The One Plus One

One single mum
With two jobs and two children, Jess Thomas does her best day after day. But it's hard on your own. And sometimes you take risks you shouldn't. Because you have to . . .

One chaotic family
Jess's gifted, quirky daughter Tanzie is brilliant with numbers, but without a helping hand she'll never get the chance to shine. And Nicky, Jess's teenage stepson, can't fight the bullies alone.
Sometimes Jess feels like they're sinking . . .

One handsome stranger
Into their lives comes Ed Nicholls, a man whose life is in chaos, and who is running from a deeply uncertain future. But he has time on his hands. He knows what it's like to be lonely. And he wants to help . . .

One unexpected love story
The One Plus One is a captivating and unconventional romance from Jojo Moyes about two lost souls meeting in the most unlikely circumstances.

My opinion: When I was offered this book to read and review by Lovereading I jumped at the chance as I really liked the sound of it. I am probably one of the few who didn't like Me Before You, but thought this one sounded really promising.

The book is split to give us an insight into the lives of four characters, Jess, Tanzie, Ed and Nicky. Jess is a single mother who was left by her "depressed" husband so that he can recuperate with his mother, leaving her working two jobs and struggling financially to bring up her two children, Tanzie and Nicky. Nicky is actually her stepson, but she took him in and brings him up as her own, while he struggles with being a teenager and those who can't accept him for being different. Tanzie is mathematical genius who has been offered a coveted place at a local private school, but despite the hefty scholarship, her mother would really struggle to raise the fees. Ed is a rich businessman who gets into a spot of trouble and ends up hiding out at his holiday home, which is cleaned by Jess.

The family end up on a road trip so that Tanzie can compete in a maths competition that could potentially change her life.

The story is well written and intricately woven together around our four main characters. The writing style is friendly, and I felt that I wanted to read on from the first page. My one criticism is that, for me, I felt that the book was a little slow in places, but not so much so that I didn't want to carry on.

I'd recommend the book, and get ready to feel very involved with the lives of the characters!

My rating: Four stars

I received an advance copy of this book from Lovereading in exchange for an honest review