Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for providing me with the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Every now and then, after reading a series of sometimes depressing and complex historical fiction novels, I like to dive headfirst into a fun chick lit story. (I categorized ‘Maisie’ as chick lit personally, although perhaps not everyone will share my sentiments.) I haven’t read Jenni Keer’s first novel, but I intend to do so soon in addition to her future releases. Admittedly, I was expecting something a bit over-the-top corny as I often pick those types of titles, but ‘Maisie’ completely exceeded all my expectations. Lighthearted? I’d expect nothing less from a cover and title so colorful. Corny? A tad bit. But boy, did it have substance!

My first thoughts: I am Maisie Meadows. Quirky, obsessive compulsive, creative, family-oriented; and most importantly, someone who chooses and cherishes the tight-knit bonds of a small group of friends. A young, professional woman who seemed like she had it all together on the outside by her way of generating order and organization in her everyday life, yet itching for a release through her abstract “art.”

But Maisie wasn’t the only enchanting character in this novel. There were countless others, each with their own importance to the development of the story, bringing their own personal magic and personality to the table. Some of my favorites included the dashingly scruffy and laidback Theo, the brash Irene, Naked Man, and, of course, Johnny Gildersleeves. (Hands down, I’d like to sit in an antique-filled living room and discuss my favorite heirlooms with Johnny while drinking red wine.)

Sometimes the climaxes in these types of novels fall short. Not in ‘Maisie’, though! In fact, the entire plot unfolded beautifully from start to finish. Nothing felt rushed or brushed over and there were quite a few plot twists I wasn’t expecting. The writing itself was strong, a style I hope to master one day; and the dialogue and description had me cackling aloud throughout—again, often in scenes with Johnny or silly misunderstandings the characters have about one another.

I look forward to when this book is published. I will certainly purchase it to read again.

I was so excited to see this book pop up as I loved Lucy Baker and Jenni Keer has once again created some superb characters in this book.

Maisie Meadows is a character that needs order in her life and is super organised, as the story progresses you start to see what led to her character traits and how she is constantly trying to remain in control of everything. I absolutely loved Maisie and her complicated family that she is trying in vain to pull back together.

Jenni Keer has a way of you into in her writing so you can't help but keep reading. This story is focused on Maisie trying to reunite her own family, whilst embarking on a new career where she meets some brilliant people who leads her to rediscover a link to her childhood through Meredith's tea set that she feels drawn too in a way she can't explain.

I read this book in just a couple of days and was gutted when I reached the end as I had fallen in love with the characters so much that I just wanted to keep reading more about them. Another brilliant triumph from Jenni Keer and I am excited to see what comes next as I have absolutely loved Lucy Baker & Maisie Meadows.

Absolutely fantastic had me gripped!!! Loved it! Can't wait for more from.this author. Storyline was great, characters were easy to.connect with

Thank you for the advanced copy

I spotted this book on NetGalley, the website that makes advance copies of books available to reviewers. The title and the description captured me and even though I was drowning in books to read for contests and reviews, I clicked to request it. My request was granted and I'm so glad. Jenni Keer's second novel, THE UNLIKELY LIFE OF MAISIE MEADOWS is a charmer. 

Maisie Meadows, the youngest in her family, is a bit OCD, a bit in love with her boss, and a bit obsessed with reuniting her far-flung and feuding family. 

By the end of Chapter Two, Maisie has a new job, new bosses, and no boyfriend. And she's grateful her two new bosses are a couple so she won't be tempted to date either of them, in spite of the fact that her pulse seems to ratchet up whenever she sees or touches one of them. 

There's a touch of magic in the story. And it aligns with Maisie's desire to get her family--if not reunited--at least speaking to each other, and/or in the same room, at the same time. 

To say any more about Maisie's job, the magic that follows her, her relationships with all her co-workers would give away too much of the story. 

Keer created fully realized characters who could be my friends. Or my daughters' friends. :-) The story is well crafted, although readers will know well before Maisie figures it out, the truth about her bosses and co-workers. But that's easily forgiven, given the fun story. 

I enjoyed this book a lot and highly recommend it!

Absolutely loved this novel! Excellent character development, and totally keeps you wanting to find out what happens next. Highly recommended!

If you're a fan of Hallmark movies, The Unlikely Life of Maisie Meadows, is the book for you. A cute, sweet romance!

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

This one took me a little bit to get through. A slow start, but when it gets going it's a charming read and one that could easily bet turned into a movie on the Hallmark Channel or Lifetime. The characters are enjoyable, the setting was unique, one I absolutely fell in love with, and the main character can be a bit naive. Despite this, you find yourself rooting for her on her mission to reunite her broken family. It's a charming tale about fate and family, even when you find them in a seemingly unexpected place.

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon for the ARC

This is the first book I've read by Jenni Keer and I really enjoyed it.

Maisie and all the other characters are brought to life beautifully by Jenni. I loved meeting the workforce of Gildersleeve's Antiques, the Meadows family (including Nigel) and the Mayhew family.

This book combines friendship, antiques, family issues, communication difficulties, romance and magic into a story that I didn't want to put down. I will be recommending this to friends and family.

Thanks to NetGalley for a digital review copy in return for a honest review.

The Unlikely Life of Maisie Meadows was a beautiful women’s fiction that revolved around life of Maisie Meadows and mysterious, magical tea set that changed Maisie’s life and perspective. It was about family, friendship, and love; embracing life no matter how unlikely things happened and try to live fullest; social media vs reality, read interaction and connection; quirkiness and imperfection.

Characters-

Maisie was wonderful character. She was caring, orderly, organized and wanted control in life, but deep inside she and her family was a mess that reflected in her paintings. No she was not painter, it’s just hobby, she was marketing executive and she was amazing at that. I liked her trying to form bond with all staff of Gildersleeve’s, and loved her for accepting her mistakes, efforts of being better person not acting like her ungrateful siblings. As the book progressed, her views towards life, family and need for perfection and appearance changed.

Theo was opposite of Maisie and yet they both brought out the best in each other. He was disorganized, scruffy and old fashioned, no-social-media person and was 80s fan. Oh, but he was nicest charming, down to earth and easy –to-be-with person and so so caring for his staff. I loved everything about this guy. I could see why Maisie couldn’t stop falling in love with her boss, ‘again’.

I enjoyed reading about all secondary characters in this book. They were all quirky, had their own story and had guilt and made mistakes in life but at the end, they embraced life. They all played important role in unlikely life of Maisie. My most favorites were Johnny and Arthur.

What I Liked-

Loved that cover. Color, design everything makes it beautiful and so relevant. Writing was smooth, charming, and utterly flamboyant just like Johnny. The Gildersleeve’s auction house, the items came for sell, its quirky staff and the way auction was held everything about it made the perfect setting. The plot was also interesting with thoughtful message.

Book started with betrayal that changed Maisie’s status to jobless and loveless, end of all Christmas plan and resulted in the New Year resolution- get over the heartbreak and find a new job that she did as a marketing executive at Gildersleeve’s auction house. No handsome boss around to romanticize and not entirely stick to desk job lured her in but little she knew about other old fashioned and a very charming partner of auction house who can prove her decision wrong.

Good thing that happened, she found Meredith’s teapot at auction house that brought back childhood memory. She desperately wanted her picture perfect Christmas with family like she remembered from childhood, when her family was still together. She found hope when she started reuniting Meredith’s tea set. She was certain this quirky teapot had some magical spell and she was out on a mission ‘reuniting Meredith’s tea set and her family members’.

Will she able to find all items of tea set? Was it just superstitious or the tea set really had something magical about it? Will her dream to reunite all scattered Meadows together come true? Will she fall for her boss or have to face another disappointment?

I loved finding answers to all these questions. My favorite part of the book was reading the story of Mayhew sisters, Arthur, history related to tea set and knowing each Meadows closely through Maisie’s perspective. It was interesting how tea set affected all sisters’ life and how on reuniting it was changing Maisie’s life. More surprising was the meaning of the tea-set’s name and how it worked differently with different group.

I also loved the thoughtful messages on family and friends, how imperfections has its own beauty, not everything needs to be perfect, tidy and as good as new, how used imperfect things comes by Gildersleeve’s has history and memory. Difference between social media and old fashioned way of interacting and engaging people for marketing was nicely represented.

Both Maisie and Theo made a great team and I enjoyed seeing their relationship blossom in story. Their banter over social media was endearing, both proved their point and accepted it graciously. Maisie’s relation with her family, Mayhew sisters and auction house staff was amazing. There were some hilarious moments (that old man at Willow Tree House was mind blowing), some tense and some emotional moments that made plot gripping and refreshing.

The climax was brilliant. I couldn’t guess what was going to happen when Meadows were gathered at Maisie’s place. All those confessions were surprising. There were misunderstandings, lack of communications and understanding other’s perspective that messed characters’ life. I loved how things settled at the end. End and Epilogue was satisfactory.

Overall, it was lovely, cozy, mysterious and magical women’s fiction with interesting characters and their unlikely life story. I surely recommend this book.

I found I really liked this story! The story was interesting, and the characters were charming. I loved the teapot aspect, and the scenes at the auction house were really fun! I loved how the characters related to each other. Maisie & her friends & family were so dynamic, I’ll be missing these characters!

As the title suggests, in this book we meet Maisie. It's New Years Day and Maisie has found herself newly single and jobless. She makes a resolution, to work on the relationships that matter. Maisie vows to bring her family, who are scattered near and far, back together.
In the meantime, Maisie gets a new job. She's working for Johnny & Theo at Gildersleeve's Auction House. Maisie finds herself drawn to the very lovely Theo. Add to this a mysterious tea set, a very jolly Arthur, shy retiring, Ella, the Mayhews and a rather dysfunctional family; and we have a wonderfully eclectic mix of characters.
Jenni Keer has this wonderful ability to forge what may be perceived as unlikely friendships amongst her characters. These friendships are so lovely and so very genuine. Age really has no barrier when it comes to friendship.
This was a thoroughly enjoyable read.

I was pleasantly surprised by The Unlikely Life of Maisie Meadows by @jennikeer thank you to @netgalley for this copy.
I’ve recently been turned away from books in the genre, the pleasant, cute, British girl. And initially it reminded me of a Jenny Colgan book and I was worried, but persevered. I am so glad I did! This was so much better, and not predictable like I find the genre typically to be. The story was interesting, the characters charming. I loved the teapot aspect, and it taking place a lot at an auction house was a really fun setting! I loved how the characters related to each other. I could’ve kept reading, and I’ll be missing these characters!
TW: Some adult talk and themes

An enjoyable read! Maisie is a likable character that you are pulling for. Her family is relatable and I would love to work at her auction house.

Adorable! Charming! The best kind of follow-up to a debut, what we all hope for when we love an author's first work and have high hopes for the second. Keer provides plenty to love here, with easily-connected characters, natural pace, a stellar sense of setting, and that narrative magic that keeps us hooked to the story and keeps us pleasantly surprised. There's not a cliché to be had here, which I loved. Maisie is lovely, and this is definitely a book that you'll recommend to all of your friends for a delightful beach read. Loved it.

A perfect summer read and a brilliant book. It was a fast and entertaining read that I really enjoyed.
I liked the cast of characters, the setting and the plot.
I look forward to reading other books by this author.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

Thanks to netgalley for an early copy in return for an honest review
This is the 2nd book I've read of this author and once again utterly FANTASTICALLY BRILLIANT
I laughed loads it's a wonderful light summer read great insight to maisie she is such a warm funny caring character I can highly recommend this wonderful book.

This is the second book by Jenni Keer. I read her first book also, and adored it! Her second book is a gem also! She writes stories with characters of various ages taking a leading role in the plot. I love the older population and think they carry a wealth of knowledge from their years on earth.
In this book, Maisie, the youngest child of her family is struggling with life. She recently left her job, her siblings are all over the globe and she comes to realize that she does not have many people to call true friends. The story is about loving people that are your blood family, but not always people you want to be around and that your family can include the people you love and chose to be close to. It is also about being brave and taking risks to better your life.
I think the author does a wonderful job of character development. I know the people in the book as if they are really in my life. I went through the joys they did and also the heartbreaking situations. The plot flowed extremely well and the book was very easy to read. I was all consumed in the story and as always, in a Women’s Humorous Fiction book, I was looking for a happy ending.
There are several twists and turns and I kept questioning my beliefs of how I thought the book would end. It was a great journey! I totally enjoyed this story and I hope Jenni Keer has many more stories to tell in the future. I really like her writing style.
I want to thank Avon UK and NetGalley.com for giving me the pleasure of reading the ARC of this book. My opinion is my own and not influenced by receiving the ARC.

I thought this book was a good light read and I loved the main character and her life and her family aspect. I also loved the romance she is involved in in this story it was all so good and well put together

I went into this expecting a romance but I got so much more. In fact, the romance was actually the one weakness in this otherwise 5 star read. Maisie Meadows' story is reflected in that of a old friend's tea set. Both are fractured in different ways; Maisie's family having scattered to the winds and the tea set broken apart by the original owners, each Mayhew sister getting part of it. Years earlier, Meredith Mayhew's grandmother warned of breaking the tea set apart, and as a result the sisters each suffered through their lives in various ways. Maisie begins the seemingly impossible task of reuniting the tea set after she comes across the unique teapot at the auction house where she's began her new career. Drawn to the mysterious teapot she begins to believe reuniting the set will somehow reunite her fractured family as well. The interactions of Maisie and her various family members as well as her new coworkers make this a very heartfelt, sometimes heart-wrenching read, but full of promise and healing. The only aspect of this book that felt off was the romance with Theo. I didn't feel any chemistry between him and Maisie at all, and after one disastrous work-related romance you'd think Maisie wouldn't two seconds later fall for another coworker/boss. The romance just felt forced with no buildup and honestly just didn't fit in with the rest of the book. Also, the numerous misunderstandings plaguing this relationship were extremely off-putting. I expect more from adults. I would have preferred Maisie meet someone outside her new job and for the book to spend most of the time focusing on her relationships with her new coworkers and her family. Still, this was so well written and so lighthearted with just the right amount of realistic family drama that I would recommend this to anyone wanting a feel-good, light on the romance, put-a-smile-on-your-face read. 4 stars.

The story has an interesting plot, full of unexpected turns that keep you interested. The characters are loveable, (with the exception of the ex), so everyone can find at least one person among them they can relate to. The story is set in the interesting world of antique trade and auctions. It also has a slightly mysterious line - it is up to the reader if they accept it or not.
My only objection is that it took too long for the happy ending and the occasional musings of the main character were a bit too longish and not very exciting.
However, it is a good read and I can recommend it to everyone who loves a good chick lit with a dysfunctional, but loveable family in the centre.