Anna Walsh is done with her life in New York and decides to return to her origins in Ireland. Leaving a successful PR job in cosmetics for the unknown has its challenges. But Anna’s family and friends make life interesting (to say the least).

When Anna takes a temporary job in the small town of Maumtully to help out a friend in crisis, she is forced to deal with angry townspeople who are against the development, and her old crush Narky Joey. Threats and drama ensue, which compel Anna to stay on to see the project through and to make peace with her past with Joey Armstrong.

Marian Keyes delivers another adventurous Walsh family story with heartbreak, laughter, and quirky characters to see it through.

How refreshing it is to read a story where the main character is a perimenopausal woman navigating her love life, career, and family. Thank you to NetGalley, Doubleday, and Marian Keyes for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I give this book 3.5 stars. I received a free ebook from Netgalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review. I was excited to read this book. I have heard of the author ( I haven't read any of her books). I usually really like good fiction.

The book started out really good. However, by a quarter into the book, I began to lose interest. I liked the main character. I didn't get to know her that well.

The book was too long, for me, for standard fiction. Not enough happened in the middle of the book. I got bored. I don't like to DNF, books, so I read slowly. It just wasn't for me.

Luckily, the chapters are really short. It makes the book a little better. This book didn't have me hooked. The ending was pretty predictable ( yes, I did like the ending).

I appreciate Netgalley and the author for giving me the opportunity to read this book. I would be interested in reading another book from the author. I have heard a lot of good things about the authors books..

I loved so much of this book. It was hilarious and witty and had the most delightful banter. It took me a bit to get to all the good parts though. I was lost and distracted for a lot of the beginning of the book and felt like the story didn’t grab me. There were sections of the book I couldn’t put down and others where I had to trudge through to keep going.

This story is heartbreaking and lovely but just felt disjointed at times so it was hard to keep up with what was happening. There are a ton of characters in this book so be mindful to pay close attention & try to remember. I honestly lost a lot of the plot because so much was happening all at once. But the love story is tender and full of history and very rewarding.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are mine alone.

The first quarter of this book started out with so many characters, I almost got lost and gave up. I persevered and the character situation settled down and got better and there finally was a thread of a story. Anna, a PR person leaves her job in New York and goes back to Ireland to help her friends. Really what this story is about is all the people Anna interacts with in Ireland and how everything is colored by events of the past. Although the dialog was well written, I felt that this book presented in a somewhat frantically written manner. It was quite a long read. Thank you NetGalley for providing the ARC.

This was my first book by this author and the moment I finished it I downloaded the entire Walsh family series into my Kindle.
The humor in this book is frequent and made me laugh out loud, while other moments were so touching that I was moved. The cast of characters made this book so enjoyable and I wanted to learn more about them. I wanted to live in this town and go on these adventures. I love her style of writing and I can’t wait to read more.

When I heard that Marian Keyes had another book coming out, I kept my fingers crossed that it would be about the Walsh sisters again. And I was so excited to learn that it was, in fact, going to be about Anna. Anna was in New York during Again, Rachel and I missed her in that book. I loved Anyone Out There when I read it back in 2006< and I was so glad to revisit with Anna.

My Favorite Mistake is delightful and Anna is so relatable. I think it's mainly because we're close in age, but I also connect with her awkwardness. The town reminded me of Schitt's Creek in some ways. I love how everyone just knew each other and the characters were all so quirky. There was even a mystery to solve. I also love that the rest of the Walsh clan was featured a lot. They're such a hilarious group together.

You don't need to read Anyone Out There to know what is happening, but there are spoilers for that novel and it is worth reading to get to know Anna in the past. And if you haven't read anything by Marian Keyes yet, what are you waiting for?!? She's legendary in the rom com genre!

Movie casting suggestions (some are from Again, Rachel):
Anna: Anna Friel
Joey: Sam Worthington
Courtney: Karen Gillan
Ike: Dougray Scott
Helen: Zoe Tapper
Rachel: Melanie Lynskey
Claire: Saffron Burrows
Margaret: Emily Mortimer
Mrs. Walsh: Annette Badland
Jacqui (past): Jessica Brown Findlay

It’s been so long since I have read anything by Marian Keyes. I was so excited to receive this galley. Her stories are so nostalgic and very feel good

This novel is about Anna, an Irish woman in her late 40s who has lived in NYC for many years but decides to quit her high powered PR job there and move back to Ireland to be closer to her parents and four sisters. I don’t think a plot description of this one can really capture what this book is about though, because it really has everything - family and friendship drama, romance, humor, emotions, small town quirkiness, mystery, and something I’m going to call “coming of middle age” (basically self-discovery and reinvention during perimenopause instead of youth) - and I loved every minute of it.

I have read all 15 of Marian Keyes’ previous novels, including all 6 previous books in the Walsh Sisters series of which this is the 7th, though you actually could read this as a standalone. But having read the previous books in the series, I think this really just even more made a book like this feel like the ultimate comfort read. The first 5 books in the series were written from the early 2000s through 2012, with each following one of the sisters when they’re in their 20s or early 30s. Then after a long break, two years ago Marian Keyes returned to the series with Again, Rachel, and now the characters are older. So it’s both a chance to enjoy being back with these wonderful and funny characters, but also to see them having gotten older just like I have since I first read them. And call me crazy, but decades into her writing career, I think this one and her last book are her best yet! I could not put this book down, and I literally read the last few chapters with tears in my eyes the whole time.

4.25 stars

Marian Keyes used to be my go-to author for chick lit and the Walsh family going ons was one of my favorite story arcs. I'm happy to say, decades later, that still holds true. So funny and heartwarming, I love Anna Walsh's family of assholes, I love Joey Armstrong and his many, many children, Courtney and Ben, and the endless cast of odd characters. This is a winner.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This book had an interesting story and characters, but it was slow at times. I didn’t realize this was part of a series and probably would have enjoyed it more if I had read the previous books.

It was a pleasure to return to the Walsh family with Keyes' My Favourite Mistake.

Between her beauty company PR job, good boyfriend and nice house, Anna appears to have it all... that is, until, she realizes how unhappy she is. Seeking a fresh start, Anna returns home to Ireland and, after experiencing a culture shock, finds herself settling back into the eccentric and cozy town of her youth. With this settling comes Joey, a coworker with whom Anna shares a complicated past: will this be an opportunity for a second chance romance, friendship, or neither? Anna's story will surely resonate with women everywhere.

Keyes has a unique dark humor that she entwines with a lot of heart, creating an original style I've loved since Watermelon. Anna's story, as most of Keyes', is a slow burn that allows you to truly appreciate the characters and the journey.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Another amazing novel by Marian Keyes. I have read and absolutely loved all of Keye’s books. Deep love at this point for any with the Walsh family. This book was funny and sad with lots of love and a bit of mystery. Amazing. I will be gifting this to my fave readers.

Marian Keyes always writes enjoyable books. I have read many but didn’t realize this was the 7th in a series! Unfortunately I had trouble keeping up with all the characters- perhaps it would be better for someone who had recently read some of the previous titles. I loved Anna but I think I cared more about her personal relationships than the main storyline of someone trying to sabotage a new resort.
I especially liked the quirky people who lived in town.

Anna Walsh has a terrific job working in the cosmetics industry in New York City. Then Covid comes and she’s living in lockdown with her boyfriend Angelo. Next thing you know she’s suffering from burnout, quits her job, dumps Angelo and flies off to Ireland.
Anna and Joey are great romantic leads. She’s smart, funny, one of five sisters, attractive and adored by one and all. He’s supportive, flawed (but working on it), a devoted dad, very easy on the eyes and sexy as all get out. The supporting cast of family, friends and townspeople are a “grand” bunch too. Loved the story, the setting and all the Irish colloquialisms. If you like rom-com novels you’re sure to love this one. It’s a light, fun, entertaining read. Gotta love that charming Irish humor! 4.25 stars

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an opportunity to read this book in exchange for a honest review. All opinions are my own.
What a delight to catch up with the Walsh Sisters and their lives. This story features Anna at age 48. She has loved and lost and loved again. She has just broken up with her boyfriend and now finds her big New York PR Cosmetic Industry career isn’t fulfilling anymore. She goes home to Ireland and to bosom of her family to figure out what she wants for this next stage of her life. Finding work is tougher than expected but a friend of her sister Rachel is opening a high-end spa resort at in a tiny Irish coastal town and it has just been sabotaged. They ask Anna to hire someone to help figure out who is behind it. The only problem is that the head of the project is Joey, the man “ho” who caused her the loss of her best friend. He and Anna have chemistry but over the decades have hurt and rejected each other several times .

What I liked about the story
* Sisters relationships. Annas relationships with her sisters has evolved. They are no longer flighty 20 year olds, but grown women who have come through fire and are still standing. No mere charactures but all the nuances of women in midlife.
* Female friendships- how you can be there for each other and sometimes still take each other for granted, but maybe still find your way back.
* 2nd chance love- once wounded twice shy. But still worth the risk.
* Men with nuance and vulnerability. Often in ‘Chic Lit’ they are shiny perfect beings or fatally flawed until they meet “the one” who changes them. Not in this story. These men are just as awkward and flawed as the women. They have emotional depth, they hurt too.
* Menopause- in all its glory
* Funny slice of life in a small Irish town where everyone knows everyone’s business.

What I didn’t like
* Book was waylong, and there was far too many pages with nothing happening . I was bored at times.
* The mystery was wasted- could have added more excitement . I was hoping for a big reveal but guessed it at the beginning.
* All of the talk about botox and injections to maintain a youthful appearance. I’m all for women doing whatever they want but would have liked to see more aging positive messaging.
* More Walsh Family. We get just a bit of Margaret, and Helen, and their Mum. Dad is only mentioned in the background. Rachel and Claire are more prominent but only appear briefly. Love them all.

First, a confession. I have loved pretty much everything written by this author. So approaching this, the seventh in the series featuring the riotous, charming and thoroughly hilarious Walsh family, my expectations were high.

And to a very large extent, they were met. All my favorite Walsh’s are here, and the authors laugh-out-loud wit is back and in fine form. This story features Anna Walsh, who the reader has encountered in “Anybody out there?”. Anna, a Manhattan based PR executive, now facing a burnout crisis that has her battling anxiety and total dissatisfaction with her life, decides to pitch it all and move back to Ireland. Reunited with her rambunctious family, questioning her future, and her past, Anna relives her memories of more than one perhaps-not-failed-forever former lover, as she journeys to a new equilibrium through experiences fraught with the author’s typical sparkle and hilarity, peppered with memories that gradually unwind the backstory that helps explain Anna’s current frame of mind.

A lively, lovely story, this is a comfortable, sexy and witty read, peopled with characters whose lives reflect those of the rest of us — bad hair days, maddening love lives, and torturous insecurities. And wrapped around it all, a warmth and a sweetness that comes with family, friendship, and the pulse of being loved.

My only challenge with this particular read was perhaps the level of the liveliness - in addition to the Walsh’s, and their inner circle, Anna’s new life in Ireland spreads to intersect with so many additional characters that for this reader, as colorful as many of them are, they were impossible to keep straight. But that perhaps, is the author’s point, as life in this crazy Irish family is riddled with social disasters, distractions, and always, a keen eye on each other’s kaleidoscope of happenings.

A great big thank you to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC of this book. All thoughts presented are my own.

Thanks to the publisher for my advanced copy of My Favourite Mistake. I started reading Marian Keys when I lived in Ireland 16 years years ago and have always enjoyed her books.

It's been a while since i read the Walsh family series but this is book 7 and it always feels so good to read an author I love (who doesn't write as much anymore). and this felt like seeing a long lost friend and catching up.

My Favourite Mistake by Marian Keyes is the seventh book in the Walsh family series. These are not small books - this book is over 400 pages. I think the first book by Keyes that I picked up was before heading on vacation with the plan of one or two big books and not five relatively smaller books.

The Walsh family is a large and busy Irish family. They like to all get involved in each other's lives and drama - quite often they create drama. Each book focuses on a different family member and this one is Anna. Anna has gone through tragedy years ago when her husband tragically died in a car accident but years later life is looking good for Anna. She has an amazing PR job in New York with a feathery stroker boyfriend. But then 2020 hits, Anna starts perimenopause, and basically is homesick for Ireland and her family. In a rash decision she leaves her job and breaks up with her boyfriend and moves back home. Without a plan for money or her future the first few months feel glum. When one of her sister's friends is in crisis with a business they are trying to get running Anna finally finds a purpose. Unfortunately, it involves a guy from her past Narky Joe. Together they navigate helping this business giving the family one less worry. Everything will work out if Anna could just find a doctor to give her some HRT medicine.

This book isn't a quick read - at least not for me. It took me a bit to get into it and then read the last 200 pages in a day. It's also filled with some Irish words and phrases that I sometimes didn't understand but for me it certainly didn't take away from the story. I think I've always had a bit of a fondness for Irish authors. If I'd had a girl I would have liked to name her Maeve after Maeve Binchy. In fact I would say Marian Keyes books are for fans of Binchy's novels. I might also call Marian Keyes the Irish Sophie Kinsella.

You can definitely read this one even if you have no read any of the other books in the series. Everything you need to know is introduced and makes for a lovely story.

A very easy read. This is what reading for comfort should feel like. Familiar and heartwarming.

As a long time Marian Keyes fan, I was excited to read the newest entry in the Walsh family series. I wasn’t disappointed. My only complaint was that there were so many characters, I had a hard time keeping them straight in my head. Still a very enjoyable book!