I really enjoyed this take on modern female friendship and how we can still have secrets from those we are closest to. This was a modern easy read and I zipped through it wanting to know more about the characters. Thanks NetGalley!

This wasn't for me at all. The blurb sounded so interesting but the actual book didn't deliver what i wanted from it. The writing was fine but it could have been better.

A read this because I wanted a break from dark thrillers. This was the perfect remedy. Funny, compelling and I loved it. Thank you for letting me read this book :)

No Regrets is the story of a group of 3 women approaching their 40’s Stella, Ana and Dixie. One wants a baby but is struggling to conceive. One has just found out her husband is lying and the other is living a glamorous lifestyle.
They decide that they need to start having some fun. I started off liking the characters as strong, feisty women but they became annoying. There’s a lot of sex, not much humour and that’s about it. It’s a book that not much happens in and what does happens is predictable. It was an okay summer read that was ideal for me during COVID lockdown.

Thank you to the Author, Publisher and NetGalley for gifting me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I have finally finished No Regrets and I feel so conflicted. I wanted to love this book. A group of women approaching their 40s rebelling and trying new things in life? Yes please! A raunchy rom com exploring the mid life crisis? Absolutely!

However, I really struggled to engage with this book. The first couple of chapters I couldn’t tell if the book was set in the UK or US. Location doesn’t bother me, but descriptions and language were pretty confusing at the start.

The three friends were great through the first half of the book. I’m assuming the author is a big Sex and the City fan as the characters appear to be modelled on SATC characters. By the second half of the book the characters (including the supporting characters) were mere caricatures of themselves.

Far too many unnecessary descriptions of brands and designer labels, for example ‘she bought a Diane Von Furstenberg dress from Net a Porter’, ‘she wore red Marc Jacobs lipstick’, ‘he sent her diamonds from Boodles’. There is seriously no need.

The women were portrayed as strong, empowered females, but lost all sense of their independence the moment their men were there. Accepting proposals despite being unsure of them telling lies. Forgiving the man that ghosted her for a week because he lost her number...it showed the women as weak unfortunately.

The other annoying element was the reference to ‘if this was a trashy romance novel...’ followed by a huge cliche seen in most “trashy romance novels”. The author could have tried a non-cliched angle, but didn’t.

I dislike leaving negative reviews. I’m grateful to NetGalley and the publishers for ARCs and always try to leave constructive reviews. However, I really struggled with this book.

Stella, Ana and Dixie are the best of friends. They stick together through all the highs and lows of life, such as relationships, pregnancy, marriage, and employment.

I really liked all of the characters in the book, but was mostly invested in Ana’s pregnancy struggles, and Stella’s relationship with Joel (and his addiction).

This is a great book for female empowerment, in terms of taking charge of your life, but also sexually. It definitely isn’t the type of book to read if you’re a prude, or find sex in books cringey - because it features A LOT. But I think it was addressed in a funny way, and added a lot to the characters.

I particularly enjoyed Stella’s relationship with Coco, and think that exploring sexuality is something that is not often addressed in relation to older women with families, so that was a great angle.

Definitely a good summer read!

The only reason I give 3 stars, is because I wasn’t gripped, and some parts were predictable.

This book was really good fun. Having three different main characters kept things fresh, and they were all so different with their own depths and backstories. I’d love a sequel!

‘No Regrets’ is an easy read and certainly light-hearted. I wanted to read this as it seemed like a ‘Sex and the City’ style set-up of friends, which in some ways it is, but the characters don’t grab me at all. It is acceptable to expect dramatised stories in this genre, however for me, it stretches too far to be relatable to any part of the friendship trio. Maybe this is because it is tailored to an older demographic. There are some aspects of this (Stella’s bi-curiosity) that could have been explored in better ways in my opinion, as it is alluded she becomes confident in accepting it but continues with her heterosexual marriage, seemingly without telling the husband...

The ultimate narrative is ‘female friendship’ which I liked, unfortunately it wasn’t the forward-thinking tone I had hoped and doesn’t explore much diversity between them as women.

I felt like this book had a lot of promise and it started well with three female leads who were relatable and likeable. Best friends whose lives had taken different paths.

However about half way through it felt like the book lost it's way a bit and we went from believable to a bit far fetched.

It was a light easy read and there were predictable happy endings all round.

I don't know why but I struggled with this book. I think if tried to funny to be cool and hilarious or maybe that wasn't my mood at the time. Gave it a try but gave up after a few chapters.

I didn't hate this book, but at times I didn't really like it either, although I did read it quite quickly and found myself happy enough to read it through to the end.

So, what were the things I did like enough to get through it? It was, for want of a different word, quite "spunky" and it definitely felt a little like a trip back to the 80s bonkbuster only less high content which is a good thing, btw. I loved those books when I was younger but I wouldn't want to read any of them again now. It was also well written which means a lot. I love me some chick-lit but there is some badly written stuff out there as there is for any popular genre. This was very well written and the characters were mostly decent, except they also weren't.

So, the things I didn't like. Despite the characters being decent, I guess I really mean decently written and I found it hard to warm to any of them and within a couple of days of putting it down, I'd forgotten their names. Maybe if I'd had more background on them, especially Dixie who grated on me from the beginning, I'd have warmed to her more, but I didn't.

Next, a huge pet peeve of mine. Numerous simultaneous orgasms. Please, enough with that already. These are not common, they're actually pretty bloody rare and they're also not the be-all and end-all of sex. It's a shame because the sex is mostly well written but the need for dated tropes really annoyed me. Wrt sex and relationships, I found the whole Coco and Stella plot really patronising and a little insulting. The level of "oh my god, am I a lesbian now! Oh no, I can't tell my friends until I'm hideously drunk!" felt like something from a past age. Coco herself was a lovely character but to be honest she was written as a manic pixie dream lesbian type character.

Finally, and this is a huge bugbear of mine. I absolutely hate it in a novel or film of the romance/rom-com/chick-lit variety when a character says "well if this happened in a film/book then there'd be a great big happy ending, but this is real life so ..." and then, hey presto, the great big happy ending happens. If that trope is going to be used then actually turn it on its head and have the happy ending not happen. That would be different.

I'm happy to suspend belief in this sort of novel, so I honestly enjoyed a lot of the slightly/very unrealistic happy ever afters that were there and I think it's possible that a lot of people will really enjoy this, alas it really wasn't for me.

A sincere thank you to the publisher, author and Netgalley for providing me with an ebook copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This is not my usual genre, I’m more into crime/thriller books and even psychological thrillers too so I am extremely pleased and grateful to them for opening up my mind to something totally different.

I enjoyed this book.

I didn’t expect it to be so raunchy!
It has some real laugh out loud moments, whilst covering some serious topics.

You couldn’t say this book hasn’t got diversity.

It has plenty of sex in it and it holds no bars.
We read about the lives of three strong, feisty women heading into their forties.
They are in different stages of their lives.

One wanting a baby and having trouble but time is quickly running out.

One living a glamorous single life, as a woman that doesn’t get bogged down, by a man and all the trappings of a relationship. Do things change for her?

Lastly, one that finds her husband has been lying to her, but hey, so has she.

I felt the book had a great ending and I would recommend.

A great read, very promising for the debut author!
The story of 3 friends and how their lives are struggling in different way is such a relatable read, I’m sure all readers will find something in common with one of the girls. Although some of the story line is easy to guess what’s going to happen it still makes a fun read.
Gave only 3 stars as the end of the story for Ana disappointed me. What could have been a strong statement about single life and raising a child alone it felt slightly contrived for the ending she did get.

This is chick lit at it's best! Dixie, Ana and Stella have been friends for years. Now they are approaching 40, and life does not seem to get any easier. Stella has 2 young boys, feels her marriage has gone stale, and would really like to go back to work. Ana is trying for a baby with her partner who she loves but is not in love with. Dixie lives a promiscuous, hedonistic lifestyle, and doesn't believe she will ever meet anyone special. I love stories about friends like these - ordinary women with all their dreams and disappointments. This is a cracking read which I thoroughly recommend. Thanks to NetGalley for a preview copy.
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This was full of promise - the promise of a fabulously funny and naughty tale of friendship. The story is that of three very different friends as they approach the crossroads of their 40s. My favourite was feisty Stella who adores her children but is struggling with the monotony of being a stay-at-home mum. There's also sensible Ana who's chosen her baby-daddy with her head rather than heart and good-time girl Dixie who may have to re-evaluate after unexpectedly falling for someone.

It started well with the introduction of Stella and her vague and uncomfortable feeling that her children might be better off with a nanny as at least they'd be clean and on time. "Maybe someone else could be a better waitress and Uber driver. These were not her skills." Another hilarious musing was Stella thinking about the constant need to keep tabs on her wandering two-year-old "sometimes she wondered what would happen if she let him go. Would he return in 16 years, all grown up, a veteran of several wars...thankful to Stella for her trust in his abilities, or would he be taken in by social services....thank God Jake (her husband) was a lawyer."

But, then nothing much actually happened. Well that's not strictly true - There was a lot of sex, a little humour (mostly involving Stella) and not a lot else. What did happen was predictable even from the blurb in that Stella gets her mojo back, Ana's drawn to her ex and Dixie settles down. The sex was also a bit much for me. It's not that I'm a prude (well maybe a bit) but I don't need graphic details, preferring subtle suggestion instead, and I like the action to be part of the story, not just there for the sake of it.

So, in my opinion this was sex over substance. I didn't hate it but didn't love it either so a 3.5 stars rounded down from me unfortunately.

Well what can I say, bloody brilliant, loved it, the charecters are just fab, 3 ladies, I can totally relate to, a super summer read that went down well with a glass or two of rose, I'd love to read further adventures too, highly recommend to anyone especially at the minute pure escapism, might not be able to read it by the pool, but get yourself in the garden and relax with a wine, you won't be disappointed

This was a quick, fun garden read! Narrated by three life-long friends: Stella, Ana and Dixie are now in their 40s and find themselves at different stages in their lives. Stella is a stressed out mum of two who longs for the part of herself that isn't just a mum. Ana is desperate to be a mum, so is doing everything she can with her current boyfriend to make that happen and Dixie is child-free and loving it!

We follow them as they come to some life decisions and embark on new - often raunchy - relationships. No Regrets was a great way to escape for a few hours but it was a little predictable in its plot to have me riveted. I did like its overarching theme of believing in yourself and the power of friendship. It was a nice celebration of having no regrets and going for what's going to make you happy in life.

Many Thanks to the author and Netgalley for allowing me to read this book before being published in exchange for an honest review.

It kept me entertained all the way until the end.
3 friends who were best friends once upon a time but then they go different ways. They only meet every other time to tell each other what´s going on in their lifes.
Their stories brought to me fond stories of when I used to be young and all the crazy things you do when you are young. And then the meetings with your friends to tell them all about it!!
I did enjoy this book, as it was a quick and engaging read. And I didn´t want it to finish because I really was enjoying their stories!
I will definitely be on the lookout for future releases by this author.

The description of this book is fabulous, funny and filthy and I can confirm it is definitely filthy; too filthy for me in parts and I'm not a prude! I found it a bit too graphic but I am sure as an easy read or a beach read it would hit the spot. It was very funny and a bit like a raunchy Mills & Boon as 3 friends from school reach their 40s with some regrets about missed opportunities, hopes and dreams and who want more from life.