DNF
I usually love books about books or authors, libraries, book stores etc. but the characters and dialogue were very boring and fell flat 40% through the book and I didn’t care to know what happened.

I really enjoyed this book. It was different than anything else I've read recently. I couldn't put it down! I will keep an eye out for this author's future work!

Cute read with lots of heart.

Four ladies start a book club to get back into the flow of the living. Each has their own issue as to what is stopping them from living their best lives. Through the books they read and their time together, they all seemingly find their happily ever after.

It was a fun, quick read. Uplifting right up to the point of almost fairy tale like endings.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for this Advanced Reader’s Copy of The Best Life Book Club by Sheila Roberts due to be published May 7, 2024.

I got this one as an ARC from NetGalley, and honestly, I didn't love it.

The story overall is ok but I struggled a lot with the writing style. It felt very juvenile and the whole book was overflowing with tropes. The main character had almost no personality (luckily other characters like Josie did). Many of the obstacles in the book don't really make sense. Karissa falls in love with her boss who she barely knows and also has no personality. Many of the obstacles either don't make sense or are overcome too easily.

Also, the book jumps from character to character often and without great breaks between the jumps. I did have an ARC so maybe some formatting was missing but it was hard to keep track of whose perspective we were on at times.

I do think the heart of the story is ok. The writing needs a lot of polish though and some of the characters need more oomph to them. I also liked the idea of the books the club read being integrated into the story but there were so many self-help books that I didn't know if they were real books or made up for this story.

OVERALL STAR RATING: 5/5
CLEAN RATING: 4/5

What an incredible book! I’m not really one to annotate, but I am quite tempted to pick this one back up and do a reread because I couldn’t believe the amount of tab worthy quotes. I wanted to give this one a standing ovation by the time I was done reading.

The cast of women in this book were relatable and authentic feeling. I was completely absorbed in their stories and couldn’t put it down. It highlighted the beauty of female friendships when you’re walking through the challenges of life. I felt their heartache and grief, their laughter, and their tears.

Recently divorced Karissa Newcomb has just moved to Gig Harbor with her daughter in hopes of a fresh start. Her world was turned upside down when her husband cheated on her with her best friend. She finds herself surrounded by loving and supportive neighbors - each going through challenges of their own. Though quite different in personalities, life’s challenges, and their shared love of books bond these women together. Their crazy banter is going to have you giggling and smiling with each turn of a page. Absolute friendship goals!

Some of the women find themselves on the path towards a second chance at love and it’s just the sweetest. This book is no doubt going to win your heart and have you aching for friendships as beautiful and as fun as theirs.

4-Star clean rating for around a dozen mild curse words. NO F-words and zero spice!

I will be posting this review to my book designated Instagram account on April 28th. My review will also be added to Amazon, Goodreads and BookBub at that time.

www.instagram.com/aliciasbooksanctuary

The Best Life Book Club is a wonderful book, made so by the interesting and well-drawn characters. Their individual life plots were realistic and their personalities endearing, even if it did take a while to warm up to some. The books in the club served as a way to highlight character change and worked as a way to differentiate this book from so many other book-themed novels. Thank you to NetGalley and MIRA books for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

DNF'd at 15%

This one had such a promising concept with a newly single mom starting to work in publishing and the neighbors being kind of interesting. I just couldn't get into the writing style.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and publisher for the opportunity to read and review.

Thank You to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for this Advanced Reader’s Copy of The Best Life Book Club in exchange for a fair review. This book is about friendship and second chances. There are many reasons that women have trouble finding and maintaining friendships in the world today but this book club, with a focus on self help and growth, proves to be a delightful journey into their lives and shows us that new friendships are possible if we choose to be open to them.
3.5 stars
I would recommend this t patrons but its not my book club's jam right now. Still, I know patrons will enjoy the book references and odd friendships inside.
This will be on Goodreads!

This book tells the story of loss, grief, acceptance, healing, friendship, and love. It was beautifully written and I was so excited to read the stories of Karissa, Margot, Alice, and Josie. Four completely different women at different stages in their life, all going through their own form of loss and grief coming together to form an unbreakable friendship through book club and eventually finding themselves, and love, along the way.

Karissa Newcomb is ready for a new start in a new neighborhood, as far away as she can get from Seattle, where her husband cheated on her with the neighbor who was supposed to be her best friend. She and her nine-year-old daughter are moving on to the city of Gig Harbor on the bay in Puget Sound. She even has a new job as an assistant at a small publishing company right in Gig Harbor. Her new boss seems like a bit of a curmudgeon, but a job is a job, she loves to read, and the idea of possibly meeting writers sounds fabulous.

Soon she finds she’s not the only one in need of a refresh. Her new neighbors, Alice and Margot, are dealing with their own crises. Alice is still grieving her late husband and hasn’t been able to get behind the wheel of a car since a close call after his death. Margot is floundering after getting divorced and laid off in quick succession. They could all use a distraction, and a book club seems like just the ticket. Together, the three women, along with Alice’s grumpy older sister, Josie, embark on a literary journey that just might be the kick-start they need to begin building their best lives yet.

Talk about when it rains, it pours. Karissa's life is upended and she's trying to make a new start for herself. This book is beautifully written. I love the friendships she makes. Life is all about relationships and how they support you (or don't). Excellent and heart-warming story!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced digital reader's copy (ARC) in exchange for an honest review!

I think my most favorite part about this book is that Sheila Roberts does such an amazing job of portraying real life scenarios and characters! That you find yourself rooting each character every step of the way!

The Best Life Book Club was “a breath of fresh air” read for me. Karissa is settling into a new life in a new town with her daughter after being betrayed not only by her husband, but her best friend. She tries to keep a positive front while meeting her new neighbors, Alice, her sister Josie and Margot. They decide to start a book club. All the friends have some issues, trauma with job loss, mother issues, car accidents and death of spouses. These four women all bring good ideas to their group and good changes come their way. Thoroughly enjoyed this read. Good plot line and characterizations.

I have to admit that I'm not usually one to go for books about book clubs, but I'm really glad I gave this one a chance. It has a little bit of everything: friendships, romantic relationships, family, personal growth, community, and of course books! There are so many literary references throughout the story which makes it really fun if you're an avid reader. And, it takes place in WA state, so reading it really felt like home to me.
There were laugh out loud moments, moments where I teared up, and many times where I simply couldn't put the book down. A great read!

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Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC of this title. These are my honest thoughts.

As someone who found a book club after moving to a new town, it quickly became my favorite thing! Not only for the shared love and discussion of books but also the friendships that have been formed because of it. All this to say, I adored this book!

We, as the reader, get the pleasure of following along on the journey of four women. These women also happen to make up The Best Life Book Club.

Through the books they read, experiences they share and ultimate growth as individual characters, what starts as a way to distract from their own troubles quickly turns into a bond that Sheila masterfully intertwines between each of the women and the growth they each encounter.

There is so much to take away and love about this book. Much like a book club, what stood out and resonated with you may not be the same for others and this book is the perfect pick for a book club for this very reason!

For me, Karissa’s story resonated with me the most and I loved the overall theme of the importance of friendship.

This book is set to release May 7th! Read it alone, buddy read or recommend it as a book club pick but for sure grab this book and enjoy the journey or better yet, journeys!

Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for an arc of this book. All opinions are my own.

“We all need stories, we all love stories, but we also need to love our own stories. Books should encourage you to do that. They shouldn’t be a substitute.”

Before I get into the review, I would like to say thank you to a few important people. First, thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for approving me to read this advanced reader copy! Also, thank you to the author, Sheila Roberts, who wrote this amazing novel. Your writing is incredibly beautiful, and I am so happy to have been given the opportunity to read “The Best Life Book Club” as my first ARC book!

This fun, lighthearted book had be hook as soon as I read the synopsis. This novel takes you through 4 women’s daily lives, and their personal struggles. These new friends decide to start a book club, and each person ends up learning different life lessons from the books they read.

Each chapter starts with a quote from a book they read from their book club, which I thought was a great addition to this book. This novel is written in third person point of view. Since you are following 4 different characters, it took a little while for me to follow who was who, but after getting reeled into the story, I began figuring out each of the characters, and their own plots that contributed to this book. After finishing this book, I was feeling genuinely happy, and I cannot wait to read more books from Sheila Roberts!

This is a cute book! All the appropriate moments to give you the warm fuzzies.

A little predictable at times but sometimes you need a book like that to make you feel good. I love how the women all felt down in the beginning and found themselves in each other.

Super cute! And another reminder of how important books can be.

Thanks to NetGalley, Sheila Roberts, and Harlequin Trade Publishing. I have written this review voluntarily.

At the beginning of "The Best Life Book Club" our protagonist is moving into a new house in the rain. Sounds lovely ... until we find out why the move away from the city was necessary. Her cheating husband and her former best friend decided that they were better matched. It was simple for the husband to just move next door to be with his glamorous, beautiful new love, but more of a challenge for the spurned wife to start over.

The reader feels the struggle and the loneliness is front and center until the neighbors at the new place come together to be friends and book club members. Many tropes of romance novels fit together nicely for a satisfying romance read. No particular surprises but a fun trip to the Pacific Northwest.

The Best Life Book Club was such a cute and fun read. The story is about Karissa Newcomb who moves into a new neighborhood because he husband cheated on her with her neighbor which is horrible. She also has a nine year old who has to move to a new school along with moving to a new home. I absolutely loved the different point of views throughout the story. There were a lot of very funny plots to where they needed to do something quickly in order to fix something. The ladies end up starting a book club which is a great distraction for their real world problems. Throughout this story I laughed a lot as it had a lot of funny parts. I definitely recommend this book as it was a great read!

A book about a book club. Fabulous! I found it hard to pinpoint a plot but essentially a few ladies of varying ages get together and form a book club while their own life storylines change and progress over the short timeline. Things just kind of happened in the book in their own timing. Everything was random and it jumped around a lot to different perspectives without actually announcing who it was. It gave me a bit of whiplash. However, you could figure it out eventually. I think I just like it more when every narrator has their own chapter.

The romantic development was okay. It was unfocused in my opinion but it did wrap up nicely in the last few pages.

I think a lot of people will like this book. It just wasn't for me.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this arc.

I actually enjoyed this book way more than I thought I would. It kind of reminded me of a cute Hallmark movie. I loved it.