3.5*
This definitely wasn’t what I was expecting!

Three women…one man. Nope, you’re right. That does not add up to happiness.

I won’t reveal many details regarding the storyline. It would be like walking a minefield of spoilers.

So… I’ll focus on my feelings towards this latest work by Beth O’Leary.

The build-up was a bit too long. I was desperate for something more to happen. Waiting for the inevitable collision. I found myself enjoying the story but with a constant, nagging feeling something was missing.

And once the pieces came together it was too little too late, leaving me a bit disappointed. Again, it’s also possible I was expecting something different?💁🏻‍♀️

I’ll leave it at that and just hope it works better for you!

A buddy read with Susanne.

Posted to: https://books-are-a-girls-best-friend...

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing

First thanks so much to the publisher for providing me an advanced copy to review. All opinions are my own.

This was actually my first Beth O’Leary and it blew me away. You think you know what the story is as you begin. And you have certain feelings about what’s happening. Each woman is so different; Miranda is probably the one I warmed up to first, then Jane, then Siobhan. And even though you have a certain image of Joseph, it’s amazingly hard to hate him. Then the story is completely turned on its head and I was reeling. I almost wanted to start the book over with new eyes.
This story explores grief, mental health, coping, being alone, figuring out what being with the right person looks like, friendship, toxic masculinity, and love. And it does it all so beautifully. The journey each character goes through is so well-done. I really loved every single one of them so much by the end. My heart and my emotions were all over the place and I absolutely cried. But it really did wrap up beautifully.
I can’t recommend this enough, but it does deal with some very heavy topics, so take care of yourself while reading.

This was my first novel by this author and I can’t wait to read more after falling in love with this beautiful story. What I thought was going to be a quick, predictably rom-com turned into a heartfelt and surprising romance filled with depth. This book follows three incredible women who have one thing in common: they all are stood up on Valentine’s Day and by the exact same man. What follows is a beautiful story of love and a journey between three women who may just have more in common than meets the eye. This book does come with some unexpected surprises. While some parts broke my heart, I walked away with the biggest smile after reading this book and can’t recommend it enough! Many thanks to Berkley publishing and Netgalley for this early copy!

Okay, this is a tough one for me to review ...

Let me start by begging publishers to PLEASE stop marketing books as rom-coms when they really, truly are not. Despite the synopsis claiming this to be so, THE NO-SHOW is definitely not a rom-com -- and I'd argue, it's not really a romance, either. Yes, the plot heavily revolves around a series of romances -- but it's truly more a work of women's fiction, as we follow three women who all appear to be dating the same man. The synopsis is a little misleading here, as well, for the sake of protecting a "twist" (which I guessed early on, tbh) -- but I don't think the synopsis does any favors. In fact, I'd argue the book would be better served be spoiling that twist from the get go. It makes for an exciting "reveal" when you get to it, but if you don't know it's coming, it makes getting through the book really tough -- because it really sets up Joseph to look like a total heel. And that's not what anyone wants in a romantic lead. It's hard to feel invested in the story when, as a reader, you're not inclined to root for him.

Once I step away from the disenchantment between my expectations of the book and what the book actually is, I do think it has some merits. It's definitely not my favorite of Beth O'Leary's, and not nearly as ambitious as it's marketed to be -- since I think too much hinges on the "twist." And that "twist" made it hard to enjoy the book in the moment. Ultimately, I think this was a good idea but wasn't pieced together (or marketed correctly) to make it a winning read for me.

The best part of this book for me was following these three very unique women, and connecting with their lives. Siobhan, Miranda, and Jane were far more interesting to me than Joseph, and honestly, I just thought they could all do better than him. These women, and the friends/family who support them, are what kept me reading.

THE NO-SHOW wasn't all bad, but it wasn't a hit for me.

I have so many feelings about this book.

Even though it destroyed me a little bit, I really enjoyed this book. I had trouble relating to some of the characters but that didn't stop me from loving them and rotting for them all to have a happy ending. Each main character was unique and so very special.

This book was so interested as it felt like a mystery at times while I tried to figure out what on earth was going on.

I'd recommend going into this book as blind as possible for the best experience.

I haven't read a Beth O'Leary book I didn't like (in fact, I've loved them all), but I think she has really outdone herself with this one. This book hit all the right notes. It was clever, sweet, heartbreaking, and hopeful. The characters and dialogue were pitch perfect. I am often skeptical of books that have more than two perspectives, because it can sometimes feel messy and jarring, but this was definitely not the case for this book. I feel as if I need to reread the book to really appreciate how expertly plotted it is.

I think it will be difficult to top this book for best romance this year, which I know is a bold statement for the first quarter. I can't wait to read her next book!

The No-Show is about three women, with absolutely nothing in common, except for their connection to this one man, who stood all three of them up on Valentine’s Day. From there, the book alternates between the POVs of these three women and explores their different relationships with this man.

This book was a 4.5/5 star read for me! This is a hard book to review as it is so difficult to articulate how amazing this book is without spoiling it. But The No-Show took me completely by surprise, it was nothing like I thought it would be. This page-turner made me smile, laugh, cry, and relate to the characters. I did not want to put this book down. The character development was amazing and I did not see any of the plot twists coming. I definitely think it would definitely be best to go into this book with an open mind. At first, it seems like a book with the typical cheating trope, but there is so much more to this book as it explores the challenges of dating, grief, healing, toxic relationships, mental health, and the strength of female friendships.

Thank you to Berkley and Netgalley for providing me with ARC of this book, I can’t wait to get a physical copy when this book releases on April 12th, 2022!

Review posted to blog: https://books-are-a-girls-best-friend.com/

Whatever I thought this book was, I was so wrong! When it all came together, my Jaw Dropped.

Looks are deceiving, that’s all I’ll say.

Here we have Miranda, Siobhan and Jane. Three very different women, looking for romance. What they find is something completely unexpected.

This is the third novel that I’ve read by Beth O’Leary and I found it to be quite clever. At times sweet, sad and romantic, it kept me glued to the pages till the very end.

A buddy read with Kaceey that definitely got our attention.

Thanks to Elisha at Berkley Publishing for the arc.

Published on Goodreads and Twitter.

Beth O'Leary is quickly becoming an all-time favorite of mine in the romance genre. She's certainly an auto-buy author for me. When I saw the synopsis for The No-Show, I was interested and mostly curious how O'Leary's loving, warm, endearing storytelling would tackle a man dating three women but stands up all three.

Wow. This was not at all what I expected, but I flew through it. I couldn't put it down until I finished it. I laughed, I cried, I empathized. I will say, I do not cry very often while reading, but this one had a moment that I didn't see coming (though perhaps I should have) and it struck a nerve. What I love about this book is that the moment you know certain details all the seemingly throwaway details from previous chapters click into place. Nothing felt far-fetched or forced. As with all of O'Leary's books, the characters are imperfect but lovable.

I appreciated the pacing of this book. No story felt rushed or too drawn out. Everything started coming together in its time, which I think is appropriate given the ultimate message of the book ("timing is everything").

It's hard to review this book without spoilers, so I will just say this: I think this is O'Leary at her best. I highly recommend it to longtime fans and people who love romantic stories that are messy, that focus on circumstances, and who have been badly hurt and are open to love again.

I'd suggest going into this book without reading too much about it. Three different storylines follow the mysterious Joseph Carter as he stands up three different women on Valentine's Day. Of course, there's more to it than meets the eye. The story unfolds a bit slowly, but once it does, it's worth the reveal. I particularly loved the storyline of Miranda, the intrepid tree surgeon with the pesky and hilarious sisters.

What a beautifully written story. The interweaving storylines had you rooting for every protagonist and your feelings are not spared in the end. Beth O'Leary is becoming a must-read author!

I enjoyed reading this book and loved the plot. It was a great beach read that I brought on vacation!

At first glance this seems like the story of a man who's juggling three different women, and he's stood each of them up on Valentine's Day, but we soon find out there's more to the story than meets the eye.

I really liked this! Beth O'Leary is a good writer and I always find her characters so interesting. The story flows so well that this plotline could be a movie. Out of our three main characters, Siobahn, Jane, and Miranda, I found Miranda to be the most interesting. The main love interest, Joseph, was truly a hot mess. He kept saying he wants to be a better man, but he seemed kind of all over the place. If I was any one of these women, I wouldn't have given him nearly as many chances as they did! I can't say he would end up on my top 10 list of book boyfriends, but his character was very realistic and well-written.

I was super curious as to how this story would end, and I definitely didn't see that ending coming! This story was very engaging and fast-paced, and I couldn't put it down. I highly recommend it.

This book is great! Would definitely recommend. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I wasn't able to finish this one. I couldn't get into the story. I am so disappointed because I liked The Flatshare so much.

Don’t mind me. Just loudly sobbing into my emotional support tequila.

I should have known that Beth O’Leary was going to wrench my heart out of my chest and then gently place it back.

Without giving spoilers, let me just say that the guy in The No Show is not who you think. And you will cry for him by the end of the book, as well as the three women protagonists.

CW: sexual harassment, death of a character, dementia, gaslighting

The No-Show by Beth O’Leary was so intriguing and took me on a journey to a place I didn’t see coming. First off, in the synopsis this says it’s a rom-com, but let me tell you… it is not. I would not consider it a rom-com at all. I would consider it more of a contemporary fiction with some romance in there.

Joseph Carter was a hero I spent so much of the book conflicted about. I didn’t think I liked him, until I really did. Ugh. There is so much I want to say about his situation with Siobhan, Miranda, and Jane, but I don’t want to spoil this book. I’m so glad I didn’t know what was going on. After I finished this one I ended up telling my husband all about it and saying how good of a movie I think it would have made.

This is Beth’s best work since ‘The Flat Share’ in my opinion. Her writing is so developed, the characters were great, and the story its self had so much emotion, angst, and a touch of humor. It’s one of those books that was equal parts heartbreaking and heartwarming and kept me on the edge of my seat. I definitely recommend checking this one out. It was not what I expected in the best way possible.

Thank you to the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I'll be honest. I really wanted to love this one. I enjoyed it at first, but it didn't really pick up pace, and I wasn't sure where it was going to go.

It was also just so hard to see these women waiting for this guy who couldn't keep a commitment. Been there done that 😅 Ugh I just really loved the Flat Share but haven't been a huge fan of anything since! I'll keep hoping, though!

This book has so much potential, but unfortunately, that potential really isn’t clear until the end, after a ton of confusion over some very unlikeable characters. It’s almost like… like a thriller romance. 😅 And I really don’t think it goes over the way the author intended.

I read this during the perfect season! I twas wonderful and I enjoyed the difference in the characters. It was a great weekend read and I highly recommend it!