Rebecca Reads

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The No-Show by Beth O'Leary

Star rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Publisher: Quercus

Publication date: 5th April 2022

Blurb:

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

8.52 a.m. Siobhan is 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 on Valentine's Day surely means something ... so where is he?

2.43 p.m. 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 life is falling into place: she's been dating Carter for five months now and things are getting serious. But why hasn't he shown up?

6.30 p.m. Joseph Carter agreed to be Jane's fake boyfriend at an 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.

Review:

I do class myself as a Beth O'Leary fan so I was really excited about the release of The No-Show. O'Leary's debut, The Flatshare, got a five star rating from me but the follow ups, The Switch and The Road Trip were four star. Still loved them, but I didn't think they were just as great as The Flatshare. The No-Show is well up there and I would go as far as to say I liked it more than The Flatshare which I didn't think was possible!

Miranda Rosso, Jane Miller and Siobhan Kelly have all been stood up, on Valentine's Day, by the same man - Joseph Carter. The book follows the three women's points of view. Miranda is a tree surgeon, Jane volunteers at a charity shop after moving away from her hometown due to an incident at her last job and Siobhan is a life coach. Each of these women's lives are fully fleshed out and I loved every single one of them.

I made it over halfway into this book thinking Joseph Carter was an asshole...and then I didn't. I do not want to give any spoilers away if you choose to read this book off the back of my review, so I will just say that when I got to the crux of the story where everything made sense and was revealed, I had to set my Kindle down and threw my head back to the sky for a breather. I could not believe I didn't see it. Bravo, Beth O'Leary.

I felt all the emotions and cannot rate this highly enough. A wonderful writer and a wonderful novel!

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Seven Days In June by Tia Williams

Star rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Publisher: Quercus

Publication Date: 1st June 2021

Blurb:

Seven days to fall in love, fifteen years to forget, and seven days to get it all back again...

Eva Mercy is a single mother and bestselling erotica writer who is feeling pressed from all sides. Shane Hall is a reclusive, enigmatic, award-winning novelist, who, to everyone's surprise, shows up unexpectedly in New York.

When Shane and Eva meet at a literary event, sparks fly, raising not only their buried traumas, but also the eyebrows of the Black literati. What no one knows is that fifteen years earlier, teenage Eva and Shane spent one crazy, torrid week madly in love. While they may be pretending not to know each other, they can't deny their chemistry - or the fact that they've been secretly writing to each other in their books through the years.

Over the next seven days, amidst a steamy Brooklyn summer, Eva and Shane reconnect - but Eva's wary of the man who broke her heart, and wants him out of the city so her life can return to normal. Before Shane disappears though, she needs a few questions answered...

Review:

What a book to start the year with and thank you Tia Williams for making me feel every emotion.

Firstly, the hilarious prologue drew me in. I just knew this writing style would be for me.

32-year-old Eva Mercy, previously known as Genevieve Mercier, is a best-selling erotica writer famous for her Cursed series. She is also mother to her 12-year-old daughter Audre who she shares with ex-husband, Troy.

Shane Hall is a now sober author who is struggling to write after giving up his vices. He keeps himself to himself in the author world and spends his time teaching English and mentoring young teens at schools in "bad" (for want of a better word!) areas.

Seven Days In June delves into their backgrounds both together and apart. As seventeen year olds they spent a week together but they were both very troubled. They were bad for each other. Meeting now is the first time they have seen each other in fifteen years and their lives have changed drastically.

Believe me when I say that this book had a grip on my heart. I read the entire thing in a day as I was so invested in their relationship.

There is a wonderful focus on Black authors and stories in the publishing industry and I enjoyed reading about Eva's struggles with her illness. It was new to have a main character like this.

I must add trigger warnings for self-harm and drug abuse.

Seven Days In June is a beauty and my heart both aches and is full at the same time.