I was so looking forward to a sweet book about friendship when I requested The Spa Break. Unfortunately, there was just so little chemistry between the friends. They each choose spa activities on their own, so they don't see each other all day, then they say in separate areas of the hotel...so how is this a fun, bonding ladies trip?

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC for an honest review.

Fantastic read, so much fun and laughter along the way. Four oldies (60-70) spend a long weekend at a spa, you would never believe what could happen and I am not going to spoil it for you. Grab a copy and enjoy this as much as I have done. I can really recommend this and am giving it 5 stars.

Thanks to Netgalley and publisher for this e ARC

Four friends go on a weekend spa break to celebrate a birthday; all are older and feel their lives are not what they want them to be. The spa setting is full of colourful characters and new experiences, which help the four friends to find themselves again and move on positively.
The women are believable characters that the reader cares about, brought to life with detailed backstories and their spa experiences. The humour is plentiful, with pertinent, poignant moments that resonate. It's escapist and uplifting.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.

Four women going away for a spa weekend that sounds so good.
But this trip turns out to be a lot more then expected. Each getting away for their own good reasons they find this weekend was just what they needed. This was a lighthearted fun read. I am sure some women will relate and go for it. “What stays in Vegas “ 😉

To me, this was the ultimate book to share with your gal friends.

It tells the story of four life long friends that have reached beyond a certain age...and are all the better for it. Now don't get me wrong, they may not initially realize they are each all that and a bag of chips, but by story's end, they are more than prepared to offer a virtual middle finger to all those who'd say nay to any of their antics because when has a good time, a sense of humor, and a zest for life truly hurt anyone?

Seriously guys, these are the ladies we all wish to be when we get to their age. Surrounded by friends, celebrating life, laughing through the pitfalls, and figuring out that we may still not have everything figured out, but that the joy of life, the reasoning for living! Bridgette learns to let go, Serena takes the knock at her age on the chin and levels up, Marjory becomes full circle to her more vibrant self, and Emily...well, even she has a few realizations that may surprise! Each bestie has room for growth, and comes into her own as this birthday adventure turns them all on their heads (some literally!), but for what's it's worth...all the laugh lines, sagging bits, and wardrobe choices (or lack thereof!), go into making this one trip to Spa-radise that you won't soon forget!

I loved everything about this book and I am so pleased that I signed up to join the tour. My girlfriends and I often go on spa overnight stays to celebrate special occasions and birthdays so I really related to some aspects of this story and how the girls bonded and changed over their stay at the super posh spa.
It was really refreshing to read about characters of a more mature age. Many people I know in their 60s and feisty and so much fin and spirited and it was wonderful to see this reflected in The Spa Break. All four women are so lovely and so very different but all have their own issues, uncertainties and insecurities going on. They also all deal with these in different ways. I loved them all but I must say that Marjory hilarious and was my absolute favourite.
All the other characters add so much depth to the girls’ experiences and journeys too whether they are in full support or of a more antagonistic disposition.
I enjoyed the journey that each lady went on over the space of a weekend and how much it impacted their lives. They all benefitted so much from the time, experience and each other’s friendships and it just totally warmed my heart. This book really gave me all the fuzzies and lots of laughs and I adored it.
Highly recommended for an afternoon of joy and a warm hug in a book.

Four sexagenarian friends are off to the Spa
A weekend away, but not too far.
They're going there to celebrate
Away from their menfolk, they just can't wait!

The brochure promised rejuvenation, it is true
But what these four find is much more to do.
This fun weekend will prove life changing
Going home things will need rearranging!

Such a fun read this proved to be
I hope, if you read it, that you'll agree.
With all four ladies and others, too,
Learning to live life to the full is the best to do.

It had me laughing out loud at their escapades,
With new friends, special drinks and plans being made.
It is inspirational and shows it is never too late
To take steps to change whatever is your fate.

For my complementary copy of this book, I say thank you,
A hilarious, fun read and this is my honest review.

Who knew one weekend spent with 4 women between 60-70 on a Spa break could pack in so many laughs and transformations?

I could easily picture this being made into a movie that would lead to a whole lot of laughs, but also some very cringe worthy moments and perhaps a little too much nudity.

All 4 characters really came alive in this story and I will miss them all dearly.

The Spa Break by Caroline James

I received an advance review copy for free thanks to Rachel's Random Resources and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

A weekend at the spa will leave four old friends with a whole lot more than they’d bargained for…

The glossy brochure promised a serene experience of total tranquillity and rejuvenation, but what best friends Bridgette, Emily, Serena and Marjory get is a weekend that upends their lives!

There for a girls’ weekend to celebrate Bridgette’s impending seventieth birthday, the spa soon has these spicy sexagenarians realising that there are unexpected benefits to age and experience, and that over the hill certainly doesn’t mean out of the game…in any respect…

I initially struggled to figure out how Caroline was going to turn a spa weekend into a full book but very quickly it becomes apparent that this weekend is going to be life changing for all four of our leading ladies. A nice and easy read offers an ideal opportunity to escape reality.

This book is well-written and flows so well it is so easy to get drawn in and read a large chunk in one sitting. A cheerful read, with many chuckle worthy moments. All of these things make for a lovely read.

Rating: 4/5

This was not what I expected. The writing style felt abrupt to me and characters just did things, rather than there being a flow to the narrative.
The opening chapter is just the four women getting into a car and driving off for a weekend trip, but there were no anchoring details to feel invested in any of the characters.
By chapter four, I still didn't feel like I had a handle on who anyone was or why they so desperately needed this trip.
Unfortunately, this one wasn't for me.

Thank you #Netgalley for the advanced copy!

What a fun read! We four ladies decide to celebrate their best friends 70th birthday at a spa weekend get away. Little did they know that each would have a transformational weekend that they did not expect or knew they needed. We followed the perspective of each woman, one who ended up in a tent surrounded my a "naturalist", another who has an awakening from a message, another who does a physical makeover after a yoga class and lastly one who tries to create a social media presence. Each receives support from different people at the spa. By the end of the weekend their lives had all changed for the better.

OMG – I literally loved this book – I didn’t stop laughing the whole way through! Let me introduce you to Emily, Bridgette, Serena, and Marjory – best friends, heading away on an exclusive spa weekend at SpaParadise to celebrate ‘Bossy Bridgette’s’ 70th birthday. What follows is a weekend of revelations, transformations, and a newfound love of Vitamin drinks!

Each of the women is experiencing their own personal struggles and hopes that a relaxing few days at the incredible SpaParadise will help them to relax, unwind and forget about the routine of everyday life. What none of the women expected was to leave SpaParadise having undergone such huge transformations and learned so much about themselves and what they want from life.

I loved all of the characters so much, but I think my favourite has to be Bridgette – her antics with Norman just had me howling with laughter! The Spa Break is a fun, light-hearted, and uplifting story, with a strong message of friendship and loving yourself running through it. An absolute must-read for anyone – I guarantee you will laugh from start to finish, and be craving a spa break yourself!

An interesting read. I struggled with this book - there were parts that I absolutely loved and parts that felt overly staged and unbelievable (Bridgette's clumsiness and initial bad luck in general situations in the first few chapters felt overdone)

The characters were mainly likeable and I enjoyed that this book was about sixty-somethings rather than the usual portrayal of mid twenty/thirty year olds. It was a refreshing change.

Overall, it was definitely worth a read and I'd recommend it to anyone looking for light escapism.

You know those books that as soon as you start reading you instantly know that this is going to be a firm favourite?

This is one of those books – it will make you laugh and leave you feeling warm and very content. It’s like sunshine on a grey day, that feeling of sudden happiness.

I haven’t read any of Caroline James’ books before (why ever not???) I fell instantly in love with her incredibly easy to read and delightfully amusing writing, I will certainly be reading more from her.,

I liked the characters the four women are different and have their own interesting backstories and their own problems which must be resolved, but together at the spa they make for a brilliant little group, they gel together as though they were born to be friends. I love that Bridgette, Emily, Serena and Marjory are all over a certain age (I won’t say it, it’s rude to speak about a woman’s age) but let’s say that when I reach their age I hope that I can take after them, they are brilliant and at times a real hoot to follow and get to know.

love the journey these four women go on, they arrive at the spa all set for a weekend of pampering and being away from their claustrophobic lives, away from the control freaks of relatives, a weekend of ‘me time’ with friends and a few glasses of prosecco. It did get me wondering if such a normal and pretty simple plot if it could keep me hooked throughout a full-length book, but then things start happening and I will hold my hands up and admit I was wrong it did keep my attention

This boo is in one word; enjoyable! It made me smile all the way through, I really liked the gentle pacing, it’s not taxing and keep you reading and before I knew it I was a good halfway through in one sitting – believe me for an incredibly slow reader who never has two minutes spare is not bad going.

The Spar Break is a great story all about friendship, there are other things going on but essentially this is all about the power of good friends. It’s heart-warming, gentle and full of cheerful feel-good vibes.

What more would you want for a sunny weekend?!

I absolutely loved everything about this book and I couldn't get enough of Bridgette, Emily, Serena and Marjory who all have epiphanies of their own during the course of the book, while staying at Sparadise. Highly recommend!

Four friends are off for a birthday spa break.

The Spa Break is an absolute joy. It’s slightly mad, funny, uplifting and filled with warmth and friendship so that it’s impossible not to feel happier as a result of reading it.

I so enjoyed meeting Serena, Bridgette, Emily and Marjory. It’s absolutely wonderful to encounter women in their sixties with all their attendant anxieties, routines and habits amassed over the years so that they feel much more real and relatable than so many thirty somethings in books. As The Spa Break allows them to discover sexual, emotional, artistic and professional creativity, there’s a joie de vivre that makes the reader feel they can achieve what they want too. It’s as if Caroline James is giving her readers the chance to be reminded of who they are and who they might like to be every bit as much as the four ladies in the book. That’s not to say that everything runs smoothly, but the bumps along the way add authenticity and the immense pleasure in reading The Spa Break.

There’s a relatively simple plot set over a long weekend that is all the more realistic because all the action takes place in the hotel and its grounds making the reader believe any of the events could, genuinely, have happened. I loved the concept that, whist supporting one another and celebrating Brigitte’s seventieth birthday, each of the ladies is able to be an individual, find what works for her and doesn’t need to be just another adjunct to the group. All the minor characters are equally memorable too so that The Spa Break feels natural and engaging.

But within the fun and frolics are weightier themes that make The Spa Break such a good read. Professional duplicity, fame, ambition, marriage, relationships, identity, the role of social media in the modern world, ageism , expectation, parenthood and so on make this a layered and maturely written narrative that gently teaches even as it entertains.

I so enjoyed reading The Spa Break. I’ve come to expect humour, humanity and entertainment from Caroline James. The Spa Break has them all with added sexiness so that it’s a cracking read. I loved this treat of a book because it made me feel happy.

Oh. Difficult. I think I know what the author wanted to achieve with this story, to show the power of friendship and that love doesn't know any limits... But. On so many, many levels it felt forced and overdone and I simply couldn't buy all the changes and the comedy of errors - like situations. At the beginning, the friendship felt so wooden and yes, throughout the story and wit time it started to feel more real and genuine but because they've drunk a green juice??? Erm, no. Not buying it.

I was drawn by this lovely cover, to be honest, it felt as if it was promising fun and mischief. But this fun and mischief simply felt so surrealistic and I've read this book all the time having this feeling of disbelief and rolling my eyes. Some of the situations were SO overdone that I just couldn't. It felt as if the author thought, oh hell, let's add some ridiculous scene, no matter what it is.

Yes, the overall message was absolutely brilliant and very important. The characters, that were actually have been written off by their familiey and society, never gave up and fought for themselves. It'S not their fault that the author has chosen this strange way for them, making this, and them, unrealistic and forced and stereotyped, but on the whole they were adorable and deserved standing ovation. It was about catching second wind in life, about courage and standing for yourself - not bad, but also not my favourite.

It’s 2018 and Bridgette Haworth’s 70th birthday is coming up, so along with her three best friends – Emily Avondale (63), Serena Alleyne (62) and Marjory Ecclestone (68), they leave their homes in Flaxby, Lancashire to go to a luxury spa called Sparadise for a weekend treat.
Emily is a single mum to two boys in their twenties who don’t want to leave home. Serena is a former TV chef and married to artist Cornelius. Bridgette lives in a big manor with her husband Hugo. Marjory is married to Reg, a man whose only love seems to be his pigeons. All the women are lacking something in their lives – relationship happiness, body confidence, sexual fulfilment and so on.
During their stay at Sparadise, they all discover some of what has been missing from their lives and try to improve things and reach for what they want out of life. The resort has plenty of entertaining characters and I especially loved the couple Stevie and Robin, as well as Norman the naturist!
It’s a fun girlie romcom, albeit a bit too “sexy” for me, as I prefer more “behind closed doors” scenes. But it is also about how the women discover what they need in their lives, and about the wonderful bonds of female friendship, so it is a positive and uplifting read and great to have older women as the main characters.

This is my first Caroline James book which I read in just two days. Great plot, characters and writing. As the cover says "What goes on at the spa, stays at the spa".

Description 🔖

Best friends Bridgette, Emily, Serena and Marjory are on a weekend away to celebrate Bridgette’s seventieth birthday. The spa retreat they are on promises relaxation and tranquility and the ladies are definitely feeling ready for the time away from home.

What they all quickly realise, is that this spa weekend could be much more than massages and manicures. Age really is just a number and this group of ladies are very much still in the game.

General Thoughts 🤔

As soon as I saw the cover for this book I felt a sense of fun. Those ladies look like they’re mischief and I was looking forward to finding out what they were going to get up to on their break at Sparadise. I was pleased to find out that they got themselves into all kinds of trouble and met some fantastic characters along the way.

The Spa Break was fun, light hearted and uplifting but it was also very heart warming. These women had been written off by society or their family or their spouses but each one of them went through a transformation and it was lovely to read about them injecting some fun back into their lives.

Characters 👫👭👬

I liked each of the ladies equally. I thought that I may get a little annoyed by Bridgette to begin with as on the surface, she appeared a little snobby, but my mind was very quickly changed. I loved the friendships within the group and how these ladies had become close via a weekly swimming club. I genuinely would love to have a group of friends like this when I’m approaching my seventies.

As well as the main characters in the story, there are others for readers to fall in love with. I particularly liked Robin and Stevie; such a great couple and I loved the way they rallied for Serena. Norman was hilarious and I think everyone needs a Norman in their life if they find themselves in a bit of a rut.

Writing Style ✍️

This is the first Caroline James book that I’ve read and I really enjoyed her writing style. She was witty and was able to write the characters in such a way that had me rooting for them all by the end. There were some really funny moments in this book and I liked the way that the author weaved those in without making the characters or the story feel at all cheesy.

Conclusion & Scoring 🎖

The Spa Break was a fantastic story about friendships, love and rediscovery. Whatever the older version of coming of age is; these characters went through it. A great book that I would recommend for some light hearted entertainment and some good, warm, fuzzy feels.