I absolutely adored this book. Such beautiful writing, characters I cared about and an emotive and relevant subject. I will definitely look for more books by this author, and will be recommending to my book loving friends,

I really, REALLY enjoyed this book... until the end!
I probably would have rated this book 5/5 if the ending had been different because I loved it so much; the ending felt so rushed though that I felt no satisfaction finishing this story.... I really hope the ending gets dragged out for a few pages or maybe an extra chapter before publication (and I would definitely love to re-read and review again if that happens!!) but for now this is a 3/5

This book was soooo super cute. My heart was all over the place reading it but I’m so pleased I got to experience their journey. It was really quite lovely.

So, I don’t usually go for anything involving romance or the whole Ron-com stuff. However, I fancied a change and this one jumped out at me.
I’m so pleased it did. It’s definitely one of the the better novels in it’s category, I really enjoyed this. The character development was excellent. They were given actual, filled out characters that I could relate to and be interested in.

If you’re looking for that perfect beach, pool side read, this is it.
Or if you’re like me and have a chair by a pond in your garden, perfect for that too. Would recommend this to everyone.
Thank you to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for my arc.

This novel really came to life for me. I felt that I was truly apart of this story.

The characters were well rounded and I enjoyed their development as the story continued onwards.

I felt the story was realistic, whilst providing just the right amount of escapism.

I expected a light, entertaining romcom and instead "The Man I Never Met" was so much more than that: not just a romcom, but also heartwarming, funny, engaging and multi-faceted in the best possible way. The travel scenes are rich and well described, yet so are the coffee drinking scenes in Hannah's back garden. And my absolute favourite part was that Hannah loves A Room With A View and George Emerson just as much as I do! What a lovely surprise.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Man I Never Met
By Elle Cook

Huge thank you to @netgalley for allowing me to read and review this wonderful novel 💖

Davey…. The man that Hannah had never met. I absolutely adored this novel. I read it over two days and couldn’t give it up, obsessed as I was with this story. 🇺🇸 🇬🇧

Hannah is a single happy go lucky Londoner whose life takes an unexpected romantic twist with one mistaken phone call from Davey. I wanted the romance, I craved the happiness but an awful twist sucker punched me when I was not expecting it.

I loved this novel, Elle has a wonderful way of ensuring the reader falls in love and is rooting for Hannah and Davey. What an absolute stormer of a story.

What I didn’t like? My book hangover has well and truly kicked in 😢. Elle …. I beg for a follow up to this novel 🙏 I need to know what happens next!

I fell in love with all the characters in this book especially Hannah and Davey - the writing flowed beautifully, the places within the novel came to life and I couldn’t stop reading it.

Will definitely be picking up this authors future books!

Firstly I enjoyed this book a lot, not my usual genre and neither was it the authors, but wow did Elle do a great job, but I did have a couple of issues with it.

I liked the premise of the book and thought it was very original. British Hannah gets a call on her mobile (she was as shocked as me that people still use phones for phone calls), from a Texan named Davey, whose misdialled a number for a job interview.

Here lies one of my questions, wouldn't a potential employer phone you for an interview not the other way around?

But anyway they start to text each other and then chat and the book explores whether or not you can fall in love with someone you've never actually met, which I think is very relevant to the way a lot of us live our lives now online, so I found this interesting.

My other issue with the book is that it is said to be set in England, but the language used is very American throughout, which did jar a little with me.

I liked the writing style and enjoyed the exploration of the characters, they all felt very well thought out and well rounded, I really could picture it all happening as I read it. To me at times there felt like there was an unhealthy / abusive relationship happening with George that got brushed over, and didn't get addressed and the obsession with weight kept throwing me off, I felt that it was not needed unless it was for a bigger purpose, which never came.

Overall a great read and emotional at times too. I was invested in the characters and couldn't wait to pick the book back up again to find out what was going to happen next.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for an e-copy of THE MAN I NEVER MET to review.

I really enjoyed this book. I loved the concept of getting to know someone because they dialled your number by mistake, twice. Its realistic enough that it could happen and the story that follows is so refreshing it was a lovely ending and i would happily recommend this book to friends

This book was devastatingly beautiful and filled with such raw emotion. It’s not one you can put down and will have it read in one sitting. The rollercoaster of emotions I felt while reading this will stay with me for a while. It’s beautifully written and you can’t help but fall in love with Hannah and Davey. Their story is beautiful and heartbreaking all in one as it plays out from that first accidental call. The whole will they, won’t they will keep you interested throughout. The way Elle Cook deals with the serious illness in this book shows her skill as a writer but also how this is a very personal subject for her. All in all, this is a beautiful romance that is something a little different from the rest and I would highly recommend it.

Firstly I'd like to thank NetGallery and the publishers for sending me a free digital copy for an honest review.

This book was everything I love about reading, really easy to relate to the characters, a relaxing read that just takes you off to another place whilst it's pages are open.

Hannah gets a phone call one day from an unknown number, an American number.
Little did she know that this wrong number guy would change her entire life.

This book discusses eating disorders and weight issues, as well as cancer and the treatment.

Rating: 4.5 stars rounded up to 5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Read this if you like: coffee☕️, traveling🏝, dual POV👩🏻‍🤝‍👨🏼and long distance romance❤️‍🔥

Wow, I’m simply in love with this book and more importantly I am in love with Hannah and Davey. Their story made me get jitters in my stomach and feel all the nerves and excitement over a new love.

I see a lot of myself in Hannah and became her personal cheerleader throughout the book. I was proud of her when she made good choices and angry with her when she made choices I didn’t agree with (I don’t want to include any spoilers so you’ll have to read yourself).

As much as I loved Hannah and Davey, I was absolutely not a fan of George. He started off very likeable but as the book went on I started to really despise him as a character. That being said, he was need as a polar opposite in this book to Davey. Without George I probably wouldn’t love Davey as much. But if I could punch a character I think it would be him.

The only thing that caught me out while reading was the repeat of certain details throughout the book. Hannah’s love of fairy lights is mentioned about five times and Joan’s dunking technique is written at least twice. I might not have noticed this in other books, but I think I was so involved with the characters in this that the constant repeat of facts was unnecessary for me.

Overall, The Man I Never Met was the perfect romance novel for me. I got so invested in the book and the characters. All I want now is more Hannah and Davey in my life🥰

Thank you Penguin Random House and NetGalley for the ARC, this review is my personal, unbiased opinion.

5* Breathtakingly good

If 'The Man I Never Met' was made into a film it would become a classic.

Davey calls from Texas expecting a telephone interview for a job in London, instead Hannah answers. When he phones a second time they realise he's written down the wrong number. After some quick investigating they identify the correct number and Davey manages to have his phone interview. Hannah is delighted when Davey texts her to announce that he's got the job, she assures him he'll have one friend in London, her. They begin to regularly text each other, progressing to phoning and video calling. On the long awaited day he's due to arrive, he doesn't appear. Days later he phones giving the reason for his non-arrival leaving Hannah distraught.

Starting as a gentle romance, then becoming a rollercoaster of raw emotions. Don't expect to dip in and out of this, it's totally unputdownable. One thing I didn't like was the sudden end, everything was too neatly tied up, even the epilogue seemed more of a post script.

That’s all I’m going to tell you, you'll need to read it yourself. A very emotional book that I thoroughly recommend.

Well, this was certainly not what I expected and it made a refreshing change to the usual romance stories.

Hannah answers her phone to a man called Davey who has mistakenly called her number. He was meant to be phoning a UK number for a job interview. Their relationship develops quickly and is sweet and easy but when they arrange to meet up, things go wrong. This is where the novel takes an unexpected twist and transforms it from a normal romance into something exciting and addictive. I couldn’t put it down!
The characters of Hannah and Davey go through challenging life situations that are emotive as well as heart warming. Not quite a happy-all-the-way novel but the grittiness to it certainly makes it one I’ll be recommending!

Thank you for my eARC of this book. Unfortunately I didn’t finish this. I felt the pacing was a little slow and I didn’t feel invested in the characters.

I’ll start with my rating for this book - 3.5 stars.

Just to say there’s some trigger warnings for this book I think should be made clearer including cancer and weight stigma/issues.

This book centres around Hannah and Davey. Hannah lives in England and Davey lives in the US - a chance phone call brings them together but circumstance keeps them physically apart. It’s a classic will they/won’t they but a fresh take on it and it’s a really heartwarming story.

What I liked most about this book was the fact that one of the main storylines in it was based on the authors lived experience - when I knew that it really bought it to life for me and resonated on a different level, I thought it was such a brave thing for the author to do. I loved the character of Hannah - she has such a great character development throughout the book and whilst at times she had me nearly screaming at the pages, she really does blossom towards the end. I really enjoyed the love story in this with the message that if it’s meant to be, it will be and I love when a story really comes together. I also loved the way George the sleazeball was portrayed - what an awful character but well written.

What stops me giving full stars to this is that it is a really cliche storyline - granted the author does take it in different directions but the ending was still quite cliche but I do like that it was a happy ending. I’d have loved to find out more about the Hannah/George dynamic and what he was hiding and would have liked more of an understanding of Hannah and Davey’s feelings - it all just felt quite sudden with their love and feel that could’ve evolved more.

Overall I really enjoyed reading this and couldn’t put it down as I had to know how it ends.

This was very slow to start to the point where I was fully expecting to rate it a 2 if I even managed to finish it. I found the writing style quite dry to begin with, not a lot happening plot wise and it felt more like reading someone’s journal account of what had happened. Very much tell instead of show what was happening with Hannah’s life. Then there was a turning point. At around 30%, when we find out why Davey won’t be joining Hannah in London and the subsequent separate routes their lives take, the plot seemed to get more rounded. We also started to get Davey’s POV which I loved. What followed was a heartfelt story of two people brought together by fate but kept apart by the cruel reality of the world. Though I would love an extended epilogue with more scenes of Hannah and Davey physically together, I did still enjoy their story in the end.
I will say I also expected more of George’s story, he seemed quite evasive about a lot of things (the being up at 3am detail that was also added) to find it was just him not opening up to her. Like it was all building to some big secret then nothing happened. He also seemed to say things and do things and I just never understood his reasoning especially surrounding money.

A wonderful, beautifully written chic-lit romance. I read it pretty much in one sitting. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me an advance copy, I will definitely be recommending.

Is this going to be a film? It needs to be a film!

One day Davey (in the US) misdials a telephone number and instead of speaking to his new employer he ends up talking to Hannah (in the UK), and so ignites the faint sparks of a relationship, but will they ever actually meet and find out if they could be more than friends?

I loved this, it's an easy, enjoyable read. It is contemporary and romantic but not overly slushy. I liked the main character Hannah, she felt real and rounded, and her relationships and interactions with the other peripheral characters, I thought, were believable.

Yes the coincidences that happen are maybe a little far-fetched (as coincidences are by their nature) but it’s a romance so they are necessary for the hopes-dashed-passions-reignited tug-o-war that we all want and expect from this genre.

My only very slight criticism, and it’s a completely personal one, is the name Davey. I didn’t feel it suited that character and well it just doesn't do it for me! Apologies to all Daveys out there!

This would be an ideal date-night movie so I hope someone picks up the film rights.

I gave this book 4½ stars ⭐ ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Random House, Cornerstone Penguin for providing an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.