3.75 stars

Three very different women stood up by one Joseph Carter on Valentine's Day is the rather gimmicky concept for Beth O'Leary's latest. It is to the credit of her warm and sensitive storytelling and deft, unpredictable plot that it quickly left the gimmick behind and plunged us into the lives and minds of Siobhan, Miranda, and Jane, the trio of women in question.

This is very much a story that focuses their individual personal journeys rather than their romances with JC who, of course, features in them all but we don't really get to know until much later. This is, as it turns out, not really a story about him. Even after the twist late in the story when we find out more about his motivations and situation, I never really warmed to him (also because there wasn't enough time by then). But that didn't matter because the author has done a good job creating three very real women we root for.

This is also a very unlike rom-com narrative, more women's fiction, and there are a raft of trigger warnings (death of a loved one, sexual harassment, gaslighting, miscarriage, grief, graphic portrayal of death), so don't go in expecting fun and frothy or even a HEA, though there is that for some. I'm wondering why the promotion of this title has been so different between the US and the UK. I suspect that many a reader might be disappointed without knowing what it is that they're really in for.

One of the things I love about Beth as a writer is that she is unafraid to take risks and venture into new territory with each book and The No-Show is no different. Sometimes it doesn't all pull together (like The Road Trip, for me personally), other times it's sparkling and perfect (like The Flatshare, still my favourite by her). With both The Switch and this, I had mixed feelings in that I loved as much of them as am on the fence about other parts (the twist, in particular and how it affected everything else - if you've read it, please slide into my DMs so we can discuss!).

However, I will always be the first in line to read a Beth O'Leary book and cannot wait to see where she takes us next.

Here’s my advice about reading The No-Show: go into this book blind. Do your best to avoid any possible spoilers and read it asap!! It took me a while to get into the characters, maybe because of the rotating POVs. But there’s a point in the book where things just clicked and I couldn’t put it down. Okay that’s all I’m saying. Go read it. For real. Get your copy now.

Thank you to @berkleyromance for the digital ARC and the #gifted physical book.

I am currently in recovery from this book. Wow. I don’t know what I expected to happen, but that was not it. This book hurt my feelings, but in a beautiful way. The first half of this books was fun, drama, and suspense. The second half completely ripped a piece of my heart out and just blew me away. I loved the characters, Siobhan was my favorite with Jane close in second. I liked Miranda’s character and her ending! Joseph Carter was a mystery and I think that fueled my determination to finish the book fast so I could know his secrets. The big secret was painful and I’m still trying to process what I just read. I think Beth O’Leary did an incredible job with the direction this book took. This is up there with The Flatshare as one of my favorites. Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this in exchange for a review.

Thanks NetGalley for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.

The No Show is the second book I've read by Beth O'Leary and I liked it a lot. With stories like this (a man dating three women at once) there's always anticipation for the moment the women cross paths and as I read it, I initially found that it took too long for the moment to happen. But when I realized the story wasn't going in the comical revenge plot direction I anticipated, I realized the timing was pretty perfect.

Definitely a clever, heartfelt book worth reading.

I had to sit with this one for a bit to figure out how I felt about it. It’s really hard to explain without spoilers, but I’m going to try my best.

Going into this, I expected a story similar to Lauren Layne’s Central Park Pact series. However, that’s not what this is like at all. The No-Show felt much more like Women’s Fiction to me than Rom-Com. There are also some things in the synopsis I found misleading, which really threw me off. But, since the synopsis is not usually the author’s fault, I found I could eventually look past it.

The story follows the POVs of three women, Siobhan, Jane, and Miranda. While it chronicles their romantic relationships with the same guy, it also focuses a lot on their lives and individual journeys. There’s mental health issues, career problems, abusive relationships, family drama, friendships – new and old, and other possible romantic partners to deal with. I have to say that I never quite loved Siobhan. Her personality really rubbed me the wrong way, though she did get a little better once she started to deal with some of her mental health issues. I found both Jane and Miranda likable and enjoyed both of their character arcs and all of the other characters in their POVs. I do have a lot to say about the guy, but I’m not going to do that here, as it would be far, far too spoilery.

What I really had a hard time with was the twists. I love to be shocked by a well-executed twist, but instead of shocked, I felt a little tricked by this one. But again, that was more the fault of the unreliable synopsis than the book itself. Once I got through the first twist, I guessed all of the following ones and when I got a little distance, I was able to appreciate the way the story was told.

Overall, I did end up really enjoying The No-Show. I did feel like it dragged a little at times and felt a little frustration at things, but after finishing the book and taking some time to look at it by itself, without the synopsis or my expectations, I find myself really impressed with what O’Leary did here. I think it was smart and risky and well done. I definitely see myself giving this one a re-read in the future.

This book is completely different than what I was expecting and when it was revealed I was shocked!
Three very completely different woman and they all ha e a connection to one man Joseph Carter.

Miranda, Siobhan and Jane are all looking for love and they thought they found the perfect man.
Joseph Carter is not with with Siobhan, even though they had a schedule breakfast date. Siobhan is excited she feels like he’s different but he never shows up.
Joseph Carter is not with Miranda, they had a romantic Valentine’s Day lunch planned she thought their relationship was going so well. So why would he stand her up?
Joseph Carter is not with Jane, she planned on his being her fake boyfriend at an engagement party of a coworker. They both have a love of books, and have become close friends. So why is she alone and feeling humiliated?
You get each woman’s perspective as they take you into their own relationship with Joseph Carter, I would not consider this a romcom but a beautiful written book full of depth and emotion. None of the woman knew of each other, and you get a glimpse of how each of them feel broken at times and their back stories that all connect to this one man. I truly enjoyed this book. Five stars!

Read if you like: interconnecting stories, like Valentine's Day the movie.
-
The book follows 3 main characters-Siobhan, Miranda, and Jane. All three have been stood up on Valentine's Day by the same guy. The book looks at these three women and their relationships with this man, but I will say that not everything is as it seems and I thought the author was brilliant in the way she wove this story together.
-
I really loved our three main characters and I felt like the three perspectives kept the plot moving in a fast pace.
-
CW: death of a loved one, cheating, inappropriate work relationships, harassment and stalking, alcohol abuse.

O'Leary is a British author of several romantic comedy books including "The Flatshare" and "The Road Trip". In this one we meet Joseph who has managed to stand up three women on Valentines' day. Siobhan is a busy life coach, Miranda is a tree surgeon used to working with just men, and Jane is charity shop volunteer who lacks confidence. However all is not as it seems in this romantic comedy with a twist. This is a fun read for customers that are fans of the genre that are willing to accept a little heartbreak as well.

“It’s one of those feelings, happiness. One of the ones you don’t really notice is gone until it comes back.”

I LOVED The Flatshare. Like really loved. The Road Trip? Not quite up to that level. So I was excited to be approved for The No Show to see if the author could redeem herself. I would suggest going into this one blind so you can fully immerse in the drama and twists.

Unfortunately this one was a little…idk confusing? Three women are stood up by the same man on Valentine’s Day. There are a lot of characters here and what almost seems about midway through as wayyy too many storylines as well. I am not sure if my mind just wasn’t totally in it but multiple times I found myself trying to keep each woman straight while also trying to decipher how they were all connected. I kind of wish there was more focus on the lovely ladies and a little less on Joseph, who I didn’t really find worth fighting for.

“Everyone is staring. Siobhan flicks those shining blond argument-starting locks over her shoulder and turns her face to the window. Chin up. Tits out. Legs crossed.” And THIS is why I wanted more focus on the ladies themselves!

Thank you to Netgalley, Berkley Publishing, and the author for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I have really enjoyed Beth O'Leary's previous books, but this one fell a bit flat for me. I felt bored until about the 80% mark, then it got a lot more interesting. Regardless of my own feeling about the book, I think we have some patrons who will connect well with it. Will be purchasing.

Many thanks to Chelsea Pascoe at Berkley, and NetGalley for an advanced copy. This did not affect my rating.
*4/5*

Where to even start? This book was ambitious, that’s for sure. There are three women: Siobhan, Miranda, and Jane. They are all waiting for a date on valentine’s day. They are all stood-up. By the same man. My advice? Go into this book completely blind like I did. I had this on my shelf because it was Beth O’Leary. I am so glad I didn’t read reviews or even the synopsis.

For a good chunk of this book, you don’t know if you like Carter Joseph or hate him for how he is going about dating these women. These women who are all amazing and different in their own ways. Siobhan is a life coach with walls built up from a past relationship. Jane is running away from something and has made herself “comfortable” in her routine. Miranda is a bad-ass tree surgeon. How did this man come into their lives and how is he tangled up with all of them?!

Once you get about 60% in, it all starts to become clear, and you begin to like Joseph Carter. The threads that connect all three of these women’s stories is beautifully done.

The writing was great, weaving the stories together. This is my favourite Beth O’Leary to date.

Three women are stood up on Valentine's Day... by the same man. They each forgive him but are left to wonder why he never showed. What really happened — and who is he really? I neither hated nor loved this book, though it could have easily gone either way. The premise and marketing tone make it sound like a fun ride, with female bonding and a bit of mystery, but this is where the central conceit fails. Joseph is not merely the common denominator between three very different women — he's the heart of the story, deliberately kept inaccessible. For better or worse, I guessed the twist six chapters in, and the knowing made the attempt at mystery all the more bewildering. I think this could work in a movie, where you have less time to think and less ability to access character's minds, but in a book, it came off as withholding, and making the reader spend the book guessing and suspecting did a disservice to the story and all of the characters, not just Joseph. Because when you're busy trying to figure out a contrived mystery, you miss the real story. 2.5 stars, rounded up to 3 for good writing, despite poor structure.

My thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The No-Show is a contemporary romance about three women who seemingly have nothing in common find that they're involved with the same man in this smart new rom-com by Beth O'Leary, bestselling author of The Flatshare. What we get is a heartbreaking, sweet, and tragic story about three women finding themselves and the man who is part of their journey. Overall, I enjoyed reading The No-Show. It was a fun, enjoyable, and sometimes sad read. In the end, I shed a few tears, but it left me with a big smile!

It’s been a while since a book surprised me in a good way. I was expecting a fun rom com and this book had more than that. I was surprised with the heart and depth this one morphed into the further I read.

We start with Joseph Carter and the three women he has stood up on Valentine’s Day. Told from their perspective we look into their lives and their relationship with him. Each character couldn’t be more different that the other and I doubted if it was the same man in a relationship with all three.

I loved the cleverness of the book. It is not something I expect from a women’s fiction book. It was definitely the right book at the right moment for me. I loved this more than the Flat Share.

Wow. I did not expect this book to turn out the way it did. I’m honestly shocked, and that doesn’t usually happen.

I really enjoyed this one, Siobhan, Miranda, and Jane’s stories are all so different, yet joined by one common factor. Joseph Carter. He’s charismatic, charming, and a little…off.

Each woman leads a different life, and each woman finds different things in Josep to fall in love with. But I’m certain Miranda’s experience was my favorite! The story centers around Valentines, which okay, doesn’t seem too important, until it is.

I can’t go into too much detail, because spoilers, but I can say it’s worth the read. Especially for the growth in this story from all of the characters.

Thank you Berkley Romance and NetGalley for an advanced copy. This review is being left voluntarily. All opinions are my own.

The No-Show begins on Valentine’s Day, when the romantic holiday goes awry for three different women. Siobhan, Miranda, and Jane each have a date, but all three of them are stood up. What they don’t know is that they’ve all been stood up by the same man. They each forgive Joseph Carter and resume their relationship with him, but as the months pass, they’ll have to unravel what Joseph is up to with them.

At first glance, it may seem that Joseph Carter is a womanizer, a cheater, a man who strings along women only to break their hearts. But even when I began The No-Show, I couldn’t see him in such a negative light. He’s such a kind, understanding, sweet person, albeit a bit scatterbrained and perpetually late. How did the man these three woman saw so much good in align with the unfaithful picture that was being painted of him?

Each of the women he’s seeing is quite different, though all come with their own troubles. They each battle insecurities, some due to a traumatic past, others due to how people in their lives see them. Just as there is some mystery surrounding Joseph, the pasts these women are running from also remain murky for some time.

One of my favorite things about The No-Show is how it tackles issues of mental health, forms of harassment, and grief. Each of these characters copes differently, and some need to work through a lot before they reach a positive path forward. It can make for an emotional read, but it is something I greatly appreciated.

Admittedly, it did take me some time to really connect with the characters. Each chapter follows one of the three women, including their own personal arcs as well as their evolving relationships with Joseph. As sometimes happens with multiple POV characters, I found myself enjoying some chapters more than others. Through it all, Joseph was the one I found the most intriguing and – perhaps surprisingly – endearing.

It wasn’t until about halfway through that The No-Show really connected for me. Not coincidentally, this is around the time when I finally worked out what the twist was. I knew going in that there was some kind of a twist, and from the start of the book, I had puzzled through several theories. But once I figured it out – and then when my suspicions were confirmed a few chapters later – everything fell into place and mattered so much more.

Of course, I won’t tell you anything more about that! You’ll have to read it and find out, but the twist really does elevate and add to the story. There were other events later on (which I also successfully predicted) that brought tears and satisfaction in equal measure. In the end, it was an emotional, heartfelt read.

The No-Show surprised me, even though I knew I was in for some kind of shock. While it took me some time to become fully invested in it, once it all clicked, it grew into a tender and impactful story. This is a book that I will think about for a very long time.

Going into this blindly was one of the best decisions I have ever made.

The No-Show by Beth O’Leary tells the tale of three women, and one guy who cannot seem to make it work. And when readers find out that these women are all dating the same guy, he must be the worst man on the planet. Right?

This was my first Beth O’Leary read and I am now so eager to dig into her backlist. Every single character in this novel felt essential and realistic: each of the women’s lives filled with colourful characters and struggles that made them ever-so human that I found myself not even caring as much for the romance as I did for the happiness of each of these three women. Siobhan, Miranda and Jane showed evolution, compassion, and made me wish I could dive into the book and be each of their friends!

While I was able to surprise myself by having no expectations of the book, I did find that the first half of the narrative lacked a clear plot. Understandably so for a novel who weaves these stories together so well, as this requires a decent amount of exposition, but having fantastic characters was really what kept me going during the slower parts that took the whole novel to really make sense.

For anyone who places too much emphasis on first impressions, who is curious about the story of these three unique women or just someone looking for a story that plays on all of your emotions, I promise The No-Show will show up for you.

THIS BOOK. It took me a while to get into it, but once I did, I finished it in one sitting. The writing put me right in the middle of the character’s experience, and boy, what an experience. Beth O’Leary outdid herself with the plotting in this novel. Highly, highly recommend.

Wow! What a book. This complex story is something I'd trust with few other authors. One man involved with the same woman? Tough sell.

But I loved it! I was unsettled and curious the whole time; there's a big mystery component to this novel. (Which is why I'd suggest going in blind.) I did not know what to make of this story until the end, when everything came together.

This isn't exactly a cozy, feel-good book in the same way that O'Leary's other works have been, but it has a poignancy all its own. I think this book has a lot to say about how people enter, stay, and leave our lives.

Each woman was so distinct and interesting; I honestly loved them all and I never got them confused.

I enjoyed this book but I can see this being one that doesn't work for some people. Definitely unlike anything else I've ever read.

I went in to this book thinking it was going to be a light romcom and hoping for a cute story to giggle and gush over, but I got a heavier women's fiction story instead. Because of this, my feelings on it are thrown. I can see myself enjoying it more if I had gone into it blind. I think I would've connected with the characters and their stories more. I definitely wish the cover portrayed the heavier tone it has throughout the story. It did have a twist or two in the second half of the book that I appreciated, so that left me a smidge happier when finishing it.