I absolutely loved this book. Yes it’s a cracking “will they won’t they?” love story but it is also a tale of friendship through thick and thin. The portrayal of domestic violence and coercive control is thought provoking and really well described. Highly recommended.

When Harriet comes across her controlling, narcissistic ex, events she’d not planned start rolling along, gathering speed and nastiness.
This is great, optimistic story, starring The Sisterhood - grown up women helping each other.
A perfect poolside read (sunglasses hide the tears!)
Thank you to NetGalley for providing this book for review.

Mhairi McFarlane is one of those authors whose books I always want to read without even checking what they are about first! They are books I unfailingly enjoy and this was no exception.

It’s such an insightful look into broken relationships and coercive controlling relationships which sounds like it’s going to be heavy going but with the author’s skilful writing, it isn’t. There’s a fair bit about the power of social media to destroy a reputation by implication and how people can jump on a bandwagon without knowing the full facts.

Female friendship is strong in the book with Harriet having the support of Roxy and Lorna, although one of them gets taken in by another of the characters and lets Harriet down. It was great to see women standing up for each other in many ways throughout the book and sometimes being very courageous to do so. There’s one particular scene near the end which almost had me cheering out loud for the women as someone gets their comeuppance!

There are serious issues dealt with in the book but there is also a gorgeous, slow burn romance. And there is Mhairi McFarlane’s trademark humour throughout giving a lighter touch and making this a joyful and uplifting read.

With Mad About You, Mhairi McFarlane has retained her crown as Queen of the Romcom. I loved it!

Another good book from Mhairi McFarlane. Billed as a romcom but so much deeper tan that. Tricky subjects well tackled. Again believable characters.

Fantastic, I don’t know what else to say. I really liked the main characters, all of them were so well written. I wanted to do murderous things to Scott though! A fun fresh author who I’ll definitely be reading more of

Jedes Buch der Autorin ist noch besser als das vorherige.

Wieder hat es Mhairi McFarlane geschafft und mich mit ihrem neuen Roman restlos begeistert. Sie schafft es mühelos, humorvolle und zugleich immer tiefgründigere Geschichten zu erzählen, die mich packen und einfach nicht wieder loslassen.

Als der Freund der Hochzeitsfotografin Harriet ihr bei einer Familienfeier einen Heiratsantrag macht, trennt sie sich von ihm. Sie mietet ein Zimmer bei einem Unbekannten, der sich als gar nicht so unbekannt herausstellt. Cal ist der Bräutigam, der seine Braut bei einer Hochzeit, für die Harriet engagiert war, vor dem Altar stehen gelassen hat. So fängt die Bekanntschaft der beiden nicht besonders gut an. Als dann noch Harriets Ex vor der Tür steht und Cal verprügelt, denkt sie, es kann kaum schlimmer werden. Doch dann wird alles noch viel schlimmer.

Wie immer bei McFarlanes Geschichten ist die Lovestory auch dieses Mal eher nebensächlich, viel mehr steht die weibliche Hauptfigur und deren Vorgeschichte im Mittelpunkt. Und eben diese Vorgeschichte hat es absolut in sich. Und wie immer bei McFarlanes Geschichten entwickelt sich die Hauptprotagonistin zu ihrem Vorteil weiter, fast wie in einem Bildungsroman. Und diese Entwicklung beim Lesen mitzuverfolgen fasziniert mich eins um andere Mal mehr.

Eine tolle Geschichte einer brillanten Autorin. Freu mich schon jetzt auf ihr nächstes Buch! 😍📕

I've read all of Mhairi's other books and was really looking forward to this one coming out. I know she's often called a rom com writer but there's always so much more depth aswell (not that I'm down on a good old rom com - it's actually really hard to write a good one!). This one touches on themes of online shaming and gaslighting but is also gloriously funny and wise as always. She never disappoints.

I love the writer’s style, so I read this book so quickly! Really hard to put down a story like this one.

Apparently a romcom, but there is so much more to it. Important themes are treated, such as stalking and gaslighting.
I believe it is important to talk about domestic abuse and Mhairi does it brilliantly.

I didn’t know Mhairi McFarlane’s work until I read “If I Never Met You”. I liked her writing style because, it is not exactly the typical rom com, where everything is focused on the romance. It brings other aspects in the story as well and I like that. That was also the case with “Last Night” so she’s now on my list of authors I enjoy reading! Therefore, when I got to see there was a new book coming up, I wanted in!

In “Mad About You” we have Harriet Hatley, a 34 year old woman who is a wedding photographer. She’s really good at her job too, she’s one of the two top Leeds wedding photographers. However, she’s not that into marriage. She avoids romance and prefers to be in charge of herself. She is however in a long time relationship, which she sees coming to an end. Her boyfriend though does not share this feeling and he proposes in front of his whole family. Harriet feels trapped and agrees, only to cancel the engagement as soon as the two of them are alone. She needs to find a place of her own immediately! She can no longer stay at his house.

Thankfully, Cal Clarke has a spare room to let and she does exactly that through an agency where Roxy, Harriet’s friend works. Harriet get’s to be the first one enquiring for the room and becomes Cal’s next logger. Cal is a hopeless romantic who just had his own wedding disaster, so we welcomes the company, though, not from the start! Eventually, the two of them become friends and as the time goes by, it becomes pretty clear that more than friendship is on the line. But when Harriet’s big secret comes to light, her world collapses to pieces. The domino effect seems to affect her career, her friendships, even her reputation, so Harriet needs to face her past to move to the future.

I loved it that once again, Mhairi McFarlane gave us so much more than a romance novel! We get to see how a woman, that has suffered a loss at an early age, has come to live her life under certain beliefs. How it is to not have someone to turn to, when needed, and also to have friends, like Lorna, that are more than family. This story is about so many things. About being in relationships without full heartedly commit to them, without feeling so in love, but being there because it makes us feel comfortable. Until it doesn’t, or at least we can no longer stand how uncomfortable it is. It is about abusive relationships, and how easily one can become a victim. And it’s also about helping each other and protecting future victims.

I did like how we got to see real life characters again, and friendships we could relate to, fortunately or not. I also liked how the characters evolved throughout the story and along with them, the romance as well! We definitely shouldn’t jump into conclusions without knowing the whole picture!

All in all, another great book by Mhairi McFarlane! She’s still one of the authors I’ll always read and recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley & HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction for an advance copy of this book. The views expressed are my personal and honest opinion.

Mhari Macfarlane is one of my favourite authors so I was SO excited to read the arc of Mad About You. Although I didn’t think this was her best work, she knows how to write a bloody good romance. Always such likeable and relatable characters and dreamy men that just happen to be romantic and kind and everything you would wish for in a partner. Always a win.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book. I have chosen to write this honest review voluntarily.
This book is about Harriet, a 34-year-old woman, and her relationships, I expected a romcom as in the header. There were numerous references to tv shows and characters which I didn't get because I haven't seen the programmes. The behaviour of Harriet and her friends and their everyday speech was juvenile, barely the level expected of adolescents rather than mature adults and was not to my taste. I gave up reading at 40%.

This book is quite an emotional read, well written and whilst it mentions abuse, it deals with a touchy subject whilst also interjecting comedy at times to offset it. A good read.

A great read from a well loved author. Mhairi Mcfarlane writes a great, lovable story in her new novel.

Wedding photographer Harriet is living with her nice boyfriend. Nice being a word that says very little in my opinion. The relationship is muddling along but that's about it and what Harriet does know, is that she's not interested in marriage. Although her relationship with Jon is 'nice', he's got a lovely apartment and well off so he can shower her with expensive gifts and trips away, the same can't be said for Jon's family whose mother is quite simply trying to gaslight her!
Jon who is besotted with Harriet, despite knowing that Harriet doesn't want to get married, proposes to her in front of his family. She initially says yes not wanting to cause a scene. She immediately breaks it off at the earliest opportunity which as you can imagine doesn't go down well with Jon at all.
Desperate to move out of Jon's house as quickly as possible and both of Harriet's parents having died, Harriet jumps at the chance of a house share with Cal. The house is lovely especially her bedroom with en suite. It wasn't until she recognises one of Cal's friends when he comes round does Harriet realise that Cal is the groom that jilted his bride at the alter of one of the weddings that she was photographer at. what sort of man is this Cal? Cal isn't the only with one with relationship issues as Harriet's ex-boyfriend Jon turns up at the house drunk and some time after, Jon's mother also arrives to tell Harriet what she thinks of her. Just when things can't get any worse, she bumps into her abusive boyfriend from before Jon..
Through all these ups and downs, Harriet realises that Cal isn't the ogre that she initially assumed him to be and that he too has had some disastrous relationships.. In fact Cal's friend describes him as dating 'Hot Thatcher's! Make of that what you will!
Harriet has some wonderful female friends (and some not so wonderful) and Nina and Marianne give her the strength to pull through. She does learn that that there is a special place in hell for women who don't help other women but realises that there is perhaps a special place for those women who did help.
This is an insightful book tackling some tough topics but with some comedy and romance thrown in.
An escapist read for readers of general adult fiction, romance and women's fiction.

I love the way Mhairi McFarlane writes. This is the fifth book I have read by McFarlane and she never disappoints!
I loved the surprising turns this story took. Just as I've read in other reviews, this was definitely less romance than her previous novels, but no less entertaining. I really enjoyed reading as Harriet went on her personal journey.
I rated it 4 stars rather than 5, as I felt sometimes the characters had overly-complex conversations about simple things, which I found myself having to read a few times and pay extra attention to. It was charming, which I think was the intention, but perhaps just a bit unnecessarily wordy. I also found it strange there wasn't a resolution between two certain characters that I was expecting.
Overall, another great book by Mhairi McFarlane, and I look forward to her next one!
Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Loved loved loved this book!

Harriet is a fantastic character and the way the women all come together in this story warms my heart and reminds me I'm a feminist deep down. Then there's Cal. Yummy, lovely Cal who I'm a bit in love with.

This book tackles some serious, difficult themes but does it brilliantly. It's well written and the characters are great. Highly recommended!

I've enjoyed everything Mhairi McFarlane has published, so I went into this knowing I was going to have a good time. Mad About You has everything I love about her writing - sparkling wit, a lovable (sometimes thoroughly detestable) cast, an emotionally rewarding & playful romance between two leads written with equal care and a healthy dash of miscommunication to kick things off. Although it's not my stand-out favourite of her books (too many fond memories of staying up all night devouring Who's That Girl), I read it in one sitting and will certainly be recommending it to any romance fans. A shout-out too to one of the most empowering and cathartic dramatic climaxes I've read recently - that's one wedding I'd definitely want to be at.

Photographer Harriet ditches her fiancé at the altar. Needing somewhere to live, she moves in as a lodger with Cal, who coincidentally ditched his girlfriend at the altar a few weeks earlier. Life can't get much more complicated - or can it? A really enjoyable, hard to putdown book.

Absolutely bloody loved this book! It was gripping from start to finish and I just couldn’t put it down! Harriet is an amazing character. She is so life like that at times I think everyone can resonate with some part of her. Thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anybody!

Mad about you.
Mhairi has a unique ability to make me feel every emotion in one story. This one is without a doubt her best book so far. Harriet is a wedding photographer, she’s not looking for love - she’s running away from it. As much as this has comedy running through it, it touches on the very serious subject of domestic abuse. In the form of emotional abuse and coercive control. Having experienced this myself in the past - and having only just acknowledged this, Harriet’s experience of it is both real and heart wrenching. It touches on friendships, bereavement, love & growth. I laughed, I cried and I absolutely loved this book