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Excerpt from Chapter 1

Ten Years Ago

There are some places where you might expect to bump into your boyfriend's ultra-posh mother. At a Buckingham Palace garden party perhaps, or Glyndebourne, or turning her nose up at Ferrero Rochers at some foreign ambassador's cocktail party. And then there are other places you wouldn't expect to bump into her at all.

Like, for example, the Cod Almighty at the dodgier end of Tooting High Street.

'Blimey, it's Dougie's mum.' Instinctively wiping her hands on her green nylon apron and curbing the urge to curtsey—because Dougie's mum was that posh—Lola said brightly, 'Hello, Mrs Tennant, how lovely to see you!'

And how typical that she should turn up two minutes before closing, when all they had left to offer her was a tired-looking sausage and a couple of overlooked fishcakes. Maybe Alf could be persuaded to quickly chuck a couple of fresh pieces of haddock into the fryer and—

'Hello, Lola. I wondered if we could have a chat.' Even for a visit to a fish and chip shop, Dougie's mother's make-up was immaculate, her hair swept into a Princess Michael of Kent chignon.

'Oh, right. Absolutely. I'm just finishing here.' Lola glanced across at Alf, who made good-humored off-you-go gestures. 'We close at half past two. So you don't want anything to take away?'

Was that a shudder? Mrs Tennant shook her head and said with a flicker of amusement, 'I don't think so, do you?'

Having retrieved her shoulder bag from the back room and shrugged off her nylon apron—youch, static—Lola ducked under the swing-top counter and took the king-sized portion of chips Alf had wrapped up for her, seeing as they had so many left.

'Bye, Alf. See you tomorrow.'

'I can drop you home if you like,' said Dougie's mother. 'The car's just outside.'

Lola beamed; free chips and a lift home in a brand new Jaguar. This was definitely her lucky day.

Outside on the pavement it was stiflingly hot and muggy. Inside the Jaguar the cool air smelled deliciously of expensive leather and Chanel No. 19.

'This is such a great car,' sighed Lola, stroking the upholstery as Dougie's mother started the engine.

'Thank you. I like it.'

'How could anyone not like it?' Lola balanced the steaming parcel of chips in her lap, careful to keep it away from her bare legs. Her stomach was rumbling but she heroically resisted the temptation to open them. 'So why did you want to see me? Is this about Dougie's birthday?'

'No. Actually it's about you and Dougie. I want you to stop seeing him.'

Bam, just like that.

Lola blinked. 'Excuse me?'

'I'd like you to end your relationship with my son.'

This couldn't be happening. Her shoulders stiffening in disbelief, Lola watched as Dougie's mother drove along, as calm and unconcerned as if they were discussing nothing more taxing than the weather.

'Why?'

'He's eighteen years old.'

'Nearly nineteen.'

'He's eighteen now,' Mrs Tennant repeated firmly, 'and on his way to university. He is going to university.'

'I know.' Bewildered, Lola said, 'I'm not stopping him. We're going to see each other whenever we can, take it in turns to do the journey. I'll catch the coach up to Edinburgh every other weekend, and Dougie's going to drive down here when it's his turn, then—'

'No, no, no, I'm sorry but he won't. This isn't the kind of relationship Doug needs right now. He told me last night that he was having second thoughts about going to university. He wants to stay here. And that's all down to you, my girl. But I won't stand by and let you ruin his life.'

The hot chips were burning Lola's legs now. 'Honestly, I'm not ruining his life. I want the best for Dougie, just like you do. We love each other! I've already told him, if we miss each other too much I'll move up to Edinburgh and we'll live together!'

'Oh yes, he mentioned that too. And the next thing we know, you'd be feeling left out because he'd have all his university friends while you're stuck working behind the counter of some backstreet fish and chip shop.' Mrs Tennant's lip curled with disdain. 'So to regain his attention you'd accidentally get yourself pregnant. No, I'm sorry, I simply can't allow this to happen. Far better for you to make the break now.'

Who did this woman think she was?

Lola, 17, is deeply in love with her boyfriend, Doug. Doug’s family is wealthy and Doug is on his way to

university, while Lola is a middle-class girl and works at a fish-and-chip shop. Doug’s mother sees

miniskirt-wearing Lola as an obstacle to overcome and offers her 10,000 pounds to never see Doug again.

Lola is about to refuse when her father reveals a huge gambling debt. The only way to keep him safe is for

Lola to accept the money. Ten years later she encounters Doug and his mother again, and now Doug

knows Lola was bought off by his mother. Lola still has feelings for Doug, but Doug won’t have anything

to do with her. Will their relationship be repaired, or is the money too much to handle? Mansell’s novel

is the perfect read for hopeless romantics who like happily-ever-after endings.


Lola, 17, is deeply in love with her boyfriend, Doug. Doug’s family is wealthy and Doug is on his way to university, while Lola is a middle-class girl and works at a fish-and-chip shop. Doug’s mother sees miniskirt-wearing Lola as an obstacle to overcome and offers her 10,000 pounds to never see Doug again. Lola is about to refuse when her father reveals a huge gambling debt. The only way to keep him safe is for Lola to accept the money. Ten years later she encounters Doug and his mother again, and now Doug knows Lola was bought off by his mother. Lola still has feelings for Doug, but Doug won’t have anything to do with her. Will their relationship be repaired, or is the money too much to handle? Mansell’s novel is the perfect read for hopeless romantics who like happily-ever-after endings.
- Hilary Hatton


Thinker: Kay James
AuthorName: Jill Mansell
BookTitle1: An Offer You Can’t Refuse
ISBN: 9781402218330
PubDate: March 2009
Publisher: Sourcebooks
4RR: 4 Rose Read Addition

NovelThoughtComments: This is a tale of revisiting the past while moving toward the future. A heartwarming, charming story, AN OFFER YOU CAN’T REFUSE will have romance readers everywhere nodding their heads in satisfaction because every romantic at heart knows that the future is shaped by what went before. Jill Mansell puts a new twist on that fact in this entertaining volume.

When Lola is young and in love with a boy whose mother definitely feels she is beneath her beloved Dougie, she is forced to accept money from said boy’s mother with the provision she breaks off her relationship with him. Lola would never have done such a thing, except for the fact that her stepfather has created an enormous gambling debt that only the bribe money will wash away. Apparently snooker is a costly vice, so Lola does what anyone would do. She takes the money.

Years pass. Lola never forgets the boy who captured her heart. She’s moved on, but her heart lags behind. One night when she is out, she is approached by a man who turns out to be her father—not the father her mother has described, but her actual father. They begin a relationship, and it is his interference that brings Doug and Lola closer. Whether or not the two can work things out is another matter entirely, but at least when it counts the long-lost father steps up to help Lola out.

AN OFFER YOU CAN’T REFUSE is very human. The characters aren’t at all out of reach. They do and say things that ordinary people would do or say. Realistic, flawed and endearing, they make Ms. Mansell’s book shine. I very much enjoyed reading this British romantic comedy, and I think others will, too.


A London teenager sells out her boyfriend, but will it put an end to true love ten years later?

Lola and Dougie are madly in love, and though Dougie is slated to go to university in Edinburgh, the two plan to see each other on weekends. That is until Dougie’s shrewish mother makes Lola the title offer: £10,000 if Lola breaks it off with her son. Lola is outraged, but when she returns home she finds her beloved stepfather Alex packing his bags. Alex has been gambling on the sly and now loan sharks have threatened him. So Lola takes Mrs. Tennant’s money, writes a Dear Dougie letter and leaves for a waitressing job in Spain. Ten years later Lola is back in London, a happy-go-lucky bookshop manager. Then, late one night, she intervenes in a mugging and saves the victim, the still nasty Mrs. Tennant. At a thank you party in Lola’s honor, Lola meets Dougie again. Sparks don’t fly, especially when Dougie learns Lola accepted money to break it off with him. But Lola is persistent and proceeds to court him through the rest of the novel. Mansell, with a number of witty romantic romps under her belt, presents the escapades of three other potential couples. First there is Sally, Dougie’s stepsister, temporarily sharing a flat with Gabe, Lola’s neighbor. The two have nothing in common, and besides, she’s a slob and he’s a neat-nick. Then there’s Lola’s mum Blythe—who, after being widowed, is now happily dating the scruffy, sandal-wearing Malcolm—whom Lola would like to fix up with her biological father, the dashing Nick, who has just reconnected with Lola. Then there is the harmless dalliance Lola is having with EJ, a fabulously rick music producer with nerdy tastes. Throw in the paparazzi, a balding starlet, and a TV-show makeover, and you get a happy mix of the real and the absurd.

Mansell knows her craft and delivers a finely tuned romantic comedy.