Sometimes, the most ruthless people aren’t the ones that we expect. In Regrets Only by Kieran Scott, a woman leaves the cutthroat world of Hollywood behind to get a fresh start back in her hometown, only to face a whole new challenge from a group of small-town moms...

Full review published on NightsAndWeekends.com and aired on Shelf Discovery

Thank you #Netgalley for the advanced copy!

This book was a quick read as I quickly became invested in the PBA politics. We initially follow Paige, a women who moved back into her mothers house with her daughter and leaving her LA writing life behind. Paige has her own secrets as to why she left LA but little did she know that the moms around her had their own interesting secrets. Paige takes her detective writing skills and carries it over into her real life when a death occurs within the school. So many connections and secrets slowly trickle out. Highly recommend if you loved Big Little Lies.

A fun whodunnit! I enjoyed this book immensely. Murder, scheming, jealousy, threats, just your typical day at the Piedmont Elementary School Parent Booster Association. The pettiness was hilarious, that something as simple as a PTA could be the setting of such mayhem. Best arc I’ve read in a while!

Paige Lancaster has arrived back home in Piermont, Connecticut after an unfortunate loss of her television writing job in LA. With her eight year old daughter in tow, she’s moved back in with her mom. Being “the new girl” in town, Paige is not well received. The Parent Booster Association at Izzy’s new school is an integral part of the small town. With 100% parent participation, the booster board would like to keep it that way. The board is a cliquish group of grown up mean girls, with Ainsley Anderson running the whole show. After a lavish party at the Anderson’s mansion, Ainsley is found dead at the bottom of a stair case. There are MANY with reasons to kill Ainsley, but who hated her the most? As Paige is called on by local police to help out with the investigation, it’s soon learned that she might have her own reasons to want Ainsley dead. With a host of suspects, this book was definitely a guilty pleasure type book. One that the pages practically turn themselves and has the reader staying up long after bedtime, completely engrossed until the very last word! Thank you to Simon and Schuster and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

I will read every "rich parent deals with other toxic parents" book I can get my hand on, and this is a great example of how to do one of those well. This is my first Kieran Scott book and I'm looking forward to many more!

I stayed up into the wee hours of the morning finishing this one! I loved this new novel by Kieran Scott. It sort of reminded me of “Big Little Lies.”
Dark secrets in suburbia and the moms in the local parent teacher association lead you into a “guessing game” murder mystery full of twists and turns.
Paige Lancaster has returned to her Connecticut hometown from Hollywood with secrets of her own. The local mean girl moms, her high school crush and a really cute cop will keep you turning the pages! Move it to the top of your list! 4.5 rounded up to 5 stars

I had never read anything by this author and the idea of a woman who wrote for a television detective series was intriguing. At her age, Paige Lancaster never thought she would be back, with her eight-year-old daughter Izzy, living with her mom. She had lost her job, was broke and homeless. When the president of the local school parent association is found dead, was she murdered or was it an accident? In my opinion, Paige came across as rather ditzy, her daughter a bit spoiled and it was a little unbelievable that Paige would assist a police officer (who wasn’t part of the case) to investigate the woman’s death. I expected witty and fun, but I ended up feeling as if the characters were actually teenagers stuck in this high school drama. I received an advance review copy at no cost and without obligation for an honest review. (paytonpuppy)

Regrets Only is a fascinating domestic thriller about mothers with secrets in a wealthy suburban Connecticut community. It's part Liane Moriarty, part Robyn Harding and a very enticing read.

The story is told from the perspectives of four very different women who are part of the active parent-teacher group. The story is told in quick chapters, which made the story fast-moving and engaging. Each character has secrets and hidden lives from each other and has a possible motive for murder.

Though the characters aren't necessarily likable, the different stories kept me riveted. The reveals kept surprising me. A very enjoyable domestic thriller!

Thank you Gallery Books and NetGalley for providing this ARC.

3.5 rounded up .
Very much like big little lies
Women being caddy to each other is a new reading subject that is very interesting.

I liked the story and I liked the pace. I’m curious to do the audible and see if that add a different element to it.

Overall, I would say this is a pretty solid murder mystery. It's fun, leaves you guessing, and honestly left me wanting a bit more. Unfortunately, I think this is a bit... unclearly written at times. It could've used one more round of editing, but despite that, this is definitely worth a read if you're into the genre.

When a book is compared to Big Little Lies I’m always curious and then if the book lives up to the comparison I’m thrilled. I’m happy to say I think the comp was pretty spot on here, it had that same juicy and entertaining feel to it. I’m such a sucker for suburban dramas featuring rich and entitled people behaving badly and this one had plenty of those types making questionable decisions. I loved all the secrets the characters were keeping and while some of them were fairly obvious I was still wildly entertained by them. There are several viewpoints that switch back and forth between chapters and I enjoyed the bird’s eye overlook of what was going in the characters lives and the town in general. Some of the characters actually made me laugh so despite this being super dramatic I also found it to be humorous. Overall I definitely recommend as a fun popcorn thriller.

I'd like to thank NetGalley and Gallery Books for providing me with a copy of this eARC to read and give my honest review.
I enjoy Kieran Scott's books. I also enjoy reading her as Kate Brian (Shadowlands is one of my favorite series). So of course I had to request this.
I enjoyed this story, though I'm honestly not sure I understand the title and how it relates.
It's a fun murder mystery that leaves you guessing.
I will say I had a hard time getting into it at first. There were so many characters and I could not keep them straight (despite their descriptions). The differing points of view made it a bit easier, since those characters showed who they were through their chapters. But I also am curious as to why the author chose to do the differing points of view. It didn't lend much to the story for me, though I enjoyed seeing things through the different eyes. And the blurb certainly makes you think this will be Paige's story, when in reality it turns out to be the story of three different women.
When I got about 1/2 way through the book, I finally had all the characters fleshed out in my mind, and this is also when the story seemed to take off (I will admit I almost gave up prior to this because I just was not feeling a connection to anyone in the book).
It was entertaining, and I certainly would pick up books from Scott again to read. She tells a good mystery. But I did find there to be a little too much mama drama for my taste.

As soon as I read the synopsis which said “Big Little Lies” I knew this book would be for me. However, I was left a little…. disappointed? I feel like the first 50% of the book was almost an exact replica of “Big Little Lies”. While the ending and a few details were different, I definitely felt like this was the “Walmart version” of “Big Little Lies”. It is obvious that the writer has so much potential and I can’t wait to read her other books, but I felt like this one took the “Big Little Lies” theme too far.
I also felt that many chapters were rushed and a few chapters could have been left out. What was very noticeable to me was the lack of character development. It was from one extreme to the other without any insight on how they ended up there.
If I had never read “Big Little Lies” I would probably give this book a 4/5 stars, but seeing that it felt like a rip off of the precious novel, I was left highly disappointed.
Thank you Net Galley, Kieran Scott, and the publisher for my advanced copy of “REGRETS ONLY” available 1/2023 in exchange for my whole and honest review.

There’s a lot about this domestic drama that will feel familiar- from moms navigating the social landscape of their kid’s schools, to the catty queen bee who enjoys keeping people beneath her. The character development wasn’t consistently strong, but Paige, Nina, and Lanie had some interesting arcs that could have been ever more compelling with some more details than what was occasionally teased. The mystery at the heart of it all kept me turning pages and I’d gladly recommend it to any reader who enjoys a domestic mystery.

Paige has moved home with her daughter and almost right away finds herself dealing with a nest of Queen Bees in the Parent's Booster Association. Oh and her former love John is married to Ainsley the leader of the pack. Unfortunately, an event at John and Ainsley's home finds John and Paige together in a bathroom and then Ainsley dead at the bottom of the stairs. So of course, since Paige wrote for crime show before her comeuppance, Dominic asks her to help him investigate. This is very much a cozy with a few twists, notably that it's told from multiple points of view and it's more pointed than most (those PBA members!). This is less taut than Scott's Wish You Were Gone but it's got a few twists you won't expect. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

If you're looking for an escape read with plenty of mean-girls-grown-up drama Regrets Only is what you're looking for.

Successful TV screenwriter and single mom, Paige Lancaster returns to her hometown in Connecticut from LA after she was passed over for a promotion. She's staying with her mom, licking her wounds, and not finding it easy to fit back in after so long away. Making it more difficult are the rabid Parent Board Association officers who seem to rule the town as well as the PBA. Rich, bored, catty, conniving women with too much time on their hands, they act just like you'd expect them to. Full of drama, betrayals, secrets, felonious acts, and the murder of the president of the PBA, this book is sure to hold your attention.

Told from three different POVs, readers get well-rounded and often contradictory views on each key characters. An easy, quick, and entertaining read.

My thanks to Gallery Press for allowing me to read an ARC of this book via NetGalley. Publication is set for 1/10/23. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and are freely given.

The first third of this novel was incredibly fun-- the "how the other half lives" ogling of suburban life, the mysterious past of a curious character, etc.-- but I found the book lost steam about halfway through. Honestly, a little trimming would probably have brought this up to 4 stars for me, but as it stands, I reeeeeallllly slowed down my read by the final third. I was also a little disappointed by the fact that we never really got an understanding of the characters' pasts, after being teased about them so much early on. Overall, a fun read, def will scratch a Big Little Lies itch, but didn't do it all the way for me.

if you liked big little lies, this is a must read.

paige lancaster is back in her hometown. she doesn’t want to stay for long, but somehow gets involved with PTA queen bees, and a murder investigation.
i love a good small town, house wife drama and this was perfect. the characters were so off the wall & i loved it.
the pacing was quick, and it made for a really easy read. i enjoyed the short chapters and different povs. the plot twists were there! i did feel like the whole death of ainsley was ambiguous & kinda left unresolved.
i definitely was shocked when the truth came out about what was going on, and i think the author set it up really well. you could definitely go back and see the signs once you figured it out.
we get a smidge of romance between paige & another character. i actually really enjoyed it. i thought it was cute!
the ending wrapped up really well, and made for a sweet ending. i’m happy with how everything turned out.
this was a solid read!

- received an arc through netgalley. all thoughts are my own.

Well this had a twist I wasn’t expecting! Why is it always the uber rich with the craziest secrets? This was an enjoyable thriller with boujie PTA housewives and Paige, a writer from LA who is looking to start over. Lots of bad decisions are made and a lot of truth uncovered. Thank you Netgalley and Gallery books for this free ebook preview!

This book definitely reminded me a lot of Big Little Lies. Paige moves back to her hometown with her daughter Izzy after a dramatic breakup with her boyfriend and loss of her job. She quickly finds that the town is full of gossiping, snobby women and she really doesn't fit in. To top it off, she runs into her old high school boyfriend, John, and then discovers that he is married to Ainsley, aka the "top dog" of the mom group... and the biggest bitch.

The book is also told from the POV's of Lanie and Nina, and both of them, along with most people in this small town, dislike Ainsley. So when she is found dead, the police start wondering if it was an accident or if she was pushed. One of the detectives asks for Paige's help to infiltrate the parents' association and see what kind of gossip she can find out. As Paige digs for secrets, she discovers that there are more secrets in this small town than there were in LA.

This was an entertaining read if you can deal with the snarky women and the endless secrets. I enjoyed the author's first book Wish You Were Here more, but overall this was a good read.