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I Owe You One
Cover of I Owe You One
I Owe You One
A Novel
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 Things

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Party Crasher and Love Your Life
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: “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
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 Things

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Party Crasher and Love Your Life
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: “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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Excerpts-
  • From the book One

    The trouble with me is, I can’t let things go. They bug me. I see problems and I want to fix them, right here, right now. My nickname isn’t Fixie for nothing.

    I mean, this can be a good thing. For example, at my best friend Hannah’s wedding, I got to the reception and instantly saw that only half the tables had flowers. I ran around sorting it before the rest of the guests arrived, and in her speech, Hannah thanked me for dealing with “Flowergate.” So that was OK.

    On the other hand, there was the time I brushed a piece of fluff off the leg of a woman sitting next to me by the pool at a spa day. I was just trying to be helpful. Only it turned out it wasn’t a piece of fluff; it was a pubic hair growing halfway down her thigh. And then I made things worse by saying, “Sorry! I thought that was a piece of fluff,” and she went kind of purple, and two nearby women turned to look. . . .

    I shouldn’t have said anything. I see that now.

    Anyway. So this is my quirk. This is my flaw. Things bug me. And right now the thing that’s bugging me is a Coke can. It’s been left on the top shelf of the leisure section of our shop, in front of a chessboard propped up for display. Not only that, the chessboard is covered with a brown stain. Obviously someone’s opened the can or dumped it down too hard and it’s splattered everywhere and they haven’t cleared it up. Who?

    As I look around the shop with narrowed eyes, I fully suspect Greg, our senior assistant. Greg drinks some kind of beverage all day long. If he’s not clutching a can, it’s noxious filter coffee in an insulated cup decorated with camouflage and webbing, as though he’s in the army, not working in a household store in Acton. He’s always leaving it about the place, or even thrusting it at customers and saying, “Hold this a mo,” while he gets a saucepan down off the display for them. I’ve told him not to.

    Anyway. Not the time for recriminations. Whoever dumped that Coke can (Greg, definitely Greg), it’s caused a nasty stain, just when our important visitors are about to arrive.

    And, yes, I know it’s on a high shelf. I know it’s not obvious. I know most people would shrug it off. They’d say: “It’s not a big deal. Let’s get some perspective.”

    I’ve never been great at perspective.

    I’m trying hard not to look at it but to focus instead on the rest of the shop, which looks gleamingly clean. A little shambolic, maybe, but then, that’s the style of our all-purpose family shop. (Family-owned since 1985, it says on our window.) We stock a lot of different items, from knives to aprons to candlesticks, and they all need to go somewhere.

    I suddenly catch sight of an old man in a mac in the kitchen section. He’s reaching with a shaking hand for a plain white mug, and I hurry over to get it for him.

    “Here you are,” I say with a friendly smile. “I can take that to the till for you. Do you need any more mugs? Or can I help you with anything else?”

    “No, thank you, love,” he says in a quavering voice. “I only need the one mug.”

    “Is white your favorite color?” I gently press, because there’s something so poignant about buying one plain white mug that I can’t bear it.

    “Well.” His gaze roams doubtfully over the display. “I do like a brown mug.”

    “This one maybe?” I retrieve a brown earthenware mug that he probably discounted because it was too far...
About the Author-
  • Sophie Kinsella is the author of the bestselling Shopaholic series as well as the novels Can You Keep a Secret?, The Undomestic Goddess, Remember Me?, Twenties Girl, I’ve Got Your Number, Wedding Night, My Not So Perfect Life, and, most recently, Surprise Me. She lives in the UK with her family.
Reviews-
  • Kirkus

    December 15, 2018
    An IOU from a cute stranger gets complicated in this fun story about family, loyalty, and taking charge of your own life.Fixie Farr, as her nickname suggests, has always loved to fix things. Most of her fixing is confined to her family's West London store, Farr's, which she's run with her mother since her father's death. Her siblings, Jake and Nicole, are mostly useless, and Fixie knows it's up to her to protect her dad's legacy. When she's at a coffee shop one day, a man asks her to watch his laptop. While he's away, the ceiling above his table caves in, and Fixie can't stop herself from leaping into danger to save the computer. Shocked by her willingness to save the day at the risk of her own safety, the laptop's owner, Seb, promises her a favor and writes an IOU on a coffee sleeve. Fixie never intends to cash in the favor--after all, she doesn't know Seb at all, and she's perfectly capable of handling everything herself--until the love of her life, Ryan, needs a job. Ryan was Jake's best friend growing up, and Fixie's had an enormous crush on him her whole life, even after he moved to LA to become a movie producer. But now he's back in London, and she wants him to stay...so she musters up the courage to contact Seb and redeem the IOU for a job for Ryan. However, it turns out that she and Seb aren't quite done with each other, and they keep finding more opportunities to owe each other favors. As Fixie tries to work out her feelings for Seb, assert herself to her siblings, and save her family's store, will she finally be able to stop fixing other people's lives and start focusing on her own? Kinsella (Surprise Me, 2018, etc.) creates a charming story full of quirky characters and laugh-out-loud dialogue. Fixie is a likable character, one readers will root for as she learns to take control of her own life.Kinsella's many fans will devour this warm and hilarious read.

    COPYRIGHT(2018) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

  • Booklist

    December 15, 2018
    Kinsella's latest recounts the misadventures of Fixie Farr, a young woman trying to keep her family's home-goods store afloat. When Fixie's mother has to take an extended leave from work, she entrusts the operation to Fixie and her older siblings, slick businessman Jake and flaky yoga aficionado Nicole. While Fixie wants to keep things as they are, Jake and Nicole have grand and expensive plans to modernize. Further complicating matters are two attractive men in Fixie's life: Seb, whose laptop Fixie rescues from certain doom in a coffee shop, and Ryan, her childhood crush, who is newly returned from Los Angeles and finally interested in a relationship with her. Fixie decides to use the titular IOU that Seb gratefully gave her to get him to hire Ryan at his investment company, which she hopes will pave the way for her and Ryan to become a couple. Naturally, nothing goes as planned, leading Fixie to reconsider who and what she really wants. Kinsella (Surprise Me, 2018) again provides a delightful, irresistible romp.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)

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    Random House Publishing Group
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A Novel
Sophie Kinsella
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