Though slightly unrealistic to the point of absurdity at points, this was a super fun read that had me laughing out loud. It took me a couple of chapters to orient myself to the characters, which is my own fault for presuming so definitively that if one character is in the title, there is obviously only one big character. And did she really make a big mistake? If she did, many people did.

But regardless, I feel like legitimately funny books are getting harder to come by, and this succeeded. I love my quirky heroines and their Britishisms, and I forget how refreshing it is to read a book that's pre-cell phones and all that technology that really kind of just ruins the flow.

Also, Chloe and Fenn, ugh I ship it so hard. ( )

This started off well enough, though I did find Miranda faintly irritating from the start - she's just too ditsy and so terribly nice that I instantly took against her, as it were. However, that's not a huge problem, as her friends and colleagues provide a far greater level of interest and have a decent-ish amount of page space - so if you get fed up with Miranda, then you soon have Chloe (who is Greg's newly pregnant and abandoned wife) and Bev (the man-mad colleague) to look forward to and concentrate on.

Greg, of course, is the man we all love to hate - he blames Chloe for getting pregnant and breaking her word to him about not wanting babies and instantly leaves her. Because he's just a very nasty man, to be honest. He's also rather unbelievable as I simply didn't credit that Greg could be such a downright despicable cad and yet get two nice women (Chloe and later Miranda) to fall for him. He's really more caricature than character - and this is also the case with Chloe's dreadful boss and his wife. Both of these people are frankly so horrible that I just kept laughing at them, and I'm not convinced that was the reaction Mansell was intending. Oh well.

Never mind, as there are a couple of menfolk in the mix who are adorable in every way - Fenn, the definitely straight hairdresser, and Miles, the lovely and witty famous racing driver, are a delight and should have had far more page space here than they actually do. It's a bit of a lost opportunity for the men, to be honest. Also, something dreadful happens to Miles about three-quarters of the way through which I think was totally unnecessary and rather stupid - and this leaves the way free for journalist Danny to take the place of the dreadful Greg as Miranda's potential partner. Are you keeping up at the back? I do hope so!…

It's a shame then that Danny is so terribly shallow and unattractive - in fact at one point after the Miles Debacle, he thinks something so utterly prejudiced and unloving about Miranda's potential relationship with Miles that I wanted to beat him to death with his own laptop. What a horrible man! Really, he and the irritating Miranda probably deserve one another but they're definitely not going to be happy as they simply don't gel …

So there it is. A mixed bag of a book, with an unlikeable heroine and hero, but with some very good secondary characters we should have seen more of.

Verdict: 3 stars. Average. ( )

Not my favorite by Mansell, but definitely enjoyable. Lots of lovable characters and fun situations, though things get serious at some points. I forgot to log this, so I don't remember when I finished it unfortunately. ( )

Miranda is impulsive and soft hearted and ready to jump into love. She has good friends and watching them all stick by each other was delightful. ( )

But enjoyable, nonetheless.
Miranda is the trainee at one of the trendiest hair salons. It's not quite clear how she has managed to keep her job- her regular tardiness is something of a joke among the shop workers. She lives with an elderly lady, doing things around the house for cheap rent. She's a bit of a pushover, always wanting to help others out. She's a bit of a dull character, with a ridiculously complicated love life. She first falls in love with Greg, only to find he isn't what she thinks. Then there's Miles, a race car driver. Throughout it all is Danny. Miranda and Danny are constantly at odds, until they suddenly aren't.
What really makes this story interesting, and the only thing that kept me reading, are all the side characters. The side stories are the redeeming quality in this book. Miranda's isn't the only love life who we get to see. There's Miranda's landlady who reconnects with an old friend and Chloe, another renter who unexpectedly falls in love in the midst of a divorce and pregnancy.
Miranda isn't all that interesting, and many of the situations she finds herself in are too contrived to be believable. She never really learns her lesson. Chloe, however, was a great character. I would have enjoyed more of her story in this story! ( )