Review: The Wake-Up Call

Title: The Wake-Up Call

Author: Beth O’Leary

Publisher: 26th September 2023 by Hachette Australia & Quercus Books

Pages: 350 pages

Genre: contemporary, romance, chick lit

Rating: 3.5 cups

Synopsis:

Two sworn enemies. A failing hotel. One chance to save the season...

It's the busiest season of the year, and Forest Manor Hotel is quite literally falling apart. So when Izzy and Lucas are given the same shift on the hotel's front desk, they have no choice but to put their differences aside and see it through.

The hotel won't stay afloat beyond Christmas without some sort of miracle. But when Izzy returns a guest's lost wedding ring, the reward convinces management that this might be the way to fix everything. With four rings still sitting in lost property, the race is on for Izzy and Lucas to save their beloved hotel - and their jobs.

As their bitter rivalry turns into something much more complicated, Izzy and Lucas begin to wonder if there's more at stake here than the hotel's future. Can the two of them make it through the season with their hearts intact?

My Thoughts

‘All’s fair in love, war and petty workplace feuding, right?’

This opening quote pretty much sums up Beth O’Leary’s upcoming new book. Beth is one of the ‘hot’ authors currently with everything she writes gaining attention. I loved some of her previous books (The No-Show, for me, was phenomenal) as much as I did not love her previous books. Therefore I was nervously excited to read her upcoming, The Wake-Up Call (published 26 September 2023). Once again, this was not the book I expected but in all honesty, I feel it highlights the expansive skill in Beth’s writing - no cardboard cutouts here - every book is that little bit different. 

“… life is too short for rules about what’s cool and what’s not cool; life’s for living. In full HD.”

Here is what I loved about the book:

• A lighthearted enemies to lovers romcom

• The setting: Forest Manor Hotel was a great backdrop with endearing secondary characters

• I enjoyed the ring mysteries with the shenanigans and backstories

• I really appreciated the two leads individual journey and growth. They are open to learning and appreciating themselves and their relationship differences in order to grow

• I enjoyed Lucas’ narrative best as he was open and honest from the getgo. 

Here is what I was not too excited about:

• I feel this was for a younger demographic as at times seemed a bit immature 

• There were some incredibly childish antics

• There was an excessive amount of miscommunication

• It was a little slow in places

• Whilst Izzy and Lucas ran hot and cold, fun and silly throughout, I felt their relationship was awkward and demeaning in places - they both needed a ‘wake-up call’ (Izzy more so)

• Overall I was not wowed by it especially after the creativity of The No-Show. 

The Wake-Up Call was once again different from the last Beth O’Leary book … which was different from the last Beth O’Leary book …. I am beginning to see a pattern! Despite not being the book I had originally predicted, it ended up being solid and enjoyable, sure to appeal to many. I look forward to seeing where Beth will go on her next adventure because I have given up trying to predict. 

‘You’ve got to live every moment and enjoy it.’ 

Lucas tilts his head, saying nothing. I … pause as he says, ‘No, you don’t.’

 ‘Pardon?’ 

‘You don’t have to enjoy every moment. Nobody can do that. It would be . . . exhausting.’

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the author in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.

Review: The No-Show

Title: The No-Show

Author: Beth O’Leary

Publisher: 8th April 2022 by Hachette Australia

Pages: 389 pages

How I Read It: ARC book

Genre: contemporary, women’s fiction, romance, realistic fiction

My Rating: 5 cups

Synopsis:

Three women. Three dates. One missing man...

8.52. Siobhan's been looking forward to her breakfast date with Joseph. She was surprised when he suggested it - she normally sees him late at night in her hotel room. Breakfast with Joseph on Valentine's Day surely means something ... so where is he?

14.43. Miranda's hoping that a Valentine's Day lunch with Carter will be the perfect way to celebrate her new job. It's a fresh start and a sign that her grown-up life is finally falling into place: she's been dating Carter for five months now and things are getting serious. But why hasn't he shown up?

18.30. Joseph Carter agreed to be Jane's fake boyfriend at a colleague's engagement party. They've not known each other long but their friendship is fast becoming the brightest part of her new life in Winchester. Joseph promised to save Jane tonight. But he's not here...

Meet Joseph Carter. That is, if you can find him.

The No-Show is the brilliantly funny, heart-breaking and joyful new novel from Beth O'Leary about dating, and waiting, and the ways love can find us. An utterly extraordinary tearjerker of a book, this is O'Leary's most ambitious novel yet.

My Thoughts

Where is Joseph Carter on Valentine’s Day? Three women and he’s not with any of them … we think. He misses a breakfast date with Siobhan, a romantic lunch with Miranda and fails to show as Jane’s fake boyfriend at her colleague’s engagement party. What is going on here? Is all as it appears to be? 

‘He isn’t here. Siobhan breathes out slowly through her nose. She’s aiming 

for calm, but it reads more angry bull than zen. She cancelled breakfast with a friend for this. She curled her hair and wore lipstick and shaved her legs (not just to the knee,all the way up, in case he fancied running a hand up her thigh 

under the table). And he isn’t bloody here.’

Beth O’Leary is one of the ‘hot’ authors currently with everything she writes under the microscope. I loved some of her previous books as much as I did not love previous books. People are divided on this latest offering as well. Me … well I am happy to say, The No-Show … wow! She is back! This one was just …. Wow! 

‘He’s going to rue the day he stood her up. Siobhan doesn’t know what ruing is, not yet, but she’s going to find out. And he’s not going to like it.’

There is such a phenomenal twist in this book that I cannot allude to anything here except to say, read it! With the blurb, and indeed the first good chunk of the book, you feel lulled into a sense of, ‘here we go … poor girls … horrible Joseph’. Until you begin to consider, how will Beth dig herself out of this. I did not see, nor was I prepared for how she did it. Wait! What! Hang on … far out!

Does she trust him? Though it’s completely hypocritical of her to hold Joseph’s secrets against him, the first thought that comes into her head is: He won’t tell me what happened on Valentine’s Day. Does that make him untrustworthy? It shouldn’t. But that secret feels important. Jane can’t help feeling that until she knows it, she won’t truly know Joseph.’

This book is clever … so, so very clever! I loved it! The plot … bloody brilliant! The web Beth weaves here would be admired by even the most ardent thriller fan. Is this a rom-com …. well yes , but …. It is so much more. This book has depth with characters and situations that just feel so real. Take the time to work through how cleverly Beth sets it up and then be prepared to change your opinion on how things actually eventuate. 

‘By early November, Siobhan feels like a china cup that’s been smashed and glued back together. She’s painfully aware of all her new joins, the places where she cracked - but she would tentatively describe herself as whole again.’

If you are looking for a romance book with a twist. Look no further! This is oozing authenticity with all the feels in both the heartbreak and heartwarming departments. This is not your usual light and breezy chick lit - you will laugh, you will cry and you most definitely will pause and wonder why. I highly recommend checking out The No-Show.

‘Hermitting yourself away and sticking to your routines was never intended as a life change, was it?’ Aggie asks gently. ‘Just a coping mechanism, right? I wonder if you needed some time to process some stuff, and you needed quiet for that, but now maybe you don’t need quiet any more. Maybe you’re at a point with your process where you need to talk.’

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.

Review: The Road Trip

Title: The Road Trip 

Author: Beth O'Leary

Publisher: 21st April 2021 by Hachette Australia and Quercus Books

Pages: 400  pages

How I Read It: ARC book

Genre: contemporary, women’s fiction, romance

My Rating: 4 cups

Synopsis:

Addie and her sister are about to embark on an epic road trip to a friend's wedding in the north of Scotland. The playlist is all planned and the snacks are packed.

But, not long after setting off, a car slams into the back of theirs. The driver is none other than Addie's ex, Dylan, who she's avoided since their traumatic break-up two years earlier.

Dylan and his best mate are heading to the wedding too, and they've totalled their car, so Addie has no choice but to offer them a ride. The car is soon jam-packed full of luggage and secrets, and with three hundred miles ahead of them, Dylan and Addie can't avoid confronting the very messy history of their relationship...

Will they make it to the wedding on time? And, more importantly... is this really the end of the road for Addie and Dylan?

My Thoughts

 “I don’t care about almost. I care about what really happened. Everyone’s got the potential to do the wrong thing - if we were measured that way, we’d all come up short. It’s about what you do.”

The Road Trip is Beth’s third book. Her first book, Flat Share was met with great acclaim and I thoroughly enjoyed The Switch her second tale (HERE). So I went in expecting loads of laughter and light, fun moments. Somewhat surprisingly, this was quite a different tale, not what I was expecting, but by the end a good story. 

This book definitely has more depth and substance to it, there are strong emotions adrift here and quite a lot of baggage to wade through. Split into two timelines, Beth weaved it together quite well to provide a slow unraveling of past events in explaining how the two main leads came to part ways initially.

‘I don’t even know what the real world is. The dread is tugging at me again, and in its way the fear of it is almost as bad as the dread itself.’

There are some great secondary characters here - love Addie’s sister Deb and big shout out to Rodney for the light relief. It was good to revisit how Addie and Dylan came together and I waited to see if the thing that drove them apart would hit the mark - it did for me. At times the journey was moving a little slow (much like the traffic they were stuck in!) but by the second half they were well and truly in the fast lane and it all gelled well together. 

Despite not being the book I had originally predicted, it ended up being solid and enjoyable and would appeal to many. I look forward to seeing where Beth will go on her next adventure. 

‘The countless times I almost changed my mind. But that’s the thing about almost: you can be ninety-nine per cent there, you can be an inch away from doing it, but if you stop yourself from stepping over that line, nobody will ever know how close you were.’

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.

Review: The Switch

Title: The Switch

Author: Beth O'Leary

Publisher: 28th April 2020 by Hachette Australia

Pages: 300 pages

How I Read It: ARC book

Genre: contemporary, womens fiction

My Rating: 4.5 cups

Synopsis:

Eileen is sick of being 79.

Leena's tired of life in her twenties.

Maybe it's time they swapped places...

When overachiever Leena Cotton is ordered to take a two-month sabbatical after blowing a big presentation at work, she escapes to her grandmother Eileen's house for some overdue rest. Eileen is newly single and about to turn eighty. She'd like a second chance at love, but her tiny Yorkshire village doesn't offer many eligible gentlemen.

Once Leena learns of Eileen's romantic predicament, she proposes a solution: a two-month swap. Eileen can live in London and look for love. Meanwhile Leena will look after everything in rural Yorkshire. But with gossiping neighbours and difficult family dynamics to navigate up north, and trendy London flatmates and online dating to contend with in the city, stepping into one another's shoes proves more difficult than either of them expected.

Leena learns that a long-distance relationship isn't as romantic as she hoped it would be, and then there is the annoyingly perfect - and distractingly handsome - school teacher, who keeps showing up to outdo her efforts to impress the local villagers. Back in London, Eileen is a huge hit with her new neighbours, but is her perfect match nearer home than she first thought?

My Thoughts

‘This ... this stupid swap ... ’ I spit it out ... ‘was meant to help, and all it’s done is make things worse. I’m done, Grandma. I’m done with all this.’

The Switch - I loved this book in so many unexpected ways! The story of  79 year old Eileen and her granddaughter Leena ‘switching’ lives for two months. I was looking for light and frivolous .... I got that and so much more with a strong emphasis on family and friends.  In the isolationist world we currently live in,  this is the near perfect book to curl up with and escape with some wholesome writing and many an endearing tale to tell. 

Whilst light in tone for the most part, there are some serious topics delved into that add real substance to this read. On the base level this is a book about family and fallouts, mixing things up in the hope of finding your place in life with a strong sense of community involvement. Where it really steps up is when themes such as loneliness, loss/grief, mental illness and domestic abuse are touched upon in really sensitive and touching ways. 

‘Never been one for worst-case scenarios,’ Jackson says. He crouches to dip his roller in the tray; his wrists are flecked with paint now, new, brighter freckles. ‘When they happen, you cope. And it’s usually one you’ve not thought of that gets you, so why worry?’

How would it be to not only switch places with someone else for a time but add to the mix the generational gap and it makes for many an amusing scenario. It’s great! Eileen may just be the winner as what is not to love with a 79 year old shaking it with the young ones in London - but its the sage advice that she brings with her that dusts the encounters with magic. In Yorkshire, Leena learning to face her grief is real and raw. Another plus to this tale is the depth in secondary characters - there are many here you will learn to love and some despise. I want to sit and eat biscuits on the Neighbourhood Watch committee! Similarly Beth accurately portrays the two distinct locales as you feel the buzz of London compared to the quirky charms of village life.

Covering a range of subjects with a cast of characters, not once does Beth confuse her readers - I was invested in each and everyone of them. You will smile and you will tear up - clever writing to lose yourself in. The message here is one of healing and hope, not only for the three generations of women, but also for their wider community of friends. Do yourself a favour and immerse yourself in this tale of fun and serious moments as they walk the path to find the missing piece in their life. Eagerly anticipate what Beth comes up with next. 

‘I take a shaky breath and go on. ‘When people talk about loss, they always say that you’ll never be the same, that it will change you, leave a hole in your life.’ My voice is choked with tears now. ‘And those things are undoubtedly true. But when you lose someone you love, you don’t lose everything they gave you. They leave something with you.’

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher and provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.