One Plus One - Book Review

I had a bit of a reading slump--a couple of dull books and then three days on Trek without any books--so I really needed a great book to get me out of it. I knew I could count on the latest book from Jojo Moyes.

Jess is a single mom working two jobs to try to stay afloat. Her step-son is struggling. He's a bit of an oddball and being bullied by a neighborhood kid. Her genius daughter who excels at math has just been offered a scholarship at a prestigious private school. Only the scholarship doesn't cover everything and Jess is desperate to come up with the difference.

Ed is being investigated for insider trading after naively sharing some information about his software company with a woman he just wanted to go away. He's been hiding from the press at his vacation home and drowning his sorrows in alcohol when he comes across his cleaning woman, two kids and a dog pulled over on the side of the road surrounded by cops. Offering his help gets him more involved in her scheme than he ever intended.

Anyone who has read Jojo Moyes's novel Me Before You, knows that she can rip your heart open with intense emotion. One Plus One is the same. In fact, in the first 100 pages or so of the novel I was seriously stressed out by the bleakness of the situation for the characters. They make foolish choices as they're backed up against the wall. However, the characters are so sympathetic and so darn optimistic. I was rooting for them with all my heart and as they encountered each roadblock (sometimes humorous) I literally ached for them. I loved that Jess just kept pulling herself up; dusting off her britches and pushing forward.

You know, I'm all about consequences. I'm a mother, after all, and I talk about consequences with my kids all the time. Moyes doesn't skirt around the consequences. The characters have to face the repercussions of their choices. However, there is also forgiveness, repentance and redemption. And I'm an even bigger fan of those things. So, even in the middle of sorrow and heartache there was a glimmer of something better for the characters.

Moyes creates strong emotion--sorrow, pain, joy and she builds the chemistry between characters with a teasing slowness that allows it to simmer until it is literally intoxicating.

One Plus One by Jojo Moyes definitely succeeded at getting me out of my reading slump. I could barely stand to put it down and leave the characters in their misery. They were so determined, I knew something had to improve in their lives. Perfectly plotted, One Plus One is definitely a novel to add to your summer reading list.

One Plus One by Jojo  Moyes is published by Pamela Dorman Books and released on July 1, 2014.

**I received a complimentary copy of One Plus One.**