I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest, independent review.

I’ve also enjoyed books by Sophie Kinsella/Madeleine Wickham and was excited when I was approved to read an ARC of her latest title. However, I unfortunately struggled with this book.

It’s almost like a tradition in Kinsella’s books that we see an improvement in the female lead character - they blossom and grow as a person. However, I found the lead character, Fixie Farr, a bit of a doormat, allowing everyone to walk over her, especially men, and I struggled to like her and connect with her at times.

Fixie’s romantic relationships with men seemed rushed in the timeframe - one minute they were on, then they were off, then he was back with his ex girlfriend, then within a few hours that relationship was over and it was back on with Fixie! It seemed like a bit of a teen relationship!

What I did enjoy about the book was the whole “I owe you one” plot, plus I loved the family’s shop business!

I adore Sophie Kinsella and her style of writing, I was so excited to be able to read and review her latest offering. I can assure you that I was not disappointed with ‘I owe you one’.
The story focuses on Fixie and her need to fix anyone and everything around her, she inadvertently saves Sebs laptop when a ceiling collapses on her and what follows is a series of IOU’s and an eventual happy ever after.
The character and the story is engaging, this was such an enjoyable and easy read that I couldn’t put it down and had finished it within days!
Hands down 5 stars, thanks for allowing my to read

Fixie needs to fix everything in her life, including her family. She is a bit of a doormat but in a likeable way. She meets Seb in a coffee shop and they slowly exchange I owe yous. Fixie starts to stand up to her family with a dose of tough love and communication and they work their problems out. This is a lovely book about the problems and trials of running a family business but also highlights how important family and community is and how important it is to recognise and embrace our differences. An enjoyable read. I would recommend this book. Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for allowing me to review this book.

#IoweYouOne #NetGalley It's a long while since I read a Sophie Kinsella book, having enjoyed the shopaholic series many years ago. This book was in the same easy to read, light, slightly humorous style but, in my opinion, not in the same league as her previous novels. Starting with main character - Fixie - whose name irritated me throughout! Fixie was such a doormat in the first three quarters of the book that I just wanted to shake her. After a really slow and repetitious start I was initially heading for an even lower star rating but in the last quarter of the book when Fixie at last began to stand up for herself and not let everyone walk all over her, I finally began to enjoy it. An easy, light hearted holiday read but not a patch on her previous novels in my opinion.

Fixie has a flaw, she can't prevent herself from fixing stuff. When she meets Seb in a cafe, she saves his computer from a water leak and he gives us an IOU. She uses the IOU to help her boyfriend and then start the game of IOU back and forth between them. Throughout the story Fixie has to grow to help her family and herself. This was a funny and easy read, exactly what I was expecting from Sophie Kinsella.

I am a massive Sophie Kinsella fan and have read all her previous books. I couldn't wait to get my hands on this latest book and am pleased to say it didn't disappoint. It is written in the typical Kinsella lighthearted style with characters you just love and root for. Not as funny as previous books but enjoyable just the same.

It made a refreshing change to read this book, light hearted but actually very relatable on many ways!

Sophie Kinsella has written a great stand alone novel about favours and IOUs basically, but the needing to please and going the extra mile gets stretched and stretched until it has become your own therapy. Clever!

It is an easy read, but a very enjoyable one. I'll definitely reread this in the summer.

This is far from Sophie Kinsella's best, but even one of her less impressive efforts is streets ahead of most rom-com writing. 'I Owe You One' is far from the laugh-a-minute style of Shopaholic: a lot of the book is spent setting up the situation and all the family relationships that will eventually be disrupted and re-established in the final chapters. The climax did produce the odd laugh as far as I was concerned but most of it is a gentle examination of what family means and what we owe to ourselves and the people we love. It's safe, predictable and almost embarrassingly heart-warming.

One to enjoy in front of the fire (yes, Christmas features) with a hot chocolate (or chardonnay) and a gift-box full of chocolate.

This was a lovely change from my usual crime books. It was light hearted and easy to get through. I thought it was really entertaining and I could really picture the characters in my mind. It's quite a quirky story and the plot is a little bit different so it was a really refreshing read!

I love Kinsella books and this one had her usual light, witty touch. The only problem was, in order to achieve the character growth of doormat-learns-her-voice, the main character is at first painfully (and irritatingly) doormat-like. It wasn't that this was unrealistic - I could imagine someone being that passive in real life - it was just really annoying to see someone so in thrall to others. I also couldn't get past the main character being called Fixie because she likes to fix things. It felt like the kind of decision that might be made on a children's TV show. But, once the character began to be a bit tougher, I enjoyed the book much more.

Thank you to Netgalley, Random House, and Sophie Kinsella for this free ARC read.

Being an avid Kinsella fan, I was excited to receive a free review copy of this title and had high expectations. Perhaps that explains my problems with this book. I expected a fantastic read, which ultimately left me flat and disappointed.

First up, some word choices annoyed the life out of me, especially sentences like this: “I really don’t understand Jake very well.” ... bad enough that these non descriptive and lazy words are resorted to often, but to put two in one short sentence? Nope, this puts me right off. The same with the abundance of split infinitives... “Simon swiftly takes his cue.” And then the telling instead of showing.

Second up, the story starts slow and doesn’t pick up until about halfway through the book. The characters and plot are predictable. I saw what was coming from chapter two.

Otherwise, I Owe You One is a light-hearted romance read to enjoy over a relaxed weekend with your tipple of choice, which offers a few giggles along the way.

Fixie Farr gained her nickname from an embedded need to fix things, even things that aren't necessarily hers to fix; she's also been raised with the mantra, family first, always going out of her way and beyond to help them without asking too many questions. Fixie helps to run her late Dad's homeware store 'Farrs' in London, where she spends more time picking up jobs her siblings neglect or fixing their mistakes she's not really focusing on fixing Fixie.

When a stranger asks her to watch his laptop while he takes a phone call Fixie ends up protecting it from a collapsing ceiling, earning her an IOU scribbled on what must have been the biggest coffee cup sleeve the world has ever know; Seb and Fixie's relationship develops through a series of exchanged favours.

Generally I really like Sophie Kinsella novels so I was very excited to have the opportunity to read her latest offering a bit early; it may have been the expectations I had in my own head but for me this fell a little flat. That sounds harsh, this was not a bad book, I read this over a slightly lazy weekend and I did enjoy it, I just struggled to really get on-board with the characters and the plot. I ended up giving it 3 stars, still a good holiday read but not one I personally think I'll remember in a couple of months.

Without going into spoilers my main issues were around the characters but particularly the main romances; its not spoilers that in a romantic comedy novel, the main girl and guy eventually get it together but I think it takes the romantic shine off it if he's broken up with his previous girlfriend just 48 hours before.

Hurrah! A new Sophi Kinsella! Always cause for a celebration! Always a reason to lock the door, turn off the phone and hunker down in front of the fire on a winters day!

Sophie writes about wacky, silly, funny, quirky characters and Fixie Farr is no exception. Although on a personal note the name Fixie Farr just doesn’t work for me, absolutely not. Sophie can do better! Fixie works 8n the family store and feels obliged to fix things. Any things. All things.
This book is a little slow to start but it’s easy reading, warm and funny and you have the Kinsella guarantee of a happy ending so what’s not to love!

2.5 stars
I have read and enjoyed most of Sophie Kinsella's books and was really looking forward to this latest one. I was disappointed, however. There wasn't any usual Kinsella's wit, the plot was ridiculous and the characters stereotypical and irritating. I won't be rushing to buy her next book, although I am hoping it was 'just a blip'.
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC.

I’m absolutely gutted to only be leaving this three stars as I love all of Sophie Kinsella’s books and I’d been really excited to have had the chance to read this one as an advance copy and just simply delighted that she had a new book out!
I have such high expectations for a Sophie Kinsella book, but this one was just ok. It was well-written, and to the high standard you would expect, but the story left me wanting more from it. So much happened but at the same time, it felt really slow going. It seemed to take ages to get to 50%, but then it sped up afterwards once the story really hit its stride.
Fixie has gotten her name because she likes to fix things, but we don’t see an awful lot of that other than her straightening a few objects that have gone awry. It is more about her being a pushover and very naive. She likes to think the best of people, but it just made her seem like a feeble and not that likeable a character. She does throw off these shortcomings at the end, but it feels like everyone succumbs to her a little too quickly.
The ending also seemed rushed, I would have liked a little bit more of clarification, but it was just presumed that what was thought to have happened, did (don’t want to give anything away).
Overall, you could tell it was written by a high-calibre of author, but it just didn’t grip me.

As a great Sophie Kinsella fan I knew that this book would be a good absorbing read, and wasn’t disappointed. The main character Fixie Farr, is a charismatic, gentle and kind sort of girl who would do anything for her family and friends. She gained her name ‘Fixie’ as she Is the sort of person who tries to fix things, and when a stranger’s laptop is in danger of becoming damaged, she rushes to save it resulting in being given an ‘I Owe You’ note.

All has been going steadily in the family shop, until Fixie’s mum is forced to take a a break, and Fixie’s old lover returns from abroad. She has a series of decisions to make which are light-hearted and funny. Fixie’s decisions are never considered seriously by her family, and the family shop (Farr’s) looks about to change dramatically. Also Ryan, her schoolboy ‘crush’ is not all he appears to be.
In true ‘Fixie’ fashion, she tries to sort out things, helped by Seb {the stranger from the café).

Many misunderstanding occur as the story progresses, which result in a laugh-a-minute, light hearted tangle which Sophie Kinsella fans (old and new) will enjoy reading. There are also emotional moments resulting in a wonderful all-rounded book. The secondary characters are so likeable and funny I didn’t want it the story to end.
The author is a master of this genre and I highly recommend this book to those who enjoy light-hearted, ‘over the top’ escapism.

Reading a Sophie Kinsella book is always a delight from first page to last and this one is no exception. Her style of writing is so easy for the reader and the words just flow into yet another fabulous, warm, funny, tale that quickly draws you in making it difficult to put down even when sleep is beckoning.
When Fixie saves a stranger's laptop from being ruined by a deluge of water the title of the book comes into play. Seb writes an IOU on a coffee cup for Fixie to redeem in the future and so their relationship begins. In the midst of this is Ryan, the supposed love of Fixie's life, who we all realise is a total user but will Fixie see through him? Woven through all of this is the task.Fixie has of living up to her nickname as she endeavours to sort out the multitude of problems created by her family. A brilliant book!!!!

Thank you to Netgalley, Sophie Kinsella and Random House Uk for my ARC of I Owe You One.

Synopsis: Fixie Farr who's nickname comes from her 'flaw' of needing to fix everything lives by her father's motto 'family first'. She helps her mum run the family shop Farrs picking up the slack from her erstwhile siblings. Then one day in a coffee shop when she innocently saves a man's laptop he writes her an IOU that she never thinks she'll need to call on. That is until her ex Ryan arrives back on the scene in need of a job...

At one point in the story, Fixie is described as a 'blip'. That's what I'm going to refer to this novel as. Sophie Kinsella's 'blip.' I have loved all of Sophie's books from her Shopaholic novels to her stand-alone ones, they're usually funny, witty and feel good. This though, the word that pops into my head to describe this book is toxic. This book has made me feel unsettled, sad and despondent. There's nothing feel good about it.

1. The characters - Fixie the main character is accurately described at one point as a doormat. No matter whether or not she gains confidence later, literally 80% of the book is her letting everyone walk all over her and treat her like crap and the worst thing of all being completely naive to it. Her siblings are equally frustrating in their absolute selfishness. Jake a wannabe businessman who just shouts at and dominates everyone while acting like a ten bob millionaire, and Nicole who floats around in a world of her own and is so superficial I wanted to reach into the book and give her a good slap. Ryan is an ass and it's obvious he's an ass and it's unclear to me why nobody else sees it. Even if we're going to go along with Fixie being blind in her doormat state why did nobody else see it? Why did Jake not acknowledge his best friend was treating his sister like garbage? Seb was the only character with potential and I'd even gone off him by the end.
2. The Plot - this was just all over the place. Relationships on and off like traffic lights, random side stories going away in their own direction and making no sense, ridiculous and unbelievable storylines. And everything with such an absolutely negative feel to it.

I won't be put off reading Sophie's books again in the future, every author is entitled to at least one bad novel but I would not read this again nor recommend it for fans of Sophie's books.

I admit that I am partial to a book by Sophie Kinsella - her Becky Bloomwood series started when I too had a low paying job in the financial industry so she really was a heroine that I could relate to. Even now I occassionally hope that my purchases will be allocated to the wrong credit card. And when I see a purchase that I don't recognise the indignation equals Becky's until the realisation that, yes I did spend that much money. Me, me, all me. 

When the opportunity arose to review the new novel (I owe you one) my heart skipped a beat before panic set in. Because honestly i absolutely adore the vast majority of Kinsella's work - I've read most of the Madeline Wickham books too. But I just didn't care for her last book. It just wasn't the usual mix that I'd expected in one of my go-to authors. Thankfully this book was much more like the ones that I love than the previous book. We have a relatable heroine who is underestimated by those around her, a love triange, confusion and sentimentality. 

I'm not going to lie, I know the formula. But I also love the formula. There is something reassuring about knowing from the outset what is going to happen at the end. The journey there may take many twists and turns but knowing where the story is heading is pretty reassuring for me. And enjoyable. I suspect, like most novels from the author, I will re-read this book again. 

I feel like there will be a Sophie Kinsella super post in my future - I do really appreciate her work. My ultimate favourite book is Forget You (and on a slight aside I am absolutely gutted that the unabridged version is not available on audible) although Domestic Godess gets funnier with every read. But then there is Can You Keep a Secret. Throw in the original Bloomwood trilogy and you have some of my feelgood reads. My do-tos for when I feel blue. I Owe You is not as funny as some of the aforementioned novels, but it's not meant to be. The heroine is less secure in herself and her abilities and that can make for some uncomfortable reading.

All in this book is absolutely a 4.5/5, to be honest I think it is 5/5 and suffering from my high expectations and anticipation going in. Because I have enjoyed some of Kinsella's previous work more does not mean that this book is not excellent - it is. It's very excellent. 

I received an advance reading copy from the publisher through netgalley.

A lovely lighthearted read. I have read lots of Sophia Kinsella’s books and enjoyed them, though I’m not a fan of the Shopaholic series.

This book is written in Sophie’s classic style, with likeable lead characters to root for and a romance that seems to develop well, but as always in these kind of stories misunderstandings and obstacles get in the way of true love!.

I really liked Fixie, though I wished at times she stood up for herself more, she only seemed to develop a backbone towards the end of the story . And the nickname - Fixie is a bit naff isn’t it?

I thought the description of Sebastian’s eyes being “forest like” was rather lovely and I really liked the way the relationship developed, all from a favour after saving his laptop from being damaged in a cafe.

Thank you to the author, Random House and Netgalley for the ARC and giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my review.