NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “A gem of a novel.”—Jodi Picoult, #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Spark of Light and Small Great ThingsFrom the author of Surprise Me comes an irresistible story of love and empowerment about a young woman with a complicated family, a handsome man who might be “the one,” and an IOU that changes everything.Fixie Farr has always lived by her father’s motto: … changes everything.
Fixie Farr has always lived by her father’s motto: “Family first.” And since her dad passed away, leaving his charming housewares store in the hands of his wife and children, Fixie spends all her time picking up the slack from her siblings instead of striking out on her own. The way Fixie sees it, if she doesn’t take care of her father’s legacy, who will?
It’s simply not in Fixie’s nature to say no to people. So when a handsome stranger in a coffee shop asks her to watch his laptop for a moment, she not only agrees—she ends up saving it from certain disaster. To thank Fixie for her quick thinking, the computer’s owner, Sebastian, an investment manager, scribbles an IOU on a coffee sleeve and attaches his business card. Fixie laughs it off—she’d never actually claim an IOU from a stranger. Would she?
But then Fixie’s childhood crush, Ryan, comes back into her life, and his lack of a profession pushes all of Fixie’s buttons. As always, she wants nothing for herself—but she’d love Seb to give Ryan a job. No sooner has Seb agreed than the tables are turned once more and a new series of IOUs between Seb and Fixie—from small favors to life-changing moments—ensues. Soon Fixie, Ms. Fixit for everyone else, is torn between her family and the life she really wants. Does she have the courage to take a stand? Will she finally grab the life, and love, she really wants?
Praise for I Owe You One
“This book is a shot of pure joy!”—Jenny Colgan, author of The Bookshop on the Corner
“A humorous exploration of family life, finding love and the difficulties of coming into one’s own as a young professional woman . . . The entertaining cast of characters . . . will certainly remind readers why nineteen years after her first hit Kinsella remains one of the reigning queens of women’s fiction.”—The Washington Post
“I Owe You One is another impossibly delightful story by Sophie Kinsella, a must-read for her die-hard fans and new readers alike.”—PopSugar
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This is my first Sophie Kinsella book, and I was definitely thrilled! I couldn’t put it down from page 189. I highly recommend it!
Tremendously annoying characters and contrived plot devices that just made me cringe. Kinsella can do, and has done, better.
Always a good read from her.
Such a happy read!
Wonderful book! Sophie Kinsella NEVER disappoints…a wonderful read. Perfect chick-lit!
I have read everything Kinsella has written and I am a huge fan. I love the humor of her storytelling mixed with some true-to-life situations. This book was a bit unexpected. Her light style is definitely heavier in this book and the humor, however there, is not the same as in other books. That said, I loved it. The main character, Fixie, is a soft-hearted, all-giving woman who feels guilty for everything that doesn’t work even those things that are not in any way her fault. I found myself frustrated with her at times and I wanted to shake her, but I did understand where she was coming from. She was human and I liked that about her character. I do wish she had snapped out of it earlier in the story, but I know from personal experience that chasing those “crows” away is not as easy as it sounds. The characters are well developed and I love the fact that Fixie prevails in the end. Well worth a read.
Totally fun. Just what you want from Sophie – she’s done it again!
Another great, entertaining read by Sophie Kinsella.
Does anyone else judge a purse by the books it can carry? This bag hauled my latest read around everywhere with me this week because I couldn’t leave home without it… or put it down for any length of time.. nor did I want to finish it because …well then it’s finished and I’ll have to wait for the next Sophie Kinsella Novel to get lost with and spend hours tangled up in the wonderfully somewhat chaotic lives of the perfectly imperfect characters she creates; from Rebecca Bloomwood to Lexi Smart, Samantha Sweeting, and her latest heroine Fixie Farr. Light and funny with just enough romance to keep it interesting I Owe You One is the book you will want to take everywhere with you!
Sophie Kinsella is an amazing author. I have read several of her books and loved them all. This book was no exception. Fixie Farr is the poster child for being a family doormat. She has spent her whole life feeling guilty and going above and beyond to make sure her family and friends have all they need. She got her nickname as a child because she has an obsessive compulsive need to “fix” things. I won’t lie, I really wasn’t a fan of Fixie for the first few chapters. I HATED the fact that she was constantly not speaking up for herself. The more I read thought the more understandable it was to see why she behaved in such a manner. I LOVED how far she grew as a person by the end of the story and how great everything turned out for her once Fixie started putting herself first. This is a really great read. It is very addictive so don’t say I didn’t warn you.
I enjoyed this family/romance story. I received this for free and I voluntarily chose to review it. While this is not for the under 18 readers, it’s about a family learning to work together for their mom. The heroine of this story, Fawn, who goes by the nickname Fixit or variations of it. She just needs to fix things that are astray. This does not always work out for various reasons. With humor and some realistic sadness in parts, it shows this family growing up. I’ve given this a 5* rating.
Its been a while since I read a Sophie Kinsella book and it was good to read her again. I have always enjoyed her writing and this was no exception. It was an fun read. the romance was sweet but I did struggle with Seb towards the end.
I loved Fixie, she was a kind, sweet girl who always put everyone else first. She did make me want to shake her a few times for her to learn the word NO and be a bit stronger. When she finally did start pushing back I loved it.
The chemistry between her and Seb was sweet and palpable, even when they didn’t acknowledge their feelings, but I really did get frustrated with him when they split up. I honestly didn’t get his reaction and what he did. TBH I think he should have made a bigger statement or attempt to win her over then what he did.
Whilst this wasn’t my favourite Sophie Kinsella book I did enjoy it and I am looking forward to reading more from her in the future.
Fixie Farr’s family runs Farrs, a hardwares store. Technically, it’s more like Fixie and her mom run the store, while Fixie’s older brother, Jake, and sister, Nicole, flit in and out, doing their own thing. Fixie has always been intimidated by her siblings. Jake is pursuing his MBA and prefers the posh side of life; he’s always after one business deal or another. Nicole, recently married, lives at home while her husband works abroad. Fixie lives by the motto of “Family First,” ingrained in her by her late father since forever. This means running the store and looking after family, even at the expense of her own dreams. She’s lusted after the same boy since grade school, Ryan Chalker, and still lives at home, dutifully tending to her family’s needs. One day a stranger in a coffee shop asks her to watch his laptop. When Fixie saves it from being destroyed, he gives her an IOU. Meanwhile, Ryan returns to London from Los Angeles. At the same time, Fixie’s family dynamic faces a radical change. Will all of these moments force Fixie–who earned her nickname for her desire to always fix things–to face up to her fears, to become more forceful? Or will she let her family and the people in her life still walk all over her? And will she cash in on that IOU?
“Some people hear the Lord Jesus guiding them; I hear my dad, before he died, saying in his East End accent: Family is it, Fixie. Family is what drives us. Family is everything. Family loyalty is basically our religion.”
This book had to grow on me. In the beginning, Fixie drove me a little crazy. I was less irritated with her devotion to her family (perhaps I could relate there), but I was annoyed at how clueless she was in her adoration to Ryan Chalker, who was just terrible. And truly, Fixie’s siblings were pretty awful to her, too. There were very few side characters in this one who were easy to like. Even Sebastian, whose laptop Fixie rescues (and who, obviously, becomes her love interest), goes back to his girlfriend a little often for my taste. Which is sad, because otherwise the Fixie/Seb dynamic is quite enjoyable and really quite funny. Still, the poor girl was clearly under a lot of pressure with her family and the store, so I get some of her behavior there. As for Ryan, I’m not so sure what her excuse was!
Still, this book wins you over with time. Fixie is an engaging character and really, rather endearing. She can’t help but be who she is and she really can’t help whom she is surrounded by (except Ryan–let’s just all agree he’s awful). When Seb enters the scene, things become more funny, and things pick up as Fixie starts to grow into her own skin. This growth is a Kinsella staple, and she does it well. There’s moments of her trademark humor, as well.
Overall, this one is predictable but sweet, and once I got past some of Fixie’s issues, I enjoyed it. It’s a light, quick read. 3+ stars.
I received a copy of this novel from the publisher and Netgalley in return for an unbiased review (thank you!).
I LOVE Sophie Kinsella and I wanted so badly to love this book but I just couldn’t get past how awful Fixie’s family was. I spent so much time hating the way that her brother behaved, how her mother left Fixie to deal with him AND her uncle on her own, and how selfish and awful her sister was. I really wanted to love Fixie, and I did, except for the part where she left everyone railroad her in the name of family. Don’t even get me started on her inability to see what a jerk Ryan was. Literally the only not awful people in this book were Bob and Seb but they just weren’t enough to salvage this story for me.
*I received an ARC from NetGalley for voluntary review
I Owe You One by Sophie Kinsella a five-star read that will Fixie you. I am gonna be honest, for the first half of this novel I was struggling, and I wouldn’t even give it four-stars, but the second half just made me feel like I couldn’t put it down, I went from wanting to thump everyone to wanting to hug them and fixie them back together again. Coffee and IOU’s will make you love this story, Seb will push you and Ryan will push you further, and Fixie will do what Fixie always does and fixies everyone in her life. We could all do with a little Fixie in our lives. Sophie Kinsella is a compelling writer, if someone buys this one for you then you will owe them more than one.
Fixie Farr is a fixer of all things, so when she feels responsible to keep the family business going, chaos ensues. This was a charming story by the amazing Sophie Kinsella, who write such wonderfully captivating and witty characters. A delightful, fight for what you want romance!
Overall, I enjoyed this latest release by Kinsella. But while reading it, I had to ask myself why so many heroines in women’s fiction/chic-lit depicted as such doormats in the start of their story? It *is* possible for a heroine to have character development/transformation without having to go from doormat to butt-kicking superwoman.
I will say that the way that Fixie’s family treated her was so bad, it actually made it somewhat hard for me to read initially. I really wanted to throat-punch someone on more than one ocassion. They were just horrible. I get that parents can have blind spots with regards to their children and their behavior, but it seems like Fixie’s mom just chose to have blinders on and ignore how abysmally her older children treated (bullied?) her youngest.
However, true to the requisite character development, Fixie finally “grew a pair” and stood up to her ridiculous family. The overnight about-face change in behavior from her brother and sister once she DID stand up to them is probably somewhat unrealistic, but I was willing to overlook it.
Fixie’s relationship with Seb seemed a bit odd as well. One minute he was dating someone else, the next he and Fixie are essentially living together and then the pendulum swung the other way again. It seemed a bit “quick” for me. Their ultimate reconciliation was sweet and overall, I liked the message about family, love and values that was conveyed through the course of the story.
*eARC provided by the publisher and NetGalley. All opinions are my own.*
I thought the way Fixie and Seb met was definitely interesting and showed what kind of person Fixie is. She’s a fixer and can’t help herself. She wants to make things better for those around her. But her fixing doesn’t always have the intended results. I’ll let you find out what she gets up to! I enjoyed the fact that Fixie and Seb kept seeing each other and kept a running tab. (You’ll understand this when you read it) But they seemed to be there for each other when it mattered most. Their meeting was unconventional and funny, but it lead to something neither one expected. I enjoyed the family aspects of this book and I really appreciated and enjoyed the way Fixie grew throughout this story. This was a cute, sweet, a little maddening, and endearing read that may or may not have brought a tear or two.
Fixie is a person that cannot let things be if she sees something that needs to be done. This is a complex personality trait that is both a blessing to others and often a disability to herself. At first, I thought her family nicknamed her Fixie as a negative thing, but as the story unfolds I found out that Fixie prefers this to her real name and it definitely suits her more.
This is a bit of a Cinderella story. She is the workhorse of her family’s business taking the model of her parents and is happy in that role. Her siblings take advantage of her and she lets it go, since that is her personality. She voices her feelings to herself and does not often let them out. She is often a doormat and lets things go without speaking up for herself.
Fixie has been head over heels in “love” with her brother’s friend Ryan since she was 10 years old and he was 15. This plays into the story. Ryan is another person in her life that accepts Fixie’s gift of wanting to make everything wonderful for her family and friends.
She is in a coffee shop and is asked to watch the laptop of a person at a nearby table while he goes outside to take a phone call. She notices water dripping from the ceiling and senses that danger is on the horizon. She jumps into action and saves the laptop from a flood of water coming down from the ceiling as it collapses. Once again being a “fixer” for someone else, and not caring what position that leads her in. She saved the laptop and was then soaked with dirty water from the downpour. The grateful owner, Sebastian, give her an “I Owe You” that he writes on a coffee sleeve.
While Fixie is still blindly attracted to Ryan and lets him guide her to do things she doesn’t want to, a friendship develops with Sebastian (Seb), who has an awful girlfriend (sad for Seb, great for Fixie!).
The story flowed so easily, was heartwarming and realistic. The characters are expertly developed. I loved most of them and of disliked a few, which shows how well they were formed for the book.
My heart was attached to Fixie almost immediately. I have that same tendency to want to fix everything also, so I felt a connection to her in the first paragraph. I also wanted to pull her out the book and try to talk some sense into her at quite a few points in the story.
This was a fantastic story! I enjoyed the journey of Fixie becoming the person she was meant to be. I love that she grew but never lost any of her core personality and goodness. I high recommend reading this book!
“My nickname isn’t Fixie for nothing.”
This wasn’t a terrible book but I didn’t enjoy it as much as many other books I’ve read by author Kinsella.
The story takes place in London and centers around a family all-purpose store named Farr’s. The main character is youngest daughter Fixie Farr. And she could be quite annoying, a very wishy washy type person who was always trying to “fix” everything but never stood up for herself.
She has a pompous older brother and an airhead older sister that are supposed to work at the family store but instead dump everything on Fixie.
There are good moments in the story and that’s why I rated this three stars instead of one – and Fixie finally does get some backbone and stand up for herself. The romance had good moments and not so good.
So I guess what I’m trying to say is – if you’re a big Kinsella fan and want to say you’ve read all of her books, go ahead with this one. Otherwise try out one of Kinsella’s other much better offerings.
I received this book from Random House through Net Galley in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review.