Cleo McDougal Regrets Nothing: A Novel
Politics is a test of wills in a sharp, funny, and emotional novel about truth and consequences by the New York Times bestselling author.
Cleo McDougal is a born politician. From congresswoman to senator, the magnetic, ambitious single mother now has her eye on the White House – always looking forward, never back. Until an estranged childhood friend shreds her in an op-ed hit piece gone viral.
With seven words – “Cleo McDougal is not a good person” – the presidential hopeful has gone from in control to damage control, and not just in Washington but in life.
Enter Cleo’s “regrets list” of 233 and counting. Her chief of staff has a brilliant idea: pick the top ten, make amends during a media blitz, and repair her reputation. But there are regrets, and there are regrets: like her broken relationship with her sister, her affair with a law school professor…and the regret too big to even say out loud.
But with risk comes reward, and as Cleo makes both peace and amends with her past, she becomes more empowered than ever to tackle her career, confront the hypocrites out to destroy her, and open her heart to what matters most – one regret at a time.
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Politics is a test of wills in a sharp, funny, and emotional novel about truth and consequences by the New York Times bestselling author.
Cleo McDougal is a born politician. From congresswoman to senator, the magnetic, ambitious single mother now has her eye on the White House – always looking forward, never back. Until an estranged childhood friend shreds her in an op-ed hit piece gone viral.
With seven words – “Cleo McDougal is not a good person” – the presidential hopeful has gone from in control to damage control, and not just in Washington but in life.
Enter Cleo’s “regrets list” of 233 and counting. Her chief of staff has a brilliant idea: pick the top ten, make amends during a media blitz, and repair her reputation. But there are regrets, and there are regrets: like her broken relationship with her sister, her affair with a law school professor…and the regret too big to even say out loud.
But with risk comes reward, and as Cleo makes both peace and amends with her past, she becomes more empowered than ever to tackle her career, confront the hypocrites out to destroy her, and open her heart to what matters most – one regret at a time.
Cid Herman –
A funny sweet story about making peace with your past.
There is little doubt that anyone gets through life without at least a few regrets. Most of us prefer not to dwell on them or, heaven forbid, CONFRONT them years after the fact. Cleo McDougal, however, is not most of us, and in my First Reads choice for July, CLEO MCDOUGAL REGRETS NOTHING, she does exactly that. Whether you agree or disagree with Cleo’s tactics of confronting her past, be it a former best friend she wronged, or a married college professor that seduced, then unceremoniously dumped her, while simultaneously trying to tank her future prospects, you will admire her courage. The fact that her confrontations are live streamed is the ultimate in “opening yourself up and laying it all out there”. Because Cleo is a 37 year old Junior Senator from New York, with Presidential ambitions, and a single mother to a 14 year old son, the repercussions from confronting her regrets, are experienced on very public and viral forum.The very best thing about CLEO MCDOUGAL REGRETS NOTHING is Cleo herself. She is the most plucky, courageous, vulnerable, and endearing fictional character to champion women, I’ve come across in a long time. She adds her own unique brand to the “me too” movement, when she outs a man for doing what men have been doing to young women in the guise of “mentoring”, for far too long.While the stream of consciousness writing style may not be for everyone, it allows the reader to fully embrace the character of Cleo and lets the reader REALLY get to know, understand, and admire her, while embracing her very human flaws. Her relationship with her 14year old son is both realistic and sweet…as she tries to raise him into the kind of man who not only sees woman as equals, but is respectful of them in all the ways that matter.If you are offended by less than pristine language, this book is not for you. I found the F bombs to be realistic, appropriate, and very much in context. I thought the book was better and more entertaining because of the profanity.
Mom of Two –
Great book that balances humor with serious topics
I preordered the paperback of this book as soon as it was available on Amazon. Imagine my pleasure at finding it as part of the Kindle first reads program, and weeks earlier! I’m keeping the paperback and will pass it along to one of my friends because this book is, among other things, a love letter to female friendships.Cleo is a US Senator from New York living in suburban Virginia and working in DC. She tries very hard to fight against the double standards and differing expectations facing women in power. She is no nonsense, no looking backwards, and no regrets. Except… she kind of has a lot of regrets. Some are frivolous – no bourbon. Some are more serious – should you reckon with your MeToo moment, should you tell your child who his father is? Her list of regrets comes to the forefront when her ex-best friend decides to air her grievances 20 years later just as she’s about to start her campaign for president.Cleo is a deeply flawed person, but I just like her. I like her a lot. She’s an empowered and strong woman who tries very hard not to compromise her values and give in to the pressures of her life. She’s worked so hard to get to where she is. She has a vision for her life and refuses to bow to the men who resent her accomplishments and try to minimize her because she is a woman. She tries to elevate the younger women on her staff and mentor them. But she’s also a single mom who is figuring out that you can’t do everything by yourself forever without a strong support system, and sometimes that means you have to make yourself vulnerable.I will admit to laughing so hard at one point that my kid came in from the other room to see what was happening. This book definitely has humor. A little sarcastic, a little dark, a little wise-a$$ teenage son, a little flat out slapstick. There are mild elements of romance. There is character development. There was at least one part that made me teary eyed.I’m struggling with quarantine reading because everything is gloomy in the real world, and I just can’t do heavy heavy books right now. At the same time I don’t want “junk food” reading either. I don’t want to feel like I’m wasting my time. This book was perfect for the moment. It was extremely current thematically and dealt with some serious issues while still being light and not soul crushing. Because really, now is not the time, at least for me.
Jane Sullivan –
This book needed an editor!
This book had potential. The story idea and characters were interesting. The writing wasn’t horrible, but the book needed a better editor. There was a lot of repetition, such as telling us repeatedly how successful the main character was, how hard it was to be a female politician, or how rough it was to raise a teenager alone. The main character spent a lot of time analyzing and anguishing over thing, which frequently involved long asides in parentheses and long dashes. To give an example:”Cleo for the life of her had no idea why she was here, but perhaps the senator had heard the whispers about reviving the free housing bill (she loved the sound of the Jackman-McDougal Bill — not least because it was the first policy she’d worked on all year that felt pure and honest and impactful, not laden down with compromise and favors — and kept saying it over and over to herself in her mind) and wanted on board.”All the repetition and parenthetical comments were extremely distracting and irritating. I found myself agreeing when the main character’s son said, “Oh my God, Mom, give it a rest. Not everything needs to be spelled out.”I kept reading to the end because I wanted to find out what happened. It’s a shame because this could have been a pretty good book with some serious editing.
Debra Gomez –
Loved it!
lucy –
I enjoyed this book but for me there was a lot of in-your-face feminism like comments about women not being able to see men as being old and not needing men. I’m not saying these things aren’t true or don’t need to be discussed and I did think it made sense for the character and the story, and I probably should have expected it based on the book being a female senator that these issues would have been prominent but it was too much for me. I would definitely still recommend the book though just with the caveat expect a lot of politics and feminism.