Last Night

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Pub Date 1 Apr 2021 | Archive Date 1 Apr 2022

Description

Two best friends. One missed chance. And a night that changes everything.

Eve, Justin, Susie and Ed have been friends since they were eighteen. Now in their 30s, the four are still as close as ever, Thursday pub quiz night is still sacred, and Eve is still secretly in love with Ed.

Maybe Eve should have moved on by now, but she can’t stop thinking about what could have been. And she knows Ed sometimes thinks about it too.

Then one night, in an instant, all their lives change forever. And, as Eve learns she didn’t know her friends as well as she thought, she also discovers she isn’t the only person keeping secrets…

Don’t miss the brand-new book from the No.1 bestselling author, a heartbreaking story of love, friendship and secrets – available to pre-order now.
Two best friends. One missed chance. And a night that changes everything.

Eve, Justin, Susie and Ed have been friends since they were eighteen. Now in their 30s...


Available Editions

EDITION Ebook
ISBN 9780008169527
PRICE £6.49 (GBP)
PAGES 416

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Average rating from 262 members


Featured Reviews

This is the first book by Mhairi McFarlane that I've read and I was hooked from the first page! I didn't read the blurb and just threw myself into the story. What a roller coaster ride! The author managed to make me cry and laugh on the same page and took a piece of my heart as I read the last page. I loved the characters, the strong friendships, Eve's personal development and the evolution of her relationships throughout the book.
It's not a typical romance but rather focuses on friendship and empowerment although I enjoyed the romance (it started quite late in the book) very much. Mhairi McFarlane had me at hello and I will definitely look her other books up.

Highly recommended!

Thank you to the publisher who kindly offered me an e-copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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I loved this. Mhairi’s best yet, I think. Big real issues and real characters and real what-might-have-beens. Mhairi is queen of what-might-have-beens! Some of the stuff around inciting incident was quite difficult to read given the news in the last couple of weeks, but that probably meant I needed to read it - like, I assumed she had got out of the cab early so as not to show the cabbie where she lived, but was wrong about that, which was a relief.

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What a wonderful book.

I was swept into the romance, betrayal and heartbreak of this novel and read it within two days.

The way this book approaches the loss someone close to you so suddenly really struck a nerve with me, as I lost my best friend to Sepsis in 2018, I remember the phone call, sobbing over ironing and dog walking so well.

I was a huge fan of the character growth, the friendship group’s determination to stay together.

Tissues recommended!

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I LOVED this book, I love Mhairi McFarlane and I have read all her books now, she is one of my all time favourite authors and I always eagerly await anything new by her. This did not disappoint at all, once again her Characters are wonderful, people you would love to know yourself ( and def go to a pub quiz with), her clever, witty, insightful writing has such a depth of feeling that it leaves you wanting more from her straight away and it feels such a long long time to wait until her next book.
I didn’t want this one to end, even though very sad and it touches on child abuse the romance and the very funny one liners at times more than make up for the very emotional message in it too, can’t wait until the next one now, and anyone who mentions Don Draper ( my idol) and Al Swerengen ( my husbands Idol) in a book will always be up there for me ❤️

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Another Mhairi McFarlane smash.
A story about friendship, trust and honesty.
Eve is one of the lucky ones. friendship wise. She has her quartet of friends, who have been together for nearly twenty years. Her best friend since forever, Susie, and Justin and Ed, who made up the foursome at Sixth Form.
There's just one little fly in the ointment. She has a HUGE thing for Ed.
An unrequited love, of sorts, especially since he is in a long term relationship with someone Eve really doesn't like.
Things happen on that one night, after the regular quiz night they usually attend, including an impromptu engagement, which spins Eve out of control.
But, it's the phone call the next morning that tears's Eve's life apart, and the consequences of a tragic accident that force her to look at her feelings, and relationships in a whole new light.
I absolutely loved it!
It just goes to show that you never really know someone, or that you can't know everything. Equally, there are reasons you shouldn't know everything.
This story explores relationships and friendships at a deep level.
I sympathised with Eve, a lot, throughout the book. She seemed to have far more than her fair share of heartache chucked her way, in life, but still, she had so much to give, and in losing someone she held so dear, she still manages to rescue, and find someone else.
Many thanks to Netgalley and Harper Collins for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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I didn't even read the blurb for this, I just saw Mhairi McFarlane and thought must-read as I loved her previous book - so funny. Well WOW this couldn't have been more different yet at the same time similar. Like 'If I Never Met You' this was funny mainly due to the author's dry, cynical but spot-on writing style and witty musings. For example, a favourite of mine was Eve pondering "how many mistakes in life are born of a simple fear of being rude" or justification of bitching that some people are so intolerable that "there's only two ways of releasing the pressure. One, letting loose at the individual winding you up, or two, bitching mercilessly behind their back."

But, unlike 'If I Never Met You' which was based on a fauxmance this was essentially a heartbreaking story of friendship and loss (with a little bit of love obviously). As such I wasn't expecting the emotions and thoughts this provoked. But that said it was still essentially a light-hearted read with the author blending her wit and empathy seamlessly....and I for one LOVED it!

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This is the fifth novel that I have read by Mhairi McFarlane and it is her best one yet. I said this in my review for her previous novel, If I Never Met You, but McFarlane is always improving as a writer. While Last Night presents readers with her trademark blend of humor of realism, the tone of the narrative sets it apart from the author's previous novels. Rather than focusing on a character coming to terms with a breakup—as with It’s Not Me, It’s You, Don't You Forget About Me, and If I Never Met You—Last Night centers around grief. The beginning of the novel informs us that our narrator and protagonist have lost someone close to her but we do not who or how until further down the storyline which looks back to the time before this loss. Eve, Justin, Susie, and Ed have been best friends since they were in school and are now navigating their thirties together, still as closer as ever. Eve's feelings towards Ed however may be more than friendly which is not easy given that he has a girlfriend. After 'that night', this group of friends is no longer the same, and Eve discovers that perhaps they did not know each other, as well as they'd thought.
Last Night captures in painful clarity Eve's grief and sorrow. Throughout the course of the novel, Eve is forced to confront how her life has irrevocably changed. Not only did she lose one of the people she loved most in the world but to discover that that person was hiding something big from you only complicates matters. I found Eve's narrative to be compellingly introspective, and McFarlane depicts her feelings and emotions with great empathy. I really appreciated that the story focused on forgiveness and on nuanced characters capable of change. The humor was a bit less PG than her previous novels and it honestly made the story and the characters all the authentic. The romance here takes the backseat to Eve's character growth, and in some ways, it made those more romantic scenes all the sweeter. Also, at last, this novel avoids the unnecessary 'miscommunication' that always seems to happen in this genre. Then, to be fair, unlike McFarlane other books, I would not call Last Night a romcom (even if it has both romance and comedy).
I loved the cultural references, even if many of those references were lost on me, and the story's strong sense of place. Also, I am a sucker for stories with road trips and this had one so...
I thought that this was a very moving and funny story that definitely resonated with me. I loved the themes the author explored in this story and I was sad to reach the last page. McFarlane has truly outdone herself.

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First love, family, friendship, secrets - and how things are not always what they seem ... or what you've always believed them to be. Absolutely loved this - her best yet.

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Wow! This book is one of those books that you will be thinking about for ages after finishing reading.

The characters are all so realistic that you feel with them. Eve is such a strong character that stays true to herself throughout. I’m glad that she knows her worth and won’t settle for less. She was extremely brave to challenge the relationship with her and Ed. I loved Finlay! What a babe!

I love the end. I’m glad Eve got what she wanted and deserved.

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