y Favourite Mistake by Marian Keyes.

There is nothing like picking up a new Marian Keyes book. I know I am in safe hands, that I will laugh, maybe cry, have numerous moments of recognition and be completely distracted from the real world and the daily monotony of same. Being reunited with the Walsh family is like meeting up with old friends. The same warmth , humour, familiarity and care is there. I love that I have grown up and grown older with these women.

My Favourite Mistake centers around Anna Walsh. It is 18 years since Is There Anybody Out There was published ,Keyes book that featured Anna as a protagonist ( You don’t have to have read it ,My Favourite Mistake works as a standalone if there anybody out there (I’m sorry) who has not read all of Keyes previous novels.)

The book opens in post pandemic New York, Anna is now in her late 40s and is reassessing her life. Her career in PR , her relationship , her Manhattan apartment no longer bring her happiness and so Anna returns to Ireland , swapping her NY life for life in a small town on the rural coast. Anna is there to help old friends who are setting up a luxury resort. The locals hate the idea and Anna is tasked with getting them onside. Her old flame , Joey is also involved in the project and all her previous mistakes are waiting to be confronted.

This book was lovely, like a hug. A page turner, a bit of mystery, some brilliant characters old and new, simmering sexual chemistry, perimenopausal rage and the quest for hrt and the perfect blend of humour and tenderness that makes Keyes the powerhouse she is. Where the book really shined for me was when the Walsh family were together and the snippets of how life is going for the Walsh women. While this one doesn’t rival some of my favourite Keyes books, it is a comforting, entertaining and gorgeous read and nobody writes like Marion Keyes. An icon.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I love Marian Keyes and I adore the Walsh family!
This is Anna's story, the follow up to Is There Anybody Out There which I think I will need to reread to appreciate her story all over again. I do remember the Real Men and the Feathery Strokers which make a reappearance here.
I love the Irish setting, the humour and the Walsh family dynamics. I did find it a wee bit difficult to keep track of all the characters introduced in this book but the familiar names were a joy to catch up with.
I loved how menopause issues were highlighted, hopefully some doctors were reading and taking note!
I always look forward to a new Marian Keyes book, she has been one of my favourite authors for a long time now.

A Keen Eye..
A compelling read once again from Marian Keyes with this big hearted gem of a novel. Anna has had her fill of the Big Apple and returns to the little town of Maumtully - a coastal retreat is on the horizon, old friends, family and above all an old flame. Filled with empathy, humanity, humour and a smidge of mystery and relayed as always with a deft pen and a keen eye, this is another joyous and warm hearted tale sure to please.

I was so excited when I knew Keyes was writing a new Walsh sisters book especially when it was based on my favourite sister, Anna.

When we meet Anna this time, she's burnt out from her hectic lifr in New York. Her relationship is on the rocks after too much forced protiximity during lockdowns and she needs a new start so decides to pack in her beaity PR job and move back to Ireland – to the dismay of her family, who enjoyed her steady stream of cosmetics freebies.

After a rocky start back in Dublin, Anna gets shipped off by the sisters, to support old-friend Brigit who is setting up a luxury wellness retreat in the fictional Connemara town, Maumtully and the locals aren't happy with this new development and things are escalating. They are in need of some of Anna's amazing PR skills to rebuild local confidence and their resort!

Anna needs to resolve the local development situation but tied up with that is a complicated history with Narky Joey, and the estrangement with her former, BFF Jacqui who was her rock during Anybody Out There? . Add in the mix that she's perimenopausal and struggling to get medical support in Ireland for it, we have a perfest story of Anna coming to terms with her new stage in life and an America Ferreraesque speech on how hard it is to be a woman "You’re too serious, too short, too confident, too flat-chested, too ambitious, too repressed…”

Overall, the book is Anna leaning to accept the mistakes of the past and finding a new dirction in order to live her best possible life. .

There's lots going on in this book and you really need to be a Keyes fan to property appreciate this one as there are links to previous books and characters. The Walsh family has grown exponentially over the years and I found it hard to keep track of the various partners and children in the mix! I’m not sure My Favourite Mistake would work as a stand-alone but if you're a Walsh family fan you're in for a treat!

My Favourite Mistake* by Marian Keyes is the hotly anticipated follow-up to Anna’s story. Published some 18 years after the first, Anna seems to be in the throes of some kind of crisis, with the pandemic causing her to question everything she thought she wanted from life.

In a dramatic fashion, she leaves her world in NYC behind and returns to Ireland, only to find that there’s not as much there for her as she had hoped. Through a series of twists, she ends up being in the right place at the right time and agrees to help out a friend, moving temporarily to Maumtully, a small Connemara town. As if navigating the community drama wasn’t enough, Narky Joey shows his face and dredges up a whole heap of buried history and trauma.

Though over 600 pages, I tore through this book and, while I loved being back in the fold of the Walsh family as always, it was the whole new cast of characters in M’Town that had me not wanting to reach the end. Marian just writes Irish people and Irish women so well and I really hope she continues to add to the Walsh family tales. Out 11/4.

I’ve read some Marian Keyes books in the past so was excited to receive My Favourite Mistake as a review copy. I’ve not read any of the Walsh sister books which was a slight problem as there were many characters in this book and I was really not up to speed on all of them. It took a while to get to know who was who.
Anna Walsh is living in New York and working in PR for a cosmetics company. However, after the Pandemic and suffering from burn out, she splits with her boyfriend and decides to return to Ireland.
She has a year to decide whether to stay or whether to return to her old life.
The premise is good, particularly as she meets on/ off old flame the delectable Joey who is now single. However there is a lot of bad feeling and past mistakes to get beyond if they are to have any chance.
The story is really about Anna coming to terms with her new life and getting over her mistakes in order to live in the best possible way.
The author has a light touch and writes in humorous way which made for quite an enjoyable read. However there was a lot of extraneous detail in places which I skimmed. Maybe because I haven’t read the other books in the series it didn’t quite grab me as much as I’d hoped. There were some very funny parts and some lovely descriptions of Irish life and the theme of the importance of family and home after the pandemic was a good one.
I definitely like Marian Keyes’s books but I don’t think this one is my favourites.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my advance copy.

I did not enjoy the story of Anna Walsh like I enjoyed Rachel's. It had too much backstory for me. Maran Keyes is however, a fantastic author, just this book was not for me.

I was over the moon to hear that Marian Keyes was writing a follow up to Anybody Out There? which I think was the first of her books I read. I’ve read all the books featuring the various members of the Walsh family (still want to read Mammy’s story!) but that one, which has Anna Walsh as its main character, is always the story that touched me and stayed in my mind for some reason.

It was a delight to be back with the Walsh family again, a loud, loving and extremely funny family of five sisters, their mum and their long suffering dad, plus various partners now and children. They are so warm, down-to-earth and relatable. They make me laugh so much and that’s what makes Marian Keyes’ books such fun to read. For all the fun though, there are always serious issues included in the books, as each sister has difficult situations to face up to. Anna has known much grief in her life and this still affects her decisions, particularly when it comes to her romantic life. I particularly liked that here we have a woman in her forties shown as still wanting to live life to the full and for that life to include romance and an active love life. I was enraged on her behalf at the doctors refusing to give her the HRT she needed.

There were lots of other brilliant characters too from the staff in the hotel, to the villagers, to Anna’s estranged friend Jacqui and not forgetting Narky Joey who Anna has almost got together with several times. I thought that the author portrayed the difficult relationship between Anna and Jacqui brilliantly and showed how friendships can go through ups and downs in just the same way as romantic relationships.

Being totally honest though, I did feel that the book was a bit too long. I so enjoyed the beginning, getting to know Anna again, seeing where life had taken her after the events of Anybody Out There? and meeting up with the Walsh clan again. I also enjoyed the mystery element of the story as Anna and Joey tried to uncover who was against the new development, creating all kinds of issues big and small for the owners. For me though, I felt that once Anna was in Maumtully and working for her friends, the book seemed to drift along for a bit. Having said that, I did think the end chapters were brilliant, Marian Keyes at her best.

Even though I found the book a bit slow in parts, I’m glad I read it and I found it a satisfying read overall. It shows once again that Marian Keyes is an expert at blending family drama with humour. Her many fans will rejoice to be in the presence of the Walsh family once more. Rachel’s Holiday has already had a sequel (Again Rachel) and I do hope that the author will write sequels to the books featuring the other sisters, Helen, Margaret and Claire. And please, write Mammy’s story!

Another fantastic read from Marian Keyes. We are once again back with the Walsh family and this time we are back with Anna in New York. She is fed up of her COVID, New York and her partner Angelo. As soon as she can she moves back to Ireland where she meets up with the one who got away, Joey.

Marian really knows how to draw the reader in and I could not put this down. I really felt like I was part of the story and now I am missing my old friends. I love Anna, Joey, her sisters and the residents of M'Town. I was really rooting for Anna to find peace and happiness after suffering such heartbreak. It's a long book there was a lot to get in. It didn't feel like there was any filler, it was all purely story and it was an absolute pleasure to read.

This book has it all, romance, friendship, comedy and a little bit of a mystery, I raced through the pages and now I am sad I have finished. If you are a fan, old or new of Marian then this is a must read. I haven't read the Walsh Family books in order (there is enough back story given) but will be going back to read Again, Rachel (even though I now know their ending I don't know how they got there) so you can pick this up independently. It probably did help I had read Anna's first book, Anybody Out There.

Another excellent one from Marian Keyes! I adore the Walksh family and have read each of their stories many times at different points in my life. Reconnecting with Anna as she is at a different age was wonderful, I loved following her at this stage and reconnecting with lots of older characters, along with a host of new ones. This book felt like coming home and I definitely recommend it! Thank you so much for the arc

A new Marian Keyes book is always an event, a Walsh family one even more so. This one focuses on Anna, who might be my favourite of the sisters. She's going through some stuff, returning to Ireland after ditching her high-powered job in New York, splitting up with her boyfriend, and going through the menopause. (Is it just me, or after centuries of nobody really talking about the menopause, is everybody now suddenly talking about the menopause?)

As always, it's a really fun read, with some serious stuff in there too. It's good to reconnect with the Real Men (Narky Joey, in this instance) and catch up on what everyone's up to. Joey (Joseph, these days) and Anna m, who've both reached a perhaps surprising degree of success in their professions, find themselves working together to help out Rachel's old friend Bridget, but there's history - and indeed chemistry - there that just won't go away.

Marian is such a funny and insightful writer, it's always a joy to spend time in her company. Thanks for the opportunity to read and review!

There's a reason why Marian Keyes is one of my favourite authors and has been for year. My Favourite Mistake was an absolute treat to read. It was lovely to be back with the Walsh family. They're brilliant. Marian's way of writing make these characters so read. You laugh with them, cry with them and just want to be friends with them really. It's great that Anna got another story as I really enjoyed Anybody Out There. With strong supporting characters (not forgetting Mammy Walsh) this book is a must read for Marian fans. I hope this isn't the last we've seen of the Walshs.

This story centres around Anna Walsh who leads a glamorous life as a beauty PR in New York, but after separating from her partner Angelo, decides to leave that all behind and move back to Ireland
She overseas a wellness retreat in a wee rural town called Maumtully, working alongside the great unspoken love of her life, Joey
A story of relationships, grief, family, love and friendships. A really lovely read with very relatable characters

Marian Keyes once again returns to the Walsh family, immersing us in the developments in Anna's life which might be viewed by many with envy, living in New York, with a 'fabulous' job with her role as PR in the beauty industry and has a great man in Angelo, but beneath the surface she is feeling unsettled, things are not quite right for her. Through sheer hard grit she has emerged on the other side after the loss of husband, Aiden, she is getting older, in her late 40s she is facing the coming challenges of the perimenopause, and in her heart she is missing Ireland. With Covid, Anna's reflections see her breaking up with Angelo, ditching her job in New York, moving from the hustle and bustle of the big city, back to rural Ireland, and living in the tiny town of Maumtully.

There is plenty of the author's trademark touching poignancy, warmth, fun, entertainment, nostalgia, comfort, heartbreak, and wit, along with a big and wide ranging cast of strong, familiar figures and the past which has shaped them into the people they have now become, and the new characters as we follow the events, relationships, conflict, and drama, that drive the latest stage in Anna's life. Before she knows it, she has jumped into a new PR job in a upmarket coastal retreat to help friends, but there is disquiet about the development in some quarters, with some prepared to fight it tooth and nail, and then there is past personal history, as Anna once again finds herself reconnecting with Narky Joey Armstrong.

It's a delight to become reacquainted with Keyes's familiar characters, the history, interactions, the ups and downs in their lives, mistakes, memories, the twists and turns, and their issues, and I was very curious to see where Anna and Joey's relationship would end up. Fans of the author and other readers are likely to enjoy this latest addition to the Walsh family saga, well written with verve, in the author's familiar style as she hones in on gender issues and the impact of the menopause on women. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

I've not read any Marian Keyes books before, so was new to the Walsh sisters. I found it hard to get my head round who they all were with all their current situation and gorgeousness listed in a big information dump about twenty pages in. I liked the premise of Anna, a big shot Beauty industry PR/Marketer having a midlife wobble during the pandemic and a relationship break up deciding to return to her tiny Irish hometown. Her family have been urging her to return home for years but don't seem very keen now that she really is returning. However, I struggled with the book, I felt it was over stuffed with quirky characters and the pacing was off, very fast with time jumps and then slowing to a snail's pace. Perhaps this is one for serial readers who I know love the Walsh family in their millions and nota total newbie to their family saga.

Anna moves back to Ireland and helps her friends Colm and Brigit to find out who is sabotaging their business. She has to work with old flame Joey and there is plenty of unfinished business there. Really enjoyed this book and would recommend.

First things first, I love Marian Keyes and especially the Walsh family. I’ve read them all and I am always excited whenever there’s a new one as I love the chance to catch up with them. It’s like getting together with old friends.

It’s been a while since I read “Anybody Out There?” but I remembered enough of the plot and anything important was touched on to make sure you didn’t feel lost.

There is a lot going on here and it made for a very fast paced read. I absolutely raced through it in the space of a few days because I was completely hooked. Keyes’ writing is incredible. She can make you laugh and cry within the space of a few pages. I loved the depiction of Anna struggling with the menopause and particularly her experience with an unsympathetic Doctor!

I have loved seeing the Walsh family expand over the series with various kids and partners being brought into the fold now and the interactions between them. There is such realism around the familial relationships. Seeing them joking with Mammy Walsh definitely reminded me of how me and my brother are with our Mum.

Anna is such a relatable character for me, as are most of Keyes’ characters to be honest. She has made mistakes in her life, who hasn’t, but her flaws make her who she is. She has lost some friendships along the way and made some new ones but I love how she shows up for her friends and family when they need her.

I genuinely have no complaints about this. I absolutely loved it.

3.5🌟
A sweet, slow burn book with lots of flashbacks to help add dimension to the main character and help you understand her.

Stuck in a mid-life crisis, Anna has everything thrown at her; perimenopause, breaking up with her partner, guilt about her previous partner, a man she's loved forever and the desire to quit her job and move out of New York.

This novel explores her paving her new pathway with new friends, an awful lot of family and trying brand new things. Can she save her friends' business before it's too late?

A classic Walsh sisters novel, Keyes’ latest has Anna move back to Ireland after a breakup and career change in the pandemic. It was fun and heart wrenching, as expected, but did have slightly odd pacing to my mind, where sections would rush forward months at a time and then slow to nothing.

Anna Walsh is ‘buffering’. Her family might think her life is sorted, she has a glamorous job in high-end cosmetics PR in New York (all those fabulous freebies for her mammy and sisters!); she also has a caring (sometimes too caring) partner, Angelo. To all intents and purposes Anna has recovered from the tragic death of her husband, Aiden, (which happened in her novel ‘Anybody Out There’). But Anna is far from ‘sorted’ - she has learnt to cope, and even to win at life, since Aiden’s sudden death cut her completely adrift, but there is still a void in her life; she is approaching perimenopause and is starting to feel her age; she misses her home in Ireland and she has brushed her ancient history with Joey Armstrong (designated official ‘bad boy’ of the Walsh family novels) so far under the carpet that only an earthquake could dislodge her hidden feelings for him.

Cue the worldwide lockdown - Anna and Angelo decide to split up, Anna realises that she doesn’t need the stress of working and living in New York; she moves back to Ireland and almost immediately is head-hunted into using her considerable public relations skills to turn around the fortunes of a family friend’s new luxury resort in rural Ireland. The trouble is they are also connected with Joey, who is on the scene backing funding for the venture. Will Anna and Joey be able to resolve all the mistakes and twists of fate that have kept them apart for almost two decades or are there just too many bitter memories and bad blood between them for them even to be friends in the future?

It was such a pleasure to immerse myself into the narrative as Ms Keyes subtly guided me into Anna’s state of mind and her past relationship with Joey Armstrong. In the previous Walsh novels he has always been on the periphery of the central action. Known to one and all as ‘Narky Joey’, he was always trouble with a capital T if any woman fell for him (once he started to remind them of Jon Bon Jovi it was All Too Late) but in My Favourite Mistake the old Narky Joey has morphed into a much more relatable, full-on three dimensional character and I found it fascinating. Thanks so much Marian.

Marian Keyes is in her absolute element writing about the Walsh sisters, and so it is with My Favourite Mistake. It is always an absolute treat to reunite with them all from to time. I hope the sisters and their fabulous Mammy never really settle down, otherwise then there would be no more fabulous and funny Walsh novels.

I’m not sure how My Favourite Mistake would pan out as a stand- alone novel, but as part of the series of Walsh family stories, it is all you could possibly ask for and more.

Many thanks to all concerned for letting me read and review this brilliant book. You have made an old Marian Keyes fan very happy!