I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing in exchange for an honest review.

A cozy, cute read full of strong women, found family, overcoming fears and insecurities, and all centered around reading/books/a book club, and finding your best life.

Karissa is a newly divorced, single mom who's struggling with loneliness, trust issues, and self esteem after being cheated on by her (ex) husband with her (ex) best friend. Alice is a widow who is sweet, kind, and terrified of driving after an accident. Margot is a sassy divorcee who's recently been let go from her long term job. Josie is Alice's sister and also a widow; she's snarky and demanding, but means well.

These four women start a book club and along the way find genuine support, friendship, and love. There is growth for all of the characters and they stay true to themselves throughout.

The Best Life Book Club was a nice cozy read. I think it will be a great read for that time in between summer and fall where you're ready to get nice and snuggled up with a good book. It was relatively low stakes. Yes all of the women in the book had their problems, but they weren't life altering. It gave you the sense of making friends alongside all of the other women. If you have been divorced, are a widow, or have lost a job recently you absolutely will relate to this book. It is the perfect wrapped up and self contained story. Heads up for those of you who are fans of Sheila Roberts there are some really great easter eggs from her previous works sprinkled throughout too!

I love this! It focuses on romance, friendship, love, healing, and personal growth. It was a beautiful story told so well. I loved it so much! It was fast paced, it didn’t leave any plot holes.

The Best Life Book Club is the newest book by Sheila Roberts and I enjoyed this one as much as I expected. Karissa Newcomb packed up her daughter and herself to move away from Seattle to a new start in Gig Harbor after she catches her husband with her best friend. Upon arriving in Gig Harbor Karissa begins a new job as an assistant at a small publishing company where she enjoys getting to know the authors and her new boss. She has several misunderstandings with her new boss, including hitting his car and falling down in front of him more than once. Karissa meets her new neighbors, Alice and Margot, who have their own life situations they are dealing with but the ladies all suggest forming a book club of their own to spend getting to know one another and escape their troubles. Will this new life work out for Karissa.

This book is a wonderful women's fiction book, centering on four women. Karissa, a recently divorced single mom, her neighbors, Alice, who is a widow and Margot, who is also divorced and has recently lost her job. the final woman is Alice's sister Josie, who is a sassy, opinionated and obstinate woman whose husband is deceased and she is estranged from her adult daughter and her family. I loved how the books they chose helped them see their lives in different ways and make changes that are positive for them. I also liked that they didn't all like the same books, which made it very realistic. There is romance in the story for some of the women, but it is not the main part of the story. Karissa's story was the main storyline, and I liked how she grew, became more confident and comfortable with her life. She had to forgive some, and she does that well. All the women change in some way, and begin to accept their lives, as well as move forward. I really liked Josie's story a lot. She reminded me of myself to a degree and I was happy to see her find her path to happiness. If you enjoy books dealing with friendship, personal growth with a bit of romance thrown in, you will not be disappointed with The Best Life Book Club.

I may be in the minority, but I loved this book because it was light and not terribly thought provoking. The shifting characters were comfortable to keep up with which isn’t always the case with this style of writing. Overall, this was just a feel-good novel great for a quick read!

Thank you NetGalley for the free review copy!

Sheila Roberts' "The Best Life Book Club" is a delightful journey into the power of friendship, love, and self-discovery. Set in a charming small town, the story weaves together heartwarming moments with insightful lessons on embracing change and finding joy in unexpected places. Roberts' characters are wonderfully relatable, making this novel a feel-good read that reminds us all of the importance of community and following our dreams. Perfect for anyone looking for a warm, uplifting escape!

This was just so well written, I sped through it. I loved the quote in each chapter. I loved the characters. I just felt good while reading it.

The Best Life Book Club by Sheila Roberts is a charming story that revolves around themes of friendship, community, the healing power of books and most importantly, starting over.

As the story begins, newly divorced Karissa Newcomb moves into her new home in Gig Harbor, Washington, with her nine-year-old daughter. Karissa’s move from Seattle also involves a new job at a publishing house. Karissa is welcomed to the neighborhood by her kind neighbor, Alice, a widow in her late fifties and forty-year-old divorcee Margot, who is out of work after being laid off. Karissa finds herself enjoying their company and they eventually start a book club along with Alice’s cantankerous older sister Josie. Needless to say, with each of the members facing their own set of difficulties, their discussions about the books they read soon turn into heartfelt conversations about their own lives with each of them sharing their own troubles and wisdom, inspiring one another to affect positive changes.

The author does a wonderful job of depicting female friendships – the camaraderie between the friends and how they support one another – with kindness and honesty. Each of these women is quite different –in terms of both life experiences and personality - and it was fun to see how they grew to respect and care for one another. It was interesting how each of their own life experiences and varying perspectives helped the others deal with their own challenges. I enjoyed the descriptions of Karissa’s experiences at work and the peek into life at a publishing company. The romance angle in the narrative is light and does not distract from the primary narrative, which is a plus point for me.

The author touches upon several sensitive themes – infidelity, betrayal, bereavement professional struggles and complicated family dynamics, among others, with heart and humor, making for a light-hearted read despite the heavy themes. I would have liked had these topics been explored with a bit more emotional depth. The ending was a bit too neatly tied up, but that was to be expected.

Overall, with a cast of endearing characters and engaging storylines woven into a fluid narrative, I found this to be an entertaining and heartwarming read.

Many thanks to Harlequin Trade Publishing for the digital review copy via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Karissa leaves Seattle with her daughter, to go to Gig Harbor and start a new life. She soon finds out that her neighbors, just like her are dealing with their own problems as well. She decides to start a book club to bring them all together. The women soon lean on each other as they grow through life’s ups and downs.

I loved how relatable all the characters were. Roberts did a great job writing real life scenarios and making the reader feel like they’re in the story. I really enjoyed this book and can see it becoming a book club pick! The perfect summer read!

📘: The Best Life Book Club by Sheila Roberts
🗓️: May 7, 2024

Thank you to NetGalley, Sheila Roberts, and Harlequin Trade Publishing for this ARC!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

*Reviewed on NetGalley, Amazon, and Goodreads.

The Best Life Book Club by Sheila Roberts was a very sweet novel about a woman who starts over after a breakup with her daughter in tow. She gets a job with a small publisher in Washington State and starts up a small book club with her neighbors. They all grow from being in the club and it's very cute. Great beach read! Thank you to the author publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

I absolutely loved this book!! I couldn’t put it down.
I just loved all the characters. I highly recommend this book.

This was fun. I loved reading about all the characters improving their lives and overcoming their obstacles. I liked all the characters too. I did enjoy this book, however, I did find it very slow at times which is not my favorite reading style. Overall, I liked it but I do have gripe with Josie’s storyline. Personally, I think they were all too hard on her. Was she mean to Carol’s husband? Yes, but it’s what he deserved. I am on Josie’s side. Sometimes people are losers and Carol needs to accept that her husband is one.

The Best Life Book Club is the story of Karissa Newcomb, who moves to Gig Harbor in the Pacific Northwest with her young daughter. She is looking for a change of scenery - and life - after a painful divorce. She starts a book club with three other women who also are at a crossroad.

I wanted to read this book because I loved the idea of the book club setting. The Pacific Northwest also was appealing!

This is a gentle, heartwarming book about second chances. There is plenty of friendship, romance, and a lot of feel good moments. I recommend this for fans of small town fiction, chick lit, and women's fiction.

This was a cute book. I enjoyed it. It's about 4 different women and where they are in this point of life. In this story you can follow each women and how they got to where they are now and how they became friends. It was a really good read and very heart warming. I don't know why this book reminded me of a movie I once saw that I can't remember the name to it.

Cute story about a small group of neighbors who become friends and form a book club It's a little far fetched in my opinion, because not only do they all have issues to resolve, but there is a big age gap and one of the ladies is really hard to take. Nonetheless, they all help each other through the issues they are dealing with and become quite the cheering section for one another. Like I said, cute story!

The Best Life Book Club by Sheila Roberts
Contemporary chick lit, and romance.
Karissa Newcomb and her daughter move to Gig Harbor for a restart. Karissa is freshly divorced and hoping this new town will re-energize their lives. She meets Alice and Margot in her new neighborhood and realizes they could all use a boost. Since they all love reading, they form a book club and invite Josie along and soon the four have formed a special friendship.
Each of the women have their own lives, loves and problems, but together, they support and listen.

It’s difficult to find new friends over school age and this book is a great proponent of finding and creating your own circles that can add to the richness of your living. Three romances, lots of extended family and issues. One book club.
It’s a wonderful story that had me laughing and crying along the way.
I had an ebook and a paperback to follow the different women and their storylines. I’m not sure an audiobook for this one would be an effective method given the multiple couples.
The chapter headings are supposedly quotes from books that may apply to the chapter itself but they are, in fact, totally fabricated by the author. Many of the quotes are spoken from a recurring character from prior novels. Kind of an Easter egg for the readers.
Engaging and endearing.

I received a copy of this from NetGalley.

I love my book club I am in and so I think any book with Book Club in the title intrigues me, as I have such wonderful memories of my group. I enjoyed the different phases of life the characters in this book were in. Covering different generations I think can give a book good depth. The characters personalities though were a little annoying at times. I don’t expect deep thought provoking characters from romance books, but I do like it when I feel connected to the characters. Margot was my favorite character personality. The others were just a touch whiny for me to truly connect with them. I did like the story line of the book though and did enjoy it as a whole!

Sheila Roberts never disappoints. She consistently delivers feel good stories that brighten your day. The Best Life Book Club is no different.

This is a fabulous story about friendship, women coming together from different phases in life. It's such a hopeful feel good novel.

I really wanted to enjoy The Best Life Book Club, hoping it would capture the charm and depth of "The Lonely Hearts Book Club". Unfortunately, it fell short of my expectations. While it's a cute chick lit novel about starting over and forging friendships in the unlikeliest of crossed paths, it lacked the substance I was looking for.

The writing felt very juvenile, and the book was overflowing with clichéd tropes. The most grating aspect was the repeated toxic positivity. Instead of offering genuine insight or emotional depth, the narrative was saturated with Pinterest-worthy quotes that felt more shaming and guilt-inducing than uplifting. This "positive vibes only" mantra can be particularly grating when people are coping with situations such as financial troubles, job loss, illness, or the loss of a loved one, being told that they need to look on the bright side can seem downright cruel.

Here are some examples that highlight this issue:

“Divorce is hard, but there are worse things in life.” Yes, like war, she thought. Her own battle felt smaller as she took in the sea of grave markers where men who had lost their lives when they’d barely had a chance to live lay buried.
"Having a mother to nag you beats being an orphan, she told herself."
"No one loses all the time, Annie Wills had said in her book. Forget your losses and move forward and you’ll become a winner."

These vapid sayings kept making me cringe and really took away from any character development or growth, as they seemed hollow and overly simplistic. The narrative pushed a contradictory message that felt avoidant of genuine human emotions and prevented any real progression for the characters.

If you're looking for a light read filled with female friendships and some eye-roll-worthy tropes, you may enjoy The Best Life Book Club. However, if you prefer a more realistic, messy, and authentic story that real people can relate to, this book might not be for you. Personally, I found it lacking in the depth and realism that make a story truly resonate.

Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the advanced release copy in exchange for an honest review. Releases on May 7, 2024.

I read this in between two intense books and it was a perfect light, effortless, positive read. The characters were likable and the story flowed well.