She Regrets Nothing is the kind of book that you want to read after you've read a lot of heavily themed novels. It definitely has a soap opera-y feel to it with all the drama and deceit. You know from the minute Laila moves to NYC she's going to get herself into heaps of trouble. She's a fish out of water who wants to grow legs and belong. Here's the thing about the super wealthy (I've learned it all from books and tv) is they are suspicious of newbies. It won't matter that Laila is a "Lawrence" it will matter that she didn't grow up with the rest of them.

Money, or lack there of it, does funny things to people. It can bring out the worst in people or it can bring out the best. Laila was an example of the worst, while her cousin Liberty was the best. Ms. Dunlop does an excellent job of ensuring these characters aren't too cartoonish while also showing that in some ways they are exactly that.

[REVIEW] She Regrets Nothing

tl;dr Review:

This book left me with a sense of disquietude and brought to mind Gillian Flynn with its antihero.

Full Review:

I’m still all every which way over this book. There were parts that I loved, parts that I loathed, and the ending, though it made sense, made me want to throw my Nook across the room. (FYI – I didn’t, but only because I’m cheap and didn’t want to break it and buy a new one.)

The publisher’s described the book as follows,

In the tradition of The Emperor’s Children and The House of Mirth, the forgotten granddaughter of one of New York’s wealthiest men is reunited with her family just as she comes of age—and once she’s had a glimpse of their glittering world, she refuses to let it go without a fight.

When Laila Lawrence becomes an orphan at twenty-three, the sudden loss unexpectedly introduces her to three glamorous cousins from New York who show up unannounced at her mother’s funeral. The three siblings are scions of the wealthy family from which Laila’s father had been estranged long before his own untimely demise ten years before.

Two years later, Laila has left behind her quiet life in Grosse Point, Michigan to move to New York City, landing her smack in the middle of her cousins’ decadent world. As the truth about why Laila’s parents became estranged from the family patriarch becomes clear, Laila grows ever more resolved to claim what’s rightfully hers. Caught between longing for the love of her family and her relentless pursuit of the lifestyle she feels she was unfairly denied, Laila finds herself reawakening a long dead family scandal—not to mention setting off several new ones—as she becomes further enmeshed in the lives and love affairs of her cousins. But will Laila ever, truly, belong in their world? Sly and sexy, She Regrets Nothing is a sharply observed and utterly seductive tale about family, fortune, and fate—and the dark side of wealth.

However, having read both of those books referenced in the description, I didn’t feel like this gives you any context or idea about what you’re about to dive into.

Personally, Laila Lawerence reminds me of the antiheros in Gillian Flynn’s novels. The semi-villians that you both root for and cannot stand for their narcissism and borderline evil.

The book also switches between the different family members in terms of who is narrating. While normally I hate this, I didn’t mind it here. But again, the book’s description doesn’t give you any indication of the whole family dynamic that will be alternatly narrating throughout this tale.

While not directly related to the story line, one part really stuck out to me. It described the “rich woman’s paradox” where one of the family members so loves her work that she does it enthusiastically. But since she deson’t need the money (and therefore, doesn’t chase after it like many of us do), it ends up coming to her in spades because of her sheer love of what she does.

In my daily life, I work as a career consultant, so I see how much people can chase after money. But it is true that when you truly love what you do, things seem to flow to you much more easily. Now whether or not this is a rich woman’s paradox is up for debate, but it was a very poignant take on a situation I see often in my field.

Overall though, it was a really well-written story and I wish it had been a big longer and come to a different conclusion. There were a few parts here and there that I felt like were left floating in the wind but whether this was intential or not is up for debate. Normally, I’d think it was a flaw in the storytelling, but with the way this novel is written and with how it ends, I wonder if it wasn’t done on purpose.

If you’re looking for a chill read that ties together nicely in the end, then I don’t recommend this book.

But, if you’re looking for a story that leaves you feeling all sorts of ways and sticks in your head long after you finish it, then I’d give this one a try.

Overall, I give it 4 out of 5 thumbs up.

I definitely enjoy Andrea's writing! It's always smooth and well crafted to keep you hooked to the story.

Laila, a Midwestern girl who recently loses her mother is introduced to her estranged family she never knew existed. They are socialites, wealthy, everything she never knew she could be, but should have been. Moving to New York she does whatever it takes to climb the social ladder to fit snugly in her cousin's privileged world, at whatever cost.

"This girl has only the brightest of futures, and where her past would be lies nothing. She is unstoppable and untethered. She loves no one— or at least, no one still living. Everyone has forsaken her, and she’s forsaken them in return. She has defended her own life and slipped from the grasp of those who would do her harm. She’s done only what she needed to in order to survive. She is the master of her fate, and she regrets nothing. "

This is a book with characters the reader will love to hate, I know I did.
So much money, so much entitlement and decadence. How can anyone want any part of it? The perfect recipe for things to spiral out of control. It was fascinating to watch the climb and descent. I had no idea how far this would all go, and I was blown away by the ending. This was deceptively nestled treachery dipped and covered in indulgence.

This is the third book I read by Dunlop (counting the novella) and when I read the description I was very intrigued. I won't lie, I liked Losing the Light, but there was just something missing and I thought maybe this books could be the one I loved entirely. Unfortunately, it wasn't.
The story is interesting, but it was too...shallow for me and a little bit slow in several parts. I could never like Laila or the twins, although I did like Liberty. I'll be honest with this too, the book does keep you reading. Maybe it was because I needed more and I just wanted to know if reading more I could finally find that something that was missing, but I never truly did.
The idea is appealing, the story is interesting enough but I just wish it had been deeper or that there were more likable characters.
In the end it was and OK book for me, but I don't know if I'll ever read more books like this one.

I'm one of those people who struggles with quitting books I'm not enjoying. The thing is, the vast majority of the time, I finish reading it and then regret the time I spent on it. Every once in a while, though, I push through and then I regret nothing (see what I did there?). This is one of those books about which I felt one way while reading it and another once I had finished.

I found the hook of this story interesting enough--cousins who didn't even know each other existed meet at a funeral. From that point, it became a bit of a twist on the Country Mouse in the City trope--which isn't a bad thing. Personally, I like it when books take sort of accepted formulas and tip them over. However, I also started to have some problems with the book.

I think the biggest issue for me were the characters. The only character I found likable was Liberty. However, I'm not the sort of reader who needs to like all the characters in a book. But, what I do need is to find them interesting and, again, Liberty was the only one who fit the bill. Nora and Leo were nothing more than the very predictable and cliched trust fund babies and Laila, well, I wasn't sure about Laila.

As the story progressed and we were introduced to more secondary characters, I think the direction of the book became more clear, but it was bogged down with rather unrealistic plot points. While I became frustrated with the more tropish nature of the book, I was still interested enough to keep going.

This is a book where everything seems to happen in the last quarter. Personally, I don't think that is an especially wise move as it risks losing readers (it almost lost me a few times), but it does reward readers who stick with it a good pay off. My opinion of the book once I finished was vastly different from the opinion I held up to that point. While I thought I was reading a rather run-of-the-mill piece about the Manhattan rich, I ended up reading a chilling character piece. And, yes, that is a great experience...but that doesn't make it less frustrating to have to struggle through the rest of it.

So, would I recommend this book? Yes...possibly. However, I would preface any recommendation with the warning that a reader just has to trust that it will all pay off in the end.

Lately I have had a desire to read a few more contemporary novels that are out of my traditional review genre. I have been particularly interested in books about ‘lifestyles of the rich and famous’ but with a darker twist.

That was what caught my eye about this book…..it sounded like something a little more complex than regular contempo lit. I liked that it featured the wealthy and privileged society but at the same time showed the seedier side of money. It was not a hard sell for me to read this book.

In the tradition of The Emperor’s Children and The House of Mirth,the forgotten granddaughter of one of New York’s wealthiest men is reunited with her family just as she comes of age—and once she’s had a glimpse of their glittering world, she refuses to let it go without a fight.

When Laila Lawrence becomes an orphan at twenty-three, the sudden loss unexpectedly introduces her to three glamorous cousins from New York who show up unannounced at her mother’s funeral. The three siblings are scions of the wealthy family from which Laila’s father had been estranged long before his own untimely demise ten years before.


Two years later, Laila has left behind her quiet life in Grosse Point, Michigan to move to New York City, landing her smack in the middle of her cousins’ decadent world. As the truth about why Laila’s parents became estranged from the family patriarch becomes clear, Laila grows ever more resolved to claim what’s rightfully hers.

Caught between longing for the love of her family and her relentless pursuit of the lifestyle she feels she was unfairly denied, Laila finds herself reawakening a long dead family scandal—not to mention setting off several new ones—as she becomes further enmeshed in the lives and love affairs of her cousins. But will Laila ever, truly, belong in their world? Sly and sexy, She Regrets Nothing is a sharply observed and utterly seductive tale about family, fortune, and fate—and the dark side of wealth (summary from Goodreads).

So let’s get the obvious out of the way, this is a book about rich, privileged people. So if you have a problem with that then you might not want to read this book. The characters live lives that most readers will only dream about and their ‘problems’ aren’t even on the same level as a normal person which makes some of the characters a little unreliable. But for me, I liked the glamour and glitz of the rich and famous. I didn’t care that their ‘problems’ weren’t really ‘problems’ in the normal sense, I knew what I was most likely going to get when I agreed to read this novel. Rich people problems.

This book was really meant to be a character study. Characters should have driven this novel and for me it fell a little short in that. Even though the characters were about as far from ‘average’ as you could get, I had a hard time really liking any of them. I don’t mind if there are characters that I don’t like but eventually I think that at least one needs to be able to redeem themselves, in this book that wasn’t the case. I didn’t really feel like there was very much character development or change throughout the book. The characters are complexed enough but there wasn’t really any development in my opinion.

I think what would have helped me enjoy the story more was an older heroine. Laila was 23, I am a good decade older than her, even though she was a character I loved to hate–I didn’t connect with her beyond that and I think a lot of that had to do with the fact that I am much older than her and am reading the story through the lens of a 30 something.

I did enjoy seeing how the other half lives and examining their lives, secrets, and issues. I know this comparison is going to sounds random, but I love Law and Order and I especially love when they have a ‘rich and famous’ scandal or murder. To me this book reminded me of a Law and Order episode set within the upper echelons of Manhattans elite. Even if the episode isn’t that great, I still love stories set in that unimaginable world that only admits the wealthy. And that’s what this book was for me….without the rich and famous backdrop I don’t think I would have liked it. This book was trying to envelop the reader in a world of glitz and glamour so even if the character development fell short, I still loved reading about the problems of the elite. I did keep reading because I wanted to know how it ended but beyond that I don’t know that I felt really invested in the characters.

Sure there were plenty of juicy, scandalous, and curious secrets that I think readers will like, but for me it landed in the middle. It was good but not great. Others might feel differently, but for me it was a solid 3 star novel.

Challenge/Book Summary:

Book: She Regrets Nothing by Andrea Dunlop

Kindle Edition, 400 pages
Expected publication: February 6th 2018 by Washington Square Press
ASIN B074ZMS8PB
Review copy provided by: Author/Publisher in exchange for an honest review.
This book counts toward: NA

Hosted by: NA
Books for Challenge Completed: NA
Recommendation: 3 out of 5

Genre: contempo lit

Memorable lines/quotes: NA

This is my first book to read by this author. I really enjoyed the plot of the story, but I felt the writing was not that great... I read the book cover to cover because I was super curious about the plot and how the story was going to end. If you love a crazy drama with multiple POVs you will enjoy this book!

Young Adult books are usually a hit and miss for me. Sometimes I love them; sometimes I am indifferent with them. Unfortunately, this one is the latter.

I had seen this book all over social media for months. Because it seemed to be everywhere I turned, I decided to scoop it up. It sounded intriguing enough.

I really struggled with this one. It was a bit much for me. A little too exaggerated, a little too immature considering the ages of the characters. There were parts that kept me going, but the character development ruined it for me. None of quite fit.

I am all for scandals and a twist here and there... I saw the twist coming from the gate. The scandals were a bit over the top for me. I just couldn't get invested in this book like I would have liked. There was too much ridiculousness going on from all directions.

Those that like the over dramatic, drawn out scandals of the rich, this book might be right up your alley. It definitely wasn't a book for me.

I enjoyed watching Laila's life changed as she went from being an average mid-westerner, to an orphan, to living among New York's wealthiest with her newfound family. Although just about all of the characters were very unlikeable and did horrible things to each other, I was still very intrigued to see what the outcome would be.

The Lawrence family is FULL of drama and Laila of course brings some family secrets to light during her time in NYC with her cousins that causes infinitely more drama. The book would make a great TV show, similar to Gossip Girl. I really enjoyed the writing style and the author's voice. The pacing was done really well and the overall writing quality was great.

Andrea Dunlop has become one of my auto-buy authors, and in her latest novel She Regrets Nothing, Dunlop does not disappoint. The reader follows along as Laila Lawrence is reunited with the wealthy side of her family. And not just a little wealthy, these people know how to spend money and have a lot of it to spend. They quickly take Laila under their wing in NYC and begin to teach her what its like to be wealthy.

She Regrets Nothing is fast paced and extremely well written. Dunlop has a talent for keeping the reader on the edge of their seat, and I constantly felt the slight build up in her writing and knew that eventually something awful or amazing was going to happen. I loved the characters in this novel and felt that each of them were important to the plot and particularly complex.

In summary, She Regrets Nothing is a gorgeous novel about deceit, greed, and what some will do for the love of money. I absolutely loved this novel and would highly recommend it! Thank you to Atria Books, NetGalley, Andrea Dunlop, and Booksparks for sending a novel in exchange for an honest review.

Rating 4/5

It takes tremendous skill to populate a book nearly entirely with unlikable -- truly despisable -- characters and still make it a riveting page-turner. Andrea Dunlop has done just that.

You may think you will like Laila, but you won't. Oh, sure she starts off as some sort of Forever 21-wearing Midwestern innocent, but give her ten minutes of realizing that she is a member of an obscenely rich New York family, and she sloughs off her discount duds for a sense of entitlement. Some of my favorite moments were when other characters point out her brazen desire to climb up in the social (and financial) ranks.

You will find Nora and Leo, Laila's twin cousins, entertaining, and you may even develop a fondness for them. While they, too, are entitled, they were born with it and to it. Neither can hold down a job (neither wishes to, which perhaps is the point), which causes them no concerns whatsoever. There were a few moments when I felt for Nora, but then she would say something ridiculously meanspirited, and my empathies would evaporate.

You won't like the twins' parents, either, and although you never actually meet him, you are smart enough not to like their grandfather.

There are, however, two characters you will love and who earn your love. One of them is Liberty, the twins' elder sister and an heiress who thinks like a career girl. She is too good for these people, and she's too good to realize that. Dunlop's pacing impresses because she knows when she needs to turn the story over to Liberty. If you spend too much time in Laila's and Nora's heads, you will find yourself overcome with irrational anger.

The other character you will love is best not revealed in a review. Suffice it to say that Dunlop is a smart, canny writer who knows that Liberty needs an ally, and this story needs to end on a hopeful note.

The ending, by the way, is PERFECTION. I loved that Dunlop never tries to redeem these people. They are who they are, and no amount of wishful thinking will turn them from entitled brats into tolerant, generous humans.

This book is perfect for book clubs. Dunlop gives you a lot to discuss and debate, and you will devour her storytelling. I loved this book so much. If you give it a chance, which you should, please come back and let me know your thoughts.

Holy cow! SHE REGRETS NOTHING is filled with family drama at its finest! Once I started reading, it was very hard to put down. The twists and turns kept me reading late into the night and I had to know what was going to happen. Laila has just lost her mom and her dad has already passed. She is truly alone. Then she learns she has cousins in New York City who are very very rich. Two years later, Laila finds herself going to live with those cousins and her life takes a wicked and crazy turn. She goes from almost homeless to wanting for nothing. As family secrets are learned, Laila decides to get what is due to her.

Just how far will Laila go to become part of this family? Is there anything she won’t do? I really disliked most of her family. They were snobby and Laila never really felt like she fit in with them. You won’t believe how far Laila will go to try and fit in and get what she thinks she deserves. Once the family secrets start coming to light, readers won’t believe how shallow people can be. SHE REGRETS NOTHING pulls the reader right in and when tragedy strikes, you won’t believe the direction the story goes to. I have never read Andrea Dunlop before but after reading this dazzling story, it surely won’t be my last time. I’m going to keep my review short as I’m afraid I’m going to give something away.

Do not, I repeat, do not eff with Laila. This girl is cray, cray. Hellbent on a mission towards the way to reach her goal. Be rich, like she should have been in the first place! I felt all kinds of sorry for Laila at the beginning. Yeah, she will do that to you. Her naivety and wonderment, so endearing.

A cousin of a major wealthy NYC family who has been denied her due. That would be the huge share of the wealth that was kept from her due to her deceased parents being ostracized from the family when Laila was very young. She regrets nothing is a great title for this book which I truly discovered at the end.

I loved how the author gave me an insight into what the character's are thinking. It really added to my enjoyment, a lot.

Lesson learned for me: You can have all the money in the world and it won't keep you from being cray, cray.

Sooo many times I wanted to leave Crazyland, but someone would play the crazy card again . . . and I was sucked right back in.

Great read, had major feelings for the characters (good or bad, always works for me).

Thanks to Atria Books and Net Galley for providing me with a free e-galley in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

When Laila Lawrence’s mother dies, she is surprised at the funeral by her three cousins. Three cousins she did not know she had. Laila grew up in Michigan whereas her cousins live in New York City, raised as the grandchildren of one of the wealthiest men. Laila’s father had a falling out with his father and brother and Laila did not live the same kind of life. The reason for the split is quite a whopper! A life lived on trust funds with partying and spending money like water, not the way she was raised and she asks herself the question, why not her? Laila wants everything she feels is owed to her. She does not seem to care who she hurts or steps over to get it. Her cousins welcome her into their lives. Liberty, the oldest and probably the kindest person in the whole story, lives her life differently than her twin siblings. Nora and Leo live vicariously off their trust funds. That is what Laila wants and what Laila wants…..

This is juicy deliciousness! I felt like I did in those days when Dallas and Dynasty were on the air. (Showing my age) There is treachery, seduction, social climbing and so much more. I could see Laila’s point in thinking she should have a piece of the pie but part of me wanted to see her downfall. It is a fun look into the lives of the rich and infamous in New York from the parties to the charities to the shopping to those deep dark secrets. It takes a turn towards the end that I was not expecting. This was the perfect escape from the craziness that is this world lately. You won’t be disappointed.

Thanks to Netgalley and Atria for a copy of this wonderful book.

“Love,” she thought, “is for the rich and foolish.”

Laila is just twenty-three when her mother dies, and she is astonished when her cousins appear at the funeral. Cousins? What cousins? In fact, they are from her father’s side of the family, long estranged—and they are very wealthy. Cousin Liberty wants to make amends, and nobody has to tell Laila twice. She ditches her home in Michigan, leaves her spouse, a dull dentist who’s blindsided by her sudden departure, and heads for New York City, to live in the style to which she would like to become accustomed.

Lucky me, I read this darkly funny story free courtesy of Atria Books and Net Galley. It was released Tuesday, so you can get a copy of your own now.

As Laila arrives in New York, the reader cannot help but worry for her. She’s never been to New York before, and she has very little money. She’s brought a few pieces of her mother’s jewelry, the only things of any value her mom had owned, but she doesn’t want to sell them. As she meets her newly found kinfolk and settles into a guest bedroom, it’s instinctual to wish we could grab her by the wrist and yank her back out of there. Careful Sweetie, you’re playing with fire. They’re being nice to you now because you’re new. When the novelty wears off, they’ll spit you back out again. New Yorkers are tough, and nobody uses people and discards them as quickly as the very rich—right?

There are at least a dozen places where I make predictions that prove incorrect. For example, given Laila’s trump card that makes her a possible heir, I find myself waiting for the DNA test that will prove she actually isn’t related to them at all…but that doesn’t happen. I can tell things won’t work out the way she anticipates because the author drops so much wry foreshadowing. But what she does with it at the end is both completely consistent with the protagonist as we know her, and a complete surprise as well.

Part of the joy this novel sparks is its understated quality. Some writers will drop something amusing into the storyline, but then they have to go back to it, explain it, make sure the reader got it and at that point it’s cold and lifeless. None of that for Dunlop. Stay on your toes; if you’re paying attention you’ll get it, but if you are distracted, oh well. Think of it like trying to catch a cab right after the theater lets out; watch out or you’ll be left behind.

I confess that I have read neither of the novels to which this one is compared in the promotional blurb, but to me, the humor is similar in some ways to that in The Nanny Diaries.

If you need a giggle—and frankly who doesn’t—you should order this snappy, cleverly turned novel. It’s a fast read and it made me laugh out loud.

This book was a DNF and won't be posting a review on the blog.

The main character came across as unlikeable and a gold digger, the story didn't seem to be going anywhere interesting and the author's writing felt terrible. A lot of telling me instead of showing, didn't flow from scene to scene. Just didn't read smoothly. I don't think this author's writing works for me at all and the way this concept was developed only managed to aggravate me instead of making me want to continue reading.

This book is amazing! I was so involved in the characters and story. I could not put this book down. I find the grit, the power and the family drama within the pages to be original, engaging and FANTASTIC. There is such a great cast of characters with a wonderfully woven tale that will keep the readers burning through pages and trying to guess what will happen next! A must read.

Liberty, Nora and Leo Lawrence meet their cousin Laila for the first time at her mother's funeral. They knew about Laila's existence by overhearing their parents talking about her, while Laila didn't even know they existed. Laila's father had a fallout with his wealthy family before she was born and moved his family from Manhattan to Michigan where she grew up. During the two years after their first meeting, the cousins keep in touch and when Laila divorces her husband, she moves to New York to live with Nora. Laila feels that because of the rift in the family, she missed out on all the money and opportunities her cousins had and now she has every intention of getting what she feels is rightfully hers, no matter the consequences.

If you love Gossip Girl, you are going to love this. Not only the shopping trips to Bergdorf, the expensive clothes and the fabulous parties, but it also has the same level of drama as the TV show. I didn't particularly like any of the characters, except Liberty, who felt more real and more innocent. Laila is very manipulative while the other characters are shallow and only interested in class and money. The plot is intricate and very well-written and there are a few twisty moments that will keep you glued to the page of this sharp and entertaining novel.

Laila Lawrence has grown up a semi normal midwestern life. When she becomes an orphan with the death of her mother she has three people enter her life quite abruptly and turned it upside down. She learns of family that she never knew of and this if family that live in New York City and have a ton of money to live the best life.

After a few misturns, she goes to live with these cousins and from the beginning the reader wonders if this was a good decision at all! You can see this life like a tidal wave completely overwhelm her and then maybe she gets her feet on the ground and then another wave takes her out. There were a few moments where I may have rolled my eyes because I think it went a little overboard, but overall I loved the story.

This was a completely character driven book. If you can't appreciate some crazy people than this book will drive you nuts. I like character antics and don't mind if it is character on character drama instead of major plot, so I liked this one. I have to admit to letting out an audible gasp when something really throws all the characters for a loop - it was so good!

If you are a fan of rich people problems, this is the perfect book for you. If you like major character stories, then you should pick up this book next.