I’d like to thank NetGalley and Harper Collins for approving me for an ARC of this audio book.


I absolutely loved this book! The narrator was fantastic and made the sort an absolute pleasure to listen to.

There were enough twists in the story to keep you enthralled, the author obvious isn't afraid to cover sensitive and true to life concepts but in a sensitive way.

Brilliant - would definitely recommend!!

I devoured this book, I couldn’t stop reading! A light-hearted romance which, granted is a bit predictable, but touches on some really hard topics, including emotional abuse and gaslighting. I would also add that Harriet’s character growth throughout the book is a real driver of a lot of the story and I love how empowering it was to read. The characters were well-developed and the plot line very engaging. My first but not my last Mhairi McFarlane book.

Mhairi McFarlane never fails, and Mad About You is no exception.

One thing I adore about Mhairi’s writing is that it always covers sensitive and true to life concepts accurately and sensitively.

The audiobook was fantastic, really enjoyed the narrators take on the story and found it kept me occupied whilst doing the chores around the house.

Had me grinning from ear to ear one moment and then misty eyed the next, a really fantastic piece of writing.

Narrator 5 stars

Story 4 stars
This certainly isn't your normal contemporary romance novel and that's what I enjoyed most about it. It delt with some raw and current issues.
Definitely worth reading/listening to.

Mad About You is my first McFarlane book, but it most certainly won’t be the last. I really enjoyed the I really story, the characters and, particularly applicable to the audiobook, the northern accent - it made an entire story feel more authentic and cozy.

I’d like to thank NetGalley and Harper Collins for approving me for an ARC of this book.

From the synopsis you might think that this is a love story and in some ways it is. Mad About You follows the story of Harriet, a wedding photographer, who has just ended her long term relationship to Jon. From the minute Harriet broke things off with Jon I knew I was going to like her. This is a woman who knows her own mind and though she wasn’t cruel to Jon she was firm whilst try to remain friendly.

This break up is what leads her to moving into Cal’s rented room. Lets just say that things got off to a shaky start with these two and there were more than a few laugh out loud moments along the way! It was obvious from the beginning that these two would end up together but like I said the romance is only a small part of this story.

I also have to give a mention to Harriet’s best friend, Lorna. Every woman out there needs a friend like Lorna, she’s brutally honest but fiercely loyal. She’s the kind of friend that would drop everything she’s doing to help you but cross her and you’ll live to regret it!

As the story progresses we learn more about Harriet and why she is so cautious with relationships. Mhairi McFarlane tackles difficult subjects such as gas lighting, coercion and abuse without making the reader feel depressed as well. It’s really important to shed more light on these topics and help not just those involved feel that they can talk but help those who haven’t experienced it understand more.

There were moments of tears, times when I was grinning from ear to ear and one particular moment when I fist pumped the air from pure satisfaction! This was my first Mhairi McFarlane but it definitely won’t be my last.

What a lovely story! I absolutely loved it and listened to it in one day!

Harriet, a 34 year old wedding photographer, has been with her boyfriend John for 4 years when he suddenly proposes in front of his entire family during his parent’s anniversary dinner. Harriet, put on the spot says yes, only to realise that she has no future with Jon and to break up with him an hour and a half later.

Harriet then moves into a house share with Cal, without realising he’s the runaway groom from one of her weddings. Cue a series of will they, won’t they as their attraction becomes stronger and cleare.

Harriet is a wonderful character, life isn’t always kind to her, but she’s able to pick herself up and ride the worst life throws at her.
The emotional abuse story is dealt with tact and sensitivity and I found some of those chapters very emotional.

The narrator also does a great job and makes the story a pleasure to listen to.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for letting me review this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Harriet a 34 year old wedding photographer never wants to get married. So when her long term partner John asks her to marry him in front of his family at his parents 40th anniversary dinner she agrees. What else can she do when put on the spot? Only to call the wedding off an hour later and end the relationship. Needing to find a new place to live she gets a flat share with Cal who was a runaway groom at a wedding Harriet was due to photograph so they don't get off to a very good start. A friendship begins to develop when Harriets ex and his mother start turning up to the house uninvited and Harriet endures torture from her emotionally abusive first ex Scott and Cal explains the real reasons behind the runaway groom situation. Will they or won't they end up romantically involved and will Harriet be able to live her life without input from her exes?

Harriet is an amazing character after losing her parents at a tragically young age and the emotional abuse Scott put her through she should be a nervous wreck but she's so strong willed and makes you see that if you're in or have been in that situation that you can come out stronger on the other side.

The emotional abuse is hard to read but done so well with it only being graphic in a small chapter of the story. If this something you find triggering you may want to leave this chapter out.

The romance with Cal is also done well with it being a slow burn where you're never sure if they're actually going to get together or not but this doesn't take full focus of the story line either. Cal is also a fantastic character as he deals with Harriets eccentric life so well and just takes it in his stride.

At this point I will literally read anything mhairi mcfarlane writes as I love all her work. I highly recommend this. I also listened to this as an audio book and the narrator was very good.

Before I read this book I had never read a Mhairi Mcfarlane before this but now I need to binge read the rest. This book has laugh out loud moments, also dark elements that make it a must read for anyone on the dating scene. This book is one hell of an emotional rollercoaster, the well-rounded characters make you want to laugh and cry with them in equal measure. I love this book so much that we definitely need a sequel for more Harriet and Cal adventures. #MadAboutYou #NetGalley

One word BRILLIANT - absolutely loved everything about this audiobook. The story gripped me from the very start and I also enjoyed the narrator using a northern accent for a story set in the north with northern characters. The developing narrative of each character was both heartbreaking and inspirational at the same time. This is a romance story but not in the conventional sense, its modern and awaits and turns and every character is believable and Im hoping there will be another in the series.

3.5 stars

Headlines:
Sarcastic wit
Chips are down
Coercive control

This story from McFarlane was equal parts sarcastic wit and life handing out crap one piece at a time. It started in one place and ended up in completely different location by the end. It took time for the themes of the story to emerge but they were valuable. Romance was very much on the backburner in this book.

The story centered around weddings, the endings of them, the photographing of them and a really impressive finale. Harriet was a likeable heroine, a hardy Yorkshire lass with the best Huddersfield accent on audio (I live 15 minutes away from that location and appreciated that so much). This tale took you on a mainly contemporary but sometimes retrospective journey of the past men in Harriet's life and it wasn't pretty.

Emotional abuse in the form of coercive control was a important part of this story and it's a theme I welcome more about as it is so insidious in it's form and difficult for victims to speak about and break free from. Bravo, Mhairi for this.

Overall, I wouldn't say this was a fun read but it was absorbing and enjoyable. Excellent narration.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the audio review copy.

I don’t think I read a bad McFarlane book yet. As expected this was a phenomenal story, witty heartwarming and cute. You can’t go wrong.

Just love this author! I was immediately hooked. A fast paced, effortlessly quick read where the pages just turned themselves and I was engaged throughout, mission accomplished. Rom Com at it’s finest.

**Listened to the audiobook**

I really enjoy Mhairi McFarlane's books, but this one just didn't do it for me.
I found it very repetitive, and I think it could have done with being 50-100 pages shorter.

I also found myself getting angry reading it, with the central character not being believed.
It was a lot more hard-hitting that McFarlane's previous books and I wasn't expecting it.

The narrator was OK - but I found her a little whiney rather than sincere, so I think that contributed to my less than favourable opinion of the book as a whole.

Overall I did enjoy the book, but not enough to recommend it. It just made me angry more than anything.

This is my first Mhairi McFarlane book. I assumed it would be rom com but it was more serious than that. I feel some people may need a trigger warning for emotionally abusive relationships.

The story changed up quite a lot with a few different things going but interlinked well. Harriet is a well thought out character with an interesting background. Lorna was more of a supporting character but a really good friend to Harriet. Roxy’s storyline was vague and although she betrayed Harriet I was surprised there was no conversation afterwards or mention of them reconnecting or discussing it at all.

Many parts of this book ring true to me in real life and sadly will for many people. McFarlane wrote a good solution to getting Scotts’ real persona out there. I would have liked to hear more about his reaction to it, and his family, as we only heard from his Dad.

On the love element I didn’t feel like there was a connection between the two characters. I was listening to the audiobook version but I didn’t feel like there was any real build up or reason for the two characters to have a relationship.

Harriet is a wedding photographer, and although you would think that means she is a hopeless romantic, think again. After rejecting her boyfriend Jon's marriage proposal she finds herself moving in with Cal, who in turn has had a botched wedding.

A very quick and easy listen. The characters was well developed. The ending becomes a bit predictable in the middle of the book.

The narration was a little hard to keep track of as there wasn't always a change in the characters voices.

Thank you Netgalley and HaperCollins UK Audio for this audiobook ARC.

I was gifted a copy of this book via @netgalley from @fictionpubteam and I listened to this via audiobook. I found this book an easy read, the characters were likable apart from the odd one or two (I’m looking at you Scott!)

I love it when a romantic comedy novel has a twist to the story and isn’t your typical boy meets girl story and this book gives us that, we have important topics discussed in this book that the story raises awareness off and it was good to see what some characters deserved in the end!

I enjoyed this book and I would hoping for a happy ending in this book and we got it! I would definitely read more of this authors books in the future. The narrator in the audiobook made the book a joy to listen to also!

This was a cute and enjoyable story and it made me smile!

This works brilliantly as an audiobook. I particularly enjoyed the narration. As always with one of Mhairi’s books you slide your way through a full range of emotions and come out at the other end of the book desperate for it not to end.

4.5

When Harriet calls off her engagement to a seemingly perfect guy, she moves into the spare room of Cal, an ex-client of her wedding photography business, a groom who left his bride at the altar, neither of whom knew about the real identity of the other. With an unrelenting ex and his overbearing mother showing up everywhere, the tension between her and Cal due to their strange living situation and secrets that are threatening to consume Harriet and ruin her photography business. Will Harriet make it out of this messy stage of her life and make it out on top or will everyone else get the upper hand?

I really liked this story, I think this is my favourite of Mhairi McFarlane’s novels and I’ve read the lot! I thought Harriet was a really interesting character with a tragic loss in her childhood and you can really empathise with her feeling suffocated in her picture-perfect relationship. What I really liked was her supporting friends and how lovely some of her clients were. They really added some more heart to the story, as Harriet is rather closed off, even to the reader, due to her past trauma.

I really like the Northern representation in Mhairi’s books and the Leeds setting of this story. I think that is definitely one of the strong points in all of Mhairi’s novels. Cal was also a great unexpected romantic lead, as a runaway groom and overall a bit of a grump when we first meet him. I liked reading about their living situation, as they were both rather awkward with each other at the start, only to become friends and lovers as the story went on.

I should warn any potential readers that there are mentions of an emotionally abusive ex, gaslighting, and sexual abuse. This was rather difficult to read and listen to, but I think it was really important to the story and to Harriet eventually overcoming her ex and becoming more confident in herself with partners.

I had fun both reading the book and listening to the audio version of this story. Mhairi McFarlane crafts an excellent story with a light touch. The storyline was different from the norm and very entertaining. The book was good to read and the audio version was very well narrated and the perfect listen for a sunny day’s gardening.