I really enjoyed this book. It was well written, laugh out loud funny at times, great characters and refreshing and fun. I would recommend this book to anyone.
Thank you to Netgalley, Harper Collins and Mhairi McFarlane for letting me read this book in exchange for an honest review

If I Never Met You had been one of my most anticipated reads of 2020 and I couldn't wait to read it. After reading a particularly bad book beforehand, I knew McFarlane's writing would put me back into the good groove.

If I Never Met You has become one of my top reads of 2020. In true Mhairi style, it was incredibly witty and laugh out loud hilarious. The storyline of Laurie and her partner's break up felt genuine and relatable in 2020. The journey we go on as Laurie travels through her heartbreak, was so perfectly measured and I didn't once feel like any tropes were being used to simply push the novel along. I loved Laurie as a character, and Jamie Carter was a dream. Being a Northern lass, I loved that this wasn't set as another London-centric book.

All in all, If I Never Met You is a book I would definitely recommend to anyone looking for a fresh, hilarious take on contemporary fiction. Mhairi McFarlane has a huge back-catalogue of near-perfect fiction and I would implore everyone to read her!

Really enjoyed this book. Steady paced, great characters, I was absorbed throughout. Will be reading more McFarlane books in the future!

If I Never Met You by Mhairi McFarlane
5/5

I enjoyed this book a lot and I think Mhairi McFarlane is one of my favorite authors after reading a few of her books and absolutely loving them.

This novel follows Laurie, when her boyfriend of *18 years*, who she also works with, breaks up with her. Her and a coworker decide to pretend dating to make Laurie’s ex jealous.

I thought this novel had a great depiction of the confusion and emotions that would go along with the unexpected nature of a breakup with a partner you’ve been with for so long. I loved how strong and independent Laurie is, as well as how she knows her worth. Now obviously this is a romance novel, but I thoroughly enjoyed how it touches on the topics of female friendships, race, and parental issues.

I would highly recommend this to anyone who loves a fake dating trope, or to anyone who has recently gone through a breakup and is in need of the emotional support and inspiration of a badass, independent character.

A huge thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for the e-book.

Enjoyable read. Though completely predictable, it was fun to see how events unfolded. The characters were likable and funny. Perfect read for lockdown.

If I Never Met You Mhairi McFarlane

This was the first book I’d tried by Mhairi McFarlane I’d read but I was recommended it and the blurb was right up my street.

It was a simple forced-relationship/office romance trope of which I’ve read a lot! But mostly they’ve been American/based in America. But being British, I really enjoyed this being based in Manchester, a place I’ve been a fair few times.

Laurie finds herself being dumped by her boyfriend of 18 years completely out of the blue, well at least for her. While this has never happened to me, it has to someone very close to me so I found the storyline really relatable and very accurate.

It was written in 3rd person POV which at first I was a bit wary of, I prefer reading first person, even better if it’s dual POV but it turns out it was perfect as it was. The characters were witty and the banter between Laurie and Jamie was laugh-out-loud funny at points.

It was a really enjoyable read and I’m keen to check out some more from Mhairi McFarlane

This book is sooo good! not only does it appeal to the romantic in me but it also has my kind of humour throughout, throw in a little bit of seriousness and voila! … a winning combination.

Laurie is a lawyer in Manchester and has just been blindsided by Dan, her boyfriend of eighteen years, he doesn’t want this life anymore and dumps her. Given that Dan is also a lawyer in the same firm dealing with the aftermath was never going to be easy.

Jamie, also a lawyer at the firm, and who has the reputation of being a bit of a lad, is looking to further his career, so when him and Laurie unexpectedly find themselves having to spend some time together they hatch a plan to have a fake romance that will benefit them both.

Everything in this book just worked for me, the storyline built up slowly and all the characters worked well together, even the ones you’re meant to hate! I loved the relationship build up between Laurie and Jamie.

As somebody who works in a law firm I can also say that the author got the tone of working in one spot on, lets just say I’ve met a few ‘Kerry’s’

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Collins for the ARC,

If faking love is this easy… how do you know when it’s real?

When her partner of over a decade suddenly ends things, Laurie is left reeling—not only because they work at the same law firm and she has to see him every day. Her once perfect life is in shambles and the thought of dating again in the age of Tinder is nothing short of horrifying. When news of her ex’s pregnant girlfriend hits the office grapevine, taking the humiliation lying down is not an option. Then a chance encounter in a broken-down elevator with the office playboy opens up a new possibility.

Jamie Carter doesn’t believe in love, but he needs a respectable, steady girlfriend to impress their bosses. Laurie wants a hot new man to give the rumor mill something else to talk about. It’s the perfect proposition: a fauxmance played out on social media, with strategically staged photographs and a specific end date in mind. With the plan hatched, Laurie and Jamie begin to flaunt their new couple status, to the astonishment—and jealousy—of their friends and colleagues. But there’s a fine line between pretending to be in love and actually falling for your charming, handsome fake boyfriend…

Man this book is THICC.
Mhairi McFarlane cannot be accused of skimping on her stories, that’s for sure!

Anyway. I’ve read a couple of her books now and I like her more with each one I come across, also I think I might prefer British romances… Idk, I feel like I don’t read many books set in England these days.

I had a blast reading this, Laurie was such a cool character, I loved her! In fact, I loved all the characters, apart from Dan, he’s a tool, but I felt like I went on a journey with these guys, and I got to know them and see them grow like we were actual IRL friends, plus there were plenty of feminist undertones, the challenging of toxic masculinity and every day accidental racism, all good things. Another good thing, there is a single man who loves alone with a cat. Love that. I am here for it.

Like the Unhoneymooners, this had a fake romance that becomes less fake as it progresses and yes, I can confirm it is my new favourite trope, recommend me more of the same please! To conclude, If I Never Met You is probably my favourite Mhairi McFarlane to date and I can’t wait to get a finished copy of it!

I absolutely adored this book - it was a perfect romcom centred around my favourite trope, the fake relationship. It was a little slow to start, building up the story of Laurie's break-up rather than jumping into the romance, but once Jamie appeared properly I was absolutely hooked (although the background of the break-up definitely helped me get invested in Laurie's reasons for wanting to go along with the fauxmance).

I think the hero may be one of my favourite ever written, which is saying something! The playboy with a heart of gold and a strong sense of social politics. Swoon. From his first email, I was falling in love so I was right there alongside Laurie the whole time.

The supporting cast was also great, especially both best friends and Laurie's work bestie, Bharat. It felt *so* real to me, which I loved - I'm happy to be cast along in a good romance and will take a lot in my stride, but this book felt very grounded and very British (a Yorkshire heroine, huzzah!), which was refreshing and fun.

Completely addictive and utterly charming - I'm going to be pressing this into the hands of everyone I speak to for a long time!

Thank you Netgalley, Mhairi McFarlane and HarperCollins UK for the review copy of this book.

I got intrigued by the book's blurp and I'm a real sucker for an illustrated covers lately so I was sold immediately and once my ebook landed to my Kindle I started reading it straight away, badly needing a light reading mood breaker.

The story surrounds around fake relationship trope, and I like those a lot in the contemporary romance books. The main characters were likeable and their interaction with each other were cute and felt real. However I found very difficult to engage with the characters and relate to them.

I also couldn't get over the amount of references to what I believe are a part of British culture (maybe?), there were so many names mentioned I never heard before so I couldn't figure out what author was trying to say and the story was lost for me.

It took me a while to get into the story, and the plot was rolling quite slow for at least half of the book then with things happening very fast after that I missed all the spark and swoon you would expect to feel in a romance story.

I love slow burn friends to lovers romance books, so I knew I’d love this!
It started out a bit slow, it was only when I got to about forty percent that I felt like the pace picked up and I started to enjoy it (which is why I knocked a star off), but once it picked up it was fantastic.
Laurie is such a strong character, she’s been through a lot, which is highlighted in the book. Her break up hits her hard and I feel like bar Emily, to begin with she didn’t have much of a support group around her. I loved how you see her support group grow further. In the form of her two closest work colleagues and, of course, Jamie. I love how supportive Jamie and Laurie are of each other and I loved reading about them falling in love.

I love Mhairi’s writing and think that she writes brilliant women (and men) that you can relate to and would want to be friends with. Her writing style and plot isn’t overly cliched and I really enjoyed this one. I can’t wait to see what she writes next!

I liked this a lot - mainly because of the author's astute and witty musings. Her style is quite dry, cynical but spot-on, for example "comedy is tragedy plus time." I particularly loved the first part of the book - the break-up of Laurie and her boyfriend of eighteen years - where mutual is defined as "one person has given up and the other person can't persuade them not to." Or "you're like the climber who can't carry their injured mate, so leaves them to die. Do what you need to do but don't pretend it's about anything other than your survival."

That's not to say the second part isn't great too where Laurie and colleague Jamie fake a relationship to get back at her ex and secure a promotion for him. On the surface they're an unlikely match but as their characters (and banter) develop so does their compatibility (and feelings). Predictable yes but utterly satisfying and enjoyable too especially as Jamie is one of those fictional beats that you end falling for too. Why do real-life guys never life up to the fictional ones?

The only thing I disliked was that it was a real movie style romance, the kind where two people go from meeting to full-on life commitment seemingly within weeks. As such I think the characters should have heeded best friend Emily's advice and not rushed into the happy ever after ending - particularly as it really didn't fit with Jamie's character and would've been better suited to an epilogue.

And, speaking of Emily I liked that this was more than just a romance and also about friendship. Recalling the night she met both Dan, the ex, and Emily for the first time, Laurie says: "Emily? I've realised something....I did meet the love of my love that day. Only it wasn't Dan. You are the love of my life." There's also strong but subtle sub-messaging around equality and diversity, particularly in the workplace.

Predictable plot but the fabulous writing and characters make this a great read.

I went into this one with low key high hopes, but it just wasn’t for me. Will I give it another shot down the road? I might, but for now, anytime I try it just puts me into a slump!

Wow. I truly didn't know what I was going to feel when I read this, I'd seen it around often in the shops and all and had skipped over it until I was watching some book haul. (can't remember who's lol) Once I heard the description as a fake dating office romance I NEEDED IT.

And I'm so fucking happy I picked this up, I stayed up as late as I could last night reading this on scripd and I tell you once this corona lock down is over I'm going straight to booksation and getting myself a copy.

I loved Laurie a lot but Jamie was my favorite, Emily & Barrett were hilarious and I loved them both so much. RECOMMEND

This was an enjoyable read, slightly predictable but not overly so. The only thing I would have wanted more of was the actual romance. There was so much build up to the moment and then it was gone in a flash.

Thanks to Netgalley for the preview of this book. It was a fun & uplifting read. It will keep you going during the lockdown & you'll really enjoy this lovely book.

I just loved If I Never Met You and devoured it in one sitting. A great escape from what’s currently going on in the world (covid-19) I was able to lose myself in the book. I so didn’t want this book to end. A fab book that I’m sure everyone will enjoy.

A great book, showing the impact that changes can have on your life and the importance of good friends. Really enjoy this author’s style of writing and the pages just fly by!!

This is my first Mhairi novel and won't be my last. It was such a "normal" book. So true to life. As I live in Boston, Lincolnshire I felt a connection with Jamie's family. And Steep Hill really is a steep hill in Lincoln! As is a village called North Hykeham! Very realistic love story. Thank you.