The Wake-Up Call – by Beth O’Leary

11 04 2025

My annual Beth O’Leary read, this time it’s based around two staff members at a hotel who get on so badly that they intentionally never put them on the same shift. You already know what’s going to happen, classic enemies to lovers.

I enjoyed the non-romantic parts of the storyline, the hotel in trouble, trying to find owners of 5 rings in lost property, coping when friends move away, but the romance side of it felt quite drawn out, even though I read the book in 4 days! It got steamier than I remember some of her other books getting too, but managed to avoid anything too graphic. I think my issue comes down to the fact that there was just a bit too much yearning…. that said, I still gave it 4 stars on goodreads, because I liked the rest of it!

I feel like I’m coming off quite negative, but the side characters were a lot of fun, and I grew to like the main characters as the book went on, other than when they were fawning over each other (they alternate narrating each chapter between them).

It’s an incredibly easy read, as evidenced by my reading speed, and if you liked her other stuff, you’d like this too.

A couple of funny lines to finish:
“I’ve always been partial to an exclamation mark, Full stops just seem so… grown-up. When I stop wanting pick-and-mix for dinner, that’s when I’ll start using full stops. That’s real adulthood.”
“When I first moved to the New Forest, I was astonished to find myself caught in a traffic jam caused by a gaggle of unfazed ponies, but I’m used to them now. They roam wild around here – it’s no stranger than seeing a pigeon.”





The No-Show – by Beth O’Leary

6 05 2024

I needed an easy read and this definitely was one, evidenced by the fact I read it in eight days even though I was trying to get through a magazine at the same time!

Three women, unknown to each other, have valentines plans, but are stood up, all by a man by the name of Joseph Carter. Each of their stories begins there, and we see what happens over the following year.

It’s easy to read, engaging, becoming addictive later on, and I very much enjoyed it – great bank holiday weekend read!





The Road Trip – by Beth O’Leary

8 10 2022

Having read The Flat Share at the start of the year, I was keen to read more of Beth O’Leary, and a friend completely raved about this one, so I thought I’d go for it next!

Addie and her sister Deb are driving from Chichester to Scotland for a friend’s wedding, with a randomer who also needed a lift, but very early on a car rams into the back of them. In the car are Addie’s ex and his friend, on their way to the same wedding, and so with their car not driveable, the girls agree to take them too. Thus we end up with five people in a mini for many, many hours.

The book then starts telling two stories in parallel, both the story of the drive, and the story of how Addie and Dylan met, fell in love, and eventually split about 18 months prior to this trip.

Only a couple of minor negatives: I didn’t like Dylan at the start, he was massively into poetry, something I’ve never quite understood and so just found him a bit pompous, but it wasn’t so much it was overwhelming and it soon settled down. My other apprehension at the start was whether they were falling in lust rather than love, but things did deepen over time, so I let them off.

But really they were nothing compared to the positives; it was really well told, it’s rare a book keeps me awake – normally I fall asleep when I read! But I found myself still awake at midnight reading 50-70 pages at a time and just flew through it, I enjoyed the relationships developing between characters, and some of the side characters were really fun too. A very enjoyable read.





Still Me – by Jojo Moyes

5 04 2018

Two years ago I read Me Before You, swiftly followed by After You, and said I’d happily read a third if it was ever written – good news, it has been!

Louisa has just arrived in New York to be a live-in assistant for a wealthy lady in society. It’s a huge lifestyle adjustment, alongside trying to manage a long distance relationship.

It’s a combination of warm fuzzy moments one minute, and heartbreaking ones the next. Predictable in places, some of the major plot points I saw coming a mile off, but there are surprises too. With 50 pages to go before the end I had NO idea how it was going to tie together!





Some kind of wonderful – by Giovanna Fletcher

7 01 2018

My friend bought me this for Christmas, so it was a good book to start the year with.

Lizzy has been dating Ian for 10 years she was 18 and is desperately waiting for a proposal, so when that comes crashing down, she has to rediscover how to function on her own and see how much she’s changed in that time.

There’s no point trying to claim this is sophisticated literature, but it’s a comfortable, easy read (evidenced by the fact I read nearly 400 words in 6 days!), and it’s fairly warm and fuzzy. Definitely enjoyed it 🙂





The House of New Beginnings – by Lucy Diamond

25 09 2017

I visited a friend at the start of the month and she’d just finished this book and so passed it on to me. I already had a large reading pile, but was interested and have *some* manners, so after I’d finished my current book, and a very short related book after, I gave this one a go.

It’s unashamedly chick lit, but I don’t think that’s a bad thing! Essentially the book is about the residents of the five flats in Seaview House in Brighton.

  • Flat one is Jo, and her teenage daughter, Bea. Jo becomes quite unwell early on and Bea has a damaged relationship with her Dad that needs sorting out.
  • Flat two is Rosa. She’s recently moved down from London after finding out her boyfriend was not all he seemed and so is looking for a fresh start.
  • Flat three is Georgie and Simon. Simon’s just got a great architect job so he’s moved down from Yorkshire and Georgie has come with him, without much sense of purpose.
  • Flat four is Charlotte. She lost her baby daughter recently, after which her marriage broke down and so she has moved to Brighton to get away from all that.
  • Flat five is Margot. She’s an old, frail lady who’s likes money to be spent “unwisely” and to talk about her impending death as some old ladies enjoy doing!

The book begins as Georgie and Simon move in, and gradually you see these women trying to suss out what their life in Brighton is going to be. They gradually get to know each other too and we just spend time following the highs and lows with them over their first summer in the house.

It’s an easy read and pretty feel good 🙂





After You – by Jojo Moyes

17 05 2016

Having read Me Before You earlier this year, I didn’t last long before reading the sequel having borrowed it from a friend.

I wasn’t really sure where the story could go after the first book, but it turns out there’s plenty more to happen! We pick up with Louisa 18 months after the end of the first book, she’s travelled a bit and is now working at an airport bar in London. We keep up with most characters from the first book too, and meet some significant new ones.

There’s really not much I can say without spoilers for this or the original book, but needless to say this is just as excellent as the first, and I’d happily read a third if it appears!

after-you





The Marble Collector – by Cecelia Ahern

7 05 2016

Another trip through an airport, another early paperback!

Sabrina is a mum with a young family, and her Dad, Fergus, is in a home/hospital sort of place following a stroke that’s left his memory damaged. The book is set over one day for Sabrina, who tells us her side of the story, whilst Fergus writes from all ages from childhood through to the day Sabrina is living.

It was hard to follow in places – with each chapter you had to remind yourself who was talking, and if it was Fergus, then work out when on earth it was!

I wouldn’t say this was my favourite of her books, but still a good read as Sabrina spends a day trying to work out and investigating what secret it is that her dad’s been hiding from his entire family for his whole life – marbles!

Favourite quotes from this book:

  • “The eye directs the brain, the brain directs the hand. Don’t forget that. Always keep an eye on the target, Fergus, and your brain will make it happen.”
  • “When you’re dead you’d think you’d want to just enjoy being dead without having to worry about the people you left behind. Worrying is for the living.”
  • “The best way to be the best you can be is to be dead.”
  • “Perhaps it’s true that you never know yourself until someone else truly knows you.”

the marble collector





Me Before You – by Jojo Moyes

5 03 2016

This is definitely one of those books you can’t put down. This week I’ve taken it pretty much everywhere with me, just incase I could find 2 minutes to read a bit more.

We meet Louisa who needs a new job, and ends up as a minder/carer sort of role for Will, who is a quadriplegic which basically means he only has use of his neck and head, and ever so slightly one thumb. Will is incredibly bitter about the life he now faces compared with the lifestyle of a rich city boy that he had become used to, and Louisa’s role is to convince him that life is worth living after all.

Most of the book is written in the first person from Louisa’s point of view, but a few of the other main characters get one chapter to speak throughout the book – her sister, the medical carer, and each of Will’s parents. I found it confusing at times because I’d pick up the book halfway through a chapter and forget someone else was speaking, but it was good to round out the picture a little.

I got so involved with the characters as I read this book, getting angry at some, feeling sorry for others, and wanting to give them a hug when things were tough. Jojo Moyes really is an excellent writer! I can’t wait to try the sequel…

me before you





Dream a little Christmas Dream – by Giovanna Fletcher

2 01 2016

Giovanna Fletcher seems to be another author whose books I’ve gotten into the habit of reading, so when she brought out a little Christmas Novella like last year, based on the novel she had published this summer, I thought, why not?!

I was so keen to finish my last book that yes, I have read this one in January, but it’s only 85 pages and I managed it in about 3 sittings.

It’s warm, fuzzy, and predictable – I had the ending pegged from only a few pages in, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t still give me goosebumps at the end, very feel good, pretty much exactly what you’d expect from a mini Christmas chick-lit read. Delightful.

dream a little christmas dream