I loved the idea of this story, but it didn't quite work for me. I think there was maybe too much going on which distracted from the romance element and the ending was a little abrupt.

My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

I have been reading Mhairi McFarlane books for years. I have always found them either really great, or really poor. This one was just OK.
I struggled to get into this book, and usually (if not reviewing) I would have DNF'ed the book.
I'm pleased I carried on reading though.

This book handled some delicate topics really well - such as depression and suicide - and gave the book a bit more of a 'backbone' than some other romantic books.

Overall this was a nice book to read (despite some of the sad elements) but is not one I will rave about, or even remember in a months time.

Thanks to the Publisher and Netgalley for an early review copy.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

Bel works as a undercover investigative journalist based in Manchester. When a new calmed Connor joins the paper, they don’t exactly get off on the right foot and decide to stay as far back from each other as they can manage.

But, when Connor finds himself involved in the latest investigation Bel is undertaking, which is a political corruption, they have to improvise and Bel has to portray him as her fake boyfriend.

The story had romance as well as the importance of the investigation.

I highly recommend this book.

. I liked the setting and that the dual narrative meant that we got insights into both Bel and Connor. A slow burn which took a little time to get going. It was not my favourite from this author but still an enjoyable read

Bel used to be a podcaster now she's an investigative journalist at a national paper in Manchester. It's a small office consisting of herself her co worker Aaron and a new intern, Connor. When her and Connor get off on the wrong foot she thinks it's going to be a difficult few months. Until she gets wind of a massive story and Connor gets caught in the crossfire and he's roped into being Bels fake boyfriend. If this goes well Bel will be able to break a massive story and get justice for the sources but it doesn't take long for the lines between real and fake dating to blur. Will she be able to get the story and the man?

Mhairi McFarlane has done it again. At this point I think I'd even love reading her shopping lists. I've loved everything ive read by her so far and this was no exception the way she writes keeps me so gripped. This was a mixture of witty hilarious banter and really heavy emotional topics making me both laugh and cry. Connor and Bel were such a slow burn and I wondered if either of them were going to admit their true feelings in the end. I will continue to read everything Mhairi writes and will continue to recommend her to everyone.

Bel is a sharp, determined investigative journalist, and Connor—an intern in his thirties—is her reluctant office rival. Sparks don’t exactly fly when they're together... until an undercover encounter forces them into an unexpected arrangement: fake dating. From there, the tension simmers in classic slow-burn fashion.

Having recently read a lot of American cowboy romances, I found the shift back to British slang a bit jarring at first—but once I adjusted, Mhairi McFarlane’s signature wit and dialogue came through strong. As always, she excels at crafting emotionally intelligent, layered characters.

Bel and Connor's relationship unfolds gradually, almost imperceptibly at first, which is both a strength and a slight drawback. While I appreciated the depth of their emotional connection and the realistic pacing, I wasn’t fully convinced by their chemistry. Still, I enjoyed watching them learn to trust each other, and the journey felt authentic.

The story takes its time to get going, which aligns with its slow-burn nature, so while the early chapters dragged a little, the payoff later felt earned. That said, a few narrative choices left me unsettled. Without spoiling too much, I wish there had been more closure around Bel’s past relationship with Tim. There were layers to their breakup that never came to light, and it felt unfair that Tim was left with only part of the truth.

The ending also felt quite abrupt. A short epilogue would have gone a long way in giving readers more closure—especially since McFarlane doesn’t always guarantee a couple’s happily ever after!

Overall, while this isn’t my favorite of McFarlane’s novels, it’s still an enjoyable read for fans of emotional depth and nuanced character work.

Tropes:

Enemies to lovers

Fake dating

Slow burn romance

Thank you to the writer, publisher and Netgalley for a free copy of this ebook in exchange for a review.

Oh my goodness, I totally love Mhairi McFarlane – this book is just gorgeous. Pure joy to read, lots of fun, humour and intelligence – basic genius really.

It’s a simple enough rom-com but those are hard to write and McFarlane nails it with sharp detail, layered characters, and genuine humour. This isn’t fluffy, patronizing fiction. It’s clever, emotionally intelligent, and written for women who know their own minds.

As I’ve said in other reviews of her work, she doesn’t write dumb, trashy fiction. This is for intelligent, well educated, career-driven women who want something light for their leisure time. This is for my friends and peers—women take up space in the world and want fiction that respects both their intelligence and their emotions. Why shouldn’t we have both, cerebral fiction that makes you laugh out loud, and fall in love with a new book boyfriend?

The story gives us everything we love: enemies to lovers (my favourite!), fake dating (not usually my thing, but it works here), forced proximity, even a shared bed. It's basically a rom-com masterclass. But somehow, none of these tropes feel forced—they just unfold naturally, and you don’t realise how many you’ve ticked off until later.

It’s Bel and Connor, both working on a newspaper – She’s the quirky roving reporter (imagine Lois Lane in Doc Martens), and he’s the polished, aloof new guy—total Mr Darcy vibes (which McFarlane leans into with delightful irony). When she goes undercover for the big story, he accidentally finds himself along for the ride and they start to misunderstand each other. This is slow burn, this is no kissing until the end, this is no spice, this is about the verbal sparring, the shared experiences, the mistakes and the missed opportunities.

There are loads of cultural references that made it feel so up to date that it's just not true – when did she write this, last week? But also, probably play to a generation X audience very well.

I guess the thing I would say is, I just loved it, go and read it. NOW! Run, don’t walk!

The problem with being a Mhairi McFarlane fan is you get used to being spoilt. As someone who’s read hundreds of rom-coms, I know there are books that are absolute toilet, then above this there are fairly pleasant reads that make up the majority of the genre, and above those there are absolute crackers. Then there’s Mhairi.

I consider myself pretty widely-read, from Anglo Saxon poetry to Brit-lit, from popular fiction to medieval mystery plays. So when I read my first Mhairi McFarlane novel, I got a couple of pages in to what I expected would be a book that was average for the genre before I literally sat up a bit and thought, ‘Oh! Oh, so this is someone who really knows what she’s doing.’ And after that, I found each of her books was witty, well-plotted and paced, had engaging larger-than-life characters with well-crafted arcs, and an incredibly insightful understanding of human nature.

So when a new McFarlane book is released, your expectations are high and the fear is anything less than brilliant is going to be a let-down. Like the pressure of being the next actor to don the Superman suit after Henry Cavill, the odds weigh heavily in favour of disappointment.

But I should remember In Mhairi We Trust, because Cover Story is soooo good. I’ve long accepted that it’s unlikely anything will ever quite reach the heights of Don’t You Forget About Me or Last Night (if you’ve not read them, check them out), but her latest is quintessential Mhairi.

Bel is a typical McFarlane incisive-yet-messy protagonist, and I really enjoyed the dual aspect narrative that allowed us to see Connor’s personality and thought-processes. Bel’s story and arc outside of the romance element was really interesting and served to ground the developing relationship in some substance. As always, there were some expertly-drawn supporting characters from the toxic (Anthony, Glenn, Jen and even Aaron) to the sublime (Shilpa, Ian, Shaun, Amber). The characters’ inner thoughts and repartee with others is so sharp (for me, that’s the defining feature of McFarlane’s work), featuring sometimes subtle cultural references that keep me entertained, on my toes and frequently snorting out loud with laughter – I think every woman of a certain age has been to a place where ‘men roamed like feral jackals in Superdry.’

I’m so glad (and relieved) that Cover Story is another winner. In our modern, throw-away culture that churns out masses of low-quality goods for consumption, this feels like a rare treat: the satisfaction of this read is that which you get from anything well-made that’s had time, effort and skill poured into it.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

A Duel POV full of McFarlane's usual wit and banter. This author is an auto-read for me, and she never disappoints.
Characters that are well rounded with the charm and flaws that we all have. Stories that are true to life with laughs, great friendships, and the reality of situations that we could all find ourselves in.

The slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers dynamic that Bel and Connor is just perfect. Thrown into a fake relationship due to a story that reporter Bel is investigating, Connor has her back at all times.
Being able to know what each character is going through with the dual POV is just masterful.

Serious issues are also dealt with in a sensitive manner, but one of the things that I love about this author is how "real" her books are. Never tacked on, but included because life is never easy.

Highly recommended

Another absolutely fantastic read. I think I have read every book this author has written and enjoyed them all. Each time a new one comes out I fear it may not be as great but that has yet to happen. The characters are so well written and true to life it was a joy to read. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for giving me access to an early copy of this book.

Funny and gripping and, crucially, emotionally convincing. McFarlane's characters always feel like real people and this book is no exception. Loved it.

I've always enjoyed Mhairi McFarlane's off-beat style of writing. The banter involved always lends originality to the story and depth and maturity to the characters. In this instance, It was Bel and Connor. At the beginning, they didn't hate each other per se, but they weren't exactly friends either. Bel is an investigative journalist and Connor, having left a job in finance, is now an intern. It is only by coincidence that Connor is roped into Bel's investigation by becoming her fake boyfriend.

There were several sub plots which dealt with issues such as stalking and the breakdown of previous relationships. The side characters were interesting, especially Bel's best friend, Shilpa. I loved the fact that the story was set in Manchester and all the bars and restaurants are actual places and not fictitious. Also, I will now be using the phrase, "Back to Button Moon in your bean can," frequently.

Told in dual perspectives, Cover Story is a book that will keep you invested in the characters and thoroughly entertained.

Unusually for a Mhairi McFarlane book, it took me a while to get into Cover Story. I found the early chapters a bit confusing and I struggled to like the characters. It was slow to get going for me. But once the sting started, I was intrigued, and before long I was completely sunk. Unashamedly making full use of the enemies to lovers and fake dating tropes, not to mention will-they-won’t-they and forced proximity, this romance had all the feels. Connor made an adorable hero, entirely worthy of Bel’s love. He helped her be the best and bravest version of herself, and return she did the same for him. Just gorgeous.
I also appreciated the serious points about toxic masculinity, stalking, and male mental health. There was so much in this book about what a healthy relationship should be like.
I’ll be first in the queue for McFarlane’s next book. Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this one in exchange for an honest review.

Mhairi McFarlane has quickly become a must buy author for me. She has a great way of writing relatable and believable characters that you absolutely root for and the romance is just perfectly executed and this novel was no different.

Connor has decided he no longer wants to work in the cutthroat environment of the financial sector and to the dismay of his current gf Jenny he decides to go fro his dreams and do an internship to become a journalist. He lands a role in a paper where Bel and Aaron work. They don't have good first impression of each other, Connor feels Bel looks down on him for his change of career at 34, Bel feels Connor looks down on her for her wealth and lifestyle choices. When Bel goes undercover to report on the Mayor abusing his power over much younger women Connor unwittingly becomes involved. They're now forced to pretend to be a couple and through this they find that maybe they were wrong about their assumptions of each other.

Really enjoyable and as I said I love Mhairis writing style. I'm docking a star just because it was a very slow burn and I didn't root for either character as much as I have in other books by Mhairi. I would still recommend though as its highly entertaining. Thank you to Netgalley, Mhairi and Harper Collins for the ARC of this book.

2.5 stars

I’ve read a lot of Mhairi McFarlane books and usually really enjoy her work; she has written some of my favourites. This one, however, felt different somehow compared to her other books, and it didn’t work for me.

The pacing was quite slow, especially in the beginning, and while I don’t mind that generally it was hard to get through here. This might have to do with the fact that there was so much going on in this book that it felt a bit overwhelming and messy to me, and also with the disappointing romance between Bel and Connor. While I did like them on their own, I didn’t really feel the spark between them. That made it difficult for me to root for them, so I just didn’t really care about them. And since I was mainly here for the romance, that's a problem.

Also I found it a bit weird and (very) unbelievable that everybody Bel encountered was just immediately smitten with her for some reason. Like she was an okay character, but in no way 'special' enough to elicit that kind of behaviour.

I’m a bit sad the romance didn’t work for me because I enjoyed the investigation storyline. That could have been so good with the fake dating..

I’ll definitely read her next book, but this one was a miss for me, unfortunately.

Bel joined the Manchester office of a big national paper for her award-winning podcast. There's only three of them - Bel, her relentlessly ambitious colleague Arron and the new intern. And when the intern turns out to be a thirty-something man called Connor, she gets off on totally the wrong foot.

Cover Story follows Bel - an investigative journalist and podcaster, and Connor - the new intern, are colleagues at a Manchester newspaper. She's working undercover, trying to get evidence on the claims that were made against the Mayor.

This is quite an emotional read. I loved the author's writing style and the humour that's thrown in. There were mentions of gaslighting, suicide, depression and stalking which might upset some readers. This is a multilayered story that held my attention throughout.

Published 8th May 2025

I would like to thank #NetGalley #HarperCollinsUK #HarperFiction and the author #MhairiMcFarlane for my ARC of #CoverStory in exchange for an honest review.

Mhairi never misses and I will die on that hill. Another quick read with all the things you could want in a book

Cover Story epitomises same-but-different. It's the same as Mhairi McFarlane's other romantic comedies, in that it's exceptionally well-written, with characters I believe in and think about long after finishing the last page. It's different in that it's tropier than I've found McFarlane's books before - which is no bad thing. and especially when one of those tropes is enemies to lovers, which readers cannot get enough of.

This book had me fighting sleep at 3am, whispering “just one more chapter” like a liar.

Bel and Connor? Pure slow-burn enemies-to-lovers magic. She’s a badass journalist with trust issues and a grudge, he’s an intern with attitude and hidden depth....and when they’re shoved into a fake relationship for an undercover story? Cue the tension so thick you could cut it with a press pass.

Yes, it’s witty (McFarlane doesn’t miss when it comes to banter), but what I didn’t expect was the emotional sucker punch. This isn't just fake dating fluff...it dives into power, trauma, ethics, and trying to stay afloat when life’s kicking you in the teeth. But somehow it still makes you laugh and swoon.

Only complaint? I wanted more at the end. Just a smidge more closure. But maybe that’s just the hopeless romantic in me screaming for a bonus chapter.

If you like your romance with brains, bite, and brilliant writing, grab this one. Trust me. You’ll end up rooting for them like your Wi-Fi depends on it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins UK for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

#coverstory #netgalley

Mhari doesn’t disappoint. This is a storyline which delivers the usual humour, great characterisation, strong friendships and the romantic element. All done in a well paced and credible way. Moreover, the book deals with serious and important issues of abuse of power, exploitation and burnout. The humour and the tension sit well balanced to deliver a really terrific read. Four and a half stars