just One of the Guys|2884065|Just One of the Guys|Kristan Higgins|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1396310436s/2884065.jpg|2910293] .


#bookreviews #novels #romance

This book was so cute, such a great story, good happy ending, perfect for the start of the year. 10/10 would recommend.