Friday, May 22, 2015

One Plus One by Jojo Moyes


Jess Thomas is a single mom, raising not only her math whiz daughter Tanzie, but her makeup wearing, bullied stepson Nicky. Oh, not to mention there's also the family's beloved, slobbery, often lazy dog Norman that Jess has to worry about. Life hasn't been easy for Jess since her husband Marty left two years ago. Since then, she's been working like crazy cleaning houses and bartending just to make ends meet. With money being tight and Jess needing to find a way to get Tanzie to the math Olympiad in the hopes of getting her into a great school, Jess winds up doing something she never thought she'd see herself doing.

Ed Nicholls is the head of a software development firm. Money has never been scarce for Ed, so much so that he owns a beachfront home in England (where Jess just so happens to be his cleaner), a flat in London, and far too many cars to count. Things are going well for Ed until he's investigated for insider trading. With his family constantly on his case to visit his dying father, Ed can't begin to bare letting them down with the news of the insider trading scandal.

In One Plus One, as only Jojo Moyes can do, Jess and Ed's stories end up being wound together with wit, charm, and romance. After a strange occurrence on the side of the road, Jess, Ed, Tanzie, Nicky, and even, slobbering Norman wind up spending lots of time together in the car in an attempt to get Tanzie to the math Olympiad on time. Disagreeing on eating out, renting hotel rooms, and pretty much anything else money related, Jess and Ed realize that although they come from completely different worlds, there's a spark that just can't be quelled. When things go awry, will Jess and Ed's love last?