Member Reviews
Thank-you NetGally and the publisher for the chance to review this ARC.
This was a quick read.
This is my first time reading a Lisa Daily book.
I'm looking forward to reading more.
The premise was very interesting and it was more heartfelt than I was expecting.
The way this story moved quickly got me interested and kept me involved throughout reading. The main character, Darby, absolutely stole my heart. The love and hurt she feels are palpable and although there were moments that I really disagreed with her stance, I could never say that she wasn’t acting out of love for her step children.
I think that the idea of public humiliation on national television is a pretty stomach-turning thought for most people, so you immediately want to root for her. But, just when things seem to be looking up everything comes unraveled again. The story itself may not seem relatable to most but the overarching theme and the human emotion involved certainly will be.
Seeing Darby come full circle is incredibly satisfying and her point of view is refreshing, to say the least. So often, women are pitted against one another and you pick sides without ever trying to see things from all perspectives. It’s so easy to dehumanize someone who has wronged you. It’s the easiest thing in the world to hate someone. It’s much harder, and much more personally rewarding, to forgive and to empathize.
On a lighter note, was not expecting to become so engrossed in the column entries that are at the end of each chapter. It reminded me of reading Cosmo magazines that I pilfered from my older sisters room in middle school, except the advice was better.
I really enjoyed this book and I would read more titles from this author.
Darby Vaughn sees her life change drastically, without being able to do anything and not knowing how it all happened. One moment she is happily married, with two children and a career she is proud of, and the next she lost everything.
This is the story of how a woman can overcome the adversities of life, transforming tragedy and sadness into a happy and successful future.
I must start by saying that this book wasn't exactly what I was expecting. Perhaps from the cover and the little hearts it has in the chapters, it seemed to me that it would be a more "lovely" story, in a less good sense. I didn't know if it was going to have the right amount of content or if it was going to be just another empty love story. What's certain is that it surprised me a lot.
It is a captivating book, fun, and good entertainment. I was attracted to the story and just couldn't stop reading.
It talks about the fear we have of opening up to other people and giving someone the chance to hurt us. If we don't open our hearts and share our souls, no one will ever make us suffer. What in practice is not quite so – often not pursuing something also makes us suffer. We're never safe from emotions because as much as we try, we can never control them. Just like we can't control other people's actions toward us.
A very positive point of this book is that it shows that we should put ourselves in the shoes of others. Not always what seems to us in a way - with our way of thinking, our thoughts, reactions, and our emotional baggage - is the same for the other. We are all different.
The trick to being happy is to take risks and follow what we feel is right.
This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, Siesta Key House and by #NetGalley. Opinions expressed are completely my own.
Packed with laughs, emotional highs and lows, you’ll experience a bit of everything.
Nope! I knew from the first and only chapter I read I am not going going to like this book. I kind of hate plot lines where the female partner is super obsessed with catching their partner cheating. Plus hiding behind a dumpster sitting in garbage, girl go communicate with the man it will be much easier. Or leave.
Despite being labelled a romantic comedy, I didn't laugh out loud once and the romance...was very lacking. In fact, it doesn't feature for like half the book.
Let me say, this book is easy to read and the plot does keep you hooked. However, do not think it's a romantic comedy, it's women's lit with a focus on motherhood (which would have been more impactful had we saw more interactions of Darby and the kids.) The romance is forced and rushed, with an unnecessary, unexpected sex scene at the end. This book could have spent more time showing rather than telling.
Due to how quick I read this, and how I did enjoy the beginning, I give this book 3 stars.
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the arc in exchange for an honest review.
The pacing of this book was all over the place. I'm still not sure what the timeline was, or how long of a period of time the whole book covers. But overall the things I didn't particularly vibe with were more because I don’t think I was the target audience. I picked this book because it was under the romance tag, but I would argue the romantic plot was definitely more of a sub-plot, if that. The themes of motherhood and how to be a mom didn't resonate with me, someone with no kids, and no current desire to have any. And in particular, Darby's desire to take custody of her ex-husband's kids was hard for me to comprehend, both emotionally but also logistically. It was hard to keep my interest after that unfortunately.
I read this entire book in on night. It was a quick, easy read and I hope that Lisa Daily writes more about Darby and Holt. The characters in this book were easy to love (and hate) and I had a hard time putting it down (hence reading it in one night). If you are looking for a fun novel that will pull you in, look no further.
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. This book was a hard one for me to review. I would personally label this one more of a woman’s fiction/chick lit rather than romance as that was not the main theme of the book. This book followed the life of Darby, a dating guru author whose perfect husband turned out to be not-so perfect.
This is a book that you absolutely have to finish to get the full effect. I say this because I did struggle with the pacing with this one. It felt long and drawn out for most of the book only to ramp up in the last 20%. It had funny moments for sure and there were some great moments of second-hand embarrassment especially with the Today Show scene, but some other moments felt a little harder to get through.
The things that didn’t necessarily vibe with me were more because I don’t think I was the right audience. There were strong themes of motherhood and what it meant to be a mom. Having no kids nor the desire to have them at this point in my life, it was hard for me to understand a step-mother wanting to take custody of her ex-husband’s kids. Finishing the book and getting to really see Darby’s full transformation as a character helped me empathize with her character a lot more.
Overall, if you like lighthearted reads, are family centric and want a good laugh, this book is for you.
Darby Vaughn is a 31-year-old bestselling author and dating/relationship expert. She is happily married to her handsome and wealthy publicist, Will, and they live in a gated community in Sarasota, Florida. She is a stepmom to his adorable 6 and 8-year old children, whose mom abandoned the family to become a reality-TV star. Darby has enjoyed the perfect life for 3 years, married to the perfect man and caring for his perfect children. She was glad to have a family because she was raised by her widowed Grandma Vernie and 4 great aunts, who were all dead by the time Darby was 19.
Her perfect life is interrupted when she spies her husband getting coffee when he is supposed to be on a business trip to Atlanta. She searches his home office and can find no evidence of wrongdoing, except that he has talked on the phone a lot with his ex-wife, Gigi. When Will returns from his trip, he reassures her that their life is perfect and they spend a magical day at the beach. The next day she departs for her 2-week publicity tour for her latest book. When she appears on the Today TV show, Hoda asks her for a response to a USA Today article that says Will has reunited with his ex-wife, Gigi. Darby vomits into a mum plant on live TV, and she becomes an internet meme. When she returns home, Will and the children have moved out. She discovers that Will has hired a sleazy divorce attorney. Her publisher cancels her book and all TV and bookstore appearances.
Darby’s Southern belle best friend, Jules, recommends a handsome divorce lawyer, Holt Gregory. Darby and Holt become friends. Will’s assistant, Kendall, quits her job to become Darby’s new publicist and immediately sets her up on dates with famous bachelors to get her career reignited. Meanwhile Darby really misses her step-kids, Lilly and Aiden.
This book is well-written but I just couldn’t identify with any of the characters in the story. Darby spends a lot of time in the story missing the children, and it seems like she had more of a relationship with them than with Will. There are some comedic scenes, but I wouldn’t call this a romantic comedy.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
*3.5 stars*
I was not immedietly drawn into this book when I first started reading, but about halfway through it did get interesting enough that I needed to know how it ended. It had some really good points and cute moments, but it just didn't really stick out to me as the best book i've ever read overall.
Darby's journey discovering how to come back from the horrible breakup was much more interesting to me than her romance with her divorce lawyer. I just personally didn't think he had much of a personality and their romance seemed too forced at times.
If you are looking for a book about a woman's journey finding herself after divorce, this could still be a good one for you. Thank you NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
While I get that this is fiction, I feel like the publicity surrounding her very public collapse of her marriage (she and the ex-wife being famous), was not accurately portrayed. For example, all her PR people should be fired for letting her walk into these situations blindly. And trying to get custody of her step-children? It just wasn't going to happen. Did not enjoy this story.
Of course, dating expert, Darby Vaughn, would find herself in the middle of a scandal where her husband cheated on her (with his ex wife and mother of his two children) and it was announced on live tv (just hearing that sounds like a movie or work of fiction.) Darby then proceeds to fight for (full) custody of her step kids, which I found to be pretty unrealistic, I know she mothered them for three years, but the kids are not hers biologically, or through adoption. The kids would be with their biological parents, I understand her connection is real and her feelings are valid,I just don't see this as an option for her. During this time of fighting for full custody of the kids, she goes on two fake data with much younger and very popular celebrities to supposedly boost her image, as well as film a reality show where she is dating multiple guys to try to find the one. These both seem to be bad decisions while fighting a custody battle and divorce settlement. The part that was the hardest for me to wrap my head around, was Holt, the lawyer. Of course he was the “one” that she eventually ends up with. It just seemed like a lot was happening and it happened very quickly. While I enjoyed this book, but it didn’t seem to flow as well as I would have expected.
Thanks to NetGalley, Siesta Key House, and Lisa Daily for this advance reader copy.
15 Minutes of Shame is a cute second-chance romance. It's full of emotion, romance, and a strong female lead.
Darby is a relationship guru who has amassed a great and loyal following. She has helped many people and relationships with her advice. Her life is going great with her awesome career, a picture-perfect marriage, and adorable step-kids. But she is thrown for a loop when she finds out on national TV that her husband is divorcing her and already getting back together with his ex-wife.
Darby is all over the place wondering why and how this could have happened. Will, her ex, is a real piece of work. And to make matters worse he was her publicist. She gets herself up and after a few weeks of being sad, she is ready to take back her life. She hires a new publicist and lawyer to help her with the divorce and get custody of the kids.
Darby is such a strong woman. She could have given up but she put the kids first. She will do whatever it takes to give the kids the best life possible. As if she doesn't have enough on her plate, she has to pick up her career. With false yet powerful statements from her ex and his now girlfriend/ex-wife Gigi she is losing momentum in her career. But when she is approached with a dating show TV deal, she accepts.
There is so much that Darby goes through and it's great to see her have a love interest in her lawyer Holt. He is kind, generous, and down-to-earth. They have great chemistry but she is trying to protect her heart from breaking all over again.
I give 15 Minutes of Shame 4 stars. I loved the story and thought Darby was a great leading heroine. I feel like it was so easy to read and it became even more enticing when you get to see Darby and Holt together. I haven't read this author before but I'm really glad that I did. Looking forward to reading more from Lisa Daily.
Absolutely loved this quick read! Darby is such a likeable character and relatable to many of us women that she kept me interested the whole time. She's quirky, fun, messy and whole heartedly caring that it's hard not to love her. I loved how the story played out and Darby got what she always deserved. This had me laughing then tearing up then laughing again! Beautifully put together, would highly recommend!
I thought it was an easy read and I liked the writing style. It was easy to read and comprehend. Especially, I liked how she became aware of the situation before she agreed to finalize the divorce and how she stood up for herself. Nevertheless, the scene between her and Holt could have been a bit more natural, the dialogues seemed a little bit unnatural. Regardless of that, it is a nice, romantic story.
This was all over the freaking place! Unfortunately the romance was insta-forced-feeling and I can never connect with those.
The story rambled and criss crossed all over the place. and I truly felt lost from page 2.
Unfortunately this fell flat for me.
Book was over-all weird.the love seemed forced, the main character was annoying, and there seems to be no real conflict.
DNF, not a fan, Not for me, but I know a lot of people might love this. Will check out maybe someday on Kindle Unlimited, but not for me right now.
I enjoyed this book as it was an easy read with an interesting story. The story was not the romantic tale I thought it would be but that did not lessen my enjoyment.