Review for To the Moon and Back by Jill Mansell

Being a fan of chick-lit I’ve heard of Jill Mansell and have been eyeing her books for a while although had never picked one up. Twenty two books later and I was thrilled to find out that I’d won her latest book To the Moon and Back on Twitter. I was so excited to see what all the fuss was about and made it my next chick-lit read, and honestly why did I not pick up a book by this author sooner!? When we’re first introduced to our main character Ellie she seems to be living a blissful life, happily married to gorgeous hubby Jamie, but by the end of the first chapter Ellie’s world has come crashing down when Jamie’s in a fatal car accident that kills him. The book then skips to fifteen months later where whilst Ellie’s still grieving she’s not in the beginning horrifying grips of it keeping the book light and not too heavy or depressing. Ellie’s trying to rebuild her life by moving into a beautiful London flat and getting a new job as PA to gorgeous Zack McLaren. Zack wants a sensible, hardworking PA who isn’t going to fall head over heels for him making their working relationship awkward and he’s certainly found that in aloof, non-affected by his money, charm and good looks Ellie. The last thing Ellie wants is a new relationship but as Zack falls in love with her and Ellie starts to heal will a year of mishaps and near misses bring the love that both of them need? And more importantly will it be with each other? The thing that I immediately loved about this book were the characters. Ellie’s a lovely heroine who you can’t help but want the best for after all of her grief and upset. I loved watching her develop as she slowly began to heal and was rooting for her to find love and a happy ending, but will it be with boss Zack? You’ll just have to read it and find out! Ellie has three love interests throughout the book and whilst I was rooting for Zack at some points I honestly couldn’t be sure who she’d end up with. As well as Ellie’s story there are also the love lives of her neighbour Roo and her father in law to contend with. I loved reading about each characters story and found it to all tie together very nicely in the end. I loved Jill Mansell’s way of writing. Whilst this book is about a woman grieving the death of her husband it never feels heavy or depressing. Sometimes whilst reading I got a bit teary eyed but by the end of the page I’d soon be smiling again with Jill’s meticulous way of keeping things light hearted. I put this book down feeling happy and relaxed as if I’d just come back from a lovely holiday with friends. I’m so happy that I finally joined the Jill Mansell loop and will most definitely be buying and catching up with everything I’ve been missing out on with her other books. A lovely, heartwarming tale that I would most definitely recommend. My Rating 4/5 stars ****