PROMISE ME BY JILL MANSELL

One minute Lou is happily employed, with a perfect flat. The next, her home and job have gone. Suddenly she has to start over.

The last thing Lou wants is to a tiny Cotswolds village. She certainly doesn't intend to work for curmudgeonly eighty-year-old Edgar Allsopp. But Edgar is about to make her the kind of promise nobody could ignore. In return, she secretly vows to help him fall in love with life again.

Foxwell is also home to Remy, whose charm and charisma are proving hard to ignore. But Lou hasn't recovered from the last time she fell for a charmer. She needs a distraction - and luckily one's about to turn up.

Secrets never stay hidden for long in Foxwell, nor are promises always kept. And no one could guess what lies ahead...

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What a delight to be wrapped back up within a Jill Mansell novel! It is always a monumental comfort to know that her stories are out there in the world, just waiting for readers to cocoon themselves inside, offering warmth, hope, happiness and, best of all, a happy ending. Because no matter how horrid the real world may be, there will always be Jill Mansell. This is what she excels at, and this is why I have always adored her work.

Promise Me is no different, and readers are whisked away to the village of Foxwell, where lovely Lou is trying to figure out her next steps in life. As trauma goes, Lou has had her fair share of hurt, betrayal, and grief. I empathised with her character instantly, because betrayal leaves such an ugly mark, one which feels impossible to heal. Despite the hurt though, it quickly becomes clear that Lou is one of those people who still chooses to see the good in people and the world. She had such a radiant, positive personality, one of those who are able to always look on the bright side of life. I admired this about her, and hoped that however her story ended, true happiness and contentment would find her, because she truly deserved it.

It also became immediately obvious to me that if anyone was going to be the person who helped dear old Edgar Allsopp to see the joy in life once more, then no one was going to be more perfect for the job than Lou. In fact, it was a friendship-match made in heaven, which was going to benefit them both tremendously. Edgar Allsopp was a character I couldn't help but to love, despite his grumbly personality and utter dissatisfaction of everyone and everything. When his and Lou's paths crossed, I just knew that fate had played a part in their meeting, and Mansell couldn't have made it any more perfect if she had tried.

The progression of Lou's story unravels beautifully alongside Edgar's. Both begin to rebuild a new and exciting life for themselves, helping each other in ways invisible to everyone else. It is tender and heart-warming, with many uplifting moments that made me smile and almost moved me to tears once or twice. As well as Lou and Edgar who take centre stage, there are so many vivid characters in Promise Me who absolutely bring this story to life. It was exciting meeting them all, including Remy, who I found to be utterly delicious, and the rest of the Foxwell villagers. Their personalities and unique stories had this book bursting at the seams with activity and life, and I loved being involved. As is the usual in Mansell's stories, there are tons of twists and turns, characters who are not as honest as they first appear to be, with plenty of surprises along the way. It was a joy to read, and I went from chapter to chapter always eager to know what was going to happen next.

All in all, this was yet another hit from Jill Mansell. Uplifting for the soul, and a ray of sunshine for the mind, Promise Me was a perfect novel to curl up with and take a stroll through Foxwell. I do believe Jill's stories only get better and better, and she will forever remain an author I will return to again and again.

If you'd like to grab a copy of Promise Me by Jill Mansell for yourself, you can do so here.