Looking for historical fiction that’s outside of the WWII era? Look no further!

Better Luck Next Time takes place in the late 30s in Reno, Nevada. The Flying Leap ranch is a “divorce ranch,” a place where woman can stay for 6 weeks, long enough to qualify for Nevada residency. They can then file for divorce. This is one of the fastest ways you could get divorced.

The story is told by Ward, a ranch hand, who works at the Flying Leap. They help keep the women who stay happy and entertained. He befriends two women, Nina and Emily and the book is a look at their time at the ranch.

I really enjoyed this book. This is not something I’ve ever heard of before this book so it was very interesting to read something new and fresh. I thought the writing itself was very good and there was a lot of thought put into this book.

A light fun 4-star read about a divorce ranch in Nevada. I enjoyed the characters and the male narrator.

I received a eBook early read version. This was a lot of fun to read.. It was an easy, light read which was good for me in the midst of heavier books and themes. It didn't end as I expected. Characters to like and dislike and lots of strong women. It could make a good book club book, talking about the characters and what would you do and the like.

Better Luck Next Time by Julia Claiborne Johnson is the story of a cowboy, Ward, who works on a small dude ranch in Reno, Nevada. It is on this dud ranch where ladies who wish to divorce their husbands take up residence for the requisite six weeks of residency before they can legally file. It takes place in less than the six weeks of one such residency in 1938. The few men on the ranch are strictly warned to stay away from the women guests. This was not a bordello. It was, however, emotionally charged, simply because of the women's' situation. There were two women: Nina and Emily. Emily was a quiet, shy woman who had driven herself the 200 miles from San Francisco and Nina was anything but. She had flown her airplane from St. Louis. The story is told from the viewpoint of Ward, 50 years later, when a man approaches him with a group photo from that time. Ward approaches the story fairly, telling it as he saw it.

Ward was an excellent character, both as a young man and as an old one. He had excellent manners, was well-read, and was a hard worker. He had goals in his life and he worked toward them always. Nina was a strong-willed woman to whom life had dealt a bad hand. She had been trough several divorces but his was the most difficult: she loved him still, and he her. She assumed the responsibility of Emily's daughter when her father dropped her off at the ranch in an attempt to convince Emily to stop the divorce. She was full of teenage attitude and refused to treat her mother decently. Emily, as it turned out, had strength of character beyond what anyone would have assumed, especially the reader. This was a story nicely told, with twists and turn, which emulated real life, yet surprised the real-life reader. There are no stories as good as real life and this might be the exception, although I am certain these things happened in reality somewhere in Reno, although maybe not all at once. A well-written, thought-provoking novel with its ups and downs, full of fabulous story telling and rich and real characters, fully worth the read. I heartily recommend it.

I was invited to read Better Luck Next Time by Netgalley. All opinions contained herein are solely my own. #netgalley #betterlucknexttime

This was such an interesting book about a phenomena I knew nothing about. In 1930s Nevada women came from all over as they waited for their divorces to be finalized. In this book we follow wealthy women who will soon be divorced as they head to the Flying Leap which is a dude ranch that caters to their needs and assists them with whatever they may need. Ward was a student at Yale before his family lost everything in the Great Depression and now he is 24 and is working as a ranch hand. When he meets residents Emily and Nina they are unlike the other residents.

I really enjoyed all the really unique women in this book. Emily was strong and was leaving her cheating husband and Nina was a pilot who just wanted to be happy regardless of how many times she got married in search of happiness. Ward’s perspective on the story was sometimes confusing, but interesting to see what it would be like from the outside looking in.

I really liked how this author had personal ties to this story and it was clear how much research she did for the story. I think I would’ve enjoyed a little more of the historical events and elaborated on marriage and what it was like in the 1930s. I really liked the ending and how Ward was explaining his memories from the ranch when he was much older so we got to learn about his life and what he ended up doing as we went along.

Thanks to NetGalley, William Morrow, and Book Club Girl for gifting me this advance copy in exchange for an honest review! 😊 This book is available now!

Rundown: In Julia Claiborne Johnson's "Better Luck Next Time," when an unknown (until the end) person brings Ward (now an old man) a group photo from his past, Ward reminisces about a particular six weeks from his time working as a cowboy in the 1930s at one of Reno's "divorce ranches."

My Thoughts: I liked this story--it read quickly and the setting--a divorce ranch in the 1930s--was so interesting. Apparently in Reno at this time, women (primarily rich women) could go to Reno and if they could prove they did not leave the state for six weeks (enter the divorce ranches) they could obtain a divorce from their husbands *fairly* easily. Did you know those existed?? I sure didn't. Ward is a sweet and endearing narrator and you just can't help but shake your head at him fondly while reading. I thought that while there was some seriousness throughout the story (it is a divorce ranch, after all) overall it was a nice, light read with some clever and witty dialogue which was SO necessary this week. I truly only have nice things to say about it, but I can't seem to muster up more powerful feelings about it besides "I like it." I think that's probably because I don't read a lot of literary fiction in general. I definitely enjoyed the twist at the end!

Recommended to anyone who wants some lighthearted literary fiction featuring sweet cowboys, interesting women, and a nice little plot twist.

TW: There were some "scenes of a sexual nature" but they were not super explicit.

This reminds me of Bridges of Madison County. Better Luck Next Time was a good pleasure read about the Reno divorce business. Using Ward as the narrator was brilliant and super effective at telling the story and incorporating the voices of the women staying at The Flying Leap.

This was a nice story. The end was the best part and not because it was was over. I loved how the narrator was talking to the reader... It’s always my favorite. That being said, it was very hard to stay engaged, in fact I know I was not fully paying attention, but it did matter because even though it was a short story, it move so slowly that I never felt confused. I just felt meh. I was hoping for more. I have never read a book about Reno. The concept was so interesting. Unfortunately the story fell a little flat.

Picture it - Reno, 1938. Twenty-four-year-old Ward works at The Flying Leap, a ranch where wealthy women stay to establish their Nevada residency so they can get a no-questions-asked divorce. Fifty years after leaving, the now-retired doctor is approached by an unnamed interviewer with a photo from the ranch who wants to know the story behind it. The book unfolds through flashbacks as Ward (now Howard) explains what happened over the course of six weeks that summer that changed his life.

Johnson's tale of a unique slice of history I knew nothing about is a lot of fun. The women staying at the ranch are a fabulous group of characters who will have you laughing out loud, and Ward's commentary on the lessons he learned from them and his life on the ranch is poignant. He becomes entangled with two women in particular - Nina, an independently wealthy thrice-divorced adventurer, and Emily, whose escape from her cheating husband is the riskiest thing she's done in her life - whose fast friendship and hijinks are propel the story. Johnson's writing is pithy and funny - I alternated between reading the ebook and listening to the audiobook and enjoyed them both.

Better Luck Next Time (which references something said to the divorcées) has heart, humor and a whole lot of secrets, but it also goes deeper than you might expect to touch on societal issues like gender roles and class disparity. While the women visiting the ranch only stay for six weeks, they make marks on each other and the staff forever.

If you're looking for a good escape (and let's face it, who couldn't use one this week?!), give this book a try. I'd love to see it made into a movie or TV series, bringing The Flying Leap and all of its colorful visitors to life.

Thanks William Morrow Books, Custom House Books, NetGalley & the author for an e-copy to review.

Julia Claiborne Johnson drew the title of this tale from the words of a judge in Reno, Nevada, the capital for quick divorces in the 1930s, who would dismiss his divorce cases with these words: “Better luck next time.”

Told from the viewpoint of Ward, a young man who worked on The Flying Leap divorce ranch, the story follows two would-be divorcees as they navigate the 6-week waiting period for a divorce. Much-married Nina and first-time-divorce Emily, both wealthy women, become involved in a number of antics – involving stolen costumes, horses, a litter of kittens, a gun, a bicycle, and an airplane -- as they waited out their divorces. They befriended Ward, requesting him as the driver for various adventures.

Ward’s folksy narration of that brief time in his life is told from his days as a senior citizen when he has several conversations with an unnamed interviewer. His accounts of life at the ranch are both entertaining and filled with humor. This novel would fill the needs of a reader looking for a lighthearted, just-for-fun story.

Julia Claiborne Johnson is the author of the bestselling Be Frank with Me, a finalist for the American Bookseller’s Association Best Debut Novel Award. She now lives in Los Angeles with her comedy-writer husband and their two children.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting January 6, 2021.

I would like to thank Custom House/HarperCollins Publishers and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective opinion.

Thank you to the publishers and Book Club Girl for this advanced copy! The following is my review, as posted on Goodreads:

This was definitely interesting, but didn’t really “grip” me. While there were a few funny scenes, the whole thing seemed so sad to me overall. It was a quick read, and a relatively light read, it just left me feeling so down. I was hoping for a little more positivity in the end...it didn’t have to all be tied up in a pretty little bow, but I just wanted a little bit more of a happy-ish ending.

An unexpectedly captivating novel, BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME by Julia Claiborne Johnson was full of interesting characters and situations.
Told from Ward’s perspective, looking back from the present to his time working at the Flying Leap, a dude ranch outside Reno, Nevada in the 1930’s. The Flying Leap catered to women with money looking for a “quickie” divorce while staying at the ranch to fulfill the six-week residency requirement. When a reporter brings him a picture of the women form a specific time, Ward starts to reminisce about that specific time and Nina and Emily, who basically changed his life.
Nina was such a fun character, and I loved her spirit, especially in the way she pulled Emily out of her shell and got her to try new things making her more independent and open to the world around her. Ward was also interesting, and his interactions with both women, and the others on the ranch helped us to get to know him.
BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME was a read full of heart and, as we neared the end, bittersweet. A story of life, love, and friendship, it also shows how decisions, both made and not made, can affect more than just the life of the person making them. With everything going on at the end of 2020, combined with the holidays, I found this to be a pleasurable escape to cozy up with.
Thank you to the publisher and The Book Club Girls for an advanced copy of this novel. All opinions are my own and freely given.
#betterlucknexttime #juliaclaibornejohnson #thebookclubgirl #bookclubgirls #harpercollins #williammorrow #customhousepublishing

Thanks to Net Galley and William Morrow for this ARC to read and review. In this novel, Ward recounts his time as a “cowboy” on a divorce ranch in Reno, Nevada. The story follows a six-week period of his time there with some interesting divorce seekers. I had never heard about the divorce ranches of the early 1900s, but found the history extremely interesting. The story has many silly parts, was a light read and I was able to read this very quickly . I really enjoyed this book.

Author Julia Claiborne Johnson based BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME on parts of her father’s life but the tale has more in common with the 1939 film, The Women. Based in Reno, this tale covers the comings and goings of well-healed women spending time at a dude ranch while they wait out the residency requirement needed to obtain a Nevada divorce. The story is sweet and enjoyable, not terribly surprising, but a welcome respite from the overwhelming number of WWII historical fiction that seem to envelope us lately. I received my copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

3.5 stars (rounded up to 4 for Goodreads)

As a millennial, I was not familiar with Reno's somewhat infamous designation as a divorce capital prior to reading Better Luck Next Time. It was actually the cover that initially drew me in rather than the subject matter. However, once I started reading, I quickly discovered that sometimes it is good to judge a book by its cover. Better Luck Next Time is a wonderful addition to the bookshelf for anyone who loves historical fiction, complex female relationships, and found family narratives.

Told by the perspective of former ranch hand Ward as he tells the story of his wayward youth, we get to know all of the colorful characters staying at the Flying Leap as they wait for their divorces to come through. As Ward gets tangled up in the lives of roommates Nina and Emily, all three lives will be forever changed by their time in Reno.

For me, this book flew by. It is short, sweet, and to the point - just how I like it. The framework allows for a more interesting narrative flow, although I think I would have loved to see some of this book from the women's perspective as well. My biggest gripe was that I guessed the big reveal as soon as they set it up and so it didn't have as much of an impact for me personally. Even so, the rest of the story was fascinating enough to keep me reading into the wee hours of the morning. What a wonderful way to close my 2020 reading!

Thank you to NetGalley and to William Morrow - Custom House for an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review!

Better Luck Next Time by Julia Claiborne Johnson is set in Reno, NV in the 1930s on a ranch for women seeking quick divorces. Can you get a better premise than that for a novel?!! This book revolves around Nina, Emily, and Ward. The ladies are awaiting their divorces while Ward works on the ranch as an all around helper/handyman. Plenty of fun times ensue for the three. I liked the storytelling style of this book as it’s told through an interview with the elderly Ward as he reflects back on this period of time in his life as well as where his life led him after this magical time. So much to read and enjoy in this book!

2.5 stars, rounded up. Thank you Net Galley and Book Club Girls for the ARC of this title for my honest review. This book definitely had an interesting plot and point-of-view. The setting takes place on a dude ranch in Nevada, after the Great Depression, but before America's entrance into WWII. Much like today, Nevada's marriage and divorce laws are a little more laxed than most states. In this case, for a woman to secure a divorce, she would have to become a citizen for Nevada for 6 weeks. This ranch, The Flying Leap, hosts these ladies and keeps them entertained while they await the 6 weeks of residency for a divorce. You would think the point-of-view for the book would be one of these ladies or owners of the ranch - but it is not. It's a male ranch hand from Tennessee, "Ward". Having a male point-of-view certainly makes things interesting when it comes to describing his feelings and the women's' behavior in the daily ranch life.

Ward's employment on the ranch was short-lived and then he went off to do great things later in life, but about 75% of the book is about his experiences with two women on the ranch - Emily and Nina. Both are going through divorce proceedings - Nina on her third and Emily on her first. Emily was wealthy and drove herself from San Francisco to the ranch and Nina is a amateur pilot. Both ladies keep Ward on his toes with no dull moments between visiting soon-to-be ex-husbands and Emily's bratty daughter Portia.

I rated this book three stars because although the premise was good, and the storyline was good, the action lulled a lot in the middle. It was hard to see where the story was going until the end, when it all came together and made sense. The characters were fun but I felt there was some lacking in their development and my interest in them. I would have never known a ranch like this existed had it not been for this book. As for the title, the author explains in the epilogue that every time the judge granted a divorce in this county he would exclaim "Better Luck Next Time"!

I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical fiction and lighthearted read.

Quote from the book: "So don't sit down", she said. "Dance on the tabletops. Start a riot!" She leaned forward and clinked her glass to Emily's. "To rabble-rousers, rousing rabble!"

I could see where the story was going early on, but enjoyed the journey. Johnson lends a nice sense of place to her novel which is set on a Dude Ranch outside Reno in the late 1930’s, where wealthy women spend their six week residency awaiting their quickie divorces. Humorous, but a tale that may be a bit slow moving for some readers. Could easily be made into a cute movie with the right actors.
Recommended.

This was a fun book to read, full of unique and eccentric characters. The writing was witty and sweet at the same time.

The book is set in Reno Nevada on a "divorce ranch" ths Flying Leap in the 1930s, where rich women went to spend six weeks in order to get a divorce.

The story is narrated by Ward, a helped hand in the ranch who gets involved with some of the ladies waiting for their divorce.

Ward is approached on his old age by a person bringing with him/her a photograph of the last group of women at the ranch and this brings about his memories of his time there.

The book is entertaining, hilarious at times, entertaining but also has its heartbreaking moments.

All in all I enjoyed reading it.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review.

I give this a 4.5

This was an overall fun, sweet book, and I liked how it was narrated by the main character looking back over his life and telling his story to an unnamed (until the end) interviewer. If you’re looking for something fast, easy, and relatively feel-good, give this one a go. In some ways, it reminded me of Fannie Flagg's books, but I think I liked these characters more than many of Flagg's books.

Set in 1938, after his family falls on hard times and he has to drop out of Yale after his freshman year, 24-year-old Ward takes a job at the Flying Leap, a dude ranch in Reno where wealthy women can stay while waiting to establish residency so they can divorce their husbands. His job is to act-a-cowboy, take care of the guests, and help everything run smoothly while the women sit around and wait. There are two women in particular, though, who stay in his memory and heart – Nina, who flies herself to the Flying Leap to file her third divorce, and Emily, who has caught her husband cheating and thinks she wants to divorce him, no matter how angry that makes her 13-year-old (horribly bratty) daughter who takes her father’s side.

While fairly cookie-cutter in plotline, the author does a good job in creating characters who the reader roots for and wants to see happy in the end. And without actually giving away the ending, while not everyone does end up truly happy, no one goes home too upset about the way things work out.

Ward’s character is interesting – he understands a lot of the books' events on a surface level, but doesn’t really dig much deeper. He gives a fairly two-dimensional description of all the women at the Flying Leap, but especially Nina and Emily, even though he strikes up a temporary, because-they’re-all-there-anyway friendship with them, and it’s clear he doesn’t fully understand their motivations and needs. Seeing as he’s in his early 20s and out in the world on his own for the first time ever, this makes sense, but it does leave the reader interpreting more information than Ward seemed to have to work with when he was living through everything.

Overall, though, this was a nice change from the thrillers I’ve been reading, and I really enjoyed it.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and the Book Club Girl from William Morrow Publishing in exchange for my honest review. It did not influence my opinion.