Three women. Three dates. One missing man…
8:52am Siobhan’s been looking forward to her breakfast date with Joseph. She was surprised when he suggested it – she normally sees him late at night in her hotel room. Breakfast with Joseph on Valentine’s Day surely means something… so where is he?
2:43pm Miranda’s hoping that a Valentine’s Day lunch with Carter will be the perfect way to celebrate her new job. It’s a fresh start and a sign that her grown-up life is finally falling into place: she’s been dating Carter for five months now and things are getting serious. But why hasn’t he shown up?
6.30pm Joseph Carter agreed to be Jane’s fake boyfriend at a colleague’s engagement party. They’ve not known each other long but their friendship is fast becoming the brightest part of her new life in Winchester. Joseph promised to save Jane tonight. But he’s not here…
Meet Joseph Carter. That is, if you can find him.
The No-Show is the brilliantly funny, heartbreaking and joyful new novel from Beth O’Leary about dating, and waiting, and the ways love can find us. An utterly extraordinary tear-jerker of a book, this is O’Leary’s most ambitious novel yet.
Beth O’Leary has been delivering hit after hit in recent years, first with her feel-good debut The Flatshare and again with The Switch and The Road Trip. Filled with laughs, romance and uplifting characters, O’Leary’s novels feel like the equivalent of a warm hug or a steaming cup of tea. Now she’s back with her highly anticipated fourth novel, The No-Show, a heartwarming story of humour and heartbreak that will have you hooked from start to end.
The novel follows Siobhan, Miranda and Jane who are each attempting to piece together the mystery of Joseph Carter, the man who stood up all three women on Valentine’s Day. All three women are portrayed brilliantly here, each with their own motivation to find Joseph as the point of view alternates between them in each chapter. Jane’s fake boyfriend ploy was particularly fun to follow, with O’Leary taking the common romance trope and turning it on its head. It won’t take long before each of these women feel like friends you’ve known for years.
The No-Show is the kind of book that leaves you smiling. With an intriguing premise, plenty of laughs and an unpredictable final twist that will leave you reeling, this is yet another standout read from O’Leary.
The idea of three women and one mysteriously missing man sounds like a classic drama, but Beth O’Leary’s interpretation seems to be more than just a love story, but a reflection on trust, expectations, and disappointments. It’s interesting how literature reflects reality: even in online dating, many people face similar issues. By the way, it was in this vein that it was useful to read cupid.com reviews – it helps to better understand what to expect from online dating and what scenarios can unfold there.
Thank you for sharing such impressions
I was recently talking to a friend who was trying to figure out how to promote arbitrage in the dating niche, and he was constantly asking himself questions like “what’s important to consider?” or “what are the most common mistakes here.” I used to think the same way. Then I accidentally came across an article where five experts answered the most pressing questions about this vertical in detail. It was interesting and informative — it was worth read review and getting a feel for how everything works from the inside.