An Offer You Can't Refuse

December 15, 2008
Mansell's mostly fun latest (after Falling for You
) recounts how a 17-year-old's decision to accept a bribe affects her life several years down the road. After her beloved stepfather, Alex, confesses to a large gambling debt, Lola accepts a payment from her boyfriend Dougie's disapproving mother, who wants Lola gone. Lola pays off her father's debt and disappears from London for 10 years, after which she returns. In a too coincidental twist, she rescues a woman from a mugging, only to later learn—at a thank-you party the victim throws—that the woman she helped is Dougie's mother. Dougie, meanwhile, has a new girl and is still disgusted that Lola accepted the bribe, though that doesn't keep Lola from trying to re-insert herself into Dougie's life. A subplot involving Lola's mother and biological father adds to the mix, as do the romantic foibles of the cast. Mansell stumbles, however, in the unlikely final chapters, which stick too closely to the genre formula. A fast pace and fun writing make the story fly by, but the happily-ever-after doesn't feel right.

February 15, 2009
Lola, 17, is deeply in love with her boyfriend, Doug. Dougs family is wealthy, and Doug is on his way to university, while Lola is a middle-class girl and works at a fish-and-chip shop. Dougs mother sees miniskirt-wearing Lola as an obstacle to overcome and offers her 10,000 pounds to never see Doug again. Lola is about to refuse when her father reveals a huge gambling debt. The only way to keep him safe is for Lola to accept the money. Ten years later, she encounters Doug and his mother again, and now Doug knows Lola was bought off by his mother. Lola still has feelings for Doug, but Doug wont have anything to do with her. Will their relationship be repaired, or is the money too much to handle? Mansells novel is the perfect read for hopeless romantics who like happily-ever-after endings.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)