I struggled with this one. I found it difficult to like any of the characters and I didn’t connect with the story at all.

I just wasn’t the right reader for this title.

Take it from me by Jamie Beck follows two women with completely different life’s and values. But their unexpected friendship has lasting impacts for their each of their futures. It releases on September 20th.

It’s written from a dual POV, Wendy is a married housewife that struggles with an impulse control disorder called kleptomania. It’s really interesting to get to an insight to her perspective as she also grew up a mother that struggles with an OCD. It’s important to have representation in books and other medias so that’s highly appreciated.

Harper on the other hand is a writer but her last book was a massive failure. She’s trying to get her grove back with a change of scenery but her past issues continues to surface. A complicated family history and her recent break up.

I would say this is a humorous novel about friendship and life with a dash of romance. The reason my rating’s 3 stars is because I found the beginning to be a little slow and the chapters are pretty long which slowed the pace down even more imo. Which is unfortunate because the plot is really interesting. I would still recommend this one, just keep that in mind and be a little patient.

I want to start out saying that I’m a big fan of Jamie Beck. I very much enjoy her writing style. That said I found Take It From Me to have a slow start. There were times that I found both Wendy and Harper annoying, for very different reasons. As I got more into the book that all changed. It was great to see the changes and growth in both characters. The ending was absolutely fantastic! I would definitely recommend this book. Thanks NetGalley for the preview.

Thanks to Netgalley and publishers for a copy of this book to review.
This story focuses on the amount of growth that can occur through your interactions with others.
It had some funny moments, sweet moments, oh noooo moments, and was a great portrayal of two women working through their own traumas and becoming better people for it.
I enjoyed this read.

New York Times Bestseller, and staunch feminist, Harper Ross is in trouble. Her last novel garnered a host of bad reviews and cost her the wealth and popularity she worked so hard to achieve. If she can’t come up with an amazing concept, and soon, the publisher will cancel her contract and Harper will have to face her well-meaning parents who believe a woman’s place is in the home. In a last ditch effort, Harper moves to the burbs and takes to spying on her neighbors for inspiration.

Wendy Moore is fighting empty-nester syndrome along with a decades old kleptomania problem she keeps carefully under wraps. Stress triggers the urge though, and suspicion over her husband’s flagging libido sends her next door to new neighbor Harper Ross. Maybe befriending the young woman, setting her up on a date, and helping with a refurbishing project will get her over the hurdle before she gets arrested and ruins her family’s standing in town.

This is the story of two secretive women who use their friendship for their own self-interests and ultimately learn trust and forgiveness is the key to happiness.

“I voluntarily read an ARC of this book which was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.”

While this was a charming book that will no doubt be the darling of many book clubs, I don't think it was particularly for me.

As a whole, I think the themes explored in Take It From Me are good and easily relatable- people are more than what they seem, it's good to grow and learn from new people, being set in one's ways does more harm than good, etc., but I personally found the characters and writing style to be irritating.

If you followed my update notes, you'll see that I had the most trouble with Harper. While she does experience a good amount of character growth by the end of the novel, it was obnoxious to read from her holier-than-thou point of view. What made it more difficult was that I couldn't tell if she was meant to be like, the author's interpretation of What A Feminist Is, or just a representation of a woman who uses feminism as a defense mechanism. As a feminist myself, it's frustrating (and harmful) when feminism is reduced to "women should do this, men shouldn't do that, individual choice is the crux of change" instead of examining issues on a systemic level. However, even though this was a large part of Harper's identity, I don't think feminism, or saying something about feminism in today's society, was meant to be a take-away from the book.

Wendy was also difficult to read from, but I actually ended up empathizing with her narrative more than Harper's. I think the disconnect in this case was a difference in priorities; being worried about "what the neighbors think" is so far out of my priorities that it didn't make sense that this was one of her motivations, but I could still understand that it was important to her.

Finally, I just wasn't a huge fan of the writing style. It felt very... methodical? I don't know if that's the right word. It didn't have a natural flow, and the way that characters came to realizations, or expressed why and how they decided to change, felt very clinical.

Like I said, I think this will be a popular pick for book clubs, especially with older women. However, I just don't think I was the target audience here, and it shows.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for proving this e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

The author is new to me so I entered this book without knowing anything about the writing style but luckily this was a great find! I loved the story and the beautiful writing. The narration and story-telling were spot on. The characters were so vividly described and especially Harper who, for me, came alive in the pages. I could relate to her in more ways than one. Wendy was very well thought out and I loved reading about her challenges too. Overall, this was a gripping tale, although it could be paced a bit faster in my opinion but nonetheless, I loved it and will be sure to read more from the author. Definitely recommend it.

Thanks to Netgalley for the e-galley. Wendy is hiding a big secret. Her new neighbor, Harper, is also hiding a big secret. The two women become friends, but secrets have a way of coming out and exploding, don't they? A story of family, relationships, friendship, and redemption that I totally enjoyed reading.

Take it from me. Is a delightful new story line about two very different women both in age, lifestyles and their outlook/perceptions on women. I enjoyed getting to know Wendy the super mom, wife who struggles with the growing pains of being an empty nester . Wendy is a bit of a busy body but means well. She also has been hiding a condition she has from everyone but her husband who believes she has had it under control for a long time.
Then Harper moves in across the street from her! Harper’s stellar career as an author has taken a sharp turn and hit her ego hard. She is a women who is quick to point out gender inequities that exist in our society but she does so in a harsh, uncompromising manner. Their unlikely new friendship takes a very drastic turn when both women have their secrets revealed to each other in a blow out argument.
Trust and the idea that things you fear end up having power over you are major themes in this book.
These two women grow and change in major ways throughout this book. I’m better because I’ve known you rings true in their relationship.
I loved both of these very vulnerable but strong women who grow and become better because of their relationship.
Jamie Beck does a fantastic job developing these two women in this story that will delight you. I really enjoyed this story as well as the characters. You won’t be able to get them off your mind! Well done Jamie Beck.

A warm and thoughtful book about friendship and family. It makes you ponder some of the relationships around you. I loved the way it also gave you some insight into authors and their own issues! A thoroughly enjoyable book.

I loved this book! The message of this book is wonderful. Sometimes friendships are work, sometimes it’s hard to know when you’re being used, sometimes you need to fight to keep a friendship, and sometimes you need come through hard times with an incredible strong and loving friendship. Knowing when to put yourself and your career first is important to learn while not isolating yourself.

I really enjoyed this book, it was well written and I loved the way both characters developed during the story. I would absolutely read this author again and recommend. Thank you!

4 Despite it not having a 'sympathique' female lead, this is a book that touches the heart.

This is sooo not my ordinary type of read, but I picked it up because Montlake books have been getting better and better. I ended up going back to it pretty much every time I got a break, and it turned out to be a good intro to the author.

At first, I wasn't sure it was for me, as Harper isn't into monogamy and has just come out of a relationship where her lover in their open relationship left her for someone he wanted to settle down with, and she comes across as cold and self-absorbed and with contemp for the 'warm stuff' most of us love - having someone to come home to, someone to love and who loves us back, being in a committed relationship, having friends we can halve a problem with, and so on. I didn't like the sound of her, and at the end of the tale, she was still mostly of the same mindset but had agreed to try monogamy in a long-distance relationship that had somehow lasted some 14 months, and yet it didn't feel as if her life had gotten much better. I didn't dislike her but I didn't understand why someone who had what she did, wasn't more appreciative.

I found it refreshing that Covid and the world we're in in 2022 were hinted at in this tale, whereas most have fluffed along pretending that nothing has happened in the last two years. It's not made a big deal of, but it's acknowledged and life has moved on.

I think I liked Wendy most of all, for all the reasons that Harper enumerated, with her positive outlook on life, despite her own issues and shame. She wasn't perfect, but she was a decent person to everyone in this tale, and I am glad that when her 'shame got out', she wasn't ostracised and wasn't gossiped about like what'd happen in a workplace.

At the end of the book, I was glad I'd read it but I didn't feel that any of the characters other than Wendy made me want to know more about them. I'm not sure I know how to describe this tale, as it wasn't quite chick lit, wasn't at all a romance, but maybe it was a 'it's time to take a look at myself and make some changes' type of tale.

ARC courtesy of Montlake Publishing and NetGalley, for my reading pleasure.

Thank you, and kind regards

Rita Roberts

take if from me

Another great read by Jamie Beck. A friendship is formed between two very different women with two very different personalities and agendas. As the truth comes out can their newly formed friendship survive the truth & lies & betrayal? I laughed and cried and enjoyed seeing the two weather the storm. Wendy dealing with the fall out of her kleptomania and Harper hiding her career as a writer getting the scoop on small town living. True friendship can survive and change in the blink of an eye. A fun read and highly recommend it.

I really enjoyed this book ,written from the view point of two completely different women and their beliefs.
I love how it ended .
Definitely recommend and will definitely read more by this author

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read an arc of Take It from Me by Jamie Beck. Wendy, bless her heart, is trying to keep everything in her life in order, that's hard to do when you are secretly a kleptomaniac. Enter Harper, an author struggling with writer's block and recovering from a professional and personal blow. She has moved to town in hopes of finding inspiration for her next book. She befriends Wendy to gather intel for the main character of her book. As Wendy and Harper's friendship grows they find it more and more difficult to hide their secrets. Can their friendship survive the revelation of their dark sides? This was a good read. I didn't relate to Harper, the staunch feminist at all, but grew to like her. I felt for Wendy and her struggles. All in all a solid 4 stars from me.

I am.a big fan of this Jamie Beck and this book did not disappoint. I felt it was a bit different to some of her previous novels which have tensed to focus on romance, although often having a deeper theme explored too. This story focuses on Harper and Mandy who end up as neighbours and form an unlikely friendship. Both women hide secrets that tests their friendship but we see how they learn to grow and deal with some issues as a result of support from each other. A thought provoking and enjoyable story of self discovery. Thanks to.netgally for an advance copy in exchange for my review.

I had the pleasure of reading this Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this book entitled 'take it from me' by Jamie Black thanks to @netgalley

This book was a nice piece of contemporary fiction which centred around friendship 🧡

I've included the synopsis from Goodreads in 📸 2 for you 😀

What I liked 👍
● The writing style is accessible & allows you to fly through the novel.
● Both Wendy & Harper were very believable as they had character flaws which made them that much more likeable!
● I really liked the representation of mental health & how it was integrated into the novel seamlessly 🧡

What I wasn't keen on 😭
● At times I found Harper to be a bit irritating... but maybe that's just me!

💭 Overall, if you like contemporary fiction novels revolving around friendship then this is for you!

Rating ~ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️. 5/5

I enjoyed the second half of this book more than the first,
Although I found it difficult at first to connect with the man characters it was enjoyable to see their interactions with each other once the two main characters began to tell the truth and be vulnerable with each other, at certain points it felt like there was sone unnecessary dialogue between the character's that did not further the story, however I was satisfied in the end with a story that was about strong female friendships and the influence the characters had on each other.
Not one of the best, but engaging and appreciable reading.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Montlake for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was pretty good! I liked it because it showed some great aspects of friendship and two different points of view. Wendy and Harper are different, but I like how they learn to bond. I also like how there was a normalization for Wendy and her marriage instead of an older woman with a crap husband. Harper was a little annoying at times like oh I am a millennial, but I thought the rest of the book wasn’t too bad. It was a solid book, and I think those who enjoy books about friendship and growth would enjoy this.

Thank you NetGalley and Montlake for the digital review copy.