This was such a great book! I have read all of Beth O’Leary’s work and loved it all, but this is probably my favorite. A heartbreaking and heartwarming love story all at the same time. I was a bit confused at the beginning and felt there were a lot of characters to keep track of, but the way it all fell together was perfect. Read this book! Thank you to NetGalley for the early read!

I love this author and was really excited for this book. But it fell kind of flat for me. Partially because most of the book I was confused as to what was going on- who was what and when and it was all over the place. I really think that having dates added to chapters would help because once I did find out that one part of the story was from years ago I felt like I needed to go back and reread. Once you really get to hear Joseph’s story though the book became heartwarming and sweet. The ending was pretty special too. Bumped up to 3.5 stars.

It starts off slow and kind of dense, but once the action begins, it's hard to resist the story as it drives forward. It reads as a true epic, one that makes you feel the world really has been reshaped as you read it. Would recommend.

So I have a lot of feelings about this book. (Spoilers ahead!) In my opinion, it could have been a great story if it was executed a little better. It took me a little over halfway through the book to feel invested in what happened next. I found the timeline quite confusing and jumping between 3 POVs made it difficult to keep characters/plot straight. I also found the main male character to be highly unlikeable (him constantly crying became almost manipulative at several points). I really enjoyed the scenes with AJ and Miranda and I found them well suited to one another. I think the way it was written and having the male MC framed as a cheater for most of the book left me predisposed to disliking him so once that was resolved, the feelings of dislike stuck around. I also found the pacing to be a little off, I almost wish the story was focused on one POV only, although seeing how they all interconnected at the end made it make a little more sense.

I have mixed feelings on this one. I really enjoyed the direction the first chapter started in but then with the slowness and the mix of switching between multiple characters, I struggled to keep interest. I know I am in the minority on this one. I might need to try the audio version instead.

Per the publisher's request:

My honest review of The No-Show will be publicly available on April 19th, 2022 on my blog, GiaReadsBooks. You will be able to find it with this link: www.giareadsbooks.com/book-reviews/the-no-show. On average, I have between 750-1,000 unique visitors per month, which stem from Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, and Goodreads.

Genre: Romance
Rating: 5 Stars
Spice Rating: 1 Star*
**There are no explicit scenes in this novel, though there is some mention of sexual harassment/abuse. Some mentions of death and a miscarriage but neither is a main theme.

Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group, Beth O’Leary, and NetGalley for sending me a copy of The No-Show in exchange for an honest review.


Review:

The No-Show follows three women – Jane, Siobhan, and Miranda – as they navigate their relationships and romantic lives after being stood up on Valentine’s Day. Jane is a quiet, schedule-ridden bookworm who refuses to face her haunting past. Siobhan is the “it” girl, working as a corporate life coach and essentially killing it at everything, except, of course, relationships. Miranda is an adrenaline junkie with a job that requires her to climb 50-foot trees on the daily. What do they all have in common, you ask? Well, they were all stood up by the same man on Valentine’s Day. Where was Joseph Carter on V-Day, and why is he so secretive about his past? Will Jane, Siobhan, and Miranda ever really know Joseph Carter?

I’ve never read Beth O’Leary before, and I’m realizing now that that was probably a mistake. While The No-Show's pacing felt a bit slow at the beginning, the buildup to the end was phenomenal. It took me nearly 3 days to get through the first 50% of this novel, but I binged the second half in a single night! O’Leary seriously has a way with words. She managed to make me root for all three of these complicated relationships, even though I wanted to punch Joseph in the face every time he showed up! In all honesty, I think I really just wanted to see Jane, Siobhan, and Miranda happy, and that made it so much harder to hate Joseph.

I really dislike making comparisons when it comes to authors, but for recommendation's sake, I got Colleen Hoover vibes from this book. O’Leary tasked herself with building not one, but FOUR main characters throughout this book, which is incredibly difficult to pull off. She managed it, though. She managed it so hard. The No-Show is an incredibly well-written novel that focuses not only on the romantic lives of these characters, but also their emotional journeys towards self-love. It was raw and real and amazing. I’m begging any and all romance readers to get their hands on this novel as soon as they possibly can.

Beth O’Leary’s newest page turner follows three women, each of them being stood up on Valentine’s Day. One for breakfast, one for lunch, and one for a dinner date. The problem is that is seems they’re all being stood up by the same man.

Another beautifully written romance by the author of The Flatshare, The Switch, and The Roadship. This one will keep you up all night.

I'm not sure what exactly I was expecting with THE NO-SHOW but it was not this! Beth O'Leary's fourth novel is her most ambitious, unique, and complex, yet. The story interweaves the lives of three women-- Siobhan, Miranda, and Jane-- who are all involved in one way or another with Joseph Carter. That's all I knew going in and this book ended up being one of the most unexpected (seriously, I am usually very good at predicting where plots are going but I didn't see this one coming at all) heartfelt, sad and sweet novels I've read in quite some time. Since THE FLATSHARE jumped right into my top favorite books ever I have eagerly anticipated every new release from O'Leary and will continue to do so, but I'm especially interested to see what she does next!

I really enjoyed the first 30% of the book and learning about tree surgeons but once I hit about 30-40% of the way through I had a hard time picking it back up. I do think many people will enjoy this book.

This one might be Beth O'Leary's best one yet. You want to hate Carter for most of the book and instead you just...ugh. (no spoilers!)

I can always count on Beth O'Leary for a heartfelt narrative with a loveable cast of characters, and THE NO-SHOW did not disappoint! I'll admit, I started off wondering why I was reading a book about a guy who was stringing along three woman at once (LOL) but this author weaved together a story that surprised me and that I thoroughly enjoyed. Highly recommend!

A pretty good read, although I'm not sure it was totally successful in the execution of the big reveal. An interesting idea, though.

Romance with a clever time twist you figure out about two thirds of the way through. Everyone is broken but the healing they experience is believable. The overlap between characters is interesting. Clever and readable.

The No Show by Beth O’Leary
Tags: Fiction; Contemporary Fiction; Relationship Fiction; Slow Burn Story; Drama;
CW: Harassment; Miscarriage; Grief; Death; Abuse - Gaslighting; Dementia

It’s Valentine's Day and three woman with seemingly nothing in common are about to share one thing: all being stood up by the same date.

To start off, this book is described as a romcom – but to do so, in my opinion, does the story a disservice and could set some readers up to not enjoy this story or stick with it. So to be clear, when I read the description and saw the cover art, my initial impression was that this was to be a RomCom a la The Other Woman (movie with Cameron Diaz and Leslie Mann), instead this was more of a Contemporary Fiction with a focus on relationships and character growth read.

If it were a movie, I’d classify it as a drama. Do not go into this expecting a traditional romcom or romance, there are romantic arcs. I want to make this clear up front, because I think for me – knowing what to expect impacts my ability to enjoy and appreciate a read. Having read The Flatshare and The Roadtrip previously and knowing that each was classified and appeared to be a RomCom – I had some reservations on what ‘genre’ this would actually fall into and was better able to appreciate the story as a result.

With that out of the way, I think once again Beth O’Leary has proven herself to be a very talented writer, who can weave an truly engaging, slow evolving story with plenty of character development and poignancy. She has a delicate way of balancing real life heavy topics, with bits of levity and creating characters who are well developed and feel real, as does each of their journeys and growth. Her stories are emotional, powerful and carefully layered.

It was a slow build of a story with a bit of a mystery element in a way (you know you are missing pieces and are waiting for them to slot into place as the story goes on). I enjoyed the multiple POVs – each voice felt unique and interesting. Deep, heartfelt, and emotional keep flipping the pages because when it all comes together you will be surprised and satisfied in the ending.
I can’t say more without giving away key pieces of the plot – recommend for fans of intriguing, thought provoking, parallel storyline readers.

All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own. Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an early copy of this book.

This was a very solid read - lots of character growth and change. It was definitely not as light and fluffy as I expected and I wasn’t sure where it was going. But at the end of the day I loved this ambitious novel by Beth O’Leary.

After really enjoying The Flatshare this past year the description of this book really intrigued me. Three women are stood-up on Valentine’s Day, but, little do they know, it by the same man, Joseph Carter.

Siobhan is a life coach, who is very successful, smart, and her own person. Joseph and her have a standing monthly date in London, but usually it as a hotel at night and for Valentine’s Day he asked her to breakfast, which he never shows up to.

Miranda is a tree surgeon and is surrounded by men all day, so she is looking forward to her lunch date with Carter. After a long morning climbing trees and ignoring her co-worker, AJ’s flirtation, she ends up waiting at a restaurant all by herself.

Jane works in a charity shop and has to go to a dreaded engagement party on Valentine’s Day, which Joseph has said he’d be her fake date for. Her co-workers don’t believe her and even less so after he doesn’t come to the party.

The No-Show follows each of these women’s relationships with Joseph and dives deeper into their lives, asking what they want from the world. They each have their own trauma and relationships that questions not only what it means to be a partner, but also what it means to be a friend.

I really enjoyed this story, and I was prepared to hate Joseph for his no-show dates, but this story is not what you think. It’s clever and surprising. It’s heartfelt and a tearjerker.

I loved all the characters and the side characters too! You’d think with three different POVs it would be a lot, but O’Leary masterfully weaves them all together.

I think if you enjoyed her other books, love romantic comedies, or stories about relationships (not only the romantic kind) you’ll enjoy The No-Show.

This book discusses sexual harassment, miscarriage, death of a loved one, gaslighting, cheating, and dementia.

Thank you to NetGalley for sharing an ARC with me in exchange for an honest review!

I read the first 20% of the book. I didn’t find myself invested in any of the three main female leads. There wasn’t really anything that set them apart. If it continues the way it has, solid three stars for the average reader.

I don’t think I’ve ever been so duped by an illustrated cover before. This book isn’t a sweet rom com. I came into this book thinking of The Other Woman, that funny Cameron Diaz movie with three women seeing the same guy.

That is not this book.

I would barely consider this book a romance. This book reads more like Liane Moriarty’s Big Little Lies. The differing POVs all leading to a twist that wrecked me. But as a big LM fan, I still really enjoyed this book. But it’s hard when I was expecting a story with a central romance, when the romance plays secondary to some deeper issues with these characters.

I’m still giving it five stars because it’s a great book…but is it a great romance? Idk. There’s a happy ending but I’m still gonna be reeling for awhile which isn’t exactly the feeling I like to have after reading a romance. I like feeling a happy little sigh. Not, omg wtf just happened???!!! 😭😓😫 you know, basically how I feel after every Liane Moriarty I’ve read and loved 🤣

This book didn't quite hit the right notes for me. It is a romance, but I didn't really understand what the attraction was in the relationships between the characters. (Although maybe that's one of the book's points--not all relationships are meant to last forever.) It was a bit frustrating to wait to see how the 3 major plot lines were going to come together, but the author did so in a satisfying way close to the end of the book. It was missing a lot of the humor from the author's previous books, and I didn't like a few of the characters. But it had an interesting twist, and that clever conclusion saved the book for me overall.

A fun but complex Valentine's Day read - I loved the way the three POVs were executed. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.