I am new to this 'Confessions' series but the fact I haven't read the first book really doesn't matter. We are introduced - or reintroduced - to Nell, Having survived the Covid lockdown, life seems rosy - Nell is engaged to boyfriend Edward, still writing obituaries and trying to encourage her 80 yr. old BFF Cricket to re-enter society. However, life has some surprises around the corner, her friend Holly is diagnosed with Cancer, her frenemy Anabelle is causing more trouble, Fiona is teetering on the brink of an affair and Max is struggling with being a househusband....to top it off Nell finds a positive pregnancy test at Edward's house and this sends her spiralling out of control and into destruction.

This is a very funny, charming book that has widely identifiable characters that you can't help but care about. You are rooting for all of them while simultaneously wanting to shake the ones that need it! The situations are funny without being ridiculous. The problems are very real and authentic - as are the solutions, and the gratitude lists at the end of the chapters are very relatable.

All in all I really liked this book and will definitely be going back and seeing out the first book.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A light read that many women will relate to. I expected this to be funny based on other reviews but I just didn’t find it funny. Nice enough characters with relatable lives and an easy read.

Thank to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in return for an honest and unbiased opinion.

I loved the first book and was excited to read the second. I think this was even better funnier and so topical.
It covers the craziness of covid, relationships, past traumas all with good humour and real heartfelt sentiments. I love the characters and how the book explores their past and current relationships and the issues they are going through. I really hope there is a third! Would make a good mini series - move over Brigit Jones!

"because while my life is brilliant, it's also messy and complicated. i used to wish it was straightforward, but it's not. it's not black and white. but it's not shades of grey either. it's every colour of the rainbow."

I picked this up through Netgalley, with thanks to Alexandra Potter and Pan Macmillan for gifting me this e-ARC

life doesn't go to plan. nell knows that after a failed engagement, moving back home, becoming both jobless and having to share a flat with edward... but things were looking up right? so when the pandemic hits, big life decisions need to be made and nell finds herself finding out that love is difficult once again, that friendships get tested and maybe sometimes visiting the past might help healing that little bit more.

rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

my thoughts: everyone needs the first book, and the second is no different. nell is everything once again, joined by the ever amazing cricket. again i'm only just starting to enter my twenties, but we all have lived through the hell that was the covid-19 pandemic, and I applaud alexandra potter for writing about the situation we went through.

when i read the first book, i loved listening to the audiobook too, and i just know that when this finally gets released, it will shoot straight up to the top of the charts where it belongs, and the audiobook will be absolutely incredible too.

this one did take a little bit longer to get into, and ofc i hate seeing miscommunication - especially when you are about to get married, how have you not talked about having kids?!? at least unlikely best friend cricket is around, and maybe a shot at second chances might put things into perspective. that, and a new newspaper column.

i never thought that i'd get approved for this arc on netgalley, and omg i am so grateful that i got approved. i need to pick up the tv show of the first book asap!

Nell Stevens is a podcaster, writer of obituaries and also a sort of play write. But the last couple of years have been difficult, what with a pandemic putting a stop to so much, including the play she’d finished for her best friend Cricket and the memory of her late husband and bonafide playwrite , Monty Williamson.

Her relationship with Edward had been going swimmingly but a trip to the Doctors for a bit of an MOT has Nell questioning things, including motherhood.

Continuing on the route of book one, we follow Nell and her friends and that elusive journey into some sort if happiness in their lives. Not always too easy when you’re a forty-something fuck up!

As with book one I’ve really enjoyed this book. There is some absolute honesty in there that is recognisable probably in a lot of our lives and some little nuggets that were definitely taken on board. I found this book as with the last really relatable, being a forty-something there is certainly a little familiarity in there. I have to say, my favourite character is Cricket, she is spectacular and everything I hope to be in my 80’s. Eccentric and thoroughly fabulous!

Highly recommend this book.

an easy read that a 40 something reader can relate to! it covers insecurities, body image, love and some many other area of life
i like it’s broken down into sections so you can pick it up and put it down.
i read it in one day

After reading (and loving) the first book I was pleased to be offered the sequel to review. To start it was a little difficult to get into as the story was so different but about a quarter of the way through it all began to fall into place. Cricket was the best character by far. An amusing read and one that I would recommend.
Thank you to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for the advance copy of this book.

A must read if you enjoyed the first Confessions book. Loved getting to know all of the characters better in this follow up. More mid life drama for Nell and pressure to be like her ‘normal’ friends, but inevitably, it seems nobody’s life is perfect. #realitycheck!
Some tough topics handled sensitively but with appropriate humour to keep a balance.
The only problem is that I realise
I could be reading my own life story and I can’t work out if that’s a good or bad thing!
Thank you for the arc - obviously a few edits needed before final publication, but a good read and nice to know we are all just muddling along! 4.5*

Thank you, NetGalley for giving me the chance to read this book.

I had not read the first in the series so looking at it from a different angle. I enjoyed the storyline and the relevance it has in today's climate. Friendships can develop no matter what the age of the people is.

I think that from about 82% the book did drag a little and stall in places, but still finished it. Easy reading one to pick up and put down again.

I am sure a lot of women over the age of 40 can relate in part to this book.

Love love love love love this book.

I enjoyed the first one so much but it’s been a while so when I found out I got picked i re-read the first one so I could then dive straight into this one and boy am I glad I did.

Hilarious - the loudest I’ve laughed out loud ever at a book 💕

I just love Nell. She’s relatable, adorable, flawed, real, funny. It’s just brilliant.

We need more………. Please please write more

This is by far the best book of 2023 for me

Hugely grateful for my copy thank you

oh i was so happy to get this as a ARC i loved the first book, the author is a favourite of mine, this book did not disappoint, i sometimes feel a second book is not always good but this oh so good just like the first one, it had me laughing, crying and shouting, my kids thought i had lost the plot which i nearly did with this book, fantastic read, its a must read.

Hilarious and relatable.
Having read and enjoyed the first book in the series this is even better!

It is now post covid lockdown and the world is beginning to get back to normal. Nell is absolutely over the moon when Edward proposes to her which she delightedly accepts. Whilst sharing the flat with not only Edward and their dog, but also his two teenage sons, a surprise pregnancy test throws Nell's world into a spin. It seems that actually they do not see their future invested in the same things and break off their engagement.

Several hilarious twists, turns and misunderstandings ensue, but are her and Edward meant for each other?

A joy of a book....highly recommend.

Nell is back! This is the follow up to Confessions of a Forty-Something F##k Up and it seems like Nell finally has her life on track - she has the boyfriend, her own home, a steady job as a freelance obituary writer and the play she helped finish is finally going to be on stage in the West End.

More Confessions is set 18 months after the end of the first book and follows Nell's journey as she and the rest of the UK navigate the return to normal after Covid. Having spent a large amount of her time alone in her flat, she's looking forward to being able to get out and about again with her boyfriend, Edward, and her friends. Finally they can gather at each other's houses with no restrictions, they can go to the pub and enjoy a drink and they can even have weddings again!

Nell is all set to marry Edward when she discovers she still has the chance to have a baby should she decide to, but after realising her and Edward are not on the same page she decides she needs to explore this option further and her and Edward go their separate ways. Thankfully Nell has Cricket by her side to help her through as well as her friends, but they're each dealing with their own issues.

I really enjoyed this book and I felt like I can really connect with Nell as she tries to navigate life in her forties. I think we all feel like we're supposed to have everything together and life figured out and it's so easy to look at other people and think they have it all figured out when in reality we're all just ducks - smooth going on top and paddling furiously underneath!

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC!

Very enjoyable and entertaining book with the telling of life how it is with none of us achieving perfection or things turning out as we may have planned. Love the characters and 82 year Cricket is just wonderful. So many truths that most, if not all, of us have faced at least some during our lifetime. Brilliant and observational.

Having loved the first one I couldn’t wait to get stuck into this and it didn’t disappoint. It was just as funny and relatable as the first one and was great to catch up with how nell and her life was progressing since the first instalment and was like having a catch up with an old friend. I think we all also need a cricket in our lives she is such a remarkable and fun loving character

An amazing read which has you laughing and crying in equal measure and am sure the storyline will resonate with a lot of people and they will be able to emojis those with the rollercoaster of going through your forties and all the things that life throws at you.

After reading the first book of confessions and loving it, I couldn't wait to read the sequel and I wasn't disappointed, it was like catching up with old friends who you haven't seen for a while.
If you want a witty, funny, lighthearted read then look no further.
Highly recommended!

Having read and thoroughly enjoyed the first book in this series , I have to say this was an even better and funnier read. A real joy to reconnect with characters from the first book and see how their lives progress.

It is now post covid lockdown and the world is beginning to get back to normal. Nell is absolutly over the moon when Edward proposes to her which she delightedly accepts. Whilst sharing the flat with not only Edward and their dog, but also his two teenage sons, a surprise pregnancy test throws Nells World into a spin. It seems that actually they do not see their future invested in the same things and break off their engagement.

Nell reaches out to her great friend Cricket as well as her eclectic group of narried friends, all offering their own thoughts.

Are Edward and Nell meant to he together or is life for Nell meant to be as a single woman, investigating IVF, hosting her own podcast and answering an agony aunts column with Cricket.

A joy of a book....highly recommend.

A light hearted story of love and friendship. Readers wanting an amusing gentle read will enjoy it but it was not for me.

It was February 2020 when I read the first book in this series, so over 3 years ago. I read an ARC from Netgalley and because of Covid the book wasn’t actually published until November of that year.

Three years is a long time and I’ve read a lot of books since. I was looking forward to reading this when I heard there would be a follow up but I personally can’t say I enjoyed this one as much. I genuinely loved the first book but for me this one just felt like more of the same but didn’t make me laugh as much. Everyone loves Cricket, I’m not so keen on her. And all those asterisks – with the explanation a couple of pages on. By the time I got to the explanations, I’d forgotten which comment was being explained and found it a bit distracting, though perhaps they might come out on the same page in the published book.

It wasn’t for me really. Perhaps I’ve changed in the kind of books I like to read since 2020. Lots of people did like it though and I am in the minority. I did read One Good Thing which came out in April last year and enjoyed that so would definitely read more by this author in the future.

After reading the first book of confessions and loving it I knew I had to read this one and quickly. To begin with it wasn’t what I expected at all and took me about a quarter to get into it but then I was in full Nell and Cricket loving mode. It really did not disappoint. Potentially a few triggers so worth looking in to but really enjoyable follow up and would highly recommend.