Unfortunately for me this book just didn’t work - it felt laboured and clunky.
The dual storylines felt interesting at first but they just dragged on slowly - there was no pace, no conclusion and no real point.
Sorry, showed promise but didn’t come through.

I really enjoyed this Sliding-Doors style romance where we get to follow Lucy down two very different paths with very different outcomes. This novel examines the idea of fate and people being ‘meant to be’ in a very unique and really enjoyable way.
Thanks to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Lovely story with humour and emotion in equal measure.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me access an advance copy of this book in exchange for my feedback.

Really pacy opening, intriguing premise. I thought that the double-timeline narrative worked well. Both what if scenarios complement each other. I don’t read a lot of “pure romance” books, but I mostly enjoyed this story and how both timelines echoed each other. The book keeps you on your toes per who is a better choice — Max or Caleb? Because no one’s perfect. It’s about making choices and the way fate comes into it. Having said that, I wasn’t too keen on the plot twist near the end. It completely ruined the book for me. Shocking, but it felt too harsh and too much of deus ex machina, but mostly unnecessary. What followed seemed too cliche. I really liked the first eighty-five percent of the book, then it just got too predictable and somewhat grating (one of the plot lines wise, not both). It takes a lot to write a book, and I thought this one was well-written and thought through. But the ending didn’t work for me. It dragged on and felt flat. The twist made me think, why *spoiler* needed to be *spoiler*? Too cruel of an ending for *spoiler*.

I really enjoyed this book & will recommend it to others. Thanks for the opportunity to read & review this book.

After reading Holly's first book, when I saw her name on Netgalley I simply had to request this. I was thrilled when I got accepted and and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I adored Holly’s first book, and this didn’t disappoint in the slightest!
The 2 timelines flowed perfectly and it was easy to follow. Holly is definitely one to watch!
I can’t wait to read more from her.

A cliché-driven romance that is strongly reminiscent of 'Three Rooms', by Jo Hamya (‎Jonathan Cape, July 2021). Lucy walks out of her advertising job when she doesn't get the promotion she expects. Drifting from one house share and one location to another she is permanently preoccupied with affairs of the heart: men she's had affairs with in the past and relationships she might have in the present and the future. All the while she is searching for something that will provide purpose to her life. None of the characters — Lucy, her sister Tash, her best friend, Jools, or the men who wash in and out of Lucy's life — in this overwritten, yet shallow. novel are sympathetic or likeable people.

Thank you to Hodder & Stoughton and Netgalley.uk for the ARC.

I absolutely adored Holly Miller's first book 'The Sight of You' and so was delighted to get my hands on an ARC of 'What Might Have Been' thanks to Netgalley.

This story follows the life of Lucy who is destined to meet her soulmate one day after quitting her job. The question is which of the two guys she meets is the one? I love the exploration of the ideas of fate and destiny - whether what's meant to be will always find a way to be or whether the choices we make really do affect the paths of our lives. Even if you're not a believer in the concept of soulmates you'll still be drawn in by the two different roads Lucy's life takes based on the decision she makes on that one particular day. Like her first book, Miller's writing is very emotive and her characters have great depth so have your tissues at hand.

I particularly enjoyed mentions of events and meetings that happened in both timelines and that those characters still ended up happy.

What's meant for you won't pass you by - I'm so glad this book hasn't passed me by and I hope it doesn't pass you by either.

I didn’t realise I had read the author’s debut, The Sight of You, which was a sweet albeit predictable read. This one is just as cloyingly sweet, but surprisingly I enjoyed it tremendously. I preferred this one more as it was surprising and had some twists. This was the perfect escapist read.
Basically Lucy, our protagonist, reads her horoscope: she’s going to meet her soulmate tonight. And low and behold in one night she flirts with a handsome stranger and bumps into her ex. Who will she choose? In Sliding Door style we follow both narratives.
I like the way the two narratives aligned, touching on the same incidents that occur in both narratives, regardless of Lucy’s choice, but the circumstances are different. I enjoyed reading the different versions of how things could unfold. A tender exploration of our choices, and the many alternatives of our lives, this is a stunning read.

This is a fantastic book and the first I have read by the author. It draws you into the two parallel worlds and you wonder what will happen. It is nice to find a story with so many great characters that you really care about. I did wonder how it was going to end but even this was well thought out.
A highly recommended book.

Lucys horoscope said she would meet her soulmate the day she bumps into Caleb at a bar in her home town & as she’s chatting to him she spots Max who broke her heart many years prior….

I have just finished this book & wiping away a few tears!

Told across two alternate realities this book will hook you and leave you wanting more as you turn each page, for me I needed to know who Nate was, the man who Lucy references throughout the first half of the book (as to why she doesn’t drink alcohol)

I wasn’t sure how the book would end, how would it tie in but it came together brilliantly .

Highly recommended from me!

Thank you to the publisher & netgalley for the digital ARC of this book.

I finished What Might Have Been with tears in my eyes and a big old lump in my throat. It's so moving, so clever and so romantic. Wonderful stuff.

Thank you to Hodder and Stoughton and Netgalley for the free eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book already gets bonus points for being something I’ve never read before. Kind of like a Choose Your Adventure novel, this one follows Lucy, a 30-year-old woman who just quit her job and is ready to start over and do what she always wanted; to write. Here Lucy has to make a choice: stay in her small town and write the book she's been planning for ten years or move to London and get the flashy job writing in an ad agency. Lucky for us we can follow both journeys and see what happens in whatever path she chooses: stay or go?

What Might Have Been had quite a bit of romance with a bit of life and growth thrown in. I thought this would be more about Lucy growing as a character but no. Lucy is at her heart a romantic; she believes that soulmates and happy ever after are sureties. She loves with her whole heart and makes some questionable decisions in the pursuit of it.

That being said there is one path that is far superior to the other BUT THAT'S JUST MY OPINION. I saw the parallels and I understand what the author was trying to show but that doesn’t mean I agree with Lucy and her ever forgiving heart...couldn’t be me.

This book is hard to rate because it feels like I read two books. One is an easy 4 stars and the other im still side-eyeing. Lucy’s story in the ‘go’ chapters is not my favourite but that's because I hate a lot of the characters in it. It wasn't bad I just was annoyed.


Overall, I did enjoy it. I would recommend it if you want a love story where you cry at the end. I still hate Max though.

Thanks to @netgalley & @hodderstoughton for this ARC due to be published in January 2022.

Is Lucy's life 'meant to be'...or meant to be different?
Lucy is out one afternoon after quitting her job & meets Caleb a handsome stranger but also bumps into Max, her one-time love. She has to decide whether to stay & connect with Caleb it go & reconnect with Max.....

I really enjoyed this story, I liked the 2 pronged dialogue ('Stay'/'Go')

This was my first read by @byhollymiller I also have The Sight Of You that I'm really looking forward to reading next!

"What Might Have Been" is of the 'What if' genre, a Sliding Doors scenario.
We are told parallel stories of Lucy, who may choose to stay in Shoreham or move to London after leaving her job. Lucy meets Caleb in a bar and they start chatting. A few minutes later she sees her ex, Max, outside and goes to speak to him. From there the story divides and we are kept guessing as to which route Lucy will, or should, take.
Great characters here, all of which are worthy of being a part of Lucy's life, so there's no obvious conclusion. I loved this as it kept me guessing right up to the end. The ending was clever. Well written and satisfying.
Thanks to Netgalley and Hodder and Stoughton for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book, it’s my first book from this author but I couldn’t have loved it anymore !

I’d like to thank NetGalley and Hodder and Stoughton for approving me for an ARC of this brilliant book. I recently read Holly’s debut The Sight Of You and was desperate to get my mitts on this one. Luckily so were a few of my book club friends so we ended up doing a buddy read. After enjoying Holly’s previous book so much we had high expectations.

I love Holly Miller’s ability to take the question we ask ourselves most and explore in in such a beautiful way. Lets be honest there are plenty of moments when we’ve all wondered what could of been had we done things differently and that is very much the case for our main character Lucy.

I loved Lucy and personally think Holly made an excellent name choice for the lead character 😉 . Aside from loving the name I felt I connected with Lucy a lot. She had such a lovely personality and the way she idolised her parent’s marriage was very reminiscent of how I felt about my grandparents marriage.

The ‘sliding doors’ layout of the story was brilliant and I loved how each part left me wanting to know what happened next. There were aspects of each story that I liked and I really struggled to decide which one I preferred. If I had to choose I would say I preferred the story when she left, purely for the emotional value. I was also torn between Max and Caleb, both really lovely people, even if Max was questionable at times. Once again if I had to choose then I would say Caleb won my heart that little bit more.

As with Holly’s debut this one also packs an emotional punch so be sure to get the tissues ready! By the end I was sobbing and was utterly distraught. I did cry some happy tears too though. Holly Miller has a way of drawing you in, connecting you with her beloved characters and pulling the rug out from underneath you with her powerful revelations. She is the master of heart break and I am truly excited to read anything else she writes in the future.

I really enjoyed this sliding doors type book, but I felt it was missing something which would have made it great.

Thanks for letting me review this book

What Might Have Been has a unique concept, and it's something that immediately caught my attention. The story follows Lucy, who is at a crossroads in life and has to decide her future. The story begins with Lucy quitting her job at an advertising agency where she worked as a planner. She lives in Shoreley, where she grew, and her family is there too. She is drowning her sorrows at the bar when she meets an interesting guy, and they seem to click. A few minutes later, she sees her ex-boyfriend Max from the bar window walking down the street.
One scenario, the go one, is where Lucy decides to go to London and work as a writer at an agency and rekindle her romance with Max. The other timeline is the one, where she stays in Shoreley. She focuses on writing a novel and starts a relationship with Caleb, the guy she met at the bar for a few minutes that day. Both the go and stay timelines run parallel to each other. The way the story is written; keeps some things the same yet different in both timelines had me glued to the book. It is really difficult to pick which timeline is better. The characters and their journeys are portrayed beautifully. Lucy is such a great central character. She is someone who has always believed in destiny, partly because of her parents' fairytale romance. Her reactions to situations in both timelines are so grounded; it isn’t dramatic.
It is beautifully written with great characters; the story keeps you invested from the first chapter itself, and I couldn’t wait to find out what happens next. It is relatable, emotional, and hopeful. I loved it.