A Friend of the Family: The addictive and emotionally satisfying page-turner that will have you hooked

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I wonder whether after reading their stories you will also think that all 3 boys were spoilt too much by their parents or whether we just saw them at their lowest points of their lives. I think the only reason I finished is because I thought there must be some twist, some big ah-ha, but it was a waste. It was an easy read and I felt quite sad after it ended because I liked the characters and wanted to know how their lives continued. One of these brothers was REALLY REALLY dumb and it made me crazy but at the end he sorted everything out, thank god! I only read this because I have loved almost everything else I have read by Lisa Jewell (her thrillers).

It's something a little bit different from the normal run of the mill with strong characters and an interesting story with a bit of a moral thrown in.He meets a girl on the job and they hit it off, but when Ned makes a move, she turns him down stating that he hasn't grown up yet. Their parents have a new lodger, Gervase—why is Bernie, their mother, so keen to give this unsavory waif a home? The first Lisa Jewell book that I read, I really enjoyed but the more that I have read from this author, the more talented I have seen her become! Admittedly, I do prefer her newer material as it’s a lot more grittier, however her older books are lovely and have a real feel-good element to them.

Ned's inability to figure out his goals or where he fits in mirror the crises of young people today. Lisa is a New York Times and Sunday Times number one bestselling author who has been published worldwide in over thirty languages. You know I adore Lisa Jewell books but in her old books I don't get why she had to put really dumb guys in her books. The only criticism I have of A FRIEND OF THE FAMILY, is that a bit of the information about pregnancy was slightly inaccurate (such as she states that the pregnant character was unable to take any medications, not even Tylenol or a cough lozenge). Lisa Jewell transcends the British chick lit genre by creating complex characters with problems many readers can relate to.

The title is misleading; the friend of the family was like a pathetic Mary Poppins for adult children. Jewell's light style can be deceptive; her anatomisation of twenty and thirty-something urban relationships is at times uncomfortably keen .