Sheer Mischief

Jill Mansell

Jul 2018 · Tantor Media Inc · Narrated by Charlotte Anne Dore

About this audiobook

It's not that Janey Sinclair isn't pleased to see her sister. It's just that being woken at seven by Maxine, complete with police escort, isn't quite how she'd planned to spend her Sunday. Even so Janey, who's just rebuilding her life after her husband disappeared, is delighted that her sister's back in the Cornish town where they grew up. When Maxine sets her sights on Guy Cassidy, an impossibly glamorous fashion photographer, Janey knows there's no limit to the mischief her sister will get up to in order to dispatch her rivals. But little do they know that the competition is a lot closer to home than they think . . .

Ratings and reviews

AudioBook Review: Stars: Overall 3 Narration 2 Story 3 One thing that must be noted in every Jill Mansell book is the characters – many of her characters get a POV and this one is no exception, and often her stories are wordy – at over 400 pages and 15 + hours of listening time, these aren’t quick escape for a few hours books – these are perfect for that long rainy weekend getaway when you want to find somewhere else to be with someone else’s troubles. In this book we have Janey, two years after her husband’s disappearance without a reason why, her life is moving forward (mostly) even as she is stalled in second-guessing her own life and herself as compared to her younger, thinner, and spontaneous little sister Maxine. And Maxine’s arrival in the little Cornish village, at 2 am, is unexpected to say the least. Maxine is flighty, selfish, a bit boy crazy but she brings a bit of lightness to Janey, and the two have a good relationship. Add in an uber-hot photographer, the girls mother, a guy who needs to be left out with the trash, a solid man with good intentions and a handful of morally questionable partnerships and a bit of competition for the next big ‘romance, and you have the story. Not without issues, the multiple POV that is so characteristic of Mansell’s writing worked well here, but the endless back and forth, or actually stalled without progress over-sharing and over-thinking didn’t help with the flow of the story for either Janey or Maxine- and it actually felt as if there were more moments that could have used less words and tell, and far more show. A solid example of what ‘chick lit’ was with the interpersonal relationships, a main character’s growth and a chance for new romance, even if it is secondary to the self-discovery. A bit dated in the feel of the story, and again would find benefit in editing and tightening up the plotting arc, the story was not what I hoped for. Narration for this story is provided by Charlotte Anne Dore, and her work managing the various points of view, the heavy word count and switching perspectives and tone / accent / timbre to aid in delineating characters wasn’t as deft as I would wish for. These are character-heavy stories with multiple points of view that require an ease and facility with voices and the ability to differentiate one from the other, or to go in the opposite direction and simply ‘read’ the words as written – this was an odd mix of the two, resulting in a rather flat audio experience. I received an AudioBook copy of the title from Tantor Audio for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.

About the author

Jill Mansell is the author of over twenty international bestsellers, including The One You Really Want, Don't Want to Miss a Thing, and Three Amazing Things About You. Jill received an outstanding achievement award from the Romantic Novelists' Association. She lives in Bristol, England, with her family.

Charlotte Anne Dore has been recording audiobooks since 2011, most of which have been historical romances. She has worked in film and television, but she mostly works in live theater and performance, with a focus on historical reenactments, ghost tours, mystery shows, and storytelling.