This is a contemporary fiction between two women--Harper who is having writer's block and moves to New Canaan to get inspirations for her next novel and Wendy who is married with a son. The two women become friends and while their friendship grows, the secrets that they had been hiding for so long might start to resurface again...

The writing was really great and it was truly an engaging novel. The story is mainly told from Harper's and Wendy's perspectives so we could as a reader what each of the main characters really think. I do like the character of Wendy but Harper wasn't bad either. I also like how Harper's friendship with Wendy actually inspired her to write a novel. The ending was also great and this was a four star for me.

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.

I have enjoyed every single one of Jamie Beck’s women’s fiction novels. They are unique, interesting and dive into great topics!! By just reading the description of this book, I knew I was going to enjoy it! Two women struggling in life form a friendship. When secrets are involved you know things are going to get interesting! This author is such a good writer who develops flawed characters that walk right off the page. This book was a very enjoyable read! Huge thanks to the author, publisher and netgalley for allowing me to read and review this book!

Take it From Me is a compelling novel about two women who become friends—but can it really be friendship if it’s based on lies? Both women are hiding secrets: Wendy is a new empty-nester with a flailing marriage and a compulsive disorder; Harper is a novelist who is trying to salvage her career, possibly at Wendy’s expense. There are many layers to these women and their stories, and both have to come clean about their lies, as well as making peace with their pasts—but there is so much at stake.

I really struggled with this. It took a great deal of effort to finish it.
I couldn't warm to either Wendy or Harper and I didn't really care about their secrets and lies to one another.
Sorry this one was definitely not for me.
Thanks to Netgalley and Montlake for the ARC in return for an honest review

Beck examines a wide variety of relationships including romantic relationships to friendships and families, The two main characters are new neighbors Wendy and Harper, they have vastly different approaches to life and learn from each other along the way. However they also have secrets they are keeping and keeping secrets makes it hard to form a solid friendship. The women learn about themselves as they open to the perspectives shared by the other. I struggled at times with the two characters. Each had characteristics making her difficult to like, but ultimately I think that added to the enjoyment of this story. Thank you to NetGalley and Montlake for the opportunity to read an advanced copy, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

I am all of these women and maybe some pieces of the men, too. Wendy has many secrets that she hides from her friends and family and the hiding is intensifying the harm that secrets can cause. Harper, on the other hand, thinks she has succeeded at life until her last book flopped and the bad reviews have caused some deep introspection and perhaps a little internal honesty.

When her agent and publisher recommend Harper take a few months in small town America seeing how perhaps her picture of women differs from how real life women respond to others, Harper goes along because she needs to keep her idea and her advance. When Wendy comes into Harper's life they both think they can help each other. What happens is shocking and eye opening for everyone.

This book will make everyone sit up and take notice of those opinions we've harbored about how other women live and the choices they've made. I've seen parts of myself in every generation and also embarrassingly seen myself in each woman as they've grown.

As with all of Jamie Beck's books the reader is drawn in and the books are hard to put down. Take it From Me lives up to the author's reputation as a wonderful storyteller.

#JamieBeck #NetGalley #Montlake

Fantastic uplit book from Jamie Beck. I hope she continues in this new-to-her direction because Take It from Me is so so good.

Harper is an author whose last book tanked. She rents a house the 'burbs to find inspiration and maybe heal from a rough break-up. Her new neighbor, Wendy, is struggling with her son heading to college and keeping her kleptomania urges secret. Initially, Wendy tries too hard to establish a friendship and Harper keeps her close for inspiration but not close enough to matter. Through the book they both manage their internal struggles, and learn so much about conflict, forgiveness and the complexities of friendships and marriage.

I also liked getting a peek into the trials and angst of establishing and sustaining a writing career through Harper's eyes.

*I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher and I am required to disclose that in my review in compliance with federal law.

Thank you NetGalley for the arc of this thoroughly enjoyable book. This is a new to me author and I was happy to discover Jamie Beck through this platform. Her style is crisp and witty, the tale of friendship between two very different women hits all the right notes, keeping the pages turning. Light without being fluffy, touching on mental health issues without being preachy or trite. Definitely recommend and can see it being a perfect book club selection.

This was so cute! A wonderful romance, filled with witty banter, delightful characters, and just enough steaminess. A must read for romance lovers!

Jamie Beck is my first choice when it comes to authors! While she got me hooked on her romance books, her latest novels deal with real life issues with characters that could be living right next door.

Harper is a writer that is struggling to meet the demands of her publisher. She moves out of the city to get away from the hustle and bustle and live among the small town community without being identified. Wendy is Harper’s next door neighbor that can’t help but mother her. Wendy’s son has just gone off to college and she has had a relapse of her mental health condition.

I cried real tears for Wendy within the chapters of this book and cheered for both her and Harper as they successfully overcame the obstacles in their way.

I couldn’t help but picture Wendy being the author (Beck) and the series of events from this book actually playing out for her in real life during one of her writing retreats

Grateful to be a part of the authors early readers team and for an early read of this gem. I think it would make a good book club read in a club of varying generations. Two unlikely friends; one younger and from the city and the other a suburban empty nest mom, each hold secrets. I enjoyed how they learned and shared from each other as well as how the story focuses on the things both need changing in their life. Great ending!

Two women who both have secrets....

Wendy has a little problem with impulse control, taking things without realizing she has done it. She keeps this from her husband who thinks the therapy has done the trick, her son who does not realize his mother has a mental health issue as well as all her friends. Then when life implodes around her and the lies that have been kept from what she thinks her new best friend, she wonders how to put her life back together. Then we have Harper who moved in next door to Wendy and her hiding the fact that she has moved into the ‘burbs’ to get her writer career back on track and is using the people she meets as characters in her book. And she finds that Wendy is a caring helpful person, going about her daily life, even though she has shared some things with Harper about her marriage and some of her “empty nest” problem when her son goes off to college. And it gives Harper pause as to how she may hurt a person she has come to like.

At first, I found this book a little slow to get out the gate, but as I started into more about Wendy and Harper’s lives, it began to form into a wonderful and humorous story while these two women and how they tried to hide their secrets from one another and their friendship started revolve into something that neither of them saw coming. After all Harper was only going to be next door for 6 months. How much damage could her secret cause... It has a lot of heartwarming moments between these women and the men in their lives. I loved the character of Nate, who Wendy’s introduces to Harper. Wendy’s husband Joe, is a character I liked too. He is a loving caring husband, but a little misunderstood by his wife. And you can’t have a Jamie Beck book without mothers and daughters and the relationship landmines these two women have with their mothers. It will make you think about your own moms...

When you read this book, you will be dealing with a lot of conflicting feelings about these two women, but then, you will want to be their friend, well at least that is how I feel. It’s a heartwarming and wonderful story that is another perfect Jamie Back book...

I was given this book to read for my honest review. I give this book a 4.5 Stars

When I think of romance, I think of books just like this one, that gives all the feels and satisfies every romance junkies' heart. This is a perfect book to snuggle up with on any day.

This book started out slowly, but there was a definite shift about 40% into the story. I ended up really enjoying the dynamics between the two new friends and seeing how they were able to help one another with personal growth.

I found this book to be a bit slow and I really didn’t find myself in love with the characters. The writing style was okay, but the book just wasn’t for me.

This book was okay. I loved the show of friendship from two POV. Harper and Wendy are so different but they learn how to bond and create an amazing friendship.

This was a very fun read. Bouncing back and forth between narratives provided such a unique perspective of the plot, and I found myself conflicted a couple times between which character I agreed with more. Mental health can be such a difficult topic to focus a lighthearted book on, but this book did so quite eloquently.

I liked our two main characters and their friendship, but this book was a bit long for me.
The friendship is fun and very relatable. It just took me awhile to get through this one.

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC!

Two very different women, placed side by side, will learn from each other through their ups and downs. I was honoured to receive an advanced copy of this book. Another amazing book by Jamie Beck.

I liked the premise of this book. An author whose last book was widely panned going incognito into the suburbs to garner research for her next (hopefully hit) book.
I just could not connect to the main character. I felt she needed to be fleshed out more.
Wendy as the neighbor was well developed and I connected to her.
Would try another book by this author to see if it better resonates.