This was my first Kinsella book to read so I didn’t know what to expect. The first chapter started out slow for me because I didn’t know what the plot was. But then I caught on to Sophie’s writing and was hooked! A bit like Bridget Jones Diary. Sophie is an expert at characterization which makes you feel invested in the story. Loved this!

A fun quick read! I enjoyed the main character a lot and I wish I could visit the store in the story :)

This book was so much fun. Sophie Kinsella is always a treat. It's the lightness I need after a slew of suspense thrillers that I normally reason. It's a fluffy iced pink cupcake. The dessert of the book world.

***4 Stars***

Ahhh... I just love Sophie Kinsella and her writing. Having read a couple of the Shopaholic series and with a few of her other books on my TBR list, I was thrilled when NetGalley and Random House Publishing allowed me an ARC of "I Owe You One" her latest book with expected publication on Feb 5, 2019.
In regular Sophie style, this does not disappoint. Fixie Farr, (very cliché nickname for, surprise, someone who likes to fix things) is a doormat. She's weak and annoying; at the beginning of this story I couldn't stand her. She is helping the family business, Farr's housewares store and just letting everyone have their way with her.
There's these two men she is involved with Ryan and Seb and the battle back and forth between the two. (Ryan is the worst by the way) Then her siblings, ugh, they had so many issues and were just such selfish people. I won't spoil any of the plot but honestly, the more I read, the more I became engulfed with this story and the less I could put the book down. By the end, I loved Fixie, was rooting for her and even had tears in my eyes at the end. I know the reviews have been mixed, but I found this to be a positive read that I really enjoyed.

I am a huge fan of Sophie Kinsella. I read the complete Shopaholic Series and most of her stand alone books. This book ended up just being OK. I found it really hard to get into and didn’t hold my interest. Family first was repeated way too many times and was used to justify any type of behavior. Loved the writing style and the story was just all right. It wasn’t anything special but very predictable. My biggest problem with the story where the characters. I didn’t like them and possibly hated a few. The Farr Family and Ryan were irritating. Most were ungrateful, selfish and just plain mean. From the start I wanted Fixie to grow a backbone and stop being a doormat. She allowed her siblings to take advantage of her, dismiss her ideas and justified it with family first. She was completely blind about Ryan. Jake and Nicole were selfish and had no interest in making the store profitable. The ice skating incident sealed my thoughts about Jake. I’m not sure how Leila fell in love with him. We’re all the men( Ryan, Uncle Ned and Jake) in the book supposed to be awful? The only exception was Seb.

The book revolves around Fixie, Nicole and Jake keeping the family store afloat while their mother is on a much needed holiday. The only problem is that they don’t agree with each other. Fixie is the only one who actually spends time in the shop and knows what the customers want to buy. She allows Jake and Nicole to intimidate her and push her ideas to the side. It takes tough love to get the store back in shape.

I do recommend the book, especially if you are a fan of Sophie Kinsella. The book deals with family relationships and has a bit of romance. I didn’t hate it but it wasn’t for me. I look forward to reading more books by the author.

Thanks to NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group - Random House and the author, Sophie Kinsella for a free electronic ARC of this novel.

I've heard such good things about Sophia Kinsella and the Shopaholic series. Considering this was my first book by Sophia I must say I was unimpressed with I owe you one., Fixie wasn't my favourite I found her tendencies to be a human doormat for her family exhausting. The way she allowed Ryan to totally use her and walk all over her was cringe-worthy.
I usually don't mind the main character who has self-esteem issues and in the end, slays her obstacles but I felt that Fexie lack of backbone was drawn out way too long and not as satisfying in the end when she figured it out.
Ryan, Nicole and Jake are legit the worst people ever.; Lazy, selfish and just downright mean. Sophia really made me hate these characters and yearn for them all to get what they deserve., Seb was a breath of fresh air in a cast of total Dicks. At first, I thought he was also going to allow Fixie to use him with the " IOU" however he shaped up to be a real gentleman.
All in All this book wasn't my cup of tea but I am sure someone else would love it. I prefer a female character with way fewer doormat tendencies. It's hard to watch someone get repeatedly mentally and emotionally abused by the people around her while she accepts the abuse. I undersand that this could be a statement of life but I prefer my romance to reflect characters with personalities I can admire.

And just like that, Sophie Kinsella does it again. Only this time, I think she wrote my very favorite novel of hers yet... and I do not say that lightly! Wow, just wow.

I will say, I found this book to have a bit of a different flavor from what I've come to know with Kinsella's writing. There's always an airiness and a breeziness to her stories that make them laugh-out-loud funny and obnoxious in a totally fun way. This one didn't quite feel like that, and it took me a good while to exactly get used to it. In this book, we see tough family dynamics at play. We meet unlovable characters with so many flaws that you literally get mad at them and want to jump in the story and tell them off (oh wait, that's just me?). We see a main character who doesn't have a whole lot of self respect and needs to grow. And through it all, we see what it truly means to be a loving family. There was just a seriousness there to the story that I haven't really felt so strongly in her previous books, but it 100% totally worked for me. And made me realize just how amazing Kinsella is at what she does all over again, and why I love her characters and stories and writing so much.

I absolutely fell in love with Fixie, our main character, and couldn't help rooting for her the entire time. It's like she was my sister in the book, and I appreciated so much how her character came to life on the pages. The growth we see in her was so well-written and I couldn't get enough. In fact, I enjoyed all of the characters for how strongly develop they were. This was very much a character driven book.

As for the story itself, it was full of all the feels for me. I felt so angry, so frustrated, so joyful, so sad, so hopeful, and most of all so satisfied by the end. It totally sucked me in to the point that I couldn't put it down, and I just love it when a book can do that! This is a must-read for fans of Kinsella and a book I will highly be recommending!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for the free review e-copy.

As much as I normally love Sophie Kinsella, this book was kind of a letdown for me. The characters had no real depth and the plot was sort of all over the place. Having said this, I’ll continue to adore Sophie Kinsella. I just hope we don’t see the Fixie Farr character again in the future.

While somewhat predictable (it's obvious the stranger in the cafe is going to be a pivotal meeting for Fixie) this was a quick and delightful read like all of Sophie Kinsella's books.

Fixie can't help herself-- she has to fix things as she's done since she was a child. As an adult, Fixie is the only one of her three siblings who works full time in the family business, the one thing they all have left of their father. Her older brother Jake has turned into an egomaniac who wants nothing more than to become a posh international playboy, while her sister Nicole is a flighty yoga addict with a husband overseas in Abu Dhabi. Only Fixie's mother seems truly invested in the future of Farrs.

But a chance meeting with a stranger in a coffee shop is about to challenge everything Fixie knows about herself and about her family; not to mention her lifelong crush on her brother's best friend. Through a series of IOUs hastily scribbled on a coffee sleeve, Fixie begins to question everything. With her mother away on holiday, Fixie has to find a way to keep Farrs alive as her siblings inadvertently work to destroy it and her crush works to destroy her.

I have a soft spot for British romantic comedies, and especially those by Sophie Kinsella. And while there were some genuinely funny and touching moments in this book, there were also not so great aspects of this book.

For starters, Fixie was a typical Kinsella "hot mess" kind of girl, but she was missing the cleverness and gumption that is a trademark of Kinsella's heroines. Several of the supporting characters were terrible people who treated Fixie horribly, and it took seemingly forever for Fixie to grow a spine and stand up for herself.

Another issue with this book is that her relationship with Seb seemed rushed. There was very little buildup, and the conflict between him and Fixie was confusing and a little far-fetched. Actually, the whole premise of their relationship was a little far-fetched, so I guess the conflict confusion was to be expected.

Overall, I did enjoy this as a quick and light read. The ice skating scene between Briony and Fixie was terrific and made me genuinely laugh. Moments like that are when Kinsella really shines.

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for an e-copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts and review.

I have read a few of Sophie’s novels before so I thought I knew what I was getting into, but this novel was different. When I read the main character’s nickname and figured out that we would be referring to that throughout the entire novel, that threw me for a loop, Fixie? Really? Sophie, I know you can do better. This novel had its highs and lows and all-in-all, I have to say that it was an ok read.

Let’s start with what I liked, I enjoyed the parts of the novel where Fixie started to realized her self-worth and she exerted herself. I believe this began when she visited a nearby coffee shop and begins a long exchange with Sebastian. Sebastian made Fixie feel alive again and she wasn’t just going through life. Sebastian helps her realize her potential which she needs, as she gets sucked into her daily life and the individuals who walk all over her. The more that she sees Sebastian, the more she is able to find her true voice. The problem lies with Sebastian. Briony waltzes into the picture, who is Sebastian’s girlfriend. I thought of Briony as a show pony and Fixie feels that she’s no competition against her.

Fixie must be exertive when it comes to the family business as it seems she takes the business more seriously than any of her siblings. When her mother takes a leave of absence, mother stated that Fixie was the glue that kept everyone together, so mother knew how important Fixie was. I liked the reference to the cup sleeve and I thought the storyline in general was really good. I thought some issues in the story were just really extreme and those are the things I didn’t care for.

Fixie, herself, was too extreme for me at times. She let too many people take advantage of her. She had great role models yet she let everyone take a piece of her. When mother was gone, I thought that what occurred while she was gone, was totally out of control. Those individuals had no business sense.

Sebastian saved the novel for me. Sebastian brought Fixie around which changed the whole story for me. Overall, it was an entertaining and engaging read and I look forward to more novels by Sophie in the future. 3.5 stars

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

First, thanks to #NetGalley for the opportunity to read an e-galley of this book. I enjoyed this book so much!

I was immediately pulled in to the relationship of the characters in this story. Fixie and her feelings of insecurity around her siblings (I have felt this before), Fixie and her feelings for her brother's best friend since she was a little girl (who can forget their first crush), the feelings of loss of a family member, whether it was recent or many years ago.

This story made me laugh (out loud while having cheesecake and coffee by myself at Cheesecake Factory), I cried, I was furious at times even. This story was just a great read and I would recommend it to anyone!

I adore Sophie Kinsella's books- Her wit and humor are completely up my ally and I feel that I just "get" her as a writer and I appreciate her characters even if they are not all lovable.
The main character in "I Owe You One", Fixie, is in a word a bit of a hot mess. She has a good heart but tends to drown in her need to make others happy over her own happiness. A lot of Kinsella's main characters have a strength about them but Fixie really did not- it wasn't until the end where she finally got her act together. I know this will bother reader- looking for the typical female lead- but I found it refreshing and real.
This is a great light read that will make you laugh as Sophie Kinsella always does. It's entertaining and the ending was satisfying. I would recommend for those looking for a laugh and a break from the everyday reality of life!
Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for an e-copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts and review.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Before starting the book, I briefly scanned some of the reviews. I was surprised to read that Fixie is not an entirely popular character. Surprised and confused, because I've mostly loved and laughed out loud at Sophie Kinsella's books (and to my delight discovered a trove more she wrote as Madeline Wickham).

It was with this all in mind that I asked for an ARC from NetGalley, which I subsequently received and read in a single sitting. I was gripped by the plot, I wanted to know whether Ryan got the appropriate end. I wanted to know what would happen with Seb and James. I wanted to get to the end. In that way, Sophie Kinsella spun the story that I am familiar with and that I always enjoy, a plot that I find motivating until the end.

But Fixie, what to make of this woman? Fixie begins as a woman who is a doormat to her family. It's most obvious with the relationships with her siblings and the person she believes she loves. It's annoying how badly they treat her, it's painful to read. I can see why some of the reviewers found it difficult. I did too. But I can't help wondering whether that's because it feels like some truths I've seen around me in the past, rather than a problem with the character. I have a nagging feeling that my anger is perhaps actually a consequence of seeing it in real life, and deep down seeing parts of it in myself.

We see Fixie change. Slowly but surely her self-confidence develops, to some degree as a part of having a positive relationship with someone who treats her like an equal. Seb. Seb who has his own flaws. Seb's flaws, IMO, particularly around James get worked out a little too quickly. I would have liked a bit more time with him (perhaps that would have also counteracted some of the feeling that Fixie is rather weak as a character ... more balance with both character's issues that they need to address).

I also think Mum has a role to play here too. She seems to go from zero to party all the time. She leaves behind a family who has much to figure out, and which on her part seem recklessly laissez-faire. I can't help feeling that she was a bit passed over in the book.

In the end it's not my favourite Sophie Kinsella, but I don't dislike Fixie as much as some. I think I dislike those demons Fixie raises. It's 2019 after all, not 1959. And, to her credit, Fixie does eventually tell Uncle Ned this.

3.5 stars. I liked this--it was Sophie Kinsella, what's not to like!? (Except for the sequels to <i>Shopaholic</i> where Becky Bloomwood showed a pathological inability to experience character growth.) But it wasn't my favorite of hers. Definitely worth a read if you are a fan, but not a place to start if you've never read Kinsella's work. It had laugh-out-loud funny moments and I liked Fixie and her journey to developing a backbone, so this is not a negative review, but her relationship with Seb felt underdeveloped at times, and there just wasn't as much magic as in some of the author's other books. But overall an enjoyable and satisfying novel.

A few years ago when I was starting to get into Netgalley, I requested Sophie Kinsella's latest book and reviewed it. Since then, the gracious folks at Penguin Random House have offered me her books to review. At this point, I just want to tell them, "Just keep them coming. I'll tell you when I'm ready to stop reading her." Which will be never because I've loved her for ages and will continue to love her. She brings me joy.

In fact, if Marie Kondo was filming an episode of her show at my house and she made me pick up each physical Kinsella book I own and ask myself if it sparked joy, I would say yes to every one and we wouldn't discard any. I suspect we wouldn't get rid of any of my other books either and poor Marie (We're on a first name basis.) would get super annoyed. (Side note: Check out, "Tidying with Marie Kondo," on Netflix. She has the patience of a saint and has taught me to fold clothes better. She hasn't really taught me to get rid of stuff. Mainly because I don't hold onto too many things. Except books. Mostly, I just watch and feel smug. It's unbecoming.)

Some of Kinsella's books spark more joy than others but the last two were terrific and this one was as well. My only real complaint was that the heroine's name was Fixie which I kept reading in my head as Frisky or Trixie and it turns out this was just a nickname which you don't find out until near the end of the book and by then the damage was done. I was relieved her parents didn't name her that but sad that her real name, Fawn, wasn't any better. Also, the damage was done because I continued to hear it as Frisky/Trixie. You win some, you lose some.

All funny business aside, this hit the spot for me. Like most Kinsella books, there is a meet cute. This is a good thing, not a complaint. She writes the best meet cutes. While at a café, Fixie sits near Sebastian, who asks her to watch his laptop while he takes a call outside. (Definitely set in London. In America, he would just be rude and carry on a whole loud conversation at the table.) She saves his laptop from imminent danger and he declares that he owes her one and scribbles an IOU onto a coffee sleeve. She doesn't think she'll use it but ends up needing to cash in on it. Pretty soon, she's owing him and then it's back to him owing her. An adorable IOU war forms. It's enough to make me want to stake out coffee shops and find my own Sebastian. I'll keep you posted.

Many thanks to the publisher for sending me this.

Sophie Kinsella has been one of my favorite authors since high school and I was so excited to receive an ARC of her latest novel, I Owe You One. This chick lit follows Fixie Farr who has a knack of fixing things. She always picks up the slack from her siblings at their family owned store. One day Fixie meets a handsome stranger at a coffee shop who asks her to watch his laptop. Once she saves it from a disaster, they ended up exchanging IOUs. Overall, I wasn’t impressed with this upcoming novel. There were some cute moments, however, the romance felt pretty weak. The plot was pretty weak as well which didn’t hold up for the entire book The characters go through the typical transformation in a Sophie Kinsella book, but I found all the characters to be a bit extreme and annoying. Fixie was too much of a doormat that after a while it was getting unbearable to read about her. Her siblings seemed too much of pretentious pricks and used Fixie’s lack of a backbone to their advantage. There were also some excess characters which served no purpose in the book. The only reason I even finished the novel was so I could give a fair review. I would recommend skipping this one as there are better books by Sophie Kinsella.

3.5 stars.

I received this book free of charge from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

I enjoy reading Sophie Kinsella books. They keep my attention and are often humorous. Realistic, not really but entertaining. This book was no exception.

When we first me Fixie, she is trying to fix something in the shop her family owns. As expected, it doesn't turn out so well. When a stranger in a coffee shop asks her to watch his laptop while he steps out to take a call, she does and of course, a disaster ensues. The stranger is so thankful he tells Fixie that he owes her one. She eventually claims that favor and it goes back and forth a couple times.

Meanwhile her family walks all over her and takes advantage of her being so generous and always putting family first. Eventually, things come to a head and Fixie has a choice to make.

At times, I got a bit frustrated with how her family was treating her but the story line kept me going.

While this book, is not a deep read, it is an enjoyable read.

I started reading Sophie Kinsella's newest book I Owe You One when I was on my way home from Texas. I wanted a nice light vacation read, and Kinsella's books always fit the bill. I received an e-ARC to read and review. It was sweet, and fairly predictable, as most of her books are, but it was perfect for the pre-Christmas holiday, and was even a significant gateway drug to Christmas Hallmark movies. I've turned a corner, friends, and there's no coming back from it.

My rating: 4 stars.

I Owe You One by Sophie Kinsella is a great read. Fixie, our main character, just can't let things go. Just as her name would suggest. She has a huge heart and just wants what's best for everyone around her. The problem is that while she is busy helping everyone else she seems to forget about herself, and what is best for her! This is another great novel by Kinsella, there were times when I was laughing out loud and times when I was heartbroken.