Following the life of Jen, whose currently working her dream job as a flight attendant, single mother to Hannah, until.... Jen is made redundant. Now life for Jen is looking for new employment, whilst trying to find love (and a date for her holiday).

Lighthearted read, filled with humour and the reality of life.

Jen is a fifty-something, single mother of an adult daughter, a flight attendant with a budget airline based in Glasgow. When the airline goes bust she's suddenly unemployed, living alone and hasn't had a date in two years. Pushed into joining a dating app by her daughter Hannah and colleagues she finds there are slim pickings for a mature woman, Jen's not necessarily looking for true love, just someone to share a luxury holiday in Greece she won for selling the most airline mascot toys in the period before the voucher expires.

Will Jen realise that her daughter's father could be the man for her? Or will it be the suave solicitor with a way with words? Will it be the dentist or the fencing specialist? Or what about the silver fox Jen sees running effortlessly while she's struggling with her Couch to 5K app? It's probably not the guy who stares at her boobs or the reformed thief though ...

As with so many of Fiona Gibson's books this took me on a journey I wasn't expecting and the reader really is left guessing until the last minute who Jen falls in love with (with whom Jen falls in love). Funny, yet with serious concerns about ageing parents and being jobless over fifty, quirky and charming. Another winner from one of my new favourite authors.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and Fiona Gibson for providing me with an ARC of this book.
I really enjoyed following Jen as she navigates Online Dating, New Friendships and Family.
This was an interesting and engaging read that I enjoyed

A laugh out loud romp of a book about the perils of dating in your fifties. Made me very glad that I’m not ‘out there’ at the moment!! Jen is a recently out of work flight attendant who has realised that she’s not too old to start again.

I really enjoyed this light hearted book, perfect for dreary January nights!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Let’s start this review by saying I really should pay more attention to the blurb. I as sure it would be a book the woman would go into several adventures and then she would meet a man for her to go on a romantic vacation together (the title and the cover made me think this).

However, the book is about Jen, a fifty year old woman who lost her job and find herself alone and without a purpose in life. She decides then (after her daughter and her friends telling her to) try online dating.

It took me some time to understand I wouldn’t be getting adventures here, but a book of the everyday life of a mature woman. After I did, I enjoyed it. Jen is the highlight in this book (I’m glad, because it’s her book), she is authentic, polite, supportive, a really good friend/daughter/mother. She is a really likable character and I couldn’t wait for her to have her HEA. She does, by the way. I didn’t know who she would end up with, but I was glad with her choice.

If you like a clean, sweet and clever romcom, this book is for you.

I enjoyed this book, and thought that the main character, Jen, was well-written and likeable. Her experiences in the online dating world were realistic, as anyone who has ever downloaded a dating app can attest to.

This was a fast read, and while it wasn't an exciting book, I did enjoy the various scenarios Jen had to deal with. Major props to the author for the ending, which felt appropriate for the story.

Another fabulous, warm and witty book from one of my favourite authors. Lots of laugh-out-loud moments, but plenty of depth, and dilemmas that are relatable, especially for women 'of a certain age'. I particularly enjoyed the relationship between former flight attendant Jen and her ex, Rod, and how supportive Jen's daughter was.

Fun-filled with a big heart, I loved The Woman Who Took a Chance!

The Woman who took a chance is a chick-lit book based in the contemporary post covid world. It is the story of a middle-aged woman who worked for a budget airline who suddenly goes bankrupt. It has created a strange situation in the life of the lady who spent almost half her life serving as an air hostess. Jennifer misses her work and being unemployed is not a suitable condition when you have bills to pay, but when her friends and her daughter, Hannah, push her for dating, she gives in to their requests. She ends up signing on a dating site where middle-aged people searched for dates and prospective partners. It takes her onto a very interesting journey of craziness. She experiences dates that are sure to end up in stories of amusement in the future. Apart from that, there is the date of Rod, Hannah’s father, Gaby who is giving weird vibes to her.

This story is a collection of a lot of contemporary social issues packed with light and easy writing and an ambiguous seeming happy ending. It talks about parenting, marriage, post-covid unemployment conditions, old age dating troubles, overthinking spirals, dating troubles, and many more. The writing style of the author is light and easy to read. The food descriptions brought growls out of my stomach.

There are a lot of characters in the story with lots of side characters as Jenn progresses in her dating history. It becomes tiring after a point to read about her dates which turn out to be frustrating in the end. It somehow relates perfectly well with the dating procedure one has to face when matched with incompatible dates. I found some good ships in between which felt that they were ruined purposefully by the author, and isn’t this so true about life! It might seem everything is going fine, and a little weird thing about your date is enough to put you off the girl or the guy completely.

I enjoyed the character development of the protagonist. The way she found her footing despite being fired from a job at such a later point in her life. She seemed to justify the sentence that age is just a number. I liked the positivity and confidence of the character with which she takes her stances in the story. I enjoyed reading the story but it could have been better if there was a little bit more flesh to the story. It is well-formed, with good supporting characters but the story seemed unevenly paced. The dates were explained in detail while skipping conversations with other supporting characters. There were a lot of things happening in the story with supporting characters as well as the protagonist but the main focus was on the dating history of the protagonist. A lot was thrown in the background to focus the spotlight on the romantic relationship and dating life of Jennifer. Other than that, I found this book amusing to read.

I got the review copy from Netgalley.

Fiona Gibson is a specialist in writing about mature women and second chances - and I love this about her, I like her characters, they are so normal, with problems that I can relate to and this is why I always try to read her newest releases. However, they start to feel repetitive, the heroines start to feel the same and there are always the same issues touched upon.
"The Woman Who Took a Chance" is another book about starting over. It started good, really good, I was hooked and I liked the main character Jen and characters that surrounded her. However, the more I read, the more lukewarm I started to feel, as there was actually no plot in this story. I had a feeling I'm running in circles, reading all the time about the same things. There was so much of inner thoughts and monologues that I eventually started to skip some of the passages. It's a shame, because Fiona Gibson can write sharp, funny dialogues. It feels as if she doesn't dare to use her whole potential.

The online dating business was, well, flat. It was a main focus of the story actually, but there was nothing that made it feel outstanding and it's such a shame. It was Jen that saved it, I think, and her approach, as she was so down to earth and realistic about her expectations.

Overall, it was not a bad read. More on the slow side but very realistic and with some light - hearted moments.

This was a sweet "rom-com"y type of book about finding love in the modern age for the non-online-dating-younger-age-demographic.

I think this would better be enjoyed by a specific age-group/range and I didn't fall into that range.

I did, however, really appreciate the realistic and funny and relatable dating escapades.

Another hilarious romp from Fiona Gibson. She really does understand the part of the downtrodden woman / wife / mother - and often all three! Her poor heroines all win through in the end, usually discovering something about themselves in the meantime. I have read all her books and enjoyed this one as much as the others!

A funny, uplifting story of a 50 year old woman who goes there? Sign me up! This book will give you the warm and fuzzies at all the right times. Simply put the story is about Jen, a 50 year old flight attendant who is encouraged by her daughter to start online dating when she loses her job. Life doesn't end for this powerful woman! I loved it

Thank you to NetGalley, the Author and the Publisher with providing me with an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was a really sweet romance story that followed slightly older characters as they made sense of modern dating. I loved all of the funny, relatable dating stories that the main character had and her growth over the course of the book.

I'm not sure I was the target audience for this type of romance, but I enjoyed it all the same!

The Woman Who took a Chance by Fiona Gibson is a delightful read and made me laugh. I have read other books by Fiona Gibson and her books are always an entertaining read and I am on the lookout for new books she has written. I was thrilled to get an E-copy from NetGalley of her upcoming novel and started reading it right away and was not disappointed. I couldn’t put it down and finished it in two days. Her training as a flight attendant 👩‍✈️ enabled her to any job she tackled on and off the job, even her personal life. This new book is a must read and what a great read for 2022.👏🥳🇨🇦🥰📚Bravo Fiona Gibson👍

An honest to goodness sublime and funny five-star read. This author always manages to bring me smile, they always manage to make me laugh even on my darkest of days. Jen was someone I would love to be in 10 years, her passion for flying shone through, even when she was grounded. Jen’s spirit shone through and her relationships with Hannah, her mum and Rod, all mad me smile, the love she feels for them all is so vastly different, but vastly huge and encompassing. But they aren’t the only great characters in this story, all of the dates are complex people and there are some corkers popping up. But this story is great, everything has its place, and it flows so well. Do not miss this great story if you are after funny, but real.

I like reading the story because I can relate with most of what the character is going through. The part of the story that involves dating, through the internet, makes me uncomfortable because it's the second story about a woman over 50 years old who has a nightmare of a time meeting men from the dating site, it makes me glad I never did it. Some of the dating was funny, but mostly it was scary and it was upsetting that so many of the men were creepy, but Jen does meet the one man she likes and it's kind of cute.
The part of the story that was really close to home was how she had to deal with her mother who has dementia it was scary and upsetting because the disease makes you feel unhelpful and worry and I was hoping for some answers but I didn't see anything for me, but in the book it all works out.
The most important point to the story is you should do what you want and not let someone talk you into something you don't want to do and no matter what happens you have to go forward.
I enjoyed the friendship of Jen and Rob but was a little confused about what happen at the end.

I want to thank Avon Books UK, Avon and NetGalley for the advance copy of this down to earth story.

A quick, easy uplifting andd fun read that I finished in one sitting. I loved the writing, I loved the characters and I loved the storyline. A really enjoyable read.

Fiona Gibson never lets us down. Feel good fiction that puts a smile on your face!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me access an advance copy of this book in exchange for my feedback.

I really like the idea and premise of the book! It was cute and interesting and I really liked reading about Jen and her romantic adventures. You could really see the romantic and character development throughout the story.
The women who took a chance is a book about a 50 years old Women called Jen who has just been announced redundant from her job at Budgie airline. This gives her the opportunity to grow spiritually and to finally love her life. Now she is happy, going through adventures and trying go find a guy that is really meant for her.

Fiona Gibson really does talk about realistic issues that many go through around the world and I admired Jen a lot because she fought through them.

One aspect of this book that I did not really like much was the writing style. I just found that it was quite fast paced in the end but either way, the story was great and I loved it!!

This book spoke to me since I am the same age as the main character. It was a fun read but as she is much braver than me, I won’t be following in her footsteps. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC Kindle book in exchange for an honest review.