Romantic entanglements are Jill Mansell's specialty, and in The Unexpected Consequences of Love, she cleverly knits together several story threads spun from St. Carys, a fictional seaside town in Cornwall, England. She focuses on commercial photographer Sophie Wells, a young woman who plies her craft in earnest in order to put a painful romantic past behind her. When Josh Strachan moves back to town after a stint as a Hollywood talent agent to help his Grandma Dot run Mariscombe House, the family hotel, he is instantly smitten with Sophie, who is doing a photo shoot at the inn. Having sworn off romance, Sophie doesn't look twice at Josh, but this only encourages him to work harder to win her affections--and solve the mystery about her past.
Then Sophie's free-spirited best friend, Tula, loses her job and moves to St. Carys. She is instantly attracted to Josh, but another local, Riley--a ne'er-do-well and flirt--has eyes for Tula. Riley's not sure what it'll take to turn Tula's head, and matters grow even more complicated when Tula lands a job at Mariscombe House.
Mansell (Don't Want to Miss a Thing) has written another lively, engaging romance where an ensemble of characters--including Grandma Dot--have had their hearts wounded by the past and secrets. Each member of the cast is faced with the prospect of loving again—and the conflicts therein. Amid obstacles that challenge happy endings, Mansell introduces poignancy, humor and unexpected grace. --Kathleen Gerard, blogger at Reading Between the Lines