Member Reviews

I loved this book and this author. Poor Maisie seems to have such a rough go of things but she prods on, and - gasp - things finally start working out for her. This book kept me entertained all the way through and didn't disappoint. Family issues are believable and ring true to me.

#netgalley #theunlikelylifeofmaisiemeadows

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This was a fun, quirky book of friendship, love and family. I enjoyed learning some new British slang and the magical element of the story. A fun women’s fiction novel!

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I loved Jenni Keer's first book and I wasn't disappointed by her second one! The perfect holiday read.

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Well this was a delightful treat of a book. I didn’t know what I was in for but any unlikely tale intrigued me. Maisie’s Is wonderful. She is wonderful, the characters around her are full and fun. There is family drama, wishes. And romance all wrapped up in this charming book!

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*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in return of a fair and honest review.
I usually hate chick lit. With a passion. Even the words "chick lit" makes my skin crawl. But while The Unlikely Life of Maisie Meadows fits into that category, it's so much more. Keer does a great job of character development, even the minor characters, and draws you into the world of Maisie. Highly recommended!

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f you are looking for a Warm and Cozy, Feel Good Women's Fiction that has a a little of all things great, then you will love The Unlikely Life of Maisie Meadows. it is hard to describe but I couldn't put it down and highly recommend it

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Fans of Ruth Hogans The Keeper of Lost Things should read this next!

Maisie Meadows has just had her heart broken, finding herself needing new employment. A quirky auction house, full of wonderful characters comes along and turns her high powered career in marketing on a new, rather interesting tangent. The story follows Maisie's mission to bring her fractured and rather dysfunctional family together which is never going to be plain sailing...

A thoroughly enjoyable read, full of heart, humour and drama.

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A light fun read. Poor Maisie has had a string of bad luck but when a mystical teapot from her childhood returns to her life things get more interesting!

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I really enjoyed Jenni Keer’s first book, The Hopes and Dreams of Lucy Baker, and there are some similar themes running through this one – how ‘family’ are not always the people you are related to, the belief that things can have magical powers, and a cast of quirky characters beautifully brought to life. This is so much more than a romantic comedy – in fact some of the misunderstandings between Maisie and Theo seem a bit contrived. It explores some serious problems, such as how to cope with loneliness, and the effects of an acrimonious divorce on children, with a light touch and lots of humour. Maisie may have her faults but her heart is in the right place and she learns from her mistakes. I look forward to reading Jenni’s next book. Thanks to Avon and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

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This is the story of one woman's journey out of relationship heck and into a life that's one size fits HER. It's not always pretty, it's not always perfect, but it's hers and really, what more are any of us looking for?

Maisie is such a kind soul with a big heart and while her instincts regarding the opposite sex, whether they have potential or are possibly shady characters, is a bit off center, and her desire to see her family as one big happy unit a bit misguided, it simply makes her more lovable AND relateable.

As much as I felt for our girl Maisie's life adventure, and adored the final outcome of her choices (totally played out in the most adorable way possible!), I wasn't as invested in things as I wanted to be. For me, the connection to the lost tea set just didn't come to fruitation. Now, once the power of a great cup of tea (from this particular set) is revealed in truth (HA! Inside joke...), I was back on board with that particular aspect of the story...but until that point in time, I could have taken that part or left it.

All in all, a great reminder that while bloodlines may run strong, FAMILY is truly determined by who we choose to have in our inner circle not simply our DNA.

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This is a wonderful book!! Maisie Meadows is every female that has to navigate a new job, family and a hot boss. Maisie accomplishes this with a little humor and tenacity. I wish I could be her best friend.

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Maisie Meadows is a girl with a problem. She must start over in everything. She must find a new job, reconnect with her family, and find a way to heal from a broken heart. She finds a job doing social media for an antique auction house, finds some new friends, and a teapot with a connection to her past. She feels compelled to locate all the different pieces to the set, and make it whole again. Much like herself.

This book was one of my favorite summer reads. The characters were amazingly rich, the twists were not seen coming, and the read was so easy and enjoyable I couldn’t put it down. I actually bought another book from this author because I loved her writing style so much! If you love magical books with a little romance, this one is for you!

I received this book for review purposes.

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Oh my word, where do I begin? Maybe the beginning would be a good idea, so first off I’d like to say I absolutely love the cover for this book. It’s so bright and vibrant but it wasn’t until I had read the book I realised the significance of the images on the cover and it all made sense and made it a little bit more special.
Maisie Meadows finds herself jobless and single at the beginning of the story and when a job opportunity comes up ten minutes from home it seems like the ideal solution.
Gildersleeve’s is an auction house owned by Johnny, an eccentric and vibrant man and his partner Theo, who is gorgeous and disheveled. Maisie finds herself working alongside the very quiet and shy Ella and the utterly amazing Arthur who could talk the hind legs of a donkey but is a wonderful and thoughtful gentleman. Maisie seems to fit in straight away and seems to be an asset to the business although Theo still lives in the dark ages when it come to technology and social media which is the main job Maisie takes on.
The characters are absolutely brilliant, I couldn’t help totally falling in love with all of them from the auction house, each one very different but they all felt so realistic and it was so easy to picture them and their surroundings. I actually found myself wishing I worked there, it was like a family.
Maisie’s real family though are scattered all over the place, her mum and dad split up when she was young and her three siblings live away from home and very rarely return. Maisie wants them all together, her dream is to have a family Christmas and loved reading about her dysfunctional family.
I thoroughly enjoyed this story with its fantastic characters and the mysterious tea set with its magical qualities. It had me laughing so many times, like real proper snorts and I just thank the stars I was reading this away from people, they would have thought I was a right loony. I have to say it also had me very nearly in tears as well, there is a certain part in the book involving Arthur where my heart broke, it totally shattered but my love for Arthur grew (I won’t say any more and spoil it).
After finishing this book I realised this is the second book from Jenni Keer, the first being The Hopes and Dreams of Lucy Baker and it was instantly added to my tbr pile. I just loved The unlikely Life of Maisie Meadows and will be highly recommending it and I can’t wait to read more from Jenni Keer soon. Brilliant.

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The UNLIKELY LIFE OF MAISIE MEADOWS is a fun escapist read. The author writes well and the auction house setting is particularly creative. The author does a good job of helping the reader to see the world through Maisie‘s eyes. The characters were quirky and well written. The kooky cast made this book stand out from other novels in this genre. The only gentle criticism that I have is that I found the first section of this book to be very slow going and I had a bit of trouble getting into at first and just a bit too formulaic. I would have appreciated a few inversions or more surprises. Nevertheless, this book is a fun and relaxing read for the summer months.

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What an enjoyable book! I really enjoyed the style of this book – light, well-crafted and witty. The author has a gift for description – clever and fresh, often leading me to laugh out loud. For example, when Maisie was young and overheard her mother speak of her anxiety over “flushing hot things and lots of early men on pause.” I can relate!

The characters were charming – from the clueless and besotted Maisie, to the quirky Johnny, who taught me a few new vocabulary words. Maisie grew and evolved throughout the book, from a very young adult to a much more mature version of herself. Arthur’s storyline was haunting and beautiful. Theo, Maisie’s family members, the six Mayhew sisters and even Nigel – what a fun and interesting cast of characters!

As the youngest of 4 children, Maisie has interesting and realistic relationships with each sibling, as well as with her divorced parents. The Mayhew sisters also had complicated relationships with one another. In the epilogue, Maisie has a wonderful description of the complexity of families that really captures the essence of the book, and rings so true, “Much like the tea set – each component came from the whole, was beautiful and unique in its own way, but alarmingly dangerous when assembled together.”

My thanks to NetGalley for an Advanced Readers Copy of this book. All opinions are my own and not biased in any way.

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This book left me smiling. The collection of characters at the auction house is eclectic and so charming.

I loved the added mystery of the tea set and the themes of family you have vs family you choose.

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What a delightful book!

The novel manages to tell a lovely story, whilst exploring the many aspects and hang-ups of human nature. There were lots of loveable characters both in the lead roles and around them in their lives. I enjoyed Maisie’s quest to reunite her tea set and her family, together with the lessons she learned along the way. Recommended 😀

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I was excited about this book but it was not what I expected. I really found the layout off putting. It reads like a stream of conscience book with it jumping all over the place without any warning. There are time and place skips that are very disconcerting. One moment Maisie is in one place and then in the next paragraph she is somewhere else. The same thing can happen with time, she is talking about something coming up and then in the next paragraph a week has passed and she is there. You could even start a new chapter and find it jumping back to her childhood.

This book reads like a rough draft. Maisie is an interesting character and there is the potential for a great story but it’s put together in a very jumbled way that leaves it from reaching its potential. There’s no fun or charm in what I expected to be a story with both. Maisie finds herself working in a business with lots of quirks and unique characters but it never manages to actual be charming. The romance is more of a miscommunication that is so obvious it becomes annoying.

Far too many of the characters are without any redemption which makes their inclusion odd. They treat Maisie badly but there is no resolution. I found myself putting this book down a lot with no interest in finishing it. It’s actually full of a lot of sad storylines and not at all what I was expecting. Overall it’s just ok but mostly wasted potential. I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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“It isn’t a set any more and my darling teapot so misses her companions.”

As Maise searches for pieces of the potentially magical tea set, she finds her family and her self. Great feel good summer read. Highly recommend.


Thank you to Netgalley and to Avon Books UK for giving me an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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Youngest of four siblings and the only one that everyone in her family speaks with, Maisie has a need to clean and organize everything, has a Russian-Olympic level trick performing hamster named Nigel, and has just quit her marketing job at a local brewery after finding her boyfriend and boss with his tongue down another woman’s throat. Devastated from the loss, and not sure about her next step, she finds a job opening at a local auction house, Gildersleeves, which is populated with quirky and unique characters. Mistaking one of the owners of the business for a thief, she’s faced with her undeniable attraction but it’s all in vain: wrongly assuming that he’s involved with his rather OTT partner in the business, she doesn’t suffer the tongue-tied gaps, or the worries – he’s only friend material.

But a box arrives with a tea set (or part of one) that she remembers from her childhood, the neighbor who was a source of sense and solace when her parents split is part of a lot going on auction: and she’s determined to buy the set, locate the other pieces and bring it together, much as she hopes to gather her family together to celebrate Christmas – trying to duplicate the last (and happiest) Christmas she remembered from just before the divorce. With the tea set purchased, as well as an unexpected “bonus” of four boxes of naked and deviant garden gnomes, she’s starting her journey to better understand her former neighbor, and bring the set to completion.

Such a fun tale: Maisie is a wonderfully sympathetic character with clearly defined issues, a heart of gold, and a rather obsessive need to have control over her environment, except in her “spare” room – where paint flies and colors splatter as she burns off emotional tension with Pollack-like paintings. With each of her siblings, her dramatically emotional mother, philandering father and some lovely characters at the auction house, including Arthur and Ella, the story is light, fresh and humorous – with a surprising emotional depth as the extent of Maisie’s emotional stunting and fears come into focus. With plenty of laugh out loud moments (many from Nigel the gymnastically-inclined hamster), Maisie’s determination to have everything in a place and a place for everything – as well as some truly clever moments that bring the family of her former neighbor together, this was a wonderful escape read with plenty of laughter, light and love to make readers turn that last page with a smile, and a favorite read of the summer!

I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via NetGalley for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.

Review first appeared at <a href=” https://wp.me/p3OmRo-auE /”> <a> I am, Indeed </a>

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