THE PLOT: ‘The No Show’ by Beth O’Leary is a romcom about a guy who stands up three women on valentine’s day. Jonathan Carter is the perfect guy; sweet, sexy and mysterious. But when he fails to show up for his breakfast date with influencer-life-coach Siobhan, his lunch date with tree surgeon one-of-the-lads Miranda and his dinner date with mild-mannered soft-spoken Jane, the three women go on a path of discovering the truth behind the man they have in common. Each woman is prepared to forgive him for standing them up but can they forgive him for having multiple dates on the go? And where was he on Valentine’s Day?

RATING: After realising we always choose depressing books, some friends and I decided to buy this for a buddy read. I’m not usually a romcom girl but the premise of women getting revenge on the guy who stood them up made this blurb stand out. As a lover of multi-POVs, I enjoyed reading each of the women’s perspectives in fast-paced short chapters and it was really exciting as their stories intersected. Warning – the book was more romantic than I initially expected and the plot deviated from my assumptions. However, there was a great twist that made it all worth it. I sometimes get feedback that all the books I feature are very heavy so I’d highly recommend this for a lighter read.

GOOD BITS:  The novel has a relatively big cast list as each of the three women has friends and family. Yet it was easy to follow/remember each character and made the principal women seem very well rounded. I liked all of the women but, if I had to choose, my favourite character was Siobhan as she was the most confident and sassy of the group. As the boldest character, I found myself quite drawn to her sections. But the best thing about this book is the big twist. I really don’t want to spoil it so I’m just going to doff my cap to the author.

NOT SO GOOD BITS:  When I got to the twist, I felt a little deceived by the author and after the twist my reading slowed down. This was partly due to life events but I think I lost a little bit of interest. Obviously, I can’t judge a book on my expectations but I was a tad disappointed that it was less about badass women tricking a guy for revenge and more of a classic love story.

OVERALL: I’d recommend this book to fans of Taylor Jenkins Reid and Emily Henry. If you love fade-to-black romance with funny one-liners and a bit of depth, this is a book for you.

This book is available to purchase with a discount on my bookshop.org profile.