A Walk in the Park

September 3, 2012
Mansell (Nadia Knows Best) charmingly mixes her trademark British chick lit style with a web of poignant love stories. Lara Carson moves back to her Bath hometown 18 years after she abruptly left, with her teenage daughter, Gigi, in tow. Lara’s close childhood friend Evie is about to marry local heartbreaker Joel Barber until she learns he cheated on her; fortunately hotel proprietor Ethan is there to soothe her sorrow. Lara’s dealing with her own explosive news when her high school flame, Flynn Erskine, returns to town and Lara feels obliged to reveal that Gigi is his daughter. Elsewhere, rapper EnjaySeven drags Lara’s longtime friend Harry Wells, a mild-mannered shopkeeper, into his reality TV series, leading the two to embark on their own unlikely romance. Quirky secondary characters add texture to the tale as each couple stumbles along—most, though not all, eventually finding settled happiness. Mansell deftly weaves a sweet and pleasant story. Agent: Jane Judd, Jane Judd Literary Agency.

September 15, 2012
In popular British comedic author Mansell's latest, Lara Carson, who was forced out of her home at 16, has now returned to Bath after her father's death. No one knew she was pregnant when she left, and now she and her teenage daughter, Gigi, take up residence in Lara's childhood home. She picks right up where she left off with her best friend, Evie, who moves in with them after she breaks up with her philandering fiance. Then there's Lara's first love, Flynn, Gigi's unsuspecting father. What follows is a fun, lighthearted story about making a family of friends. Though Lara and Flynn's rekindled romance is inevitable, it's the sometimes bizarre departures Mansell concocts that make the story interesting. Take a side plot, for example, about the group's unlikely friendship with a famous American rapper filming a reality show in Britain. Mansell excels at the ensemble romantic comedy, and her quirky but endearing characters shine once again.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)