A great read about 3 couples who meet monthly for dinner...it follows the trials,tribulations & repercussions that occur when an extra person is introduced to the group!! I whizzed through this book - a really good read!!

The Dinner Party centres on three friends and their husbands who meet on a monthly basis for a get together. Everything has been going smoothly until one of the group invites a new person without any notice. This change in the dynamic highlights the cracks in their lives and their friendships changing things forever.
Beth, Sarah and Marie have been friends since school and over the years their lives have taken different paths. The monthly dinner parties were started as an attempt to stay close to each other. Through the book you can see how different these women have become. Beth is a nurse who seems to lack self-confidence after a colleague called her cuddly, Sarah had been an important fashion buyer in London who gave it all up and moved back to the place she grew up after falling in love with her brothers friend, but despite looking like she had everything she was bored with her life and Marie worked in a fashion shop but thinks she looks the bees knees and always vying to be the centre of attention.
The husbands Chris, Duncan and Tony have absolutely nothing in common with each other but I guess it is a testament to how they feel about their wives that they are willing to endure the monthly gatherings to please them. When Simon is introduced to the group it begins to get interesting and they all start to show their true colours either by fawning all over him or resenting his presence.
I will admit that I took a total dislike to Tony out of the whole group. I am not sure if it was down to the fact that he left his first wife for Sarah, or the fact that he is a wealthy and successful architect but his possessiveness over her his attitude to others just left me cold. I could really feel for Sarah as she wrestled with telling him she had secured a part time job as she was not sure what his reaction would be. Although Beth’s husband Chris comes across as a bit absent minded you can see that he has a good heart by the way he tries to help Simon through his marriage breakdown and as the story progresses you find out that he totally adores his wife.
Having chuckled my way through No One Has Sex on Christmas Day I was looking forward to reading the Dinner Party. Once again I found myself chuckling at some of the situations that occurred at each new dinner party. I am certainly thankful that none of my friends have ever entertained such an idea as I would be scrambling to find ways to avoid them. Although you just know that things will not necessarily end well I was not expecting them to end the way they did. For fans of Tracy Bloom this is definitely one to add to your TBR pile.

Three school friends, Beth, Sarah and Marie meet once a month with their husbands for a dinner party; one January Beth's husband Chris invites his new(ish) friend Simon, who's been having a bit of a rubbish time of late. The addition of an extra person throws their usual routine into disarray and over the following four months friendships, marriages and morals and all called into questioning.

The characters made this, the book switches perspective throughout which really plays on your preconceptions of each of them. I found all of them to be believable and mostly relatable with their own little quirks, personal highlights included Chris' dip obsession!

The format is much like other books I've read by the author, short chapters which make this perfect for holidays or catching the sporadic 5mins reading peace; however I did unintentionally read this in a day, albeit a day where I spent about 5 hours in the passenger seat of a car but I really didn't want to put it down. A little different are the interview questions at the end of some chapters, the idea being Beth had won a competition to have her dinner party catered for by a professional chef so the members are the group have been contacted for background information, these make for great teasers for what might be coming as the questions are out of context so really make you start guessing.

My favourite book by Tracy Bloom so far, I ended up giving this five stars, it made me laugh out loud on multiple occasions and brightened a rather long car journey.

When you need a break from heavy thrillers and suspense novels, when you just want to LOL, Dinner Party by Tracy Bloom will put you in a happy mood. Its really difficult to write a story that is humorous, light, and engaging but Tracy manages to pull it off!

Each chapter in Dinner Party focuses on a different person, I always like seeing things from various points of view. Each character has their own little quirks, just like the people you know in real life…but funnier.

Here’s what its all about:



Three couples take it in turns to host a monthly dinner party. Beth, Sarah, and Marie have been friends forever. Now they are grown up, with busy lives, busy husbands, busy kids… but they still find time to meet up over dinner once a month. A cozy, comfortable gathering of happy couples – or so they thought.

Until one night, someone brings along a last-minute guest whose wife has just left him. Simon is standing on the doorstep in floods of tears. While the women do their best to console him, their husbands feel the need to mark their territory.

And as Simon becomes more involved with the group, his presence changes everything these three couples thought they knew about each other, leading to a final dinner party that no-one will ever forget.



Sidenote: I love a wicked British sense of humor!

Due out next week.

Fun filled, laugh out loud book about friends that have known each other for years. I loved the different charters told by the different friends.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Beth, Sarah, and Marie have been friends since they were young girls. They keep their friendship alive despite very different career paths through a monthly dinner party. Every time they meet, hilarity ensues because of the different personalities in the group. The group is bonded through thick and thin in spite of constant eye-rolling over things like Chris's obsession with dips, Marie's monthly diet restrictions on her and her husband, or Tony's high class attitude. When Chris invites an unexpected guest, everything starts to unravel. How one guest could cause such chaos is unimaginable...but that's exactly what Simon does. His arrival changes everything.

I'm giving this book a 5 star rating because it was just pure fun. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of this book with it's laugh-out-loud humor. Both the characters and their situations are endlessly amusing. I loved it and I can't wait to read more by this author. I highly recommended this book for a good laugh and nonstop fun.

I received this book through Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Netgalley.com, to Bookouture, and to Tracy Bloom for this amazing opportunity.

The story of three couples, Beth and Chris, Sarah and Tony and Marie and Duncan. They all take it in turns where one hosts a dinner party for the other couples every month. Beth, Sarah and Marie have all known each other for years and whilst they have all remained friends they all have vastly different lives. The first dinner party of the book is hosted by Beth and Chris. Unknown to Beth and the others, Chris has invited a friend, Simon, whose wife has just left him. Simon ends up being invited to future dinner parties and his new presence to this group of friends changes everything they thought they knew about each other.

This book started off great and really drew me into the storyline immediately. Throughout the first few chapters we are introduced to the three different couples. They are all so different it made me wonder how they all ever became and remained friends, and to be honest how they all ever ended up married to each other also! None of them seemed to like each other very much and everything they seemed to do just irritated the hell out of the others!

The story flowed along at a nice pace and was easy to understand. In between each chapter, there is what appears to be the transcript of a journalist interviewing one of the 6 friends. There seems to be an implication that something has happened involving Simon, the extra dinner party guest, although obviously you don’t get to find out what all this is about until much further into the story.

Whilst all of the characters had their flaws, there was something to like in each one of them. My favourite character though had to be Chris! Completely obsessed with food, I could feel his pain when there were no dips and dipping accompaniments pre meal! I also loved the way that every roll of the eyes or snappy comment from Beth waved over him like water off a duck’s back!

There are many laugh out loud moments throughout this book, but it’s not all just about the laughs. There is an emotional, warm and sometimes sad undertone that runs alongside, hiding a deeper truth about friendships and relationships. This was definitely another warm and witty book by this author, which I would recommend reading without a doubt!

Probably the funniest book I’ve read this year I loved it couldn’t put it down. Thanks for the preview

What a cool and different novel! It reminded me a lot of ''Perfetti Sconosciuti'', perfeclty addictive and for sure unforgettable!

This was the most fun I have had reading this year. Highly recommend as a fun, fast-paced read with lots of laughs and eye-rolling!

Loved this! I could easily see this being turned into a movie! There was drama with a comedic tone. I liked that the each chapter was from a different characters perspective. I felt as though there were aspects of each character that the reader could connect to.

I was very pleased with the ending and was happy to see that the author had done a "one year later" chapter. I was sad to see this book end, I could have easily kept reading about the monthly dinner parties! Although, I would probably need to incorporate some chips and dips into my reading because I kept craving dip the more I read! :)

This was an amusing read, but not the laugh out loud story the blurb lead me to expect. I wondered why they were still all friends as they seemed to have very little in common. Was hard to like or feel much empathy for these characters, those that were the most likeable seemed to have little backbone or were dip obsessed.

An ok read, but not sure I would recommend it.

Thank you to the author, Bookouture and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Be ware : Unexpected guests may lead to unexpected situations ...

This book was simply gorgeous. If you are looking for a workout for your laughing muscles, then this is a must read!

Behind all this laughter and fun there is a deeper meaning hidden. It's about love, betrayal and a lot more emotions that live throws at you. True friendship will pass the test of time and will conquer all and even if certain words are not always said out loud, the feelings can be very real.

This story is fluently written and you don't want to put it aside.

Thank you, Tracy Bloom, Bookouture and Netgalley

A really good, funny read. I laughed a lot reading this book. It is amazing how one person can change a group of friends so much. I enjoyed reading about the food and the wine at each dinner party and I felt that added to the atmosphere in the book. I could imagine everything and every character so clearly. This is a book that I would definitely recommend. I think I will be laughing next time someone offers me dip!!

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

My full review appears on Weekendnotes. I'm a fan of Tracy Bloom's other books and while this one is not my favourite of her novels, I did enjoy it. Thankyou for sharing this ARC.

This was addictive to read and it had a very good premise. I think everyone can identify with this book in someway shape or form

This was a disappointing read for me as I expected more from it. Perhaps it was because it was billed as a ‘laugh out loud comedy’ I was wanting a lot more humour. Don’t get me wrong, it was an okay read, but I didn’t laugh all the way through as I had wanted to.

Weaving the stories of several different couples around their regular dinner party get together is a great idea, and the addition of an extra person into the mix creates an interesting dynamic. I enjoyed the addition of the little bits at the end of each chapter with the journalist questioning the dinner guests.

Thanks to Bookouture and Netgalley for providing a copy.

I enjoyed, but didn't love, this book. I liked the story or Beth, Marie and Sarah, schoolgirl friends who meet with their husbands, Chris, Duncan and Tony for regular dinner parties. The inclusion of Simon throws this all into disarray. I think I just didn't find it "laugh out loud" funny - maybe I'm comparing to previous books of Tracy's which are hysterical (The No-One Ever series).
An entertaining book, but maybe I expected it to be even funnier.

I feel as if I'm having bad luck choosing books lately, or maybe I just wasn't in the right frame of mind for this one but I wasn't wowed by the story or characters. Out of the three couples (plus Simon), I honestly didn't like any of them. Chris would've been o.k. if it weren't for his obsession with dips, that really wasn't that funny. Beth was quick to snap at everyone while Sarah and Marie were probably the most self-absorbed characters I've encountered.

I enjoyed the structure of the novel with the journalist questions at the end of each chapter, but otherwise, this one just wasn't for me. I kept waiting for something profound or at least climactic in some way, but just never felt it.

*Thanks to NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Beth, Sarah and Marie are in their mid-forties and have been friends since school. Once a month, they and their husbands meet at one of their houses for a dinner party. When it's Beth and Chris' turn, he had forgotten to tell her that he had invited his friend, Simon. Simon and his wife had just split up (she had been cheating on him) and he was heartbroken. Beth has been exasperated with Chris for a while and it's all she can do to control herself. When Simon arrives, the three friends are drawn to him, something a couple of the husbands notice. As the months go on and the dinner parties continue to happen, Simon becomes more and more part of their lives and what is lacking in their own lives becomes apparent.

This was the fourth book I read by this author and I thought it was okay. I liked the writing style ... it's a quick easy read. It is written by an English author so there are some references and terminology I didn't get. It's written in third person perspective from different perspectives (the chapters are labeled so you know whose voice it is). In addition, Beth had won a dinner party hosted by a chef and leading up to that, a journalist would be interviewing everyone. At the end of each chapter, there is a short interview between the journalist and one of the seven main characters. As a head's up, there is swearing.

I wasn't crazy about the majority of the characters. The only ones I liked were Simon, Chris (though he seemed overly obsessed about dips), Duncan and Issy (Duncan's assistant). I don't know how these three women stayed friends all these years because they were usually nasty and snippy with each other. Tony, Sarah's husband, was an arrogant controlling jerk and I don't know why Sarah stayed married to him.