One plus one

Review by Booklist Review

*Starred Review* One Plus One equals one fine novel. With its ensemble cast of skillfully crafted characters from single-mom Jess Thomas to tortured goth teen Nicky and gifted sister Tanzie to Ed Nicholls, technology millionaire each person's story flows on its own, yet they all meld together into an uncommonly good story about family, trust, and love. Best-selling Moyes (The Girl You Left Behind, 2013) gets things rolling as this hysterically mismatched melange along with Norman, a slobbering 80-pound dog of indeterminate breed embarks on a road trip from the English shore to Aberdeen, Scotland, so that Tanzie can compete in a maths Olympiad. Her ability to enroll in a prestigious school rides on whether she can win the competition's cash prize. She's certainly earned the best education; her family just can't afford it. In a riotous twist and momentary lapse of good sense, Ed volunteers his top-of-the-range Audi, complete with his services as driver. There are high jinks galore as perhaps one-too-many gastrointestinal problems arise, but, in all, the trip, with what Ed perceives as its terrifying boundarylessness, delivers on its promise, just not in the way anyone anticipated. Bravo to Moyes for delivering toothsome characters in a story readers will truly care about. Is that Hollywood calling?--Chavez, Donna Copyright 2014 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.

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Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

In a small English town, Jess struggles to support Tanzie, her young daughter, and Nicky, the teenage son of her estranged husband. Tanzie, a math genius, gets a partial scholarship to a prestigious private school. In order to afford the remaining tuition, the family sets its hopes on Tanzie winning a math tournament with a hefty first-prize award-but the competition is in Scotland, and the car breaks down before they even get out of town. Their unlikely savior is Ed, a geeky software millionaire. The road trip that follows is full of comic mishaps, poignant moments, and a slowly developing romance between Ed and Jess. The characters, each voiced by a different reader, take turns narrating the chapters. Together the ensemble is pitch-perfect. Elizabeth Bower's marvelous performance makes Jess a deeply relatable, lovable, flawed character that listeners will root for. Ben Elliot is equally excellent as befuddled Ed, wondering how he got into this crazy situation and gradually realizing his feelings for Jess. Nicola Stanton perfectly captures the innocent young voice of Tanzie: her voice fills with pure joy and enthusiasm as Tanzie does math problems. With memorable characters brought to life by superb narrators, and a well-paced mix of comedy, tragedy, and romance, this is an audiobook that listeners will thoroughly enjoy. A Viking/Pam Dorman hardcover. (July) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

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Review by Library Journal Review

Jess is a single mother with an adolescent daughter, Tanzie, a math savant. Tanzie is so brilliant, she is offered a 90 percent scholarship to a prestigious school. Yet despite working two jobs, Jess is unable to afford the remainder of the tuition-until she learns of a math competition she knows Tanzie could win. In a twist that requires the reader to suspend belief a bit, one of Jess's housecleaning clients, a troubled tech millionaire named Ed, offers to drive Jess, Tanzie, and Jess's teenage stepson, Nicky, from England to Scotland so Tanzie can compete. During the hodgepodge road trip, the characters come together and form a new family of sorts. The audio performance is well done by Elizabeth Bower, Ben Elliot, Nicola Stanton, and Steven France, all of whom are appropriate and spot-on with their humor and emotion throughout the text. Verdict Previous fans of Moyes (Me Before You) and those who appreciate similar stories by Emily Giffin, Jennifer Weiner, and Dorothy Koomson should enjoy this sweet, heart-tugging family drama. ["With humor, insight, and an amazing ability to see how personal hitting rock bottom can become, [Moyes] has written an emotional, rich, and satisfying novel. Highly recommended," read the starred review of the Pamela Dorman: Viking hc, LJ 5/1/14.]-Nicole Williams, Rochelle Park Lib., NJ (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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Review by Kirkus Book Review

Popular British author Moyes (The Girl You Left Behind, 2013, etc.) offers another warmhearted, off-kilter romance, this one between a financially strapped single mother and a geeky tech millionaire.Ten years ago, Jess Thomas got pregnant and dropped out of high school to marry Marty. Two years ago, hapless Marty temporarily moved out of their home on the southern coast of England to sort out his life. He never returned. Cleaning houses by day and working in a pub at night, Jess barely earns enough to support her 10-year-old daughter, Tanzie, and her 16-year-old stepson, Nicky, whom she's been raising since he was 8. Jess worries constantly about sensitive Nicky, a moody goth regularly beaten up by the local bully. Math genius Tanzie presents a different crisis: She's been offered a generous scholarship to a private school her current teachers say she needs, and Jess can't come up with the balance. The only hope is winning prize money at a math tournament in Scotland, but how to get there? Meanwhile, one of Jess' cleaning clients, computer whiz Ed Nicholls, has come to stay in his seaside vacation home to avoid publicity surrounding insider trading charges. He and Jess share an instant mutual dislike, but when he ends up drunk at the pub, Jess makes sure he gets home safely. Partly out of gratitude, but largely to escape pressure from lawyers, his ex-wife and his sisterwho's nagging him to attend his father's birthday partyEd offers to drive Jess, her kids and their large dog to Scotland. A road-trip-from-hell romantic comedy ensues, complete with carsickness, bad meals and missed signals. Unsurprisingly, hostility evolves into mutual attraction. But Moyes throws in a few wrenches, like Tanzie's failure at the competition, Ed's father's cancer and the cash Jess has secretly kept since it fell out of Ed's pocket at the pub that first night.Moyes has mastered the art of likable, not terribly memorable, but far from simple-minded storytelling. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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***This excerpt is from an advance uncorrected proof*** Copyright © 2014 by Jojo Moyes Prologue Ed Ed Nicholls was in the creatives' room drinking coffee with Ronan when Sidney walked in. A man he vaguely recognized stood behind him, another of the Suits. "We've been looking for you," Sidney said. "Well, you found us," Ed said. "Not Ronan, you." Ed studied them for a minute, then threw a red foam ball at the ceiling and caught it. He glanced sideways at Ronan. Investacorp had bought half shares in the company a full eighteen months ago, but Ed and Ronan still thought of them as the Suits. It was one of the kinder things they called them in private. "Do you know a woman called Deanna Lewis?" "Why?" "Did you give her any information about the launch of the new software?" "What?" "It's a simple question." Ed looked from one Suit to the other. The atmosphere was strangely charged. His stomach, a packed elevator, began a slow descent toward his feet. "We may have chatted about work. No specifics that I re- member." "Deanna Lewis?" said Ronan. "You need to be clear about this, Ed. Did you give her any information about the launch of SFAX?" "No. Maybe. What is this?" "The police are downstairs searching your office, with two goons from the Financial Services Authority. Her brother has been arrested for insider trading. On the basis of information that you gave them about the launch of the software." "Deanna Lewis? Our Deanna Lewis?" Ronan began to wipe his spectacles, a thing he did when he was feeling anxious. "Her brother's hedge fund made two point six million dollars on the first day of trading. She alone cleared a hundred and ninety thou- sand on her personal account." "Her brother's hedge fund?" "I don't understand," Ronan said. "I'll spell it out. Deanna Lewis is on record talking to her brother about the launch of SFAX. She says Ed here said it was going to be enormous. And guess what? Two days later her brother's fund is among the biggest purchasers of shares. What exactly did you tell her?" Ronan stared at him. Ed struggled to gather his thoughts. When he swallowed, it was shamefully audible. Across the office the development team was peering over the tops of their cubicles. "I didn't tell her anything." He blinked. "I don't know. I might have said some- thing. It's not like it was a state secret." "It was a fucking state secret, Ed," Sidney said. "It's called insider trading. She told him you gave her dates, times. You told her the company was going to make a fortune." "Then she's lying! Shooting her mouth off. We were just . . . having a thing." "You wanted to bone the girl, so you shot your mouth off to impress her?" "It wasn't like that." "You had sex with Deanna Lewis?" Ed could feel Ronan's myopic gaze burning into him. Sidney lifted his hands. "You need to call your lawyer." "How can I be in trouble?" Ed asked. "It's not like I got any benefit from it. I didn't even know her brother had a hedge fund." Sidney glanced behind him. The faces suddenly found something interesting to look at on their desks. He lowered his voice. "You have to go now. They want to interview you at the police station." "What? This is nuts. I've got a software meeting in twenty minutes. I'm not going to any police station." "And obviously we're suspending you until we've got to the bot- tom of this." Ed half laughed. "Are you kidding me? You can't suspend me. It's my company." He threw the foam ball up in the air and caught it, turning away from them. Nobody moved. "I'm not going. This is our company. Tell them, Ronan." He looked at Ronan, but Ronan was staring fixedly at something on the floor. Ed looked at Sidney, who shook his head. Then he looked up at the two uniformed men who had appeared behind him, at his secretary, whose hand was covering her mouth, at the carpet path already opening up between him and the door, and the foam ball dropped silently onto the floor between his feet. Excerpted from One Plus One by Jojo Moyes All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

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