The Best Beth O’Leary Books to Read in Order

1. The No-Show by Beth O’Leary

Siobhan is a quick-tempered life coach with way too much on her plate. Miranda is a tree surgeon used to being treated as just one of the guys on the job. Jane is a soft-spoken volunteer for the local charity shop with zero sense of self-worth. These three women are strangers who have only one thing in common. They’ve all been stood up on the same day, the very worst day to be stood up–Valentine’s Day. And, unbeknownst to them, they’ve all been stood up by the same man.

My Review: ★★★★★

Now that I’ve read all of the available Beth O’Leary books, I can safely say that The No-Show is my favourite.

I was a little apprehensive going into The No-Show. I read Beth O’Leary’s most recent book release (The Road Trip) just beforehand and didn’t overly enjoy it.

However, with three separate love stories happening in this book, all tied to the one man, I was hooked and still can’t get over some of the twists and turns towards the end of the book. Definitely my favourite of the Beth O’Leary books so far.

2. The Flat Share by Beth O’Leary

Tiffy Moore needs a cheap flat, and fast. Leon Twomey works nights and needs cash. Their friends think they’re crazy, but it’s the perfect solution: Leon occupies the one-bed flat while Tiffy’s at work in the day, and she has the run of the place the rest of the time. But with obsessive ex-boyfriends, demanding clients at work, wrongly imprisoned brothers and, of course, the fact that they still haven’t met yet, they’re about to discover that if you want the perfect home you need to throw the rulebook out the window…

My Review: ★★★★

I had heard so many good things about this book and had it recommended quite a few times after loving Me Before You so much. I can definitely see why it was recommended and I would recommend you to go and read it for yourself. It’s a hopeless romantic kind of book which I wasn’t really into, but I loved it. It made me laugh and almost cry.

3. The Name Game by Beth O’Leary

Charlie couldn’t be happier to take the job of farm shop manager on the remote, wild Isle of Ormer. She’s grieving, a little lost, and in desperate need of a new beginning.

Jones has come out of a difficult breakup and is looking forward to some peace away from the noise of his city life. Moving to Ormer couldn’t have come at a better time.

But when Charlie Jones and, ahem, Charlie Jones both turn up at Ormer’s one and only farm shop, claiming to have been offered the role of manager, everyone is baffled.

How could this have happened? And just who is the real Charlie Jones?

My Review: ★★★★

I’ve found a lot of Beth O’Leary books to be a bit middle-of-the-road, nice and simple romcoms, but The Name Game actually overdelivered as to what I was expecting from her latest release.

A unique concept all taking place on a small island off of Guernsey. It had everything you’d want from a small town, found-family kind of trope with added twists along the way. There was a great plot twist about 75% into the book, but from that point it did get a little confusing. Everything ironed out by the end, so I would still give it 4-stars.

3. The Switch by Beth O’Leary

Eileen is sick of being 79. Leena’s tired of life in her twenties. Maybe it’s time they swapped places… When overachiever Leena Cotton is ordered to take a two-month sabbatical after blowing a big presentation at work, she escapes to her grandmother Eileen’s house for some overdue rest.

Eileen is newly single and about to turn eighty. She’d like a second chance at love, but her tiny Yorkshire village doesn’t offer many eligible gentlemen. Once Leena learns of Eileen’s romantic predicament, she proposes a solution: a two-month swap. Eileen can live in London and look for love. Meanwhile Leena will look after everything in rural Yorkshire.

But with gossiping neighbours and difficult family dynamics to navigate up north, and trendy London flatmates and online dating to contend with in the city, stepping into one another’s shoes proves more difficult than either of them expected.

My Review: ★★★★

Just like The Flat Share, I found The Switch equally as pleasurable out of the Beth O’Leary books. Easy, chick-flick and leisurely reading, this is a great one to help switch off from your day and engross yourself in the world of Leena and Eileen. The book follows granny and granddaughter duo, the two Eileens, who switch lives for six weeks. I was mighty impressed at the 79 year old moving to London and navigating the city when I found it so hard at 20. But that’s the world of fiction for you.

4. Swept Away by Beth O’Leary

In Beth O’Leary’s newest romance, two strangers, Zeke and Lexi, wake up to find themselves accidentally adrift at sea on a runaway houseboat after what was meant to be a one-night stand.

With limited supplies and no way back to shore, they must navigate more than just survival. They’re also facing unexpected chemistry, growing connection, and the possibility that getting lost might be the best way to find something real.

My Review: ★★★

It’s been quite a while since I’ve read any Beth O’Leary stories but picked up this latest release in the library. It was quite obvious what was going to happen in the story, but I’m glad that it didn’t drag on too long (which it easily could have).

My only complaint would be that the twist at the end came too late. It all felt quite rushed to wrap everything up, plus the main female character was quite infuriating at times.

5. The Wake-Up Call by Beth O’Leary

It’s the busiest season of the year, and Forest Manor Hotel is quite literally falling apart. So when Izzy and Lucas are given the same shift on the hotel’s front desk, they have no choice but to put their differences aside and see it through.

The hotel won’t stay afloat beyond Christmas without some sort of miracle. But when Izzy returns a guest’s lost wedding ring, the reward convinces management that this might be the way to fix everything. With four rings still sitting in the lost & found, the race is on for Izzy and Lucas to save their beloved hotel—and their jobs.

My Review: ★★★

This was very Molly the Maid by Nita Prose series, if you’ve come across this. Set in a hotel (a setting I love, having basically grown up in a hotel) with two co-workers who seem to hate each other.

There are many heart-warming characters, and I’d highly recommend this as a book to read over the Christmas holidays, as it read just like a warm and fuzzy Christmas movie you’d watch with your family. Nothing out of the ordinary story-line wise, but an enjoyable read all the same.

5. The Road Trip by Beth O’Leary

Addie and her sister are about to embark on an epic road trip to a friend’s wedding in the north of Scotland. The playlist is all planned and the snacks are packed. But, not long after setting off, a car slams into the back of theirs. The driver is none other than Addie’s ex, Dylan, who she’s avoided since their traumatic break-up two years earlier.

Dylan and his best mate are heading to the wedding too, and they’ve totalled their car, so Addie has no choice but to offer them a ride. The car is soon jam-packed full of luggage and secrets, and with three hundred miles ahead of them, Dylan and Addie can’t avoid confronting the very messy history of their relationship…

My Review: ★★★

The Road Trip wasn’t as great as I had hoped and had nothing on the Beth O’Leary books that I’d read above. The entire story took place in a car and followed exes having to travel from London to Scotland for a wedding.

There were a lot of coincidences that simply wouldn’t happen in real life and the story just didn’t grip me or have me feeling much for the characters at all. It was told in a ‘before’ and ‘now’ format and I mostly preferred the ‘before’ as the story was set in France and much more interesting than the car journey.