An Offer You Can't Refuse..

Jill Mansell is one of my favourite writers and so when I came across one of her novels I hadn't got around to reading in a local charity shop, I just had to snap it up! Is it just me that thinks there's something really nice about reading a book you know someone else has already experienced before you? I love it!

Here's what the blurb says:

Ten years ago Lola Malone was offered £10,000, and what seventeen-year-old wouldn't be happy with that?

But there was a catch. The person doing the offering was her boyfriend Dougie's mother, and it was on condition that Lola broke up with her beloved son. Lola was outraged. Nothing - nothing! - could tear her and Dougie apart. Until she discovered a terrible secret, and sudden;y she had no choice but to take the money and run.

Now a twist of fate has brought Lola and Dougie together again, and her feelings for him are as strong as ever. But she broke Dougie's heart - and he's about to discover that she was paid to do it. She can never tell him the truth, so can she get him back? Well, Lola likes to think she's irresistible. But even she's got her work cut out this time...

My thoughts:

This is the kind of story that I'm instantly drawn to and it did not disappoint. Right from the beginning you get the opportunity to click with Lola, the main character, and you're instantly on her side the whole way through.

After being reunited with Dougie 10 years after breaking his heart (in the weirdest situation, might I add) Lola is instantly determined to have him back in her life, but after learning of Lola deceptiveness Dougie can't get away fast enough. In walks Sally, Dougie's older sister, who befriends Lola and even becomes a neighbour - and even embarks on her own little love story.

Throughout the novel, Lola makes herself look a bit silly as she continues to pursue Dougie and he continues to knock her back. The thing is though, you never feel embarrassed for Lola when she's embarrassing herself - its more of a "that's exactly what I would've done" kind of thought.

Another focus of the novel is Lola being reunited with someone else. A lovely twist and its really heart-warming seeing pieces of Lola's life that she never understood fit back into place. And I like that Lola and Dougie aren't the only people in the book experiencing love troubles - its nice that Mansell includes the secondary characters just as much as the main ones.

My favourite part of the story is that Lola never, ever reveals her secret as to why she took the money from Dougie's mother. To anyone. Not even Dougie himself. The reason she did it was totally understandable and going through with it really showed her strength of character - it would've been so easy to tell everyone why she took it but she stuck to her guns. I love that and I think it says so much about Jill Mansell as a writer that she can allow Lola to keep it to herself but still have everything fall into place.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and like all Jill's other books, I couldn't put it down when I started and wanted to pick it back up when I'd finished.

You can purchase An Offer You Can't Refuse here and be sure to have a look at Jill's other novels.

xoxo
Orlagh