Nadia Knows Best

March 5, 2012
In this quick and ultimately uplifting chick lit romp, released in the U.K. in 2002, bestselling Brit Mansell (To the Moon and Back) weaves together the stories of an untraditional family and its members’ efforts to find love. Nadia Kinsella thinks she has it all: GQ model boyfriend Laurie, loving father James, grandmother Miriam, sisters Clare and Tilly, and admittedly exasperating absentee mother Leonie. When Nadia is stranded in a snowstorm with handsome Jay Tiernan, she remains faithful to Laurie—only to be unceremoniously dumped when she arrives home. Fast-forward 15 months, when Nadia runs into Jay again. As the two move toward a relationship, Laurie returns from L.A. and attempts to win Nadia back. Meanwhile, Clare, Tilly, and James embark on their own romantic adventures. Mansell smoothly toggles between romances, deftly keeping the multiple story lines moving. While not everyone gets a happily-ever-after, readers are left with a sense of hope that things will work out eventually. Agent: Jennifer Unter, RLR Associates.

April 1, 2012
British favorite Mansell's latest novel is ostensibly about a woman choosing between two men, but it's the large, colorful cast of characters who add warmth and depth to this story. Landscape designer Nadia Kinsella meets Jay when she's still involved with male model Laurie, her teenage sweetheart. But when Laurie leaves Nadia to pursue his acting career in Los Angeles, and Nadia ends up working for Jay, she's hoping the timing will be right. Meanwhile, her impetuous artist sister, Clare, falls for a complete cad, who dumps her when she needs him most, while their father begins his first romance since their mother left him. Their glamorous grandmother Miriam confronts a long-buried secret, and their flighty mother, Leonie, pops back up in time to unsettle their youngest sister, Tilly. Mansell's trademark wit and quirkiness is showcased in this fun chick-lit tale that has enough going on to keep readers entertained through the last page.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)