The No Show may be my new favorite by Beth O’Leary! I will caution you not to let the cute cover fool you as this novel is full of heart and O’Leary dives into some deep topics. I don’t want to say much about the topics, though, because I don’t want to spoil anything. This book is best read with little-to-information about what you’re getting yourself into.

This book kept me guessing from chapter one and I was so glad I went in without it being spoiled for me. I honestly read very little about The No Show before I began reading – and I would urge you to do the same! Just take my word for it – it is WORTH READING! Dive in blind, with no expectations other than to sit back and enjoy yourself, and you will absolutely not be disappointed.

After the flatshare I was interested in reading more from Beth O'Leary. This book like her others take me some time to get into but once I'm hooked in I cannot put it down.
I like her style of writing as it's a bit different then what I normally read.

I just couldn’t get into this one! I wanted to really be drawn into the stories and plots, but it didn’t jive with what I expected having read other Beth O’Leary books. DNF for me!

Unfortunately The No-Show by Beth O'leary was a DNF for me. I had a hard time connecting to the plot and characters. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this book

I enjoy Beth O'leary's stories. This one took longer for me to get into because of the third person present tense format.

I really enjoyed this author’s The Flatshare, and I loved the cover of this one, so I eagerly requested it.

It’s hard to adequately review this one without spoiling anything, so let me just say that about a quarter of the way through, I was hooked. Halfway through, I was like LET’S GO. And by the end I was emotionally devastated. This is definitely not an average romcom, so be wary if you tend to steer clear of emotional reads. There’s so much more at play here, I was so involved in all of their stories.

Thanks so much to the publisher and to NetGalley for giving me access to this book. Enjoyable romance - Well written and interesting characters. I will be recommending this book. Thanks again for giving me a chance to read it.

"You're just like...You're not even capable of being fake. You're completely yourself."

I WAS BALLING MY EYES OUT AT THE END OF THIS BOOK. I'll be honest, at the beginning, I just wanted to kill Joseph Carter. Like, who does this guy think he is to be playing three girls like that. But, at the end, when I read the truth about him, and the reality behind all three love stories, my heart broke😭 NOBODY DESERVES TO GO THROUGH WHAT HE DID. Also, major shoutout to Jane and Miranda. My heart also goes out to beautiful Siobhan. These three ladies are warriors who carry the world at their fingertips. All three of them have baggage and chaos, but the way they carry themselves is absolutely admirable. Jane and Siobhan have the most heartbreaking stories, with a terrible boss who is known for getting away with things due to his privilege. Richard, you absolutely disgust me. Even though all three women have nothing in common, it's obvious when you read the book that all three characters are truly good people. After all, that's why Joseph Carter wants all of them in his life. This book is definitely chaotic, AND OMG THE PLOT TWIST. I AM SURE NO READER SAW IT COMING. ABSOLUTELY INSANE. I HAVE NEVER READ A BOOK THAT GOOD IN SUCH A LONG TIME. GO READ THIS PEOPLE.

Wow wow wow! This one really surprised me! In the best way. I have really enjoyed the O’Leary books I have read so far, and this one was so unique.

It’s hard to write about without giving anything away. But you think you know what’s happening the whole time and then BAM you don’t at all. The twist was SO well executed. I read this back in July and I still think about it a lot.

I want more people to read this so I can discuss with someone. It is a little slow in the beginning, so just keep pushing through. I promise it will be worth it!

Beth O'Leary latest romance novel turns out to be more of a romantic mystery with a twist that turns the premise of three different women awaiting a Valentine Day date with a man who is a no-show, on its head. Dublin based Siobhan Kelly shares a home with Fiona, she is in a high pressured professional occupation as a life coach, leaving her with no time for a personal life, a deliberate decision, so whenever she is in London she pursues a casual, but satisfying non-exclusive sexual arrangement at a hotel, and has a breakfast date with him, Joseph Carter. Miranda Rosso lives with her 2 younger sisters, Adele and Frannie, she is a tree surgeon, working with an all male team, with a lunch date with Joseph. The fragile Jane Miller has run away from London, settling on Winchester with its connections with her mother, refusing to talk about her traumatic past to her colleagues at a charity shop where she is a volunteer, Joseph had promised to be her fake boyfriend for the evening.
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.

Yikes, this one just wasn't for me. I really enjoyed The Switch and liked The Road Trip ok but this one just didn't hit the mark for me. I already didn't really like any of the characters and when a big reveal happened, it was just so absurd to me that I kinda rolled my eyes and carried on to the end. It wasn't even that clever, it was more annoying because you're set up to assume something is happening and it's all very manipulative but not in a fun way. It was a fast read and it was a nice distraction but other than that, I just didn't enjoy it

It took me forever to realize the Beth O'Leary books are just not for me. I want to love them so bad because I know others do, I just couldn't get into this book and had to DNF it

Pro tip: go into this one blind. You’ll thank me later and will LOVE IT.

O’Leary delivers the perfect amount of fluff, romance, and a twist that will keep you guessing.

What are you waiting for?!

5 out of 5 stars. I'll tell you to read it, even if you don't ask.

I loved this book. The three intertwined storylines were not at all what I was expecting.

There's no doubt about it: this book had me glued for the last 100 pages or so. I spent a lot of time all the way through trying to guess what on earth Joseph Carter was up to, why he was deceiving these women, whether he was even alive (I was entertaining possibilities like he was a ghost or part of some sort of hallucination by one of the women.) The twist in this novel was a good one, although I guessed it about 25 pages before the big reveal. That still didn't ruin it for me, because Beth O'Leary managed to keep some surprises until almost the end.

Having read the novel, I can see why the author did what she did with its structure. The story absolutely demanded it. When I finished it, I wanted to go back and re-read it right away with the plot twist in mind.

I wish some of the secondary characters were a little more developed. Siobhan has her best friends, Fiona and Marlena, but I never really felt as close to them as Siobhan does. Miranda's sisters, surprisingly, felt the most developed to me, even though they spent so much time "offscreen." Even then, some things kind of got "twin-zoned" -- like, "they're twins, so they have this bond and are just best friends and, really, a pair of puppies falling all over themselves." Jane's new best friend Aggie was intriguing; I really wish we could have learned more about her. The short paragraphs we get about her late in the book weren't enough! I also wish we could have heard more from Joseph directly, although I understand why we didn't.

Overall, this was a good read, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone on, yes, Valentine's Day.

https://www.tiktok.com/@bettysbooklist/video/7080246072827792686?is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1&lang=en

Three women who seemingly have nothing in common find that they’re involved with the same man in this smart new rom-com by Beth O’Leary, bestselling author of The Flatshare.

I was completely hooked just from reading that blurb!! I think this story is best described as a romantic whodunit. It’s a romantic puzzle that leaves the readers trying to figure out what is going on and if this man will even end up with any of these amazing women. The book sprinkles clues and misdirections as the readers try to piece together how each of the women met Joseph and how he’s managing this juggling act.

This story revolves around: Siobhan, an ambitious career coach in Dublin. Miranda, a badass tree surgeon in London, happiest when climbing a tree, and most annoyed while fending off compliments from her hot lumberjack coworker. Last, but not least Jane, a fragile young woman with a mysterious past trauma who’s starting over in Winchester. She starts a book club with Joseph, and slowly develops a crush, but she’s not sure if he sees her as more than a friend. Of course, how could I forget about the lying dreamboat named Joseph Carter. He manages to convince these three beautiful women to forgive him for standing them up, but lingering questions remain with our female leads and the missed Valentine’s Day dates plant the seeds in their skeptical minds as Joseph’s lies continue to pile up,


•••A special thank you to NetGalley for providing me with this amazing arc of a book and of course for Beth O'Leary for surprising me with this gem of a romantic twist.

I want to give this three stars for tricking me, but also five stars for absolutely subverting all my expectations. Also, hindsight is 20/20, the cover for this book is so phenomenally done, I am in shock and awe. I just want to take a moment to appreciate that you can't get the nuance of it unless you finish this book.

This book starts off as stated - three women, all stood up on Valentine's day - one for breakfast, one for lunch, and one for dinner. Turns out, they were all stood up by the same man.

This is all a mix of what is happening and I'm here for the ride. I was so curious about the WHY of it all, but I also really loved the women in this book as they grow, heal, and find happiness. I was just as invested in their lives and stories as I was in the mystery of what on earth was happening with Joseph Carter.

While I loved the three MCs' stories, I did find myself getting confused over time with some of the names and characters. Though I appreciated that all these women had strong female friendships and support systems, I also got them a bit jumbled in my brain as we bounced between the MCs. It was a mix of the secondary characters not having their own depth, as well as just the chaos of following three separate lives over the timeline of one year. A small gripe in the grand scheme of things though, as the MCs themselves were very well explored and given full and colourful lives.

I feel like this is a book I might need to read again to tease out all those small details I might've missed. It was a wild ride, but I was so pleasantly surprised and heartbroken at the end. Very much a book about healing, from a multitude of different things. All in all, a book I would recommend (though check TWs first).

TWs: death via a traffic accident (detailed), death of a loved one, dementia, infidelity, dissociation, self-harm, stalking, gaslighting, manipulation, sexual harassment (in and out of the workplace), mentions death of a parent

Plot: 5/5
World Building: 4/5
Characters: 4.5/5
Writing: 4.5/5
Pacing: 4/5
Overall: 4/5
GoodReads Rating: 3.92/5

eARC gifted via NetGalley by Berkley Publishing Group in exchange for an honest review.

Three women, Siobhan, Miranda, and Jane, are all stood up on Valentine’s Day and all by the same man. They all forgive him for standing them up, but are in danger of falling in love with a man who seems to have many women in his life.

I went in to this knowing nothing was as it seemed and I ended up liking the book a lot for the most part, until the reveal. It’s not the reveal itself but what happened to one of the characters that bothers me the most and I can’t say it here because it’s spoiler, but that character deserved more. I’m really glad I read this, it was really well written, and I am definitely willing to read more by this author. But I guess after all the hype this one didn’t quite live up to my expectations and actually let me down a little bit.

The Flatshare is one of my favorite romances so I always get excited for any Beth O’Leary books. I think this book is best enjoyed not knowing much about it except that it can be a heavy book at parts (don’t let the pink cute cover fool you). It’s not my favorite Beth O’Leary book but worth a read.