I have really enjoyed some of Jill Mansell's novels; they aren't shocking or racy or twisting but they are safe and obvious and light-hearted. You can fall into one of her books for a few hours and arise with a smile on your face feeling warm and content. 'You and Me, Always' will never be classed as one of my favourite books, but it was enjoyable for a few hours as an evening read, I didn't have to think too hard. However, there were a few aspects that hampered that enjoyment, and I ended up rolling my eyes a few times.

I loved the premise - Lily's mother had died when Lily was a child, but had left her letters and gifts to be opened on every birthday until her 25th. I thought that the main plot would be Lily discovering the people and stories of her mother's past through the letters, with a side dish of romance. This was not the case and actually this whole aspect was only used as a device to introduce a few new characters and a dash of 'tension' toward the end, otherwise it was kind of forgotten. This was quite disappointing, because I'd much rather have read about Jo's past and her life before her death, than read long chapters about Patsy's numerous and disastrous dates.

Naturally the lead couples, Lily and Dan and Coral and Declan were destined to be together, but with a few bumps along the way. These stories became the main plots and dominated that of Jo and her letters. I really disliked the fact that we were introduced to quite a few supporting characters - Trent, Gail and Derek - who were downright vicious and nasty. It was as though Mansell wanted to include them in the plot to keep us on our toes, but wanted to make sure that we hated the characters and knew that they weren't 'long-term'. Was it really necessary for both Derek and Trent to attack Patsy and Coral verbally throughout the novel? Derek being so smug and disgusting in the pub toward the end of the novel, really, really got my back up, and I couldn't see any real point in the attack besides reinforcing how nice her actual boyfriend ended up being? It also made me dislike both Patsy and Coral, who were attacked verbally but didn't say a word to the contrary and just took the abuse.

Lily and Dan were in love with each other, but kept silent to avoid ruining a 20+ year long friendship. They were fantastic together and I enjoyed reading about their burgeoning romance, cheering them on all the way. Why then did Coral and Declan have to be the same? Both in love but not willing to break the silence? Couldn't it have been different from the main plot so that we had another layer of interest? Maybe they admitted their attraction but Coral was too worried about Nick to fully commit? Again, it felt as though the romance was there just to fill the pages rather than being a developed story of its own.

Overall I thought the book was light and obvious, but enjoyable if you want a novel that is just easy to fall into without much thought required.