Product Description

From a bestselling brand author comes a captivating novel about family ties, romance and leaving the past behind

Two very different sisters, Mia (still in love with Alejo, the married father of her daughter) and Britt (the ice maiden, who has ironically written a romantic bestseller), join a luxury honeymoon cruise in the Caribbean where Britt is the guest lecturer. Also on board are recently widowed Leo, still reeling from the discovery of his wife's betrayal just before her death, and Steve, a ship's officer who's soon looking for more than a holiday romance with Mia. Can Steve replace Alejo and is there any chance that Britt and Leo can see that they really should get together? When the characters head for home - Mia to Spain, the others to Dublin - it seems that all romantic options are off, especially as Leo rashly got engaged to glamorous, man-eating Pippin while at sea. But love has a way of triumphing in Sheila O'Flanagan's novels, even if it takes till the very last page...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2243 in Books
• Published on: 2009-09-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 512 pages

Review

Acclaim for YOURS FAITHFULLY and BAD BEHAVIOUR: 'A big, comfortable, absorbing book...bound to delight fans and guaranteed to put O'Flanagan on the bestsellers list - yet again' Irish Independent Review; 'A variety of sub-plots keeps the pace going, making for an absorbing page-turner' Irish Mail on Sunday; 'This heart-wrenching story of love, loss, betrayal is captivating... The depth of characters, snappy dialogue, and emotive storyline... should make this...[a] number one bestseller'

'Another romp of a read from O'Flanagan that will have you turning the pages with speed, eager to know the fate of the McDonagh sisters. Filled with romance, humour and as always a twist in the tale... A definite pick-me-up during the current gloom!'

About the Author
Sheila O'Flanagan pursued a very successful career in banking, foreign exchange dealing and treasury management before becoming a full-time writer based in Dublin. She also writes a regular column for the Irish Times and in her spare time plays competitive badminton.

Customer Reviews

The Perfect Book!!!
This story starts by introducing us to Britt and Mia who are sisters. Sisters who are polar opposites and have been thrown together onboard a cruise ship, for two whole weeks. Britt used to be a lawyer handling divorce cases, which as a bitter and complete unromantic, suited her down to the ground. When her marriage broke up Britt turned to writing and surprisingly managed to churn out Ireland's most romantic novel that was an instant hit. Being thrust into the limelight as the most unlikely romantic author, Britt has to attend a workshop onboard the ship giving talks on how to write your own romantic novel. Her agent has an unfortunate accident meaning her sister Mia is left to accompany her on the tour.

Mia has a young child and lives in Spain, following her own romantic troubles. The two sisters have never been that close and being thrown together for two weeks tests their limits and their relationship. The cruise ship starts the ball rolling for both of them in completely different directions as they meet Leo, the heartbroken widower who is struggling to move on with his life. Also onboard is the ships officer Steve who seems to take a shine to both sisters. They also meet Pippin, a glamorous wannabe model who is all blonde hair and gleaming teeth. The story throws all of them together and makes for some extremely surprising events. When the cruise ends they think that things will return to normal but as Britt end up having to remodel her house she decides to stay with Mia in Spain for a while which makes them both re-evaluate their life and choices.

When I first started reading it, unusually it took me three or four chapters to get into this, which had me worrying that; maybe she had lost her touch. Luckily I was wrong and by chapter 5, I was as usual engrossed with Sheila O'Flanagan's latest book. As usual she has created a really strong storyline with characters that you will love. Definitely one to read!

Sorry, but less than perfect!
This is the first O'Flanagan book that I had to struggle to finish. Like another reviewer I found the start very slow going but unlike her I didn't find it getting any easier as I went along. I was unable to warm to either of the main female characters and the male characters were worse, only two dimensional at best. Britt is a complete introvert, a divorce lawyer, who, after a short unhappy marriage manages to write a romantic novel which takes the world (or at least the Irish part of it) by storm. Her sister Mia was the epitome of a hippy chick and is now a single mum, living a peasant-style existence in Spain. There you have it, two extremes of lifestyle, setting the trend for the story. The book was overlong as the author used the gimmick of unfolding each character's story only in bits as the book progressed, which did not work for me as it meant quite a bit of tedious repetition. I hope that this is just a glitch in Ms O'Flanagan's writing career as I have enjoyed all her other books.

The Perfect Man
The Perfect Man tells the story of Britt and Mia McDonagh, two sisters who have totally opposite opinions when it comes to love. Britt, whose debut novel The Perfect Man was an instant success, doesn't believe in romance since her marriage broke up but Mia, single mother to Allegra, believes in The One and is still in love with her ex, Alejo.

The two sisters go on a cruise, a ship named Aphrodite, to speak about Britt's book and meet Leo, who is hiding a heart break and Steve, who works on the ship. Nothing seems to happen until they all go home (to Dublin and Spain) and they all have to take risks if they want a happy future.

I absolutely loved The Perfect Man. The cover, the writing, the characters... it was all fabulous. It's quite a chunk of a book - large paperback version has just over 500 pages, but there's never a dull moment. It reads like a dream and you could imagine all of the beautiful locations described.

Books set in foreign places are always high up on my list of books to read and I thought it very unique that over half of The Perfect Man was set on a cruise around the Caribbean. The descriptions of the ship as well as all of the places the ship docks are very well described by Sheila. I've never been on a ship but reading about the Aphrodite makes me want to go on a cruise!

The rest of the book alternates between Dublin, where Leo and Britt live, and Sierra Bonita in Spain where Mia and Allegra live. Sierra Bonita is very well described and sounds like a beautiful Spanish town.

For once, I loved all of the characters in the book. Shelia didn't write any of them as a villain, except maybe Alejo but he really he was more of a minor character. I liked Mia and thought it was great how, even though the love of her life had left her, she still believes in love and The One. Britt's hesitancy with love and all things romance, as well as her potential career change, was also well written and I could see both sisters perspective on their views of love. Britt's changing opinion on love was very well done by Sheila. Leo was the main man on board the ship and had a very sad tale to tell. I kept trying to second guess what exactly had happened and was pleased we didn't have to wait until the end of the book to find out exactly what happened. Steve, I felt, wasn't a main character but he was prominent to the story. I liked him and I wish he'd appeared more!

Britt, Mia and Leo had complex but very interesting back stories and as we got further into the book we learnt all about what they'd faced. Britt's failed marriage was an interesting one - she came across as cold during the first part of the book so there was only one obvious conclusion as to why her marriage might have failed. It was interesting to find out I was wrong and, actually, Britt was lovely. Mia back-story was great, too, and I liked the scenes in Antigua Guatemala which helped fill in Mia's story with Alejo. As I mentioned, Alejo is a bit of a villain and I didn't really like him. Leo's was the most interesting as I mentioned above.

There were a few minor characters, the main minor character being the Costello family who were also on board Aphrodite. Even though Sheila could have made Pippin, the Costello's daughter, really nasty I felt that Pippin was actually lovely. Usually models in books are written as stupid and nasty but not Pippin. I'm glad that she got her happy ending.

The Perfect Man was really well written and switched easily from Mia's to Britt's to Leo's perspective. It was a really great read, with a fabulous set of characters as well as great descriptions of some beautiful places. I wholly recommend it!