Review: To the Moon and Back by Jill Mansell

To the Moon and Back
Author: Jill Mansell
Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark
Genre: Contemporary Romance
ISBN: 9781402243851
Release date:  September 1, 2011
Author's website: Jill Mansell

When Ellie Kendall loses her husband Jamie in an accident she feels her world has come to an end. But life has to go on and eventually she’s ready for a new start – at work, that is. She definitely doesn’t need a new man, not while she has a certain secret visitor to keep her company...

Entrepreneur Zack McLaren seems to have it all, but the girl he can’t stop thinking about won’t give him a second glance. Why can’t she pay him the kind of attention she lavishes on Elmo, his time-share dog?

Having moved to an exclusive flat in North London, Ellie becomes friendly with neighbour Roo who’s harbouring a secret of her own. Between them, can both girls sort out their lives? Guilt is a powerful emotion.

But a lot can happen in a year in Primrose Hill...

Ellie Kendall's life gets turned upside down with the sudden death of her husband. When she is finally able to pick herself up and get back to life, she gets back to life and gets help from those around that love her.  Her father in law Tony Weston is a famous movie star and supports her when he can.  He suggests that she move to a new location and when she does her life begins to change. She is told that there is a job opening as a personal assistant to an entrepreneur and decides to take it when she is contacted.  Zack McLaren can't believe his luck when he realizes the girl that caught his eye on the street one day no works for him.  He tries his best to keep his crush under wraps.  It works until Ellie begins to date other men and Zack wonders if he will ever get the opportunity to let Ellie know how he feels about her.  Ellie never thought for one second that Zack would be interested in her and doesn't realize when he is acting jealous.  She's always thought of him as handsome and soon she realizes how good they are together.  It will take a wedding to make them both realize that they were meant for each other.

There is a nice side story with Tony as he finds new love when he wasn't looking for it.  I really enjoyed the character of Roo the most in the story.  She is Ellie's neighbor that lives across the street and was once a famous singer.  She and Ellie get along right away and this is when the reader gets to know more about Ellie's complicated love life.  I was happy when Roo finally realized that the man she thought that she love wasn't good for her and ended up gaining a new friend in a person she never thought she would be friends with.  All of the storylines were intertwined and the reader is able to get 3 didn't think it would happen love stories.  I enjoyed seeing the progress of them all and had a smile on my face as I read the final scene at the end of the book.

I felt that To the Moon and Back was extremely well written and while I enjoyed most of the book, it just didn't have that exciting factor for me that I like to read in books.  But I would definitively recommend this book to others because I thought the author did a great job with the storyline.

I'm giving To the Moon and Back a rating of: