Ok, real talk. Marian Keyes was my absolute favorite author for years. YEARS. Rachel’s Holiday. Watermelon. Need I say more? Those books really kickstarted my love of reading post law school when I could start reading for fun again.
So you can imagine how giddy I was to get a copy of her newest book, My Favourite Mistake, all about the Walsh sisters, many years later. This installment was about Anna, years after losing her husband but now post breakup, post losing her job and returning home to Ireland. She takes on a PR job in a small town to help an old friend and the old Walsh dry sarcasm and quick wit is back. I loved being back in their world after so many years. Like being with old friends. I loved that the Walsh sisters have aged like me and are in the throes of perimenopause misery. It was like talking to my friends. I guffawed so many times. I loved the bantering. I loved the lack of a filter. I just wish it was a little shorter. The last part sort of meandered and with that, so did my mind. It could have been wrapped up earlier or quicker. But overall, it was a real treat to be reintroduced to this family that meant so much to me in my mid 20s.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the opportunity to review this book. All opinions are my own. The main character’s age made me whoop out loud at the coffee shop when I started to read. It is about damn time women, *cough* after a certain age, could see themselves in novels. She goes through many life events that my friends and I are experiencing. This is a perfect and refreshing beach/weekend read.

Marian Keyes has crafted a compelling narrative in My Favourite Mistake, capturing the essence of personal growth and the complexities of facing one's past.

Anna appears to have it all: a chic New York apartment, a well-meaning (perhaps too well-meaning) partner, and a prestigious job in beauty PR. But beneath this seemingly perfect exterior, Anna feels unfulfilled and decides to make a drastic change. She leaves the Big Apple, her partner, and her high-flying career to return to Ireland, taking on a PR role at a luxurious coastal retreat. However, the transition is far from smooth. The locals are hostile, and Anna finds herself dealing with threats and violence.

Drawing from her experience in the beauty industry, Anna is no stranger to challenges. She's adept at navigating tricky situations and smoothing over conflicts. Yet, she soon realizes that relocating to Ireland doesn't erase her past mistakes. As she reconnects with a former best friend and confronts an old love, Anna faces the painful truth that leaving New York didn't mean leaving behind her problems.

Keyes excels in creating relatable, flawed characters, and Anna is no exception. Her journey is both heart-wrenching and inspiring, as she learns that personal growth often involves confronting the very mistakes we try to escape. The novel beautifully explores themes of self-discovery, forgiveness, and the courage to change.

While some readers might find the pacing uneven at times, the emotional depth and witty prose more than compensate. My Favourite Mistake is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the power of second chances. Keyes' fans and new readers alike will find themselves rooting for Anna as she navigates the complexities of her new life and ultimately discovers what truly makes her happy.

The promo copy made this novel sound both timely and unusual, but I forgot to check the page count. The plot is spread very thinly over the book's 600 pages, and a great deal of real estate is devoted to meditations on middle age and menopause. I didn't find Anna a particularly insightful protagonist, so while I've enjoyed other Marian Keyes novels this one wasn't for me.

DNF at 45% - It was a perfectly fine reading experienced and if it were longer I might have pushed through, but I just wasn't interested enough to prioritize another 300 pages of this book over other reads.

The Walsh family is back and this time Anna is back as she faces many life changes at once. As she returns to Ireland and accepts a local job opportunity, she comes face to face with Joey Armstrong - the guy who she always had an interest in but they couldn’t get their timing right. As they work on saving the retreat being built in town, Anna creates a life and friendships and tries to figure out if the timing is now for her and Joey.

I haven’t read a Marian Keyes book in several years and I did love reading about all of the Walsh sisters in the previous books, but I did find this one to be a tad too long for my liking. But when I also think back to what could have been cut or shortened I struggle to think of anything as it all leads to the build up of the multiple plots. And that goes back to Keyes’ style which is to create a slow burn so you’re enmeshed in the town and with the characters. A strong 3 stars for me. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.

This is book 7 in the Walsh Family series, but the first I have read, but it is ok, as it definitely functions as a stand alone. What do you do when what you thought was your life, throws you some curve balls? For Anna, it was time to go home, lick her wounds and see where life would take her. Only life has a funny way of bringing you something not what you were expecting, nor wanting. For Anna, this is a man from her past, and with him comes pain from loosing her best friend. As she tries to solve the issues for the resort, she soon realizes what she now wants isn't what she thought, and just maybe, there may be changes in her heart too. Part rom-com, part chick-lit, and a book with a whole lot of heart, this is one that will sing to your soul.

Each book in the series features one of the members of the family, but each is also a stand alone book. I'll be going back, as I have time, and starting the series from the beginning!

This book is so quirky and so dramatic I am here for all the drama. It is a slowburn and very long, I didn’t know it was part of a series so I was little confused when it comes to the characters since there was no character buildup in the story, they all seemed to have been established throughout the series, I will be reading the other books for a recap, but overall its packed with so much, Anna sure has a story. I adored this read.

Marian Keyes is an absolute gem! I've been reading her books for over 20 years and they just keep getting better and better. This one features Anna Walsh of the infamous Walsh family. This isn't so much a sequel but a revisiting of Anna since Anybody Out There? Anna Walsh is the second youngest of the Walsh sisters and is living her best life. Well, until COVID and she decides to quit her fab PR job, break up with her long-term boyfriend, Angelo and move back to Ireland. Seems a midlife crisis is in order.
Anna is at loose ends until an opportunity to help out her sister's friends comes to her. Anna puts her PR skills to use in Maumtilly, a small village where Rachel's friends, the Kearney's, are trying to build their wellness spa. She ends up loving the people of the village, making fast friends and generally smoothing over hurt feelings over misunderstandings. The only issue is Joey Armstrong, whom Anna has been circling around for over 25 years. Joey is brokering the deal between investors and the Kearney's. Will they (FINALLY) make it work and can Anna save the spa? Written with Keyes' perfect comedic timing and heart, you won't be able to put this down. It is always a pleasure visiting with the Walsh family.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for this e-arc.*

The Walsh family is back and readers you are going to need your tissues for this one!

Anna Walsh's life has had it's ups and downs, but this might be the most turbulent so far. She has left her life in New York, broken up with Angelo and she's back living with her family and wondering what to do next. Midlife crisis? No, it's perimenopause and Anna feels a little lost. More than normal. So when a family friend needs help with a PR fiasco Anna packs her HRT and her clothes and heads out to help. Not knowing that she is on a path to self-discovery.

I adore the Walsh family. They are my favourite fictional family. I grew up in a Irish-Australian household and their banter and picking at each other is what I knew and loved. While they say sarcastic things to each other, they really do love each other and would do anything for family. Especially Mammy Walsh, who has the best one liners ever!

My Favourite Mistake centres on Anna's life as she goes through "the change", and Marian Keyes could have been writing about my own life. Okay not the part with Snarky Joey, but if you do see him send him my way okay? However, the feeling of completely losing control of your life, mood swings, all the things that used to bring you joy that no longer? Yes Marian Keyes captures the daunting and challenging time of perimenopause perfectly. As only Marian Keyes can manage, she does it with laughter and tears!

I loved My Favourite Mistake as much as all the other Walsh sisters books. This is a series, that while they can be read by themselves and definitely out of order, once you get a dose of the Walsh sisters you are going to want to read all of them. This is the second "revisit" novel for the sisters, and I'm really enjoying them. Yes, there is a happy ending with the first books, but maybe life doesn't follow a perfect happy ending and multiple happy endings are needed!

My Favourite Mistake will stay with my heart for a very long time. Even though Watermelon is my favourite Marian Keyes, mostly because it was the first one I discovered and I love the Nora Ephron connection, but My Favourite Mistake is coming a close second. If you enjoy books about self-discoveries you need to read this book.

I LOVED this book! It's been a while since I read a Walsh family story from Marian Keyes but I had no trouble getting back in with the fam! I LOEV the family dynamics all throughout this book and now I want my family to be close like this!

Anna has a life that seems picture perfect, but it doesn't seem to fit her like it used to. Dramatically, she changes everything about her life and location. While helping friends with a very challenging situation, she encounters her past and must decide what she needs now.

Anna Walsh always felt unnoticed especially due to the strength of the personalities of her sisters and Mum (of whom her comments were hilarious). She therefore became a people pleaser which translated into her sacrificing her needs and wants to help Jacqui and Trea and surpress her feelings for Joey. It is only when when she quit her job in New York and moved to Ireland that she really became Anna as a person. What made her happy and complete became well defined especially as she acclimated into the town and her role within Brigit and Colm's company. Her love for Joey had prevailed for a long period of time which further expanded as they let each other in first emotionally and then physically. It was finally time and the correct space to recognize their love and how it could grow into a real relationship. Love like that never stops existing.

Somehow I didn't know this was a continuation of an established series. This made it a bit difficult to start as I didn't know the characters already. It is also a long book. This is a second chance trope, which is okay. I enjoyed that the FMC was middle-aged and dealing with a mis-life crisis. It's nice to have someone like that represented. I also enjoyed the setting. Overall just an okay book for me and a bit too long.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a advanced copy, and I give my review freely

Who hasn't wanted to run away from their current life? I have, so the premise of someone (Anna) leaving her "perfect: life and relationships and starting over was intriguing.

Anna has a good job and good relationship in New York Coty but isn't feeling fulfilled. As for many of us, Covid made Anna reevaluate her life and what whe found left her wanting. She realizes that both the job and the relationship are lacking something, so she leaves them both to go home to Ireland.

At "home", we meet Anna's eccentric family and throughout the story, we learn of Anna's early years and loves. As Anna steps in to help her family and her sister's business, she's confronted with getting to know herself and to examine relationships from the past, including Joey, a past friend/love/adversary.

My Favourite Mistake wasn't quite the madcap adventure that I expected but made me think. While quirky, it delves into relationship issues well... from family dynamics, perceptions of ourselves and others, understanding and building new relationships, and learning about ourselves. I didn't find Anna likeable at all times, but the author did a great job with character narrative to convey emotion and perspective. I enjoyed the read and looked forward to each next chapter.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this ARC.

This is apparently the 7th book in this series and I've not read any of the books leading up to this one. I think I probably should have, because I was really lost at the beginning.

Anna, dealing with perimenopause (gosh we all deal with it...why this book give so much time to it I'll never know), job dissatisfaction, the pandemic, and a now mediocre boyfriend, decides to chuck it all and go back to Ireland. After page after page of details, Anna, who was a PR person in NYC, is helping Brigit make the spa her family wants to open, more palatable for the locals. As she begins this task, she comes into contact with a fellow from her earlier years, Narky Joey Armstrong. Not being familiar with the term 'narky' I had to look it up. Apparently Joey Armstrong wasn't the nicest person, sarcastic, snarky...well you get the picture. Much more descriptive dialogue and Joey and Anna are together.

The book was OK, but I felt it dragged along. I'll go back to my first paragraph and again say I really didn't know the backstory of any of the characters and this series should probably be read in order. Three stars since the ending was good.

This was my first foray into a Walsh Family book by Marian Keyes. Although I was unfamiliar with the background, I found the story quite easy to get into.

Anna is middle aged and facing disappointment and regrets about her life (Easily understood by any of us older folks). She has been been unlucky in love, and although successful in her career, she recognizes that it hasn't brought her the kind of happiness she expected as a tradeoff for all her hard work. Her current live-in situation curdles during the isolation of COVID, and she misses her family in Ireland. An amicable split with her partner and a move home might be the answer to her problems, but it could also be another in her list of many mistakes.

I enjoyed this story and found myself rooting for Anna and her happy ending. Her family is hilarious. Although I was often confused trying to keep them straight, it didn't lessen the pleasure of getting to know them. I think this would be one thing that would have been easier if one had read the previous Walsh stories.

Anna finally begins to find her footing after agreeing to help old friends in the little village of Maumtully, Ireland. Her long time crush but also biggest mistake is also a part of this operation. The challenge of seeing him, much less working with him, brings plenty of tension. Will they ever be on the same page in terms of their relationship? Hint: The answer is revealed by the end of the book.

This was both a serious and amusing story in which I found myself drawn in and caring about the outcome. I so wanted happiness for Anna in spite of all the roadblocks. The characters were real and relatable. It's not a fast paced read, more of a slow burn, which sometimes seemed to drag a little. All in all, I really enjoyed reading "My Favorite Mistake" and plan to go back through some of the earlier Walsh Family books, especially "Anybody Out There?" which is young Anna's story.

My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this title.

I'm new to the Walsh Family, so my rating is probably higher than people who have read the other books. I found the story slow, but actually in a good way. I took my time and enjoyed all the hilarious characters (there were a lot, a little hard to keep track of). I love how this book was written to make you feel like you were part of this bug crazy family. I may look for more in the series.
Thanks to netgalley, the publisher and author for the chance to read this advanced copy.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I am new to this series and had no trouble jumping right into the story! I will say this is a VERY LONG BOOK at 600 pages so buckle up!

This is the story of Anna, present day, living her best life in NYC in the beauty PR field. Covid hits and Anna decides to turn her life upside down starting with the breaking up with her partner, leaving the city, and returning home to Ireland. The story alternates with Ann's past when she was struggling with grief and life in NY. The "past Anna" really helped build the character for me.

I really loved Anna and this story. Obviously this is a character driven story but I found it very relatable and funny. I plan to find book one and start the series from the beginning.

Loved it and highly recommend!!!

Thank you to @netgalley and Doubleday Canada for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is my first experience with Marian Keyes’ work. The writing is fun and upbeat while also very clearly capturing real people, real emotions, and the real complexity of human nature. The characters are lovable and felt fully fleshed out. With that said though, I had a tough time getting through this one. As much as I wanted to love a book that focuses on later-life romances and relationships and is set in a beautiful Irish village, it was just a bit too much. Way too many pages, way too much detail in places where it didn’t help anything about the book except the page count. And I know this is part of a series about the Walsh family but there were just way too many characters who had little to no impact on the book, and I really couldn’t keep straight. So overall it was an enjoyable book but not my personal favorite.

Wow! This is the first book I have read by Marian Keyes, but I have already loaded up my Kindle with her other offerings based on this book alone! Thanks to NetGalley, Doubleday Canada, and Marian Keyes for this advance reader copy.

Although this book is the seventh in the series, it can be read as a stand alone book and I didn’t feel like not having read the background on others necessary to completely enjoy “My Favourite Mistake”. The author’s hilarious use of dialogue between the sisters and Mom had me howling out loud and gave me enough information that I understood their characters in relation to the main character of this book, Anna.

Anna is a mid to late 40s perimenopausal Irish woman who has spent the last 20 years in New York City. She rose to become a top PR exec, but isn’t exactly sure how except she is good at putting out fires. But she is stressed out and tired of the rat race. Due to the pandemic, she hasn’t seen her close-knit family in almost a year and decides to move back to Ireland.

Through the rest of the story, she crosses paths with old friends, makes new friends, finally find a doctor in Ireland to prescribe her HRT, and runs into the man who once shredded her heart and comes to realize she also hurt him.

Much of the story takes place in a small Irish town nicknamed M’Town and it is richly described, the inhabitants portrayed with enough fullness to make them real and loveable.

I was especially grateful for the author to discuss the much outdated views some doctors hold about HRT based on misanalysed data. Ms. Keyes shows the struggle a woman goes through to get on much needed medication to quell the various life-impacting side effects of menopause. It really is a life saver. So thank you so much. So many doctors do not take it seriously and just want to throw an antidepressant at women instead of taking the time to listen.

This book is on sale in a few days, July 30th. It is such a wonderful read, lifts the spirits and will make you laugh (and sometimes cry). It’s perfect!