I am at a similar stage of life as the heroine, and there was plenty that resonated with me. Lots of humour, very relatable.

A wonderful read with charming characters and an engaging plot!! I look forward to reading more by this author.

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

Delightfully funny and witty. This book will have you laughing from start to finish. Loved it.

Tess struggles to maintain sanity as her adult children and ex-husband struggle to cut the cord and live their own lives. While adjusting to her new neighborhood, mystery surrounds Tess as vandals begin their protest of Londoners moving in and raising property values to heights the locals can’t afford. Adding to the mayhem are several gentlemen who both interest and frustrate Tess in various ways, making it difficult to determine who is friend and who is foe? Light hearted and relatable, Jane Wenham-Jones novel explores some of the joys and frustrations of finding your life in transition at a time when you thought things would be settling down. Slow to start, the pace picks up as Tess and her neighbors feel increasingly threatened by the vandals and Tess’s relationships with several men deepen to the point where she must analyze what she really wants from life.

I really enjoyed this story. I have medium sized children and though I'm not yet at the point of being needed by both the generation before and the one after me I could appreciate Tess' position as being sandwiched in the middle.

The book is funny and poignant but also has some serious moments of frustration and realism. Tess' juggling seemed frantic at times. The moments when she was constantly feeding an ever changing number of people and the people staying with her requiring constant sheet changing made me dizzy. On the other hand I knew that she also loved having her children home with her. But a little alone time and quiet to work could have been nice!

I was also pleased with her romantic liaisons- while not the focus of the plot for me I still thought they brought something special to the story. But particularly lovely for me were the bonds developed with Tess' new friends in her new town- she's such a friendly and accepting woman and it was nice to see that she made good friends with the right people and that they were each strong women in their own right.

Thank you to Harper Impulse for our review copy. All opinions are our own.

A perfect chick lit book
Perfect for a weekend snuggled on the sofa on a wet cold day
Made me want to read more of her books

"A few short months ago I was bereft not to have my children around me. Now I was a person happy to live alone."

Mum in the middle is a book about Tess. She has three adult children,an aging mother, ex-husband
and an interesting assortment of friends.Tess has just moved from London to Northstone since the last one of her children has moved out. Nortstone is a cozy place and Tess immediately gets new friends. There are some locals who don't like the DFL's, Down From Londoners, because they fear property prices will get too high for them. Tess has been alone for a long time and feels the time might be right for a new relationship.

Tess is very sweet. She is very thoughtful and takes care of everybody. Her life is so full it seems like chaos everyonce in a while.

The writing is delightful. I could hear the characters speaking when I read. I love the english accent. There is soft humor and caring in the story. This is a feel-good-story. I think the ending was a little long, but it kept me reading anyway, because I just had to know...

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Impulse and Killer Reads for a copy of this book.

I loved this story. It's well-written with just the right amount of humour, romance and family drama and I can empathise with the main protagonist.

Tess's move from London isn't working out well. She misses her family and friends and wonders whether she's made a mistake. Very soon, she is inundated with family including a very irritating ex and has more friends and admirers than she can cope with.

This contemporary comment on motherhood when the children are grown up and supposed to have left home is topical; with many young adults remaining in the family home until their late twenties because of financial constraints.

Tess is the hub of family life and her new friends' dramas, so much so that she struggles to find any 'me' time. The resultant chaos is often hilarious and thankfully involves copious amounts of champagne. There is also a lovely sprinkling of mature romance, and every character is complex and adds to the story.

If you're looking for a book to make you smile, this is the one.

I received a copy of this book from Harper Impulse via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

I've seen the author at literary festivals chairing events and really enjoyed listening to her so when I saw her novel on Netgalley I jumped at the chance and I'm so glad I did. I could certainly identify with the main character Tess as she tried to keep everything together whilst getting pulled in different directions. I thought the author dealt with the Alzheimer's thread beautifully and the complexities of the role reversal as your parents age. Although there were serious notes to the story, these were balanced out by the humorous elements so you were still left with a smile on your face. Highly recommended.

This is a lovely gentle read.
Tess is an empty nester. Her marriage has broken down and she finally moves into her own house. she becomes friends with the neighbour across the road and there are a series of strange slightly odd events. Jinni is convinced that someone is trying to stop her achieving her dream of refurbishing a B&B.
Over time, Tess's 3 children all end up staying in her house and she starts to feel overwhelmed. One of her sons reveals that his girlfriend is unexpectedly pregnant and finds it hard to come to terms with. Throw into the mix that Tess's Mother has a slowly developing dementia and her ex husband tries to revamp the relationship and there is all the makings of a good 'romp'.
There are a couple of potential 'love interests' along the way-but eventually all comes together for tess and she finds her way.

I loved it.

I do enjoy this author's writing and looked forward to reading Mum in the Middle - the premise good, it sounded like a good hour or so of highly amusing escapism. I did enjoy it. However, the plot felt very thin on the ground and the characters rather too far removed from reality to be entirely convincing. So an enjoyable, light read with some reservations.

Jane did such an amazing job with this book. I loved it from the first page to the last. I loved the main character,Tess. There were times in this book I laughed until I cried. Tess was so incredibly loveable - I didn't want to let her go.

With a 47 year old heroine this is not a book to appeal to the younger chick lit reader but it will certainly resonate with all those women still dealing with grown up kids who never quite leave home, post divorce dating and elderly parents in need of care. I found the book slow to get started but once I knew who everyone was the daily trials and village politics started to have meaning. For me three and a half stars but fairer to round up than down.

The story of Tess and her move to the small village of her dreams following her marriage split. A never ending trail of kids, the mystery of who wants to sabotage her new friends Jinny’s olans for expansion....hilarious and entertaining story. A lovely light read.

I loved this book. Tess is looking forward to a bit of empty nest time- but her children seem to keep popping back. Although she loves having her children round not being able to use her own bubble bath can get very wearing!!!!!!!!!

Her new neighbour is transforming her house into a b&b but meeting opposition. She is a quirky character and loved reading about her.

There is a hint of romance with 2 possible suitors and you are keen for Tess to start allowing herself a bit of 'me time'.

Her house is so chaotic when everyone is home- but feels homely and other people enjoy spending time there. Tess has a lot on her plate but seems to be able to take it all on board.


I am now keen to read more books by Jane Wenham-Jones

This book was funny, relatable and really heartwarming. I was looking forward to reading this novel, as I'd never read one before by Jane Wenham-Jones so was looking forward to see if I would enjoy it. I wasn't disappointed. There was some slow moments when I wondered when it was going to get going but for the most part it was an easy and lighthearted story.

The story is about Tess upon her move to a new town to get more 'me time' now all her children have grown up. However, what she doesn't realise is that she won't get that at all! And actually, she looks set in for more drama than ever before! It was funny and enjoyable and I'm glad I requested it.

I had to take some time to think about this review. I can't decide if I liked this book or would pass on it again. It had good points and some points I just couldn't get past. For that reason, I gave it 3 stars (right down the middle).

Tess moved to a new town now that her kids have moved out and her husband is now an ex. Instead her kids and ex keep popping back into her house and she gets caught up in local drama when her house gets targeted with vandalism that could be for her, or related to drama her neighbor is caught up in. Who would target her?

There were a few reasons I didn't enjoy reading this book:
1) The plot was a little thin - the whodunit portion of the book kept me turning pages to see who was doing the vandalism to Tess and her neighbor. After that, I remember thinking while I read "when will the story begin?" Only problem was I was 75% of the way through the story.

2) Tess was in her late 40's, but the way she was made me think I was reading about someone in their 70's. She doesn't know social media? She still has a flip phone and can barely figure out how to use it? I'm in my late 30's and have many friends and coworkers in their late 40's who are very social media savvy and have the latest phone. I cannot relate to this.

3) The way Tess let her kids run all over her and wouldn't speak up against them drove me bananas. How hard is it to tell them to pick up after themselves instead of silently resenting them? BE STRONG YOU ARE THEIR MOM!

The author's writing style was great though as when I was reading about the whodunit mystery part of the house vandalism, I found it very easy to turn the pages quickly. I would probably read another story by this author.

I love Jane’s books, they are guaranteed to make you laugh out loud and stay up too late reading them! ‘Mum in the Middle’ didn’t disappoint, and I really didn’t want to put the book down as I couldn’t wait to see what drama was around the corner. Tess is divorced with three children who have flown the nest, but they keep returning. The ex also rocks up, and then Tess’ mum is in the early stages of Alzheimer’s. The book is comedic but Jane still dealt with the subject of Alzheimer’s in a sensitive way.

Tess is certainly in the squeezed generation of having both children and parent/s still reliant on her, but she needs to carve out the next stage of her own life. It’s not easy, as she has moved to a new area and some of the locals are not keen on those who have moved “Down From London” – who is painting graffiti on the outside of her house?

A great read, with lots of twists and turns to keep you glued to the pages. I loved it and would highly recommend it.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperImpulse for an advance reader copy in return for an honest review.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, having read it in a couple of days. The ensemble of characters, with Tess being in the centre of them all. I try not to give spoilers when reviewing, I will say that there is an eclectic mix of characters that together make for a fun, interesting, light hearted story that pulls at your heart strings at times, makes you laugh, and feel frustrated or peeved at certain characters. Her mum's illness was thoughtfully addressed, and I wish my mum had of had a 'Gerald'..Tess isn't perfect, whilst basically good hearted, at times I found her a little offhand with people, this I like, that is what we are all like in real life, no one is perfect all of the time.

The story-line was interesting, I read a lot, if I really love a book I read it quickly, this I did and even though the story was all wrapped up at the end, I would love a follow up with these characters. I will read Jane's other books, whilst, this was a unique story, if I had to find an author or two to compare, it would probably be Tali Roland and Milly Johnson.

I had a hard time trying to relate to the characters and getting into the story ploy so I did not read further than about 35% of the book.