Firstly a big thank you to Hq for my copy to review on netgalley. I had the pleasure of meeting Anna in 2020 before the world went mad. Ive been a huge fan of her books and this is no exception.

Funny, warm and absolutely swoon worthy!

Packed with romance and sexy moments this is a fantastic book to read in these cold winter months and in lockdown.

I loved every page and seeing the romance rekindle between Max and Ellie. Also to see Ellie realise her own strength and value in herself and in her marriage .

As a geek i loved all the reference to comic con etc. Nice touch!

This made me smile and warmed my heart.

Published 4th February and i wish her every success with this release.

Genre: Romance

Release Date: Expected 4th February 2021



It started as a rather embarassing mix up during a comic-con after party ... but then four years later Ellie has the man she'd been dreaming about since she was a teenager and a beautiful growing family. Ever since she'd been awkwardly crushing on her best friends brother in school, she'd thought about him and somehow her dreams really have come true.

Until one day, she's just that awkward teenager again because her husband has no idea who she or their children are. Suddenly he's lost all his memories of the last five years - how can he comprehend how much he'd changed in that time?

With her sister in law and friends in tow, they start on a mission to get their Max back - but after a disasterous attempt at recreating their first dates and important milestones they're slowly running out of ideas and hope. Can you fall in love with the same person twice? And whaty exactly was Max doing on the other side of London alone when he lost his memories? And more importantly, if Max recovers will their marriage recover too?

The Man I Didn't Marry was a beautiful exploration into how well we really know the people we love, and what it really takes to truly love somebody. Dealing with all the pitfalls we encounter in our personal relationships and making us think - what would we do if we were given a brand new start?

This was beautiful little mystery with plenty of zany, hilarious moments that was all too easy to finish in one sitting.

RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐



Thank you to NetGalley and Anna Bell for an ARC in return for an honest review.

Ellie's life changes when her husband develop amnesia and can't remember the last five years of his life, including dating her, marrying her and their daughter. Will he ever remember and why did he lose his memory in the first place?

So at the beginning I found this book hilarious. The way Ellie and Max were with eachother seemed like the perfect relationship, but this book really highlighted that all is not always as it seems as Ellie soon realises her relationship isn’t as perfect as she thought.

It was heartbreaking thinking someone could wake up one day and forget a massive part of their life. I really felt for Ellie when Max didn’t remember her and I felt at the beginning he didn’t step up and even try. It was really cleverly written to make us start to dislike Max and we sort of forget what he must be going through!

There was a hint of mystery throughout, someone knew what had happened to Max but none was letting on, it kept us guessing throughout. If I was Ellie I would have just looked at Max’s phone no matter what! I liked how Ellie’s friendship with the other women develops alongside her relationship with Max as I felt it highlighted how important friends are.

It was quite scary to reflect and realise how much can change in a relatively short period of time and how fast technological advances a s human life changes and develops

The ending was wholesome and exactly what I needed from this book

Married to your teenage crush, happy but still convinced you are punching above your weight. Add in that he is your best friends brother. THEN he loses his memory.
Can you fall in love all over again? New dynamics and family secrets that aren't yours to tell.
Loved it, had my fingers crossed hoping it all goes smoothly.
Enjoy and watch out for other books by Anna Bell because I know I will be.

Great characters. Ellie was refreshing. I can't say I totally warmed to Max. I don't know why. For me there was a bit too much emphasis on the bump - it was mentioned so often. Some scenes were a bit silly - the one in the tent springs to mine. I couldn't wait to find out what Max's secret was, but in the end it wasn't as big a deal as I think we were led to believe. At times I thought the story dragged with long conversations, and at other times things were rushed. But overall a good read with a fitting ending. With thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Wow! This book was everything I didn't know I needed. I absolutely devoured it! I have read books by this author before but this is my favourite.

Ellie adores her husband Max and their life they have built together over the past 4 years. Having just moved into a new home, with a toddler and a baby on the way shortly, she has her hands full. But Max turns up at his mother's house instead of going to work and the past 5 years of his life have disappeared from his memory, including those of Ellie.

Ellie is desperate to get her husband to fall in love with her all over again but also to try and unlock his hidden memories-but what has happened to make him lose them in the first place?

The little intricate details that were missing from Ellie's life when Max lost his memory were so well thought out such as when she didn't want cakes from the shop (but she did and he would ordinarily know without it even being spoken). Loved it!!

This book made me laugh at loud. And I just need something like this. This was sweet and cute read . Really enjoyed it.
This one is a heart warmer.

4 stars.

I really enjoyed this book. Full of great characters and humour, which is much needed right now. I did find it a little difficult to get into at first but then found I couldn't put it down. It's the first book I've read by this author but will definitely be reading more.

Really enjoyed this unusual and unique take on the second chance romance. It was a lovely and charming romantic book, with a likeable and fun (and geeky!) protagonist, dealing with her once playboyish losing all memories of their relationship, and also dealing with self-esteem issues this reignites. Really liked it!

The Man I Didn’t Marry Anna Bell a funny four-star read. This was funny and lots lighter than I thought it would be, but it also took me a while to get into and that wasn’t what I thought either, as previously I have just sunk my teeth into this author’s work and not let go till the last page, it could be me and reading at the moment, I just don’t know. I simply adored Ellie and wanted her in my life all the time, the added depth and secrets made this different from what I expected but it also added depth and made it a better read, it would have just been funny, funny, funny, and that looses its polish sometimes where as this added the story as well making it an overall better read.

I absolutely loved Bell's previous book #WeJustClicked - which is one of the funniest books I've read. And as another brilliant light-hearted romantic comedy I loved this one too! Although this was more continuously funny throughout rather than big laugh out loud moments excluding Ellie being mistaken for a stripper, unicorn headbands and the camping kettle incident. Bell's created another great posse of characters from main character Ellie, who's warm, funny and still slightly geeky, to support characters like theatrical mother-in-law Judy.

I particularly loved the baby group friends; sharp-witted Helen who says she brought Anneka reusable nappies from her baby shower list as the thought of her washing them "was like giving a gift to myself" and Anneka herself who says: "I can't go into the hospital. What if they make me give birth naturally." They are all people you'd love to know and be friends with in real life. I also enjoyed the contemporary love story of having to fall in love all over again and whether love really is fate or simply timing - can you recreate it? My only criticism is that I wanted an epilogue - I need to know whether the friends had baby girls or boys, names, etc.

This was nothing near what I expected but it was brilliant. So well written and enjoyable - I flew through it.

I’ve always been a huge fan of Anna Bell’s book until her most recent - We Just Clicked - so was interested to read this latest novel. It was enjoyable book about a couple, Ellie and Max Voss. Ellie is pregnant with their second child and Max has suffered temporary memory loss as a result of witnessing a traumatic accident. I enjoyed reading about the road to recovering their relationship and the stories in between however there were times when things felt a little slow. I am glad that I read the book and would certainly read a future Anna Bell book.

Really enjoyed this book by Anna Bell. It drew me in from the first page as we learn the back story of how Ellie and her husband Max first got together. The book starts in a funny and lighthearted way, then bang, we are brought abruptly up to date with Max suffering from amnesia and completely unable to remember the last five years, the fact that he is married to Ellie, as well as forgetting he is dad to their toddler daughter, with a heavily pregnant Ellie about to give birth for the second time in just a few weeks! The story continues in a mix of humour and despair as our main characters come to terms with what is going on and also deals with how their situation also affects their family and friends. We travel on a roller-coaster of emotions as Max and Ellie rediscover their relationship and learn things about each other that they weren't aware of before. An enjoyable read and a great bit of escapism.

The Man I Didn’t Marry, Anna Bell


Review from Jeannie Zelos book reviews

Genre: romance, women's fiction


And yep, that outdated category once more. Its 2020, not 1820! men write romance, men read romance.....

So, everything is wonderful in Ellie's world, she had a perfect husband, man of her dreams, her best friends brother who she had a crush on for so many years. She never expected that he'd fall in love with her. She felt, still feels, that he's far above her, that she's nothing like the leggy beauties he used to date.
They have a beautiful daughter and she's now pregnant with their second child. And then one Saturday morning when he's gone in to work, she gets a call from her mother in law. Max has returned there and is acting very strangely.
He's somehow lost the last five years of his life, has no memory of Ellie other than his sisters friend, and doesn't realise he's a father. Has forgotten his sister is gay, that his parents are separated. What a nightmare.
Of course the questions are numerous but the main ones, why did it happen, and when will he recover, have no answer. Its could be hours, days, years in rare cases. Poor Ellie is devastated.

Ellie has joined a group of other pregnant mums. Over the next few weeks they are a great support to her, though at first I really wasn't sure about some of them, especially the well meaning but steamroller approach to everything lady, Annabel (I think that was her name..) Her best friend too, Max sister, the one he has forgotten is gay, reconnects properly with Ellie and really helps her. As is often the way, although they were still friends, they'd lost that closeness and through these events they found it again.

Max is a real jerk at first, back to his wandering eye, man whore ways, even when Ellie is trying to recreate their dates to jog his memory, and I so felt for her. Who wants your Adonis husband flirting constantly when out, especially when being heavily pregnant makes you feel not the most attractive. My heart broke for her at that point, so hard to take, it really brought home just what she was going through.
Fortunately that stage doesn't last long, he's still in a bit of denial there and confused, which is understandable, but as he comes to accept what everyone is telling him he changes his behaviour, tries really hard to be the man he should be, husband and father, even though its difficult when he has no memory of that man. He slowly gets closer to Ellie, comes to see her in a different light to his sisters friend, appreciates her for the woman she is now, and the attraction between them pulls at him and makes him work harder at being her husband. He realises what he's in danger of losing if he doesn't and though at first husband and father isn't what he wanted to be, it scared him, slowly he realises that its exactly what he wants, where he should be at this part of his life. Ellie discovers to her surprise that he's now not her Max, but actually a more considerate Max, active in helping her as a father, in appreciating her as his wife, showing his feelings.

Then just when things are going really well, when they've finally reconnected in a big way there are some major issues. His parents have hidden their separation from him, and when he finds out that – well, a very funny section there but he's angry, angry that those he trusts now his memory is gone have been lying to him. Poor Ellie, she gets caught up even though she was against keeping it secret, but she didn't feel it was her place to reveal it. And then on top of that another massive secret comes out. Ellie is devastated, and I can understand that. Can they find a way past it?

The things that have happened make Ellie look at her perfect marriage, and as with the new, improved Max she finds that actually there were things that weren't right, that she wasn't giving her all to marriage either. Pulled into motherhood it's easy to let other things slide, no-one ever expects how all-consuming new babies can be.
Although what happened was an awful thing, getting through it gave Ellie an inner strength and allowed her to see herself as others did, that actually she was a beautiful, confident, intelligent lady, and well up to being wife of Max the Adonis. Not the lower standard, lucky lady that he chose her image she had of herself. I was really pleased about that.
Max too has learned from the experience, learned whats really important to him, learned that he shouldn't take things for granted, that marriage and family need input, effort to get the best out of them.

I really wondered if Ellie could get past this last big secret, its a huge problem, and I understood exactly how it played on her fears, how she's always felt. Yet I could see how much Max loved her, how she was his life, and I was desperate for them to find a way through.

Stars: Five. Its a great read, a mix of humour and poignancy, romance and practicality. I loved it.

ARC supplied by Netgalley and publishers

I’m fast becoming a massive fan of Anna Bell. This book was such a page turner. It felt fresh and is beautifully written. Highly recommended.

I’ve read most of Anna Bell’s novels and enjoyed them, and this was no exception! A lovely story crying out to be made into a rom com! My only gripe is that it ended rather abruptly- I want to know a little more!

Ellie and Max are happily married, one little girl, another baby on the way, they have moved back to their home town and a dilapidated old house from London. Then Max loses his memories of the last five years. Suddenly his only memories of Ellie are as his little sister's geeky BFF, who he not so affectionately calls Spider. He doesn't remember that he's no longer talking to his father, or that his sister is gay.

The doctors say that Max could regain his memory any day now, but what if he doesn't? His parents don't want to rock the boat by telling him about their divorce, but Ellie has bigger problems, her reliable husband has now regressed to a guy more interested in chatting up other women and excess drinking, just what a woman wants when she is heavily pregnant!

Ellie tries to recreate their special moments, but as she and Max get to know one another again she finds this Max may be even better than the old one. But as she starts to uncover the reasons for Max's memory loss the secrets start to unravel. Is this the beginning of a new, better, marriage or the end?

I can totally see this as a zany British comedy, the sort of thing Hugh Grant would have been in back in the day. Ellie has always had Max on a pedestal, he was the school Adonis while she was the skinny nerd that the cool girls picked on and she had an almighty crush on him, so to be demoted from beloved wife to his sister's goofy friend is a horrible shock.

Overall, a cute romantic comedy that will make you laugh out loud, loved the yummy-mummies WhatsApp group and the breakfast swinging scene!

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

I have read all of Anna other books and this one is definitely my favourite out of them.

This Book tells the story of Max who is happy married to Ellie and dad to a toddler and another baby on the way, one Saturday he heads into London to Work and something happens to Max whilst he is in London as he develops amnesia and can’t remember the last 5 years of his life.

What follows is the story of the Max trying to get his memory back, making new memories with Ellie and his family and friends, there is a twist to the story but I don’t want to ruin it for anyone .

I would recommend this book to everyone and give it 5 out of 5 stars.

With thank to Netgalley & HQ for the arc of this book in exchange for this honest review.