One Plus One

Author: Jojo Moyes
Genre: Modern Fiction, Women's Fiction
Type: Hardcover
Pages: 368
Source: Local Public Library
Publisher: Pamela Dorman Books
First Published: July 2014
First Lines: "The irony didn't escape Jessica Thomas that she'd lost the best job she'd ever had because of a diamond."

Book Description from GoodReads:  One single mom. One chaotic family. One quirky stranger. One irresistible love story from the New York Times bestselling author of Me Before You

Suppose your life sucks. A lot. Your husband has done a vanishing act, your teenage stepson is being bullied and your math whiz daughter has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that you can’t afford to pay for. That’s Jess’s life in a nutshell—until an unexpected knight-in-shining-armor offers to rescue them. Only Jess’s knight turns out to be Geeky Ed, the obnoxious tech millionaire whose vacation home she happens to clean. But Ed has big problems of his own, and driving the dysfunctional family to the Math Olympiad feels like his first unselfish act in ages . . . maybe ever.

My Review:  Okay, it's official. I've hit a bit of a reading slump.  After reading two books that were 'just okay' I was looking forward to reading a book by Jojo Moyes (the woman who wrote Me Before You which I adored!!).  Unfortunately, this book wasn't able to fully pull me out of the reading doldrums and here's why ...

I wasn't emotionally invested in the characters.  They were an interesting bunch of misfits to be sure and generally had an authentic feel to them (with the goth son being my favourite) but my connection just wasn't there with Jess and Ed.  I get that Moyes was going for the old 'opposites attract' thang but the reasons why these people were thrown together (or why they agreed to be thrown together) just didn't ring true for me.  Plus some of the decisions that Jess and Ed made (particularly how he got himself into the mess he was in and how she dealt with her ex) just didn't right true for me and I couldn't imagine smart people making those silly decisions when they had so much at stake.

Those reasons aside, this book did have heart as well as some funny moments with quirky, unique characters.  It also has a good message of perseverance and that family comes in all forms.

My Rating: 3/5 stars