Book Review: Nadia Knows Best by Jill Mansell

Jill Mansell has done it yet again! Nadia Knows Best is another fun and fabulous romp that leaves you with a renewed hope in second chances at friendship and love! I have read quite a few of Jill Mansell’s books and I have yet to find one I haven’t loved and this one was no different. She has such a way of drawing you into her characters lives with her wit and humor and you just can’t help but love them and become totally involved in their lives. I never fail to come away from one of Jill Mansell’s books feeling cheered up and that’s what I love most about her writing. Her books are the perfect escape into someone else’s crazy life and to top it off I adore British mannerisms and all so her books are a little slice of heaven to me!

As usual there are fun and quirky characters and Nadia fits into this category to perfection. She’s funny and sarcastic yet with a heart of gold underneath it all. The book opens when Nadia skids off an icy road and lands in the ditch. Instead of freezing out on the road she decides to hunker down in her vehicle; that is until someone knocks on her window. The fellow suggests they walk together to a town nearby and after weighing her options Nadia agrees. She learns the man’s name is Jay and he certainly isn’t hurting in the looks department but Nadia has a boyfriend and besides Jay is gay, which she goes on believing all through telling him all about Laurie only to find out in the end that he isn’t, in fact, gay. He had only told her that to make her more comfortable about being in a hotel room with a strange guy by herself – well he had paid for the room – she couldn’t exactly make him sleep somewhere else, could she? Turns out that Jay is a pretty tempting man but Nadia is a loyal girl and she’d do nothing to jeopardize her relationship with Laurie.

Imagine how stupid she feels shortly thereafter when Laurie dumps her to take off and further his career in modelling. She and Laurie have known each other since they were kids and it had always made sense that they’d end up together. She loved him and after all he was the perfect guy. Never mind that though – it’s over and she has to move on. Luckily for Nadia she meets up with Jay again and it turns out he remodels homes and then sells them. He hires her on as the gardener after seeing what she’s done at her grandmother’s house and it’s her dream job; after all she went to college to be a landscape designer. Even more enticing is the growing attraction between her and Jay. Just as things are heating up though guess who swoops in after a year and professes his love for her again – you guessed it – good old Laurie. Certainly she still cares for him but things aren’t as they used to be and she doesn’t trust him anymore. Yet Laurie’s so charming but then there are those feelings she has for Jay too. Oh boy, what’s a girl to do?

This book is full of things to talk about but you’ll just have to read it yourself for all of that. I will mention my love of the characters though even the spoiled and rude Clare, Nadia’s sister, who I grew to like by the end of the book. There’s also her youngest sister Tilly who’s still a teenager and happiest when everyone around her is happy too and their father James who after a bout with a crazy wife in his younger years may have just found love again. We can’t forget Miriam who is grandmother to the girls and father to James but in her seventies seems about as far from a granny as you can get. Really I loved them all. I was so sad to turn the last page and have to leave their lives as I still wanted more. Of course I can’t go without mentioning the new British words I learned because I adore them and soon enough I’ll be incorporating them in my everyday vocabulary. Some of them this time around were: pranged her car which is crashed obviously, stroppy which is someone being unpleasant to others, and last, faff about which is basically wasting time.

If you’re looking for a great read, look no further and go and pick up a copy of Nadia Knows Best. If you haven’t read a book by Jill Mansell yet my friends you are really missing out. She’s a fantastic writer and if you feel like escaping your everyday life for a while and getting a few laughs then she’s the author for you. Lucky for me I have quite a few of her older novels to catch up on but I’m always on the lookout for her new ones – she was one of those authors who after I read one of her books I knew she’d be a favorite of mine. Obviously you can tell I really enjoy her books so of course I would absolutely recommend Nadia Knows Best!

Be sure to check out Jill Mansell’s website to learn more about her work as well as finding her on Twitter. Your own copy of Nadia Knows Best can be purchased here in the US and here in Canada.

Source:  Review copy provided by Sourcebooks via NetGalley.  No compensation was received and all opinions are my own.

Share this post!