Fixie Farr's fingers drum, her feet itch, her head thrums and a tension rises through her. She can't help fixing things. Will she ever focus on what she owes herself rather than what she believes she owes to others though? Her self-absorbed, yoga-obsessed sister for example, or her entitled heartthrob, the family shop....It all begins when she rescues a stranger's laptop.

A light holiday read with a good few laughs.

I really like Sophie Kinsella's style. Her books are always entertaining to read, even if the plots aren't always the best. This was the case with I Owe You One: the story wasn't among her bests, but the reading experience was overall enjoyable.
The characters were amusing but not overly memorable. I sympathized with Fixie but I was annoyed at how she continually let people boss her around. Her obsession with Ryan also annoyed me. However, her character evolution was good when it finally happened, and I cheered for her.
What I enjoyed most was Fixie's relationships with her family members. I liked seeing how they changed as the story went on. There were some really funny moments (her older sister was hilarious), but also heartwarming ones. The ending was especially satisfying. And I also loved Fixie's friendship with Hanna, whom I really liked. She had some fantastic moments.
The romance was just okay. At first I really liked Fixie and Seb together, but as the story went on I was less keen on their romance. There were just too many misunderstandings and I didn't like how they got together immediately after he broke up with Briony.
All in all, this was okay. Not one of Kinsella's best, but still enjoyable.

I started this book with some qualms because of the conflicting number of reviews available online.

I understand why that might be because I was annoyed with Fixie in the first quarter of the book because she seemed like a woman-child with her obsessions and her need to take things literally as well as the way her thoughts were conveyed to us. Then once that phase passed and the situations changed and she dealt with them all and matured over the remainder of the tale, made up for it. I even shed a few tears with the ending (my favourite way of wrapping up a story of this sort)

Almost everyone has a sort of redemption arc in this book, some believable, some required for the full effect of the tale while not completely believable but since we are only given tiny windows into the people's lives, it can satisfy us for the time being.

Fixie lives up to her name whether people around want her to or not. She is the woman at the center of it all. She is trying to hold her family and their shop together while at the same time trying to make sense of her love life and her obsession with her childhood crush. She starts a chain of events by saving Seb's laptop and he decides that he owes her. She doesn't think she would take that seriously, until she does.
Seb is the man of the hour, the guy who does good but has his own arc to complete. I really do not understand his relationship with his 'girlfriend' and the way it swings around so quickly!
Jake the elder brother, the bane of her childhood (even though she does not label him as such). His redemption is difficult and a little convoluted and I for one did not feel like letting a few things go! His girlfriend is an interesting addition to his role in the whole scenario.
Nicole the sister could have been dealt with a little bit more but she and their mother had probably the same amount of time for us to make up our minds about them.Both are poles apart as they deal with humankind in general.
Then there's the best friend, the old flame (Ryan, the most absurd villain). Overall I had fun with them all and the ending sealed the rating for me. I think the narration/writing carried off the parts where the story slowed. The store and all the people involved in it (both customers and the staff) were pretty randomly funny. This is something that you have to read till the end before you make up your mind, it will be worth the effort!

I always enjoy Sophie Kinsella and this didn't disappoint, She writes fun, engaging characters, this is a story told with humour and compassion. which I throughly enjoyed. Thank you.

I struggled with this one at times, overall it was funny and the last quarter pulled it back....but....I just felt a little underwhelmed considering how Sophie Kinsella always usually pulls it out of the bag.

Fixie (don't get me started on the name, although it is a nickname), was the main character and I really disliked how she let people walk over her, mostly her family, and her lack of confidence. So many people suffer this in reality, I just didn't expect it from this book. I kept thinking she would gain assertiveness in the next chapter, then the next and it was a long time coming!

I really liked the concept of her saving someone's (Seb's) laptop and him writing an IOU that she ends up taking him up on. This started a back and forth of IOU's that was an entertaining storyline but I felt their relationship (oops sorry, spoiler alert) lacked some depth. They break up suddenly and unnecessarily due to a misunderstanding that was easily sorted but I guess it needed a will they/won't they aspect to the story but I wasn't quite on tenterhooks to find out.

So why 3 stars when my review so far has been a bit doom and gloom?! Well Fixie did eventually win back some confidence and did so with some gusto, her character growth was positive and it was very witty and light-hearted in the main which is what I expect from Sophie's novels. Whilst it took me a while to get on board with Fixie's family, ultimately I was rooting for them and I felt there was a life lesson for us all within the pages.

It was closer to 3.5 than 2.5 stars and I will absolutely be buying the next book Sophie releases because they are always solid reads and overall highly amusing and entertaining, this one just had a dash more seriousness to it but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

My thanks to Random House UK via NetGalley for providing me with this advanced reading copy in exchange for an honest review.

I Owe You One
Sophie Kinsella
Publishers: Bantam Press
#romance #family #ioweyouone

I wanted to read something light after reading a couple of historical fiction books and felt that this would nicely fit the bill. It did and totally exceeded my expectations. Fixie Farr,as her nickname implies, is the family "fixer". It was interesting to explore the family dynamic and realise why everyone acted the way they did. There were plenty of twists along the way and a satisfying ending where suddenly everything seemed to amje sense. I enjoyed it.
Id like to thank the author @KinsellaSophie, the publishers and netgalley for providing me with an advance reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

I realised as I was picking this up that I have never read this author? Why? I have absolutely no idea!

Fixie basically is trying to hold it all together....and is getting totally walked over, this irked me! But I will admit she is endearing and will do anything for her family which I loved.

I think I liked Seb, I just didn't connect with him....or anyone really but these words did resonate with me for my 'Fixie' side: 'You need to start thinking less about what you owe other people and more about what you owe yourself.'

I didn't love this but it was a fun read. I am defo going to try another book by this author.

A wonderfully well written piece of complete escapism. Great characters who you feel you know and can get behind. Broken dreams and dysfunctional family members which bring the family shop to the brink of ruin, can it be saved? A book you will stay up into the night to find out the ending of, I did. Families! you can't pick 'em but someone needs to take the lead and get the family back together again.

I’ve read many books by Sophie Kinsella, and she’s one of my go-to chick-lit writers. So far, I’ve always loved her stories and her characters. Unfortunately, this latest novel entitled I Owe You One just doesn’t cut it.

I was disappointed by the plot, but most of all, I was really bothered by the characters’ personalities. Fixie, the female lead, quickly came across as spineless and a real push-over, especially when dealing with her pretentious brother, her scatterbrain sister or her obnoxious ex-boyfriend Ryan. She worships him and indulges him in ways that reach the disturbing point (the weird talk during the sex scene at the beginning first comes to mind). Anyway, I was completely put off by all that and it couldn’t be made up by the storyline.

I’m still a Kinsella fan and I’ll go back to her past works, while waiting for the next one.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest, independent review.

I’ve also enjoyed books by Sophie Kinsella/Madeleine Wickham and was excited when I was approved to read an ARC of her latest title. However, I unfortunately struggled with this book.

It’s almost like a tradition in Kinsella’s books that we see an improvement in the female lead character - they blossom and grow as a person. However, I found the lead character, Fixie Farr, a bit of a doormat, allowing everyone to walk over her, especially men, and I struggled to like her and connect with her at times.

Fixie’s romantic relationships with men seemed rushed in the timeframe - one minute they were on, then they were off, then he was back with his ex girlfriend, then within a few hours that relationship was over and it was back on with Fixie! It seemed like a bit of a teen relationship!

What I did enjoy about the book was the whole “I owe you one” plot, plus I loved the family’s shop business!

I adore Sophie Kinsella and her style of writing, I was so excited to be able to read and review her latest offering. I can assure you that I was not disappointed with ‘I owe you one’.
The story focuses on Fixie and her need to fix anyone and everything around her, she inadvertently saves Sebs laptop when a ceiling collapses on her and what follows is a series of IOU’s and an eventual happy ever after.
The character and the story is engaging, this was such an enjoyable and easy read that I couldn’t put it down and had finished it within days!
Hands down 5 stars, thanks for allowing my to read

Fixie needs to fix everything in her life, including her family. She is a bit of a doormat but in a likeable way. She meets Seb in a coffee shop and they slowly exchange I owe yous. Fixie starts to stand up to her family with a dose of tough love and communication and they work their problems out. This is a lovely book about the problems and trials of running a family business but also highlights how important family and community is and how important it is to recognise and embrace our differences. An enjoyable read. I would recommend this book. Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for allowing me to review this book.

#IoweYouOne #NetGalley It's a long while since I read a Sophie Kinsella book, having enjoyed the shopaholic series many years ago. This book was in the same easy to read, light, slightly humorous style but, in my opinion, not in the same league as her previous novels. Starting with main character - Fixie - whose name irritated me throughout! Fixie was such a doormat in the first three quarters of the book that I just wanted to shake her. After a really slow and repetitious start I was initially heading for an even lower star rating but in the last quarter of the book when Fixie at last began to stand up for herself and not let everyone walk all over her, I finally began to enjoy it. An easy, light hearted holiday read but not a patch on her previous novels in my opinion.

Fixie has a flaw, she can't prevent herself from fixing stuff. When she meets Seb in a cafe, she saves his computer from a water leak and he gives us an IOU. She uses the IOU to help her boyfriend and then start the game of IOU back and forth between them. Throughout the story Fixie has to grow to help her family and herself. This was a funny and easy read, exactly what I was expecting from Sophie Kinsella.

I am a massive Sophie Kinsella fan and have read all her previous books. I couldn't wait to get my hands on this latest book and am pleased to say it didn't disappoint. It is written in the typical Kinsella lighthearted style with characters you just love and root for. Not as funny as previous books but enjoyable just the same.

It made a refreshing change to read this book, light hearted but actually very relatable on many ways!

Sophie Kinsella has written a great stand alone novel about favours and IOUs basically, but the needing to please and going the extra mile gets stretched and stretched until it has become your own therapy. Clever!

It is an easy read, but a very enjoyable one. I'll definitely reread this in the summer.

This is far from Sophie Kinsella's best, but even one of her less impressive efforts is streets ahead of most rom-com writing. 'I Owe You One' is far from the laugh-a-minute style of Shopaholic: a lot of the book is spent setting up the situation and all the family relationships that will eventually be disrupted and re-established in the final chapters. The climax did produce the odd laugh as far as I was concerned but most of it is a gentle examination of what family means and what we owe to ourselves and the people we love. It's safe, predictable and almost embarrassingly heart-warming.

One to enjoy in front of the fire (yes, Christmas features) with a hot chocolate (or chardonnay) and a gift-box full of chocolate.

I really liked this book! It was witty, fun and romantic. Fixie's moral progression throughout was really good and Seb sounded wonderful. The writing was really nice as to what Fixie sounded like.

Overall, I'll give this book a 4/5 for a light, sweet read on a dark January night.

This was a lovely change from my usual crime books. It was light hearted and easy to get through. I thought it was really entertaining and I could really picture the characters in my mind. It's quite a quirky story and the plot is a little bit different so it was a really refreshing read!

I love Kinsella books and this one had her usual light, witty touch. The only problem was, in order to achieve the character growth of doormat-learns-her-voice, the main character is at first painfully (and irritatingly) doormat-like. It wasn't that this was unrealistic - I could imagine someone being that passive in real life - it was just really annoying to see someone so in thrall to others. I also couldn't get past the main character being called Fixie because she likes to fix things. It felt like the kind of decision that might be made on a children's TV show. But, once the character began to be a bit tougher, I enjoyed the book much more.