I love Kinsella's books, but this was just good. It lumbered along at points, making me frustrated at how much of a pushover Fixie was. I wished the ending wasn't resolved so quickly in the last few pages and I missed the trademark Kinsella confusion, misunderstandings, and laugh out loud humor.

I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

I am a Sophie Kinsella fan and this book did not disappoint. Fixie got her nickname early in life from her constant need to fix things. She is deeply rooted in the belief she got from her father that family comes first. While I felt this book had a little bit of a slow start, and at times I found myself getting frustrated with Fixie, I got hooked at some point and couldn't put the book down. Its a fun light hearted read that will have you cheering for Fixie and Farrs shop.

Fixie Farr has always lived by her father’s motto: “Family first.” But since her dad passed away, leaving his charming housewares store in the hands of his wife and children, Fixie spends all her time picking up the slack from her siblings instead of striking out on her own. The way Fixie sees it, if she doesn’t take care of her father’s legacy, who will? It’s simply not in her nature to say no to people.

So when a handsome stranger in a coffee shop asks her to watch his laptop for a moment, Fixie not only agrees—she ends up saving it from certain disaster. Turns out the computer’s owner is an investment manager. To thank Fixie for her quick thinking, Sebastian scribbles an IOU on a coffee sleeve and attaches his business card. But Fixie laughs it off—she’d never actually claim an IOU from a stranger. Would she?

Then Fixie’s childhood crush, Ryan, comes back into her life and his lack of a profession pushes all of Fixie’s buttons. She wants nothing for herself—but she’d love Seb to give Ryan a job. And Seb agrees, until the tables are turned once more and a new series of IOUs between Seb and Fixie—from small favors to life-changing moments—ensues. Soon Fixie, Ms. Fixit for everyone else, is torn between her family and the life she really wants. Does she have the courage to take a stand? Will she finally grab the life, and love, she really wants?

Sophie Kinsella is my go-to for light, humorous stories that aren't just fluff. She manages to combine humor and silliness with serious topics. Her characters are always so wonderfully, realistically flawed and watching them grow and learn how to be better is always fun.

In I Owe You One, I immediately felt a connection to Fixie Farr. Her willingness to be a doormat for her family is infuriating and recognizable at the same time. (It is something I have struggled with myself.) Seeing her find her own way, figure out what she wants and following through is such a fun journey.

The romance level is low, it's more "sweet" than "hot and steamy." For me personally, the romance felt second to her relationships with her family and the family business, Farr's store.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this. It was a fun, light hearted read that made me root for Fixie.


An ARC was provided in exchange for an honest review by NetGalley and the publisher, Penguin Random House. Thank you!

Sophie did it again! After reading several books that just didn’t do it for me, I saw this one on Netgalley (thank you) for review and it did not disappoint. Fixie works in her family’s business that was started by her Dad who has since passed away. Along with her Mum, brother Jake and sister Nicole Fixie helps run the business. After a health scare her Mum leaves to go abroad for a vacation with her sister and the siblings are left to care for the business. Fixie has always been one to give in to her siblings Jake and Nicole who are the epitome of selfish, but through the course of events they become closer and make their Mum proud.

Add to that the romance factor in Fixies life and the many laughs this books brings and you’ve got yourself a book that’s hard to put down. What I loved more than anything was Fixie finally putting her foot down and standing up to her siblings who ended up respecting her.

Sophie Kinsella has done it again! In her new novel, I Owe You One, Ms. Kinsella has brought characters to life who you WANT to spend time getting to know. Fixie is adorable, an unmarried woman who places family first in all things, to the point that she's becoming a doormat. When she agrees to watch a stranger's laptop for a moment in a coffee shop, she doesn't know that she's setting off a chain of events that will change her life completely. But is Fixie ready to stand up for herself and make the changes that she needs to make? Especially now that Ryan, the love of her younger life has shown up once again? I Owe You One is a fun, quirky novel that shows Ms. Kinsella's writing at its finest. Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for providing me with an advance copy for my honest review.

A very slow moving love story. I like the characters but Fixie needs to be fixed. I guess her denial just drove me crazy! found myself skipping a lot of the rational stuff and looking for the dialog.

And she’s back! This book was fantastic and pure Sophia Kinsella. I am an avid fan and have read all her books several times. I didn’t love the last book so I was wary with this one but she did not disappoint! I loved Fixie, I could relate to her so much. Her development from beginning to end was great with every storyline. Loved the family aspect but my favorite was her storyline with Seb. “You can’t go back and live life differently” but you can change your future and I loved the way it all came together at the end.

Oh, Sophie Kinsella, you’ve done it again! I am smiling as I write this because this book made me feel absolutely wonderful! I was dealing with a weeks long, heartbreaking, reading slump when I saw this up for request on NetGalley. I cannot tell you how bad I needed a good read –not only a good read but a feel-good, stress reliever of a book!

Sophie Kinsella is my go-to author when I need a good laugh and I Owe You One did not disappoint! The story follows Fixie, a late twenties-family-loving girl living a simple life working at her family shop. Fixie knows that family is what matters most but can’t seem to get along with her siblings. She lives her life as her late father had, dedicated to the business and of course family.

Fixie has been in love with her childhood friend and is excited to learn that Ryan, the love of her life- has returned to London after a long stay in Hollywood. Fixie’s life, however, changes when she meets Sebastian at a coffee shop and she’s immediately intrigued by him. Fixie must find herself, her purpose while juggling family and the business.

This story has it all! You’ll laugh and cry and will give you a wonderful outlook!

Sophie Kinsella's new heroine, Fixie Farr, is a fixer of things and solver of problems. Fixie puts family first, even when it is to her detriment. Her mother goes on holiday and leaves Fixie, her despicable siblings, and brother-in-law to run the family housewares store. Fixie meets a stranger, Sebastian, in a coffee shop, and saves his computer from catastrophe. Then, Sebastian writes her an IOU on his business card. Throughout the book, Fixie and Sebastian continue to trade IOUs. To make matters more complex, Fixie's unemployed, homeless, unrequited love Ryan shows up. Fixie's life is now in a major tizzy. Will Fixie survive the vindictiveness of her family members? Will Fixie once again fall for her former crush Ryan? What is Fixie to do about Sebastian and their many IOUs? I Owe You One is a fun, engaging, simple story by one of my very favorite authors. I suggest you pick up a copy today. Then, you'll owe me one. I received an advanced copy of this book from Penguin Random House/Ballantine Bantam Dell and NetGalley.

When Fixie Farr's father passes away, she steps up to the plate and runs the housewares shop. Then one day, as she's sitting in a coffee shop, a handsome stranger asks her to watch his laptop. She not only does that, but saves it from certain disaster as well. Then he leaves his business card and the letters IOU on a coffee sleeve. She intends to write it off, but then her childhood crush, Ryan, comes back on the scene, and is in need of a job. She knows just the person to help - the stranger from the coffee shop. The story continues as the two of them swap IOUs left and right. Will they ever be even?

I Owe You One is the story of Fixie Farr, a compulsive 'fixer' who fixes a problem for a stranger in a coffee shop one day. Their relationship develops from that point, leading to some hilarity and heartbreak along the way. While this wasn't my favorite Kinsella book, fans of her previous work will certainly not be disappointed by this novel. It certainly has the charm and wit that Kinsella is known for!

I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

I love Sophie Kinsella. Her heroines are always very human and allow us to experience cathartic change. While predictable, her books are fun and I always have fun reading them. This time, though, I wasn't as thrilled in I Owe You One.
Fixie has a compulsion to fix things, the crooked vase, a coke spill, her best friend's issues. She gives all of herself to everyone so when a starter at a coffee asks her to watch his laptop,m she happily obliges. When the ceiling falls in, Fixie rescues the computer and the owner starts the biggest game of I.O.U. in England.
I don't like Fixie. Her compulsion to "fix" things is a control issue because she lets her family fun all over her. This isn't fixing by avoiding conflict, this is a direct opposite to her compulsion to fix things. The family is set up as a way for Fixie to grow, but you I could only relate so much. She had learned helplessness that I couldn't tolerate.
Usually, her stories had some deep issues in fun. The novel manages to get across the second story of letting go, but leaves the idea of owning your partner hanging. Instead, the conflict is resolved quickly and blamed on miscommunication.
I Owe You is my least favorite novel Kinsella has written.

Good but not great

I would like to thank Sophie Kinsella, The Dial Press/ Random House, and NetGalley for allowing me to read an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Fixie Farr possesses a compulsion to “fix” things. From cleaning up a stain no one would notice to calling 999 despite her friend’s wishes, Fixie derives pleasure in knowing she righted wrongs. She considers the compulsion one of her biggest flaws, because it gets her in trouble more often than it actually helps.

One thing she’s never tried to fix, however, is her family, for fear of upsetting them and causing a rift. Her father’s motto had always been “family first,” and the last thing Fixie wants to do is cause estrangement. Not only that, but her siblings intimidate her, and she wouldn’t know how to confront them even if she wanted to. But when her mother experiences heart trouble and goes on holiday, leaving Fixie as the only thing standing between the family houseware store and her siblings’ disastrous ideas, chaos ensues.

Not helping matters is the sudden return of Fixie’s longtime crush, who appears to want to finally develop a relationship with her. As the business begins to rapidly decline and her love life becomes more confusing than ever, Fixie will have to find the strength to stand up to those dragging her into ruin—or learn to let things go.

—————————

I liked this novel for it’s good intentions, and ostensibly it seems solid, but I have issues with it.

Beware spoilers!!

Fixie was a great character, and I had a lot in common with her. She was charming and kind and relatable. But I don’t really understand her compulsion to fix things. Where did it come from? You aren’t just born with a neurosis like that (by definition); it’s learned somehow. I have a compulsion to fix things, but it stems from my perfectionism and constant subconscious battle to be good enough and worthy, to meet a perceived high standard, which was cultivated by circumstances in my childhood. It’s also a control thing; I can’t control life, but I can control my environment.

But I’m not sure why Fixie had a compulsion to fix things. To my memory, the reason why was never explored. It was simply fact, and that’s not satisfying to me. She didn’t seem to be particularly preoccupied with her appearance, nor was she always cleaning and tidying. It was just that if she saw something that didn’t comply with her definition of “right,” she felt obligated to make it so. Almost like it was more of a hero complex thing than an OCD thing, which greatly intrigues me, and I wish it would have been explored. Why did she feel she needed to make everything “right,” to always do the “right” thing?

Because of this, Fixie’s arc didn’t meet its potential, in my opinion. She finally recognized what a loser Ryan was and found the strength to not only stand up to her siblings and call them on their shit, but to take active measures to help them solve their own problems. Which is all wonderful. But I wanted her to learn to let things go. Not to be apathetic, but to learn when she should interfere and when she shouldn’t. Instead, she was praised for her interference, encouraged to continue interfering. And yes, sometimes it is a good thing. Sometimes you do a lot of good by interfering.

But it can also be bad, which was mentioned in the novel—several times—but not really demonstrated. It could be argued that Fixie’s asking Seb to hire Ryan was interfering in Seb’s business practices, and I can see that, but we didn’t get to see the negative consequences; those consequences, aside from Ryan’s firing, didn’t affect Fixie. So, to me, that doesn’t count. There was also one moment when she tweaked a vase in Seb’s office, and he deadpan said that that vase hadn’t been moved since his grandmother put it there before she died. He was joking, though, and I wish he hadn’t been. People who think it’s their job to “fix” things can develop a gigantic ego (yes, myself included), and think that their help is not just needed but wanted, too, and it would have been interesting to see Fixie’s ego grow, to see her fix something that wasn’t hers to fix and make things a lot worse, then watch her get knocked back down to size in the aftermath. Rather like what happened to Poppy Wyatt in I’ve Got Your Number.

So while I liked Fixie plenty, I feel that more could have been done with her character. I wish the story had been focused on her need to fix things and why; instead it focused on her dysfunctional family. Which isn’t bad, it just wasn’t all that interesting to me.

Nicole and Jake’s annoying personalities were laid on a little too thick. They were comically obtuse and monumentally selfish, but despite how ridiculous they were, their humbling comeuppances at the end did manage to endear me to them. I wanted someone to tell Uncle Ned where he could shove his blatant sexism; Leila was a sweetie; Hannah and Tim were meh—I’m not sure what they had to do with anything except to give Fixie something else to fix, and ironically, she didn’t want to interfere for once. The book didn’t need their baby conflict. Maybe it would have been more relevant if it had shown her trying to change Tim’s mind but just making him more leery of children. That would have been a great conflict for her.

I liked Seb—Sebastian Marlowe—but I was disappointed in him when he took Ryan’s word instead of asking Fixie for the truth about—whatever that was. We never really found out what went down that day; it was just glanced over. But I mean, Seb knew how full of shit Ryan was, so why would he believe anything Ryan said? He had more sense than that. That was cheaply manufactured drama, to the detriment of a great character, which frustrates me. But it needed to happen so Seb would get back with Briony, who would then plan to toss all of James’s stuff, giving Fixie the opportunity to be Seb’s hero. I’m not satisfied with how that all went down; I wish it had happened differently, in a way that we could have witnessed and that allowed Seb to remain the intelligent man he was.

This was definitely a character-driven novel, and that’s okay, but unfortunately that’s likely why this story lacked energy, particularly in the beginning. Maybe you could call it a slow burn, but I think it remained pretty low-key throughout. Not a whole lot happened that was exciting; there were no shocking twists or reveals. It rode on how much we wanted to see things go well for the characters, and if you don’t find the characters compelling, you probably won’t find this novel compelling.

Overall, I liked this book, but there were times I grew impatient for something to happen. Also, I liked this one better than Surprise Me; this tried to be more like Kinsella’s previous standalone novels, but I can’t see myself revisiting it like I do the earlier ones. However, I still look forward to her next novel.

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I always enjoy Sophie Kinsella's books because they are lighthearted and good for several laughs. In this story, Fixie works at her family store with her siblings who don't appear to be all that in touch with real life. She has expected romance struggles, family struggles, and the little things that life can throw at you. I felt that a few sections in the middle of the book dragged a little or seemed a little "too much" but overall the story is a fun, light read.

A special thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

As her late father always said “family first”, Fixie Farr has always put her family’s needs above her own. She is constantly picking up the slack of her siblings and helps takes care of her family’s charming housewares store.

It's in her nature to fix things, hence her name. When a chance encounter in a coffee shop has her watching a handsome stranger’s computer, Fixie can’t help but save it from disaster. To thank Fixie, Sebastian attaches his business card to a coffee sleeve with an IOU scribbled on it. She politely accepts it but doesn’t think she would ever cash in an IOU from a stranger, or would she?

Ryan, Fixie's longtime crush and brother's friend, is back in town after a failed attempt at working overseas and his predicament has Fixie chomping at the bit to help him. She decides to cash in her IOU and ask Seb to give Ryan a job at his company to which he agrees. Things don't go quite as she plans and a series of IOUs ensue. Things start to unravel and Fixie is torn between her family and taking a stand. Can she really fix everything and make herself happy at the same time?

I have also had the pleasure of reviewing My Not So Perfect Life and Surprise Me and was thrilled to pieces to learn that I was selected to be an early reader/reviewer of I Owe You One. Sophie Kinsella, you've done it again! I absolutely adore your writing and your words always make me smile. (If you haven't listened to one of Kinsella's books, I highly recommend it, especially if narrated by Jayne Entwistle.)

Overall, I enjoyed this book. It is light, fun, and endearing. I loved the setting, haven’t you always wanted to be a shop owner? The IOU was a cute theme and the perfect vehicle for a romance.

What almost derailed it for me were Fixie’s siblings—they are incredibly cruel, and I realize that part of the story deals with growth and empowerment, but they were just so awful! As far as the other characters, I found that Greg was an unnecessary addition.

Stick with the book, it is delightful and adorable, and we need more Fixies in the word. Thank you, Sophie, for another gem! I adore your writing and your wit.

This isn't one of my all time Kinsella favorites (that honor goes to Can You Keep a Secret? and Remember Me), but it's another great addition to that section reserved for Kinsella books. A plot to hold your attention every step of the way, quirky and likable characters, and writing that sparkled added up to another wonderful read.

*ARC via netgalley*

Sophia Kinsella is an author where you know exactly what you're going to get when you pick the book up and "I Owe You One" is no exception. Fixie (what a great character name!) is easy to like right off the bat and you find yourself rooting for her to make the right choice and stand up for herself in the situations she finds herself in, including a complicated family dynamic (easy to identify with on that one)!

Sophie Kinsella did it again. She wowed me with her trademark charming heroine, quirky cast of secondary characters, and laugh-out-loud wit. I truly had trouble putting this down (even when my eyes were dilated at the eye doctor's office)! Fixy Farr was a delightful character to follow, and even though I wanted to shake her sometimes for being a dormat, she ultimately found her way and it was worth waiting for.

Yet another book by Ms. Kinsella that I absolutely loved! The story has the right amount of hilarity, angst, and swoon worthy moments. I love the anticipation these stories build to get you to the finale. I definitely recommend this book for anyone who wants to laugh out loud.

LOVED this book to bits!! I'm a huge fan of Kinsella and was so excited to read her latest work. I Owe You One was such a fun and engaging story. It was such a treat to read. I loved the characters and their story.