I absolutely delighted in this book. I applauded it, embraced it and shared it. I felt the author was talking to me like a bestie. I appreciated how real and relatable the information was. I loved that this book didn't shy away from those rarely spoken about topics. I plan to give copies of this to all my girlfriends and my daughter. Well done and thank you Heather Bartos

Quickies by Heather Bartos was an excellent book - Plus, a very different book I would even look or read and I am so glad I found it. It was a great 'Quick' read and I loved it. Especially as I have never heard of this author.

Now, Dr. Heather Bartos is a OB/GYN, renowned menopause specialist, and Oprah-approved women's health advocate, and she delivers a witty, wise, and unapologetically bold roadmap for reclaiming sensuality, confidence, and self-love in midlife. Now, her expertise has been featured in The New York Times, The Oprah Magazine, and Good Housekeeping.

This book was So worth a read . . . . . 'Blush' . . . . I learnt so much. . . . . and is aimed at us lovely ladies from the age of I would say 40 upwards. It has 100 empowering, bite-sized lessons and quickies for you and your partner or maybe partners. It will also give you practical and brilliant advice on navigating your hormonal shifts to cheeky tips for spicing things up in the bedroom or anywhere else you would like to go, within reason! lol
This is a brilliant groundbreaking guide invites women to embrace their evolving identities with curiosity, courage, and joy. Whether you're reigniting your spark or discovering it for the first time, Dr. Bartos's compassionate and laugh-out-loud voice makes the journey a delight.

This book made me Blush and smile and lol, . . . . . Phew, I was so glad I had this book on my kindle and not in a paperback or hardback! lol so people could see what I was reading. I'll just have the 👀 strange looks I received whilst I was reading it on holiday! 😜

Big thank you to NetGalley and Empress Editions for my ARC.

I cannot tell you how much I love this as a woman starting in her 40s I struggle with my confidence and I have a lot of insecurities. My youngest child is four years old. My oldest is about to be 24. I am not quite comfortable being fully exposed while being intimate with my partner, we’ve been together For many years and I become less and less confident we have had our ups and downs, and he gives me the confidence, but I just don’t quite have it and this has made me go that route and to be able to be open with him and talk to him about it and I’ve been reading this in front of him and I’ve been telling him a lot about this book and he laughs at me and says I’ve been helping you so it’s helped our our sex life. I can tell you that And I’m just glad that it might. My shop is closed because if not, then we would probably be having another child right lol. This was well written!

A very thorough look into all areas of sexuality, this book breaks the topics up into one hundred bite sized essays. It goes into detail on many facets, beyond the vanilla, and gets a little woo woo at times. It covers such a variety that is a good primer for anyone not already in the know.

At first, it was obvious I wasn’t the target audience for Quickies. Dr. Bartos’ tone was energetic and cheerleader-esque, as if she were guiding an imaginary, sexually-defeated group toward Getting Better™. I’d just turned 30, and the intro didn’t resonate with me at all.

But as the book went on, the information became surprisingly relevant—even for women in my age group. Personally, I’d much rather be informed early than caught off guard later. Quickies is detailed, inclusive, and evidence-based. Honestly, we need a What to Expect Before You’re Expecting—but for the lifelong roller coaster of sex.

Written by an OB/GYN, Quickies is100 chapters that cover a variety of topics that the average middle aged woman might want to discuss with her own doctor - if she had more than a two minutes of the doctor’s time during her annual visit. There’s a lot of frank, open discussion about everything from sex toys to cancer. And, as the titles suggests, lots of cheekiness. Basically it’s about loving - and respecting - ones self, getting one’s sexy back that society may have told one was long gone years ago.

I really liked how supportive it was; even if the topic wasn’t for everyone, the author respected that and would have comments like “you do you” or “you go girl.” And while it was primarily for older women, I think there’s lessons that would apply to women of all ages - just skip those chapters that don’t apply until they do.

Highly recommended. I received a copy of this from NetGalley.com that I voluntarily chose to review.

I appreciate Heather Bartos’s positive messages about loving ourselves and not feeling ashamed, no matter what our proclivities may be. She has authority as an OB/GYN but also possesses the gift of not talking down to us. Her humor enables her to present solid information in a way that seems far less clinical. She is completely non-judgmental and candid about sometimes taboo topics, many of which she explores in the final chapters.. I appreciate her practical advice, like her chapter on consent - it is informative about planning a discussion beforehand, not winging at a time when your mind may be cloudy, Preparing a “boundary talk” is a great idea & may avoid misunderstandings. The 100 chapters are brief and easy to read.. This is a helpful, empowering book.

Full disclosure: I picked up this book not knowing who Heather Bartos was or that it was geared toward women 50 and up. I’m 37 and thought “midlife” meant pushing 40. Whoops.

First of all, I was surprised by how much I genuinely enjoyed this.

Bartos, an OB-GYN and podcast host, serves up a hundred bite-sized “lessons” that are equal parts insightful, compassionate, and magnificently unfiltered. She tackles everything from pelvic floor health to body confidence to sexual wellness with candor and kindness.

The tone is frank—sometimes hilariously so—and she invites readers to be just as open, to stop apologizing for their bodies, their desires.
While not every chapter was “for me” (I skipped a few and that’s totally fine!), there were plenty that were, and I came away feeling better informed.

Now, real talk: her sense of humor didn’t always click for me. I half-expected a “wine o’clock”-like quip straight out of Hacks—and sometimes got it. But hey, generational gap, maybe?

What I *did* like? The short, punchy chapter format. Perfect for flipping through whenever you have five minutes and want to feel like someone just gave you a pep talk (with a little anatomy lesson thrown in for good measure) along with witty chapter titles.

Thank you to NetGalley, Empress Editions, and Heather Bartos for this free, advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was a great read for older women. I’m in my forties and and I got good information from this book. If you have problems with confidence or sex this is the book for you.

I thought this book was very informative and I enjoyed the 'quickies.' It meant you could just read a few chapters at a time, which was really good.

A insightful deep dive into sexuality, intimacy, desire and love. Tackling issues such as body image, menopause and sexual health. The author confronts issues that most people shy away from and talks to an audience who often feel neglected, forgotten about or told they are past their prime. At parts it’s detailed and quite graphic however, it’s necessarily raw and honest- something that only makes this more impactful.

Overall, a fantastic read for women who maybe need help understanding themselves and their own sexual desires.

Thank you again to NetGalley and the author for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 rounded up.

It felt like about 25 of the 100 chapters applied to me. I definitely learned a few things but there were many chapters I skipped. Swingers? lol. I’d like to keep my marriage intact, thanks.

My favorite thing about this book was the supportive, lift women up tone, and the body positivity. It’s worth a read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced release copy in exchange for a honest review.

Heather Bartos’s book, QUICKIE, is hard for me to rate. It delivers on what it expects to deliver in an accessible and approachable way. It’s a topic that is hard to assess for me because I don’t have much to compare it to. Overall I appreciated the message and the format.

Quickies by Heather Bartos, MD is a bold, funny, and refreshingly honest celebration of midlife sexuality. With a structure built around short, digestible lessons, this book offers encouragement, education, and empowerment in equal measure. Bartos writes less like a clinician and more like a wise, hilarious friend—cheering readers on as they reclaim what she calls their “sexily ever after.”

Although written for women in their fifties and beyond, I found the insights highly relevant even as a thirty-five-year-old. The chapters touch on everything from libido, body confidence, and intimacy to sex after kids, illness, divorce, and more. It explores how our sex values evolve over time and gives readers permission to reconnect with pleasure on their own terms.

Whether you’re actively navigating changes in your sex life or just ready for a reframed conversation about what it means to feel sexy at any age, Quickies is a supportive, empowering read with a lot of heart—and even more laughs.

A refreshingly sex positive sex ed class for those of us hitting the mid age years. I liked how it was divided into so many topics and it felt like an easy read even though most of it was eye opening to me!

I expected Quickies to be cheeky and fun—and it is—but it’s also surprisingly wise. Dr. Heather Bartos blends humor, heart, and real-life medical insight into short, powerful lessons that feel like a conversation with your boldest, most brilliant friend.

This isn’t just a book about sex (gasp!) it’s about reclaiming your body, your voice, and your joy in midlife. Some chapters made me laugh out loud, others hit deeper than I expected. I finished it feeling seen, stronger, and a little sassier. This one’s going on my nightstand—and probably in a few gift bags too. It will make an excellent summer read for any woman of any age.

Every so often, a book arrives that doesn’t just sit on the shelf—it winks at you. Quickies is that book. Equal parts irreverent, empowering, and tender, it’s the literary equivalent of your boldest, most loyal girlfriend pulling you into the powder room at a party to remind you who the hell you are.

Dr. Heather Bartos has done something magical here: she’s written a smart, unfiltered, laugh-out-loud guide to rediscovering intimacy, agency, and joy in midlife—without ever sounding preachy or prescriptive. This isn’t about “getting your sexy back”—it’s about redefining sexy on your terms, with science, sass, and soul.

What will make Quickies stand out on my shelves? It’s unapologetically written for midlife women, by a woman who gets it. The chapters are deliciously short—perfect for nightstand grazing or gift-giving.

I’ve watched this book spark real conversations in the shop—between friends, mothers and daughters, even curious husbands who thought they were just tagging along. It’s more than a read. It’s a permission slip.

Quickies deserves to be dog-eared, underlined, and passed from woman to woman like a secret worth sharing. Buy one for yourself. Then buy three more for your coven.

—Stella, Owner of Stella’s Bookstore

Where was this book 5 years ago, 10 years ago, 20 years ago??? Wow, a lightening read, funny as hell and so warm and kind. I can't believe a DOCTOR wrote this--where is this woman? Dr. Bartos writes about everything from "vabbing'" and "cuckolding" to "sacred sexuality" - I learned so much and I learned things I didn't even know I didn't know! I would recommend this to every woman I know regardless of age.

Quickies is fabulous! It's focused on peri and post menopausal women and their health and pleasure but I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a re-boot or some fresh self-positive ideas for their intimate life. It's incredibly inclusive, positive and joyful. I loved how it included lots of difference, referring to mental health issues, those having cancer treatments and so many other individual circumstances.

If I had a quibble, it's that the format of 100 lessons and the length of the book means that the lessons are all at the surface level. That said, author Heather has a lot to offer and this book serves as a jumping off point for learning and reading and listening to more of Heather's ideas.

Recommended!
Thank you Heather Bartos for the ARC. I'll be buying a copy!

I liked the format of lots of little bits of info. It ran the gamut of not just physical but so many mental & relationship aspects as well, which is important, especially for a more "seasoned" female (40 is not old!). While I appreciated the overall positivity of the book, I felt like sometimes it was slightly repetitive...not necessarily a bad thing - especially when you can easily skip what you don't find applicable. I also loved that she gave links/references in certain categories. Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for the ARC opportunity.