I received an advanced reviewer copy from the Publisher (Simon & Schuster) through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

What It’s About: Charlotte Walsh is a Silicon Valley executive who is well known for fixing things and has even written a book about how to fix it. After Trump's election, Charlotte becomes one of the many women who feel a call to duty. She uproots her family (husband and three young daughters) to run for the senate seat in Pennsylvania. But things aren't as perfect as they appear and the campaign is not the place to workout marital problems or keep secrets.

What I loved: I loved the description of raising three young girls and explaining to them the messy world of politics. I loved the portions that were set on the campaign and I loved seeing a book that tells the story of a woman who wants to make a difference in politics after the election of Donald Trump, as there are now more women running than ever, it is time for this story. I also like the descriptions of Pennsylvania and the challenges that face the working class people and their frustration with the system, for the most part I think the book did an excellent job covering this, as well as the unfortunate prevalence of the alt-right and racism that has seeped into politics. I also loved the supporting characters like Roz, Josh, and Lulu.

What I didn’t like so much: I found the character of Max (Charlotte's husband) to be annoying, this could be because the book was written in Charlotte's perspective, but even when the main character made excuses for him, it just made me annoyed. The big twist made me angry (I saw it coming but I won't spoil it), as well as the ending.

Who Should Read It: People who love a good family story and political story. People who want a (fairly) light story that is a fun read and set on the campaign. People with liberal leanings who fit those statements.

General Summary: A woman thinks she can fix the government and runs for senate in her hometown state facing the impacts of her family life, while also facing the new reality of politics we live in. A fun read.

What a woman has to face when she launches a political campaign?

Charlotte Welsh is an ambitious woman, who wants to win the next elections and become the first female senator in Pennsylvania. Before she decided to run for office she worked as a Silicon Valley executive and was very successful at her job. She succeeded against all odds. As a child she was poor and lacked any prospects. At the beginning of the novel, she is married with three beautiful daughters and from the outside her family seems perfect.

*MILD SPOILERS AHEAD*
Charlotte’s decision to start a political career forces her family members to change their lives. They move to Pennsylvania where her husband stays at home and takes care of the kids. Charlotte herself is too busy with her political career to spend much time with them. She is focused, dedicated and determined to win. But she is not prepared for the total lack of privacy that her whole family experiences. The press is looking for her hidden weaknesses and secrets like a pack of hunting dogs.

No one is really interested in her political program. Both the public and the press prefer to discuss her clothes and married life. As a result she is forced to lie, lie and lie again about her past, political plans, opinions and family members. In spite of her good intentions she is unable to shield her family from it all. She is hated, she is insulted, while she honestly wants to help people and make their lives better. But the people doesn’t seem to deserve a new senator genuinely concerned with their well-being. They prefer a candidate like Ted Slaughter, a hypocrite, whose favourite pastime is spreading lies and hatred.

Soon the polls start to matter too much for Charlotte and define her life and success. Her family ties disintegrate, her husband boils with resentment. And her political campaign become an empty performance. Her speeches are choreographed and her message simplified.

What I liked best is that the novel reveals layers of Charlotte’s motivation behind her decision to become a senator. The author showed with great empathy what a nightmarish thing a political campaign can be (the reality, I am sure, is much worse). Charlotte Welsh is not a perfect person, but she means well. I can’t agree with most of her decisions, but she is entitled to make her own choices.

So, what the future holds for Charlotte Welsh and her family?

It is uncertain. But, I think that at some point she realises that she doesn’t need to win anymore. She is well loved by her family. She is a flawed person, but she means well and she deserves happiness.

I received "Charlotte Walsh Likes To Win" from the publisher via NetGalley. I would like to thank the author and the publisher for providing me with the advance reader copy of the book.

Thank you for my arc net galley.

The issues discussed in the book touch on a lot of things going on in the world right now. I liked the girl power parts of the book but found it to drag on at times. The back and forth of the main characters marriage felt like overkill at times. It’s worth a read though.

I really wanted to love this novel. As timely as it is with more women diving into the political arena, I wanted a take on what women faced going into a career like this. But it just left me mostly frustrated with Charlotte and the political process and just her general choices. If that was the case, what the writer intended than I felt this was well written. But definitely now my kind of story. There will be plenty who will definitely enjoy this novel but it was just okay for me.

Jo Piazza's book touches on some timely, important issues, particularly women in politics and the way we perceive them differently than we perceive men. We demand more from women when they run for office, let's be honest. And we expect them to adhere to a different code than that of men. Jo Piazza picks at this gash, demanding that you question why we hold women to a different standard simply because they lack a Y chromosome.

Piazza introduces us to Charlotte, a woman so driven to win an election that she picks up her husband and three daughters and moves them from California to Pennsylvania. She chooses to ignore a lot, Charlotte does, and she chooses to stick to a narrative that benefits only her. There are times when you will sympathize with her, and there are times you will think that she is reprehensible. Her husband, too, will give you mixed feelings, and don't even get me started on her team. These people revert to awful behavior far more than they do responsible and humane. There were times when I wanted Charlotte Walsh not to win. In fact, when the book ends, I'm still not sure that winning is what is best for her or her constituents.

The beauty of this confusion and apathy is that it has nothing to do with Charlotte Walsh being a woman and everything to do with the person she is. That, I think, is the most powerful message to take away from this book.

I wanted to like Jo Piazza's story more than I did. There are some slow spots, and I never felt like I got a strong handle on Charlotte's husband. I won't address the ending, other than to say that clearly the closure you expect is not the point of this book as far as Jo Piazza is concerned. You might feel otherwise. In fact, I would love to know what you think of the ending of this book. When you read it, please come back and let me know your thoughts.

This book had me laughing one minute and crying the next. I really couldn’t put it down. It was very topical and addressed so many different issues. I did feel a little bit let down by the ending. Still deciding if I didn’t like the ending or was sad the book was over and wasn’t able to answer if Charlotte won or not.

This is the perfect read for today’s political climate. It will entertain, enlighten, and, at times, infuriate. Intelligently written, with great character development of both major and supporting characters. Nice to have a smart, strong female protagonist. And, although some may not, I liked her.

Don’t let those who tag this book “chick lit” put you off. My husband read it as well and really liked it. And, about that ending….I think it was the perfect ending given our uncertain times.

I’ve been loving books about substantial topics that read easy this summer and I can now add Charlotte Walsh Likes to Win to that list! Though it reads easy enough for the beach, it’s full of astute commentary on women in politics, women in business, managing your image in public life, marriage, motherhood, and gender roles. It makes you feel how truly soul-sucking campaigning and politics can be. But, it also has snappy dialogue, a badass sister-in-law (Kara), and a Friday Night Lights name-check (the easiest way to my heart). Charlotte is a complex character and your sympathy level for her will probably flip-flop throughout the story. The ending will drive some people bonkers and made me say “WTF,” but the more I thought about it, the more it fits with the overall message of the book. An excellent choice for fans of The Hopefuls by Jennifer Close, for book clubs, and for your beach/pool bag!

I absolutely adored this book. It's incredibly clever but also unapologetically feminist. I loved Charlotte and her strong desire to make life better for other people. She's not a perfect character---she does at least one thing that is completely awful, and you could make a case that she's done other horrible things, too---but I also completely understood her motivations. She's a character who feels like a real person, like she's a coworker or neighbor, someone you've known forever. 

It also shows the horrible side of campaigning. To be fair, I was pretty sure how awful it would be anyway, but this is even more grueling than I had pictured. Charlotte essentially is on display ALL THE TIME and has to remember to keep smiling because if there is even one second where she isn't, that's the picture that will be in all the newspapers. And while unsmiling pictures of male candidates are totally fine, they make women seem angry. 

My only complaint is that I can't vote for her because (a) I don't live in Pennsylvania and (b) she's not real.

Highly recommended.

This book is excellent. I finished it five minutes ago and immediately fired off texts to 3 of my friends telling them THEY NEED TO READ THIS BOOK. The book follows Charlotte Walsh, a Sheryl Sandburg-esque tech executive, who decides to leave her Silicon Valley job and run for Senate in her home state of Pennsylvania. The book manages to be smart while still being addictively readable — think The West Wing — and illustrates important issues of female representation in politics and the struggle to "have it all".

Most importantly, I didn't realize until I read the editor's note that this is the first book to depict a woman running for national political office. It's amazing and important that Jo Piazza brought this fictional depiction into existence so we can start to think about and discuss the challenges women face in deciding to run for office, the scrutiny they encounter for doing so, and the hard road, both politically and personally, to election.

I will continue to recommend this book to everyone I know.

This book was a fantastic read!

Charlotte Walsh likes to win is the story of Charlotte, a successful businesswoman in the silicone valley that decides to run for Senate in her home state of Pensylvania.

Along with her husband and their three adorable daughters, they move back into Charlotte's childhood home and reconnect with her brother and family.

But we all know that politics aren't always fair and square. Will she be able to compete against her opponent, who is clearly determined to reveal all her dirty secrets? Will her marriage survive this race to win? Will her husband be willing to press pause on his own life and career to become a stay-at-home dad?

This fiction was both realist and thrilling at the same time. Since I was born and raised in Belgium, it was a fun insight into the USA politics as it is very different from our own political system over here in Europe.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone and plan on reading more from the author!

Well plotted and written novel of a woman running for Senate- and the ending is perfect! Charlotte and Max pulled themselves out of Elk Hollow Pa. and into Silicon Valley but now she wants to run for Senate. They pull up their family- their three girls and Charlotte's assistant Leila- and move home for what becomes as much about the future of their family as it is about the future of the political arena. Max is great, Leila is wonderful, and Charlotte- well, you'll feel her pain when she's pushed and tugged into clothes and makeup and shoes (wonderful shoe scene) that aren't her. I also like how Piazza portrayed Charlotte's brother Dough and even better her sister in law Kara with respect. This is light on the polemics and politics and high on the thoughtful look at what the many women now running for office will face. Even when her opponent calls her..... Anyway, thanks to the publisher for the ARC. This is well worth your time.

As a feminist rooting for more women getting in the race (and winning) in the 2018 midterms, I really really wanted to like this book. And I did actually like this book for a lot of reasons, but in the end it fell short. The portrayal of women in politics and the expectations placed on women over men (especially around having families and/or putting them first) felt realistic. The struggles women face to do or have it all and go above and beyond, particularly in business or the public eye, was relatable. While I appreciated the "realness" of it all, I went into this book looking for something inspiring/uplifting, given our current political climate. I wish the book had ended differently to capture more of that inspirational, "you can do it!" feel. Instead, I felt like so much could still go wrong or at the very least wouldn't end well for Charlotte - on one thing or the other.

All that being said, I think it would be an awesome book for book clubs - lots to uncover and discuss.

I LOVE all of Jo Piazza's books, so I was super stoked to read this one. I loved Charlotte. This book is what we need right now - a strong, female lead who knows what she wants and how to get it. That being said, I did not like the ending of this book. There was such a great lead up and then you get to the end and you're like "oh-kay, what happened?" Good book, slightly disappointing ending.

Cute, hilarious, witty. Jo piazza does it again with another hit with a strong female lead. Loved it.

Very timely story about a woman CEO that has had enough of today's political climate and decides to run for office. It's an interesting premise-of course she is running against the worst kind of hypocritical philanderer and she is running in my state so the local references appealed to me. I really enjoyed this book and would have given it four stars until I got about 3/4 of the way in when I stopped liking the main character. The story is more about her troubled marriage but let's just say that the title is very apt.
Thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for this ARC in return for my honest review.

Jo Piazza’s Charlotte Walsh Likes to Win is a timely and relevant exploration of what it’s like for a woman to run for political office at the national level. I have to admit that I picked this book up in part because I still have very strong feelings about how the 2016 Presidential election turned out and was therefore very curious to see how a book about a woman running for office written after that election would portray the political climate in America.

Charlotte Walsh is the successful head of a technology firm in Silicon Valley. She decides that she wants to run for office and after talking to her husband, packs up her family and moves back home to Pennsylvania to run for Senate in her home state. The novel follows Charlotte and her family from the moment she decides to run and hires a campaign manager, through every step of the way up through election night. We crisscross Pennsylvania with Charlotte as she seeks supports from the state’s very diverse population and we sit in on strategy sessions as she and her team plan their next moves.

In that sense it’s a very political novel, but it’s also so much more than that. While the primary focus of the book is definitely Charlotte’s campaign, her family and especially her marriage are also a huge focus. The campaign trail takes a huge toll on families, not just because everything moves at such a grueling pace but also because everything in your life past and present is suddenly on display and up for grabs by the media, the opposition, etc. If you have any skeletons whatsoever in your closet, no matter how well you think you’ve buried them, there’s always the chance they will come back to haunt you. All of this makes campaigning stressful and requires a great deal of sacrifice, and anyone who runs for office has to decide how much they’re willing to sacrifice to achieve their ambition. Part of Charlotte’s journey in this book revolves around how much she is willing to sacrifice to earn that Senate seat.

I liked Charlotte from the moment she is introduced. Those who know my reviews know I love a good underdog, and who is more of an underdog than a woman with no experience in government running for office in hopes of unseating a Senator who has had held his Senate seat for decades? While Charlotte has to fight tooth and nail for every percentage point she gains in the polls, her opponent can tell lie after lie, behave like a condescending jerk, and even go so far as to call Charlotte a c*nt on stage at a debate and not lose a single percent in the polls. Charlotte was an easy character to root for in many ways not just because of what she was up against, but also because for me, she represents all of the women who have decided to run for office after what happened in 2016. Through Charlotte, Piazza gives her readers a pretty accurate snapshot of what probably every female candidate running for office is going through.

In fact, my favorite part of Charlotte Walsh Likes to Win was how truly authentic Charlotte’s campaign for senate felt. Piazza does a brilliant job of conveying both the sacrifice that a grueling campaign can take, both physically and emotionally, on not only the candidate but also on his or her entire family, as well as the double standard and hypocrisy that is ever present when a woman runs for office versus when a man runs for office. From the moment Charlotte announces her candidacy, she has to start answering questions, basically justifying why she is running, why her life isn’t good enough as is without running for office, and even obnoxious trivial things like why she chooses to wear the shoes she does, the nail polish she does, etc. She is hit with this endless barrage of ridiculous questions that no one would ever ask a male candidate.

There were times when I wanted to say that the questions were over the top, but just following Hillary Clinton’s campaign for the Presidency in 2016 was enough to tell me Piazza is spot on with how she portrays Charlotte’s campaign. While every candidate who runs for office has their life scrutinized for anything that can be used against them, a female candidate’s life is truly placed under a microscope and it’s truly appalling to see what their opponents will use as weapons against them. In Charlotte’s case, for example, her opponent actually has the gall to imply that she would be an ineffective senator because she is the mother of young children. He actually states that she would neglect her duties as a senator every time one of her children has so much as a runny nose, as if being a mother is a detriment or handicap. That hypocrisy and the double standard kept me fired up and turning the pages. The more I read, the more infuriated I got, and the more I wanted to see Charlotte kick her opponent’s butt.

I wasn’t the biggest fan of the third person point of view used in this story. I felt like it kept me from fully connecting with Charlotte. It’s probably something that wouldn’t bother many others, but I think this would have been at least a 4-star read for me easily if the story had been written from Charlotte’s point of view in first person.

I also would have preferred a more definitive ending. I don’t want to spoil anything so I’m not going to say much more here other than there were a few loose ends I wanted tied up that were left wide open.

Charlotte Walsh Likes to Win is a powerful read that explores themes of politics, inequality, marriage, and infidelity. Charlotte and her family’s journey is one that should be relevant and engaging for all readers, especially women, no matter where you fall on the political spectrum.

This book was quick to start but really slowed down for me. The main character was not particularly likeable but had redeeming qualities. This is definitely a book for someone with a more political background and interests!

In a time in history when more and more women have decided to step up and run for elected office, I love how this book realistically addresses the costs to the candidate and her family. It also addresses the double standards and sexism that still exist and unfairly affect women candidates. This book was super smart and extremely timely given the fact that the midterm elections are only 4 months away and more women than ever have thrown their collective hats into the ring. I really liked the main character and related to her as a working mom to three kids myself. I also thought the other characters were well drawn and seemed like real people I could run into on the campaign trail. I really enjoyed this book and will be recommending it, especially to my politically minded friends.
*thanks to netgalley, the publisher and the author for my advanced copy in exchange for an honest review*

She is one of the most successful women in the Silicon Valley, but now she wants more: Charlotte Walsh is running for Senate in her home state Pennsylvania. She has got a great team, her campaign manager Josh has won several times before and is an experienced spin doctor and her assistant Laila has been with her in San Francisco before. But the most important are her husband Max and their three young daughters. So, the family leaves the bay area and moves in the house in the small town Charlotte grew up and that thirty years before she had sworn never to come back to again. Once the campaign starts, Max and Charlotte have to realise that they had no idea what these eighteen months would mean and the brittle marriage is getting closer to breaking. And their well-kept secrets suddenly threaten to come out when the fight for the win becomes ugly.

I really adored the character of Charlotte from the start. On the one hand, she is the successful businesswoman who made her way from a poor background to the top and is not afraid of taking hard decisions. On the other hand, we get her thoughts and years of success and a place at the top cannot prevent her from self-doubt and insecurity. She never really could get rid of the small town girl coming from a non-academic family.

Also the fact that she is constantly torn between having a career and being a mother seems to be quite authentic. Max takes a sabbatical to support her, but he is considered a wonderful and extraordinary husband – yet, he only does what thousands of women have done for their husbands and he still expects her to take over household duties. Even though they have quite an equal partnership, some traditional roles just cannot be abdicated that easily and more than once Charlotte wonders why this is the case and why she is treated differently from any male candidate.

Apart from those serious topics, the novel is first and foremost hilarious to read. There are so many comical situations that I several times wanted to laugh out loud, like e.g. when Charlotte picks a random pair of shoes for her first big speech since she is late and her baby daughter had “eaten” the one she wanted to wear and the media make a hype out of the question why she refuses to wear high heels and consider this an important statement – what she actually said was of only minor interest.

“Charlotte Walsh wants to win” is the perfect summer read, it gives insight in a political campaign which is fought with all means, also the very hideous ones, and adds to the discussion of gender roles and the question if women actually can achieve everything that men can.