This book looked like a fun romcom with a bisexual lead and it didn’t let me down! I’m an absolute sucker for books that feature Australian characters and books that feature fat leads so I knew going in that this was the book for me. The characters were really enjoyable and the pace was just right, there was no point where I felt it was too fast or too slow. It’s not a favourite but it was an enjoyable read!

After eighteen months of heartache Noni needs to jump back into her life. Deciding to take a six month sabbatical for work to travel around Europe on a “pleasure quest” seems like the perfect idea.

This is a steamy, feel good, hilarious, heartbreaking novel. It certainly was a pleasure to read... now where do I find Beau?’

Sometimes you just want to read a great easy book that makes you smile! This, my friends, is that book!
It is sexy as hell, and had me chuckling to myself in so many parts, and I loved every character along for the ride - even Callum!
Just a super fun read with a lovely theme of just grabbing life with both hands and doing what makes you happy!
I absolutely loved it!
It sure has been a pleasure, Noni Blake!

Thank you to NetGalley and MIRA for the ARC of this book.

This was a fun, relatable, empowering read. The characters are lovely (well, most of them), there's a fun trip across the UK, and it's great to follow Noni's self-love journey. Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would. I know this is a personal preference, but there's just way too much sex happening for me. By like the fourth hookup, I started to skim those scenes because they added nothing to my reading experience. I would have liked it more if we had gotten to see more of Noni's activities in England/Scotland rather than hearing about all the sex in detail. I also didn't really vibe with the humor; I found it more campy/cringe than funny. Idk, I felt like this is a book I normally would have loved, but it just fell a bit flat for me.

Regardless of my personal experience, I know a lot of people love this book, and I think Claire Christian has done a great job creating a book that resonates with so may people!

This book was such a pleasure to read! The cover is one of my favourites of 2020 so far and the story is just perfect. Steamy, hilarious and there is a hot, tattooed Viking who you can mentally drool over. 🤤

At the end of a 9 year relationship and a series of awkward and hilarious one night stands, Noni wonders what’s next. She decided to travel to Europe to reunite with Molly - the one that got away. Noni’s quest for love begins to morph into something else though, a quest for self love, self care and joy. A ‘pleasure quest’ cantered around herself and what she wants. I did get frustrated by the two lead characters in the last 20%, but it all worked out in the end. 💕

*I was provided with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are mine.*

Noni Blake is a 36 year old bisexual Australian woman who has recently ended a nine year relationship that had a long slow leak; like waking up disoriented on an sunken air mattress at your parent's the day after Thanksgiving and you've practically become one with the hardwood floor. Sensing the need for a big change, she writes up her "should've banged" list and embarks on pleasure-seeking tour of Europe, as one does.

This book was so well written and laugh-out-loud funny. The narrative immediately reminded me of Eat Pray Love but less self-important, or Bridget Jones's Diary but less vapid. The writing style was so Australian that I frequently found myself reading in my head in an Australian accent. I will let you decide for yourself if that is a feature or a bug.

But let me cut right to my main point. I cannot overstate the importance of a fat romance heroine in the year of our lord 2020. Noni has brokered a relatably treacherous balance between confidence and self-doubt when it comes to her body, but what was truly mind-boggling to me was the bold way she sought out sexual partners and the number of times she was referred to as "so fucking hot" (or some variation) by said partners. And not just other fat partners, mind you. People of all body types. Truly wild.

Conventionally attractive bird-boned heroines are literally a dime a dozen in romance. Fat women do not casually get called "so fucking hot" on page. Like ever. More than once I flipped back to Noni's physical description thinking to myself "hm, is she maybe thin but thinks she's fat?," but no, not the case. And that's so important. Fat women do get to have great sex with people that think they're a fucking goddess, and it's long past time for that idea to become mainstream.

Beau, for god's sake, BEAU!! What a cinnamon roll! He's kind and funny and sweet and calls Noni on her bullshit in the most straightforward but gentle way. Noni is quirky as hell and Beau is 👏 here 👏 for 👏 it, which as a fellow quirky girl I adored. I also loved that he didn't pressure her at height of the conflict, but also set the boundary that he needed for his own emotional health. Writing an emotionally intelligent character is an art and I think my girl Claire Christian nailed it. Finally, I'm normally a hard "no thank you" on main characters with kids but the relationship between Beau and Zeppelin was very sweet.

Speaking of Zeppelin, the side characters were well written and there were many. Although some were more fully realized than others, they all served their purpose in moving the narrative along. I especially enjoyed that we got to see some brief glimpses of Lindell's interior life. Lil was also a highlight for me. Noni had all the right building blocks for her journey of pleasure and self-discovery and Lil really helped her mortar a few key pieces together.

The one thing I'll say that seemed truly egregious was Noni's brief tryst with Ben (essentially a throwaway character from the first 10%), a known white supremacist. She appropriately condemns his views but not until after she's slept with him. Always and forever, but especially in light of current events, it just seemed tone deaf. Having him be your garden variety dead end townie would've done just fine. Friends don't let friends sleep with white supremacists.

The conflict with Beau at the end had a fairly transparent resolution, so it sort of felt like a non-conflict to me. However there was enough low-level angst throughout that the soft-ball conclusion felt right. The truly satisfying resolution came from Noni's realization that she deserves to be happy.

To conclude, I came in with no pre-concieved notions about this book and I walked away quite charmed. It hit so many of the right notes for me - body positivity, emotionally intelligent main characters, a varied cast of supporting characters, a flawed and relatable heroine, and more. It feels weird to say I gained a new perspective on my own sense of confidence from a romance novel, but I really did, so thanks for that Ms. Christian. I give this book 4/5 stars.

Thank you for giving my the opportunity to read this book. I am really enjoying this book and so far I would recommend it to others! I will update my review once I am finished the book.

You know when a friend, a book friend tells you to read a book, you think ohh this is going to be good.
Wrong.... this is all the way to the moon and back, orbiting somewhere in the galaxy, fantastically good.

Noni is having a melt down, she’s ended her relationship after 9 years with Joan, the one night stand she just rather enjoyed, the fit firefighter tragically dies, and after a deep and meaningful conversation with her two male gay friends she decides to hop it to Europe and in her words go on a ‘pleasure quest’ - what’s that?
It’s doing small things, everyday things, that you really want to do but tell yourself you can’t because... because well because you just can’t bloody do them you’ve got to be sensible and pay bills, go to work, you get the drift and besides what will people think?

You know we all think it, and feel it and if your truly honest, we all have a million conversations in our head each day about what you want to do, wear, think, feel, and how you SHOULD behave...
well, Noni has those conversations. Reading this you are nodding and smiling in agreement as she sets off on a mission, and gets brave and begins her quest of finding out what will make her happy.

Meeting Beau along the way who is an extremely savvy, sexy Viking no messing god of a man helps and if you think this is just another Rom - com and your eyes are now glazing over your wrong. This book is a romance but is also about being true, doing what you totally want, - to eat,✅ drink,✅dye, ✅kiss, ✅fuck✅ (yes there’s a lot of that kinda talk and action in this one) and hell yes getting a tattoo ✅if you think you really should.

This is about Noni taking control of her life, sex with who she wants (that will have some squirming) (and some smiling).

A book that tackles, self love, self care, finally being just you.
Strong language, sex scenes and normal life!
Thank you Claire Christian for making me smile for 300 plus pages and Net galley for this cracker of an advanced copy and Text Publishing you’ve got a hit on your hands here.

5 pleasure quest stars ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Publishes 29 September in the UK and February for the USA

This is a fun, feel good romantic comedy that I enjoyed reading. It's one of those books that's perfect for when I want a lighthearted read, and I devoured it.

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with a copy of this E-book to review via Netgalley.

When fuck is in the opening lines you know it’s going to be a good book.

You know the feeling when you’re trying to pick and book and nothings scratching that itch. This book was my book, it made me feel all the feels. And made me stay up to midnight because it consumed me.

Noni is in a rut. Her life ended when her partner of 9 years Joan (the house, the dog and the failed ivf) left. Noni struggled to find herself and couldn’t build her confidence back up form a negative value.

The best way to get over someone is to get under someone else right? A sexy firefighter sparks her interest they hit it off and she has a one night stand. Tragically she dies and Noni has a midlife crisis moment and decides she needs a fuck it list of all the people she wish she’d fucked and a plan to begin her pleasurequest.

Noni backs her bags and heads to Europe in search of fulfilment, pleasure and exploration. Then she meets Beau, the hot, tattooed, Vikings that changes the course. Happiness is always the right choice.

Thank you for the early access to this book, you’re crazy if you don’t get your hands on it.

DNF'd at 12%. I picked this up because the premise sounded fun and I'm always down for disaster bisexuals. In the first couple of chapters, I found myself liking a lot of things including the author's voice, the queerness, and the main character's best friend. But then the story started taking a bizarre direction and I was done. I flat out don't want to read a book where the main character has reluctant sex with a white supremacist. There are a myriad number of ways to show a character hitting rock bottom that aren't THAT.

Ich bin hin- und hergerissen, ob ich dieses Buch gut finde oder nicht. Es gibt viele Punkte, die mir wirklich gefallen haben. Aber ich bin einfach nicht mit Noni warm geworden. Über die fast 300 Seiten wurde sie mir nicht sympathisch. Zwar habe ich durchaus mit ihr gelitten, aber nur so, wie ich generell mit anderen Menschen mitfühlen würde.
Super fand ich, dass im Buch sehr offen über Sex geredet wird. Dazu zählt nicht nur, dass Noni überhaupt Sex hat. Beschrieben wird auch, dass Sex nicht immer gut ist. In den meisten Liebesromanen ist der Sex der Protagonisten phänomenal. Das ist hier nicht der Fall. Noni hat schlechten Sex, Sex mit Männern und Frauen, masturbiert, probiert Neues aus.
Im Zusammenhang damit fand ich auch gut, dass mit den unterschiedlichen sexuellen Vorlieben unterschiedlicher Menschen offen umgegangen wird und Noni auch gewillt ist, darauf einzugehen.
So gut ich es fand, wie offen über Sex geredet wird, so wenig hat mir gefallen, dass fast ausschließlich darüber geredet wird. Sex scheint in It’s Been a Pleasure, Noni Blake die Antwort auf alles zu sein. Ich bin kein prüder Mensch und es gibt sicher Menschen, deren Leben und Gedanken Nonis ähneln. Ich war aber stellenweise ein bisschen genervt davon, dass Sex wirklich den allergrößten Teil von Nonis Suche nach einem glücklichen Leben ausmacht.
Alles in allem hat mir trotzdem gut gefallen, dass und wie Noni sich auf die Suche nach Glück macht und versucht, herauszufinden, was sie im Leben will. It’s Been a Pleasure, Noni Blake bringt eine „Moral aus der Geschicht“ mit sich, die mir wirklich zugesagt hat. Menschen neigen oft dazu, sich selbst zurückzustellen. Das Buch vermittelt nicht, dass wir alle egoistisch werden sollten. Sondern dass wir glücklicher, ausgeglichener wären, wenn wir uns hin und wieder mit unseren eigenen Wünschen auseinandersetzen würden. Und das wiederum hilft uns im Umgang mit Anderen.

This book is exactly what I hoped it would be. Noni is a character that carries a good message to her audience on body image and confidence. She shows that it doesn't a super major change in one's life to realize that it is time for a positive change. Her whole life changes, Noni becomes the woman she knew that she could be with a booked trip to Europe. Sometimes you have to remind yourself that you deserve to be happy. Not only was Noni a very likable character with a good message, the "Viking" is a fun love interest I've never seen before.

While this book was not my all time favorite novel, I can tell that there is going to a great audience liking this book with all of it's messages and life lessons.

Such a fantastic discovery of a book.

I knew I’d like this book within the first couple of pages; Christian’s writing is sharp and funny, full of little observations that reveal so much. Her characters are warmly and fully drawn. Even characters that we don’t spend much time with come alive through just a little dialogue or description. I actually laughed out loud at early hijinx, and that’s a rarity when I’m reading.

This book was billed as a romantic comedy, and it is hilarious and has a happy ending. But it also wrecked me. I ugly sobbed multiple times, not because of plot machinations but because the distance between me and the moment in the book collapsed. Noni is a fat thirty-six year old woman who realizes that she hasn’t been very happy. Life hasn’t been miserable, but a jolt happens and she feels the need to shake up her life. She travels, she sleeps with different men and women (I noticed that one of the other reviews said that they didn’t like the “one night stand lifestyle”, which Is both judgmental and dumb. Reading about a character having one night stands which are completely in character and in plot is not the same as doing it yourself), she spends time with herself. What I especially like about the book is that while there’s a romance with a really terrific love interest (the descriptions of his long hair alone are delightful), the focus is Noni. This is her journey; she’s the one who’s pushing outside her comfort zone. As cliche as it is, the biggest love story is the one Noni has with herself.

This is one of those books that, after I finished, stuck with me. I can’t wait to revisit it in a few months to see how it reads a second time. To get technical, my rating would probably be 4.5****, since this is a book that I really wanted an epilogue for, just to make sure everyone is doing well a year down the road. It’s not a perfect book, but reading it was a pleasure, which Noni would approve of.

*I was provided with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are mine.*

The description promises a light rom-com, and it does deliver.
I can't say this book personally resonated with me. It had its good moments, and I liked Noni, but I also never felt immersed in her narration. The idea of her pleasure quest is hardly surprising, but I suppose I'm not in a position where I could relate to her. Especially considering that I am not a fan of one-night stand culture. (Why does Noni keep making the mistake of jumping at every sexual opportunity for the sake of it?) By the end, I could not have been less surprised at her final decision, but it didn't feel sensible. Which is obviously the point, but... what's wrong with waiting to make sure that the relationship is truly worth it?
I did like some of the values that Noni's quest promotes, and she does undergo noticeable self-improvement through her journey. I only wish that so much of it wasn't centred around finding love and good sex.
Overall, I don't entirely regret the read, but it wasn't my thing.