Rumor has it

Tilly comes home one day to find her live-in boyfriend has taken everything that was his in the apartment and left her with just a note and a collection of romantic comedies. More upset about having to give up the apartment she loves; Tilly takes a weekend trip to visit her best friend Erin in the small town of Roxborough.

While scanning the town newspaper, Tilly sees an ad for a “Girl Friday”. More curious as to what the position entails, Tilly calls the number but when the phone isn’t answered, quickly forgets- until the next day. About to head back to London, Tilly’s train is delayed and she impulsively calls the number. Before she knows it, Tilly is the new Girl Friday for Max and his daughter Lou.

Tilly quickly finds out living in a small town has its pluses and minuses, the minuses being the hot-bed of gossip that quickly surrounds her. From the town hottie, Jack Lucas to Max to her best friend Erin, Tilly quickly realizes no one is safe from the gossip, including herself.

I really enjoyed this book and I absolutely loved the British-isms and the humor that was rampant throughout the novel. My new favorite line, courtesy of Jill Mansell and Rumor has it is “Tits Up” when something goes wrong. I love it and I was constantly laughing throughout reading this book.

Tilly’s storyline isn’t the only one, Mansell intertwines the secondary characters into the spotlight and not only are we seeing Tilly and her struggle to trust Jack, but we see Max and Lou’s struggle to overcome unfair prejudice and Erin’s relationship with a bitter soon to be ex-wife. I loved most of the secondary characters as well as Tilly so I was really happy to see their storylines, but I really didn’t care for Stella and I didn’t enjoy the Stella/Erin saga at all. I would have liked to see more of Tilly and Jack.

I loved Tilly and I enjoyed watching her come into her own. Her “handling” of Jack was fun and laughable at times but it did start to wear a little thin towards the end. Ma was hilarious and brought so much to every scene he was in. And Jack, well Jack is just your typical misunderstood hottie but damn it, you just have to love him, not to mention he has the patience of a saint where Tilly is concerned.

For the most part this is a light, fun read, but Mansell weaves in a few serious issues, from small-town homophobia to losing someone you love Mansell does a good job of tackling the issues and handles them well.

I would have liked to see more of Tilly and Jack’s relationship and felt the ending was a bit rushed; I was getting to the point where the resistance angle Tilly was playing was a bit of overkill and I get the book needs a happy ending but I think it would have been better with a more realistic ending.

I think this was a good, light, beach read. The characters are fun and the banter will crack you up. Put this in your beach bags this summer and treat yourself to a fun, often hilarious British chic lit.