Mandy Rymill

That Old Devil 

Genre: chick-lit

Amazon.UK

Amazon.com

3/5

The cover didn't appeal to me (I actually went looking for the WORSE cover in the chick lit genre) just to see if the blurb redeemed itself. The all-red cover shouts cheap and worse, sluttish. I wouldn't buy.

The blurb is better, but the line “That Old Devil” is a romantic comedy which will appeal to women everywhere who have lost the ‘Love of their Life’ and have been trying to find him ever since. makes me think I'm about to read about loss and sadness and that's not what chick lit is all about. In the following paragraph is says:  her daughter is keeping secrets from her, she doesn’t get on with her parents, and, oh, yes, at 35, Is that the mother that's 35 and who doesn't get on with her parents, or the daughter? Slight confusion.The rest of the blurb does redeem itself though, and so I take a 'look inside'.

The writing is engaging and 'chatty' in classic chick lit style, and although the opening didn't grab me straight away by page two I realised I'd like to buy this book. The main problems with this novel is I think the author tried too hard to be 'chick lit', or rather, funny. Some of things the character gets up to is so slapstick it's not funny at all (especially as she is supposed to be a mother and a business woman). And for a small seaside town there were a lot of 'dishy men' and parties - and sex! (Nothing explicit though.)

There are a few editorial problems, but nothing too amiss. And over-all the writing is tight, the characters engaging. I fell out with main character Jenny at times. I found her sloven and selfish, but she redeemed herself by the end and I was hoping she'd have her HEA. In fact, by the end, I'd like to have her as a friend. She'd be great to party with!

Would I buy another novel by Mandy Rymill? Yes, I would. You'd be guaranteed lively, fun characters anyway!

Blurb:
“That Old Devil” is a romantic comedy which will appeal to women everywhere who have lost the ‘Love of their Life’ and have been trying to find him ever since.

Jenny Dunwood doesn’t have it all. Her café business in the small seaside town of Bickley is rapidly going down the pan, her daughter is keeping secrets from her, she doesn’t get on with her parents, and, oh, yes, at 35, she still hasn’t found Mr. Right. Correction, she did find him and, in fact, had a two-year affair with him, but Sean walked out of her life nearly twelve years ago and hasn’t been seen since.

Until the day he turns up at her café and turns her world upside down forever. Will the ever-sensible Jenny fall for his persuasive charms again and, if so, will it work this time? After all, she’s single and, let’s face it, he is the love of her life, so what’s to stop her? Perhaps the little matter of his wife, the gorgeous Sally? And let’s not forget Jenny’s best friend, Kate, who is not, as she puts it, “the lying, smarmy bastard’s” biggest fan.

And then there’s David, Bickley’s sexiest, well only, greengrocer and Jenny’s friend. He has designs on Jenny himself, although Jenny can’t see past the huge shoulders of Sean to recognise this. And, anyway, it looks like she’s missed the boat there; didn’t she see her daughter, Carrie, sneaking out of his flat at midnight? Not that she’s interested anyway, is she, because she’s got the gorgeous Sean back. Or has she?

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