3.5 stars
Slow to get going but i enjoyed seeing how Laurie and Jamie came together. The fake romance story was an easy to read one and although it covers harder topics too, the fun and uplifting overall theme was a nice one.

This read was a surprising slog. It was another fake romance story and I thought I was ready for this sort of plot, it having been several months since I read something similar. However, I found McFarlane’s writing style to be heavy-going, dense and overly wordy.

The premise of the story seemed like something I would enjoy as Laurie and Jamie contrive to appear in a relationship to make her ex jealous and to give him a shot at a job promotion. Sounds easy going? Wrong. The writer goes into immense detail about, well, everything, and this just lessened my interest in the plot. From minute detail about Laurie’s previous relationship to office politics, I think I was expecting this to be a light-hearted, romantic comedy.

As a result, I thought the story moved incredibly slowly and developments were prolonged. When there were dates with Jamie and Laurie, I don’t think the writer really captured the growing feelings between the two. I was left cold and as disinterested as Laurie convinces herself to be. Coupled with that, there are several background issues that Jamie and Laurie have as part of their emotional baggage. Whilst it made them more interesting characters, I thought it really dragged down the potentially happy atmosphere of the novel.

I wanted a happy ending and the writer certainly delivered. But by the time this happened, I couldn’t care less about whether Laurie had moved on from her ex or if Jamie had been promoted. I cared even less about their immediate circle of friends.

This book is set in the months leading up to Christmas, but it did not feel overly festive. The office Christmas party was quite entertaining to read about and seeing how the couple’s colleagues reacted to this obvious relationship just showed how nosy they all were. Private lives are certainly not private in this working environment.

Overall, I held hope that the premise would be a sweet romance but the delivery was too slow and I struggled to connect with McFarlane’s writing style. I wanted something that was easy to immerse in but I thought the writer made it unnecessarily complicated.

With thanks to Harper Collins and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Actual rating: 4.5
I can't believe I waited so long to read this book!
This is the first book by Mhairi McFarlane I have read and I will absolutely be getting more of her books to read. The characters and situations they found themselves in felt so very real, with the added bonus of the story being set in my home city, I could picture evetything in happening in and around places I knew. I love how Laurie got the chance to find her confidence again and make genuine connections with people like Jamie. I loved the concept of the story and I was rooting for Laurie and Jamie from the get go. It touched on some painful topics that were all handled with sensitivity, it was a powerful story that I enjoyed so so much.

My list of books to read and review on NetGalley is currently over 170 books. Do you realize how long this will take me to read?! I average 1-2 books read a week. At this rate I’m going to need at least a couple years!

I’ve decided to start my catch up with books published chronologically, starting with the oldest publishing. The next on my list was If I Never Met You by Mhain McFarlane. It’s been a while since I requested this book, so I couldn’t remember why I had chosen it.

This book, even though it’s a bit cliché, was more than I expected it to be. As a quick summary, Laurie is a top criminal attorney for a prestigious law firm. Her boyfriend of 18 years, Dan, who is a fellow attorney at the same firm, dumps her for another attorney who works at another law firm and they become pregnant.

Laurie gets stuck in an elevator with Jamie Carter, the GQ and sexy fellow attorney for hours. They end up going out for a night cap where they decide to create a faux-relationship. Jamie needs to be practically married before Christmas to be considered as partner while Laurie wants to make Dan jealous. Laurie and Jamie become fast friends and have loads in common and they learn so much about themselves in the process.

Will Laurie and Jamie be able to achieve their goals that they intended? You’ll need to read the book to find out because I’m not sharing that part. I will share that I give this book 5 out of 5 tiaras! I absolutely couldn’t get this book off my mind and stayed up past midnight to finish reading! Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for access to this book!

I do love Mhairi’s books - she has a knack for drawing you in and making you laugh. This is the story of Laurie, 36 year old solicitor who has been with her boyfriend Dan for 18 years. Her life is predictable, reliable and safe. Until it isn’t. Dan has decided he no longer loves Laurie - and he leaves. Taking with him the future wedding and family Laurie always imagined they’d have - when Dan thought the time was right. As Laurie tries to cope in a post break up fog she begins to realise Dan isn’t exactly the man she thought he was, and she is willing to do what ever it takes to make Dan want her back.
Contemporary fiction at its best & just what I needed to survive two days at home with a 3 year old with Chicken pox.

I've yet to meet a Mhairi McFarlane book I didn't like. A true unsung hero(ine) of the genre, McFarlane never puts a foot wrong.

I love Mhairi McFarlane and her books are an instant buy for me. If I Never Met You is another great read from her. It has the laughs, the fake dating trope is brilliant, and the diversity in the characters gives me joy.

I thoroughly enjoyed cwtching up and reading this book. The perfect easy read romcom! Laurie was very likeable as a character and I was swept away in her story - smiling, laughing and crying during her highs and lows. The plot at times was predictable, but that didn’t make me enjoy the story any less.

The first book I have read by Mhairi McFarlane - I bought another straight after I finished this one.

Another lovely book from this author who is one of my favourites. As always a great cast of characters that draw you in from the first page, a good storyline and plenty of humour. Perfect beach read

As usual in my reviews I will not rehash the plot - plenty of reviews like that out there already!

Thoroughly enjoyed this book, and entertaining light read with great characters and some great twists on the "fake dating" plot type. Particularly grateful for the the lack of explicit and gratuitous sex scenes (that so often wreck an otherwise great read).

Also loved the Manchester setting, being from that neck of the woods originally.

There are some great characters, including Laurie herself. It was great to see her grow and change her view of herself - having been - unbeknown to her - downtrodden by her long-term partner for years! Jamie was also an interesting character - something of a chameleon, appearing to be one thing but actually being something far more appealing.

The plot has some twists and turns (always welcome) that made me keep reading into the night to finish the book.

All in all an enjoyable light read with a bit more to it - perfect holiday reading material!

My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC. All opinions my own.

Loved, loved, LOVED this book! It was witty, clever, the characters felt real and true, and the fauxmance was one of the best i have consumed in a long time!

I loved Laurie's character and was rooting for her throughout. Slightly predictable in terms of plot but a great read anyway.

This one started off a bit slow for me and I was almost on the verge of giving up. However, I stuck with it and was so glad I did as the last two thirds were great and overall it won me over.

Story is about Laurie, who works at the same law firm as her long standing boyfriend, Dan, of many years. He leaves her for another woman, who gets pregnant super quickly. This is especially gutting to Laurie as Dan told her he didn’t want children. After getting stuck in a lift with another colleague, Jamie, they become friends and hatch a plan to fake a relationship. Firstly to make Dan jealous, but also to try and get a promotion for Jamie. The plan inevitably crosses over into real life, with real feelings. However, even though you knew it would happen, the book is well written enough to make you want to see how it plays out.

I didn’t the character of Laurie at first, though I do like her by the end when I understand more. All of the other characters are well written, even if you don’t like them (as some are intended to be that way of course). By the end I was rooting for Laurie and Jamie, and I felt it ended in a good place.

This is the first work I’ve read by this author, but based on this I would be open to reading more.

3.5 stars

Copy provided by Harper Collins via Netgalley

I have had ‘If I Never Met You’ on my TBR for so long now and I am so glad I finally managed to read it as I loved it. I did find it to be slightly predictable, but it didn’t ruin the book which I think is largely down to the characters. It took me a while to get into this book as it is quite slow at the beginning, but please persevere as it does pick up!
 
I loved how the protagonist, Laurie, was a smart, strong, and beautiful woman. She has an amazing career and should be proud of herself for everything she achieves. She had been dealt some really hard cards thanks to her ex of 18 years cheating and ending the relationship, but I loved watching her find herself again. I also loved the female-based friendships she had.
 
The love interest, Jamie was a hunk!! I love when you meet a character and instantly know there is more to him than meets the eye and boy, was this true. Jamie started off as a cocky character but as time goes on, you get to know the true Jamie in all his glory. I really enjoyed seeing the chemistry grow between Laurie and Jamie and I especially loved watching Jamie show Laurie how she deserves to be treated.
 
Overall, it was a great read and I can’t wait to read another of Mhairi’s books.
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*Many thanks to @mhairimcf and @harpercollinsuk for the e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review*
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If I Never Met You is one of those stories to captures your heart instantly.
Laurie is left well and truly devastated when her partner of eighteen years suddenly decides that he doesn't feel that their relationship is working anymore. This alone is a hard to accept for Laurie, but when she discovers another bombshell shortly after, she is left reeling from the shock and humiliation of it all.

But Laurie refuses to let her ex see how much all of this is getting to her, so when she finds herself stuck in a broken down lift with her incredibly handsome work colleague Jamie, they end up striking up a plan that will benefit them both - staging a 'fake relationship' - will allow Jamie to prove he has what it takes to gain his promotion, and Laurie gets to show off her handsome new partner.

As they embark on this fake relationship, what follows if full of humour and truly heartwarming scenes as they both begin to let their guards down. As they agree to meet up and stage pictures for social media to keep up their act, Laurie can feel her initial feelings towards Jamie changing. But as they both went in to this with their eyes wide open, and knowing full well that there was an expiry date on their arrangement, but their hearts may well have different ideas.

I absolutely adored this story! Mhairi has such a fun writing style that has you laughing out loud one moment, and feeling bereft the next!. The characters are endearing and really connect with the reader throughout the story, and you find yourself rooting for Laurie and wanting her to find happiness after all she has faced lately.
Beautifully written and totally charming, this is a story I would happily read over and over again!.

Funny, emotional and brilliantly written, I couldn’t put this book down. A contemporary romance story from a really different perspective. A Mhairi McFarlane novel is always a treat!

A cute, easy going, heart warming read that made me feel all mushy. I loved the angst that burst off the pages and the fake dating trope is always a good trope in my eyes! It was a quick read which is why I'm rating it a little low - it was a bit too predictable too at times. Still overall it was a funny romantic book filled with likeable characters and a fun plot.

This book was an easy read, something that I could pick up whenever and really enjoy it!

Thank you for the ARC

Thank you for running a competition with Caboodle from National Book Tokens!

Mhairi McFarlane is back with the funniest rom-com of 2020!
When Laurie is dumped by her partner of eighteen years, she’s blindsided. Not only does she feel humiliated, they still have to work together.

So when she gets stuck in the lift with handsome colleague Jamie, they hatch a plan to stage the perfect romance. Revenge will be sweet…

But this fauxmance is about to get complicated. You can’t break your heart in a fake relationship – can you?

Win a signed copy of Mhairi McFarlane's hilarious new novel, If I Never Met You, plus her bestselling books, Don't You Forget About Me, Who's That Girl? and It's Not Me It's You.

10 runners-up will also win a copy of If I Never Met You

From reading this novel, I’ve discovered that I like my romance novels easy and cheesy.

I really had to work with this one! And it felt nothing like a romance, it was actually really depressing! It gets two stars because the main character is mixed race and we do NOT see that enough in novels full stop, and I did enjoy the host of characters. But that wasn’t enough to make it an enjoyable read.

This is basically a book about a break up. It’s advertised like it’s about a fake office romance, but that felt secondary to me in comparison to the break up. Maybe I’m not the age range or audience this is targeted to - but as someone who found her first love at 19 and is exactly a year away from her wedding, reading a book about the break up of a long term, seemingly stable relationship was not the one. I mean, Dan was an ass but it felt really painful to read. I really felt for Laurie, and that overshadowed the fake romance with Jamie.

I also thought Jamie was incredibly dull. Maybe because the focus for the first half was entirely on the break up, but by the time he got more attention I could not have cared less. They also don’t kiss until 85% of the way through! And then the next page is literally like ‘we banged and it was good’. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t need a dozen sex scenes to like a book - but it felt like it was a chaste kiss and then they want to get married and he’s suddenly okay with having kids! How did we get from A to B? Also there was minimal sexual tension throughout the book, and at the end Jamie’s like “how did you not know I liked you?” and I was literally like IT WAS NOT THAT OBVIOUS TBH. As you can probably tell, this annoyed me. The pacing was completely off. I might have been happier if the book had ended with Laurie and her girl gang and Jamie moving to London, because that would have felt more believable.

So yeah. Didn’t love it, didn’t really like it. I like my romances to be trashy and soppy and cute, what can I say? Don’t hit me with that real life stuff - I want to escape, not start worrying about my late thirties. Someone please recommend me some other good romance novels that are less serious!