Published By: Penguin
Pages: 368
Released On: 02/07/2026
Meet Fran. This is her to-do list:
– Buy Milk
– Get Promoted
– Book Dentist
– Swerve PTA Meeting
– Practice Gratitude
– Be a Better Friend
– Stop Crying in Morrisons
– Rescue Relationship
– Organise Life
– Stop Keeping Secrets
Not on her to-do list? Being made redundant when she was expecting a promotion.
And when one tiny, impulsive decision leads Fran to tell a lie she can’t quite keep up with, suddenly everything starts to unravel.
But could rock bottom be a golden opportunity instead of a complete and utter disaster? With the help of her friends and family, Fran’s about to blow her life wide open…and start piecing it back together. Her way.
*****
Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.
I loved this from the first chapter. The plot, the characters, the storytelling was fabulous. And it could only go in two directions. I could finish it and I would still love it. Or it could be a struggle to keep up that momentum. Luckily it managed to keep my interest.
I don’t often find books funny, because humour is so subjective and I just find it doesn’t generally work in fiction (in my experience) but I found this one truly funny. I think it’s because it wasn’t too try hard. As far as I could tell, she wasn’t trying to write overly funny bits, but it was definitely there. It felt so natural.
There isn’t a dud character among them. I mean, do they set the page alight? Not really. But they didn’t need to. They’re so natural, so familiar, you could easily see yourself in their shoes and I really enjoyed that.
I mean, Fran does lie in it, quite a lot and about quite a big thing. I’m not a huge fan of characters like that because it’s hard to support their decision. However, she was so likeable that even that couldn’t irk me. One lie sort of snowballed and it got so chaotic that I couldn’t help but find it funny.
It is a bit slow. Not automatically a negative point. I’ve enjoyed slow books and fast books. Same as I’ve disliked slow books and fast books. It all depends on the book. I did find this was erring on the side of too slow. It wasn’t boring. But because it’s a story about everyday normal stuff, it does drag out a bit and I did keep flicking down to see what percentage I was on and I realised it wasn’t going up all that quickly. So I think it could have done with something a little earlier to keep it going forward, because by about 1/4 of the way, it still felt quite stuck.
It is quite predictable, let’s not lie here. In its parts it doesn’t feel very new, but as a whole it feels fresh. It’s a bit twee an corny, and at times quite frustrating. But overall I thought it was enjoyable, funny, cute, relatable, relaxing, comforting, and uplifting with marvellous characters.
I think this is my first of her books but I enjoyed it enough to want to read some of her others.
Books By Your Bedside 