Mhairi McFarlane

The cutesy cartoon cover does a bit of a disservice to this book, which despite the OTT premise (two lawyers at a firm agree to fake date one another for revenge/promotion prospects) and quite a bit of humour is actually about some fairly serious things: grief, trust, toxic workplaces/acquaintanceships, etc. Mhairi McFarlane also tries to treat the emotions around a fake-dating plot seriously: what would it take to put someone in the mental place where they think something like that is a show more good idea? What kind of emotional toll would the required lying, etc, take on the people involved?

The first section of the book, where main character Laurie is going through a painful break-up with her long-time boyfriend, are emotionally convincing but perhaps take up too much of If I Never Met You, leaving less space particularly for the final act, which felt rushed and less deftly handled. I really liked Laurie as a main character, and unlike some other reviewers here I found her growth quite convincing—I didn't see a problem with her thinking of herself as a good judge of character and then realising how she'd been wrong about both her ex and several of their friends. I mean, that's a classic Lizzy Bennet arc! I would have liked just a couple of more big scenes between her and Jamie. I bought the relationship, but I wanted just a little bit more of the swoon of it all. show less

CW: emotional abuse, gaslighting, negging
3.5 stars. Once again, Mhairi McFarlane's latest novel is being mistakenly marketed by her publisher as a light-hearted enemies-to-lovers romance, rather than what it really is: a frequently angsty story about personal growth and recovery. The love story is just the icing on the cupcake. I didn't find Mad About You as engaging as McFarlane's 2021 release [b:Just Last Night|54870201|Just Last Night|Mhairi show more McFarlane|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1606106948l/54870201._SY75_.jpg|78642686], but she remains one of my few auto-read authors.

Harriet is a successful wedding photographer whose most recent gig was abruptly curtailed when the groom called it off just as the bride was arriving at the church. Despite her profession, Harriet isn't a big fan of marriage, so her boyfriend Jon's very public proposal has the unintended result of Harriet breaking up with him. Wanting to move on as quickly as possible, Harriet accepts new lodgings, sight unseen. Her new home turns out to be lovely, but its owner is none other than the runaway groom who broke his fiancé's heart.

Harriet is horrified to learn that she is living with such a heartless cad, but Cal Clarke seems to be a nice, funny and handsome guy. He even helps Harriet rid herself of the exasperating Jon. But then she encounters another former boyfriend, and is far more traumatized by the memories of that toxic relationship. Can Harriet finally heal from the wounds that Scott inflicted, and is there a way to stop the same thing from happening again to another woman?

The novel's primary theme is the danger of judging others too quickly. Initially, Harriet thought Scott was the perfect boyfriend, but he turned out to be a nightmare. Cal did the unforgivable by jilting his bride on their wedding day, but once Harriet learns the full story she realizes there were justifiable reasons for his behavior. A lot of the fallout from Harriet's vendetta against Scott happens on social media, where people make scathing statements without knowing anything about the facts.

Harriet gets help from her two BFFs and two new friends she meets in a surprising way. The "sisterhood is powerful" theme pretty much overshadows the romance, which feels a bit like an afterthought. It mostly consists of Cal being supportive of Harriet while she gradually stops jumping to the worst conclusions about him, followed by an 11th hour shag and a Medium Sized Misunderstanding that is quickly cleared up.

Although the book has a serious tone, McFarlane never fails to throw in a few zingers, such as this description of the best man at the doomed wedding:

The best man looked at her with an expression of taut desperation. He was coated in a pastry glaze of sweat, like he'd been brushed with an egg wash and would form a solid crust at 180 degrees...he looked as if he were having an anesthesia-free foot amputation aboard a haunted boat in a storm.

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ARC gratefully received from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review. Honestly, I'm kind of sorry I read this in June, because if McFarlane continues to release books on the same timetable I won't be treated to a new one for more than a year. And that's a long time to wait for new material from an author whose layered work evinces so many different feelings. show less

4.5

Eve, Justin, Ed, and Susie have been friends since they were teenagers. Nearly inseparable until they each left for university, but never too far away. They're friendship has only grown into adulthood as they attend weekly trivia at their favorite pub. But Eve has been holding onto a secret: her more than platonic love for Ed. They had their chance years ago, but things happened (or didn't) and now Ed is in a long-term relationship with his girlfriend. Eve knows that Ed has feelings for show more her that are more than friendship, but she's loathe to disrupt cohesive group they've formed.

But in an instant everything changes. Eve's life is upended and secrets are revealed. The kind that make Eve question how well she knows her nearest and dearest. But when someone from the past comes back into Eve's life, she'll find her newfound knowledge putting her on the path to change.

This is going to be a difficult book to review because it all pretty much hinges on this huge event. The "instant that changes everything" for Eve and her friends. But I don't want to spoil anything because I went in with certain assumptions of what said event would be. And I absolutely loved that Mhairi McFarlane pretty much threw me for a loop.

What's important to know and remember about the story is the idea of how well we actually know those in our inner circles. I mean we can know people for years, but unless we are with them 24/7 there are going to be aspects of their lives that we're not privy too. They'll have another group of friends and / or family. That group will have their own history, their own memories and stories that might bring out a different side of someone's personality that is contrary to the one they have with you. So what's real? Mhairi McFarlane takes an in-depth, often heartbreaking look at this idea with Just Last Night. Through Eve's perspective alone we see one woman's entire belief system rattled. Questioning her experiences and her time spent with her friends. Looking back on years of conversations and seeing things with new eyes.

It's a beautiful story, even though it's rather heartbreaking at times, it's overall very hopeful in looking towards the future. I appreciated that Mhairi McFarlane exceeded how I initially felt the story was going to progress. All the pieces and elements fit and line up together so well.

This is the third book I've read by Mhairi McFarline, but she's quickly become an author on my permanent read list. show less

Your enjoyment of You Had Me at Hello will depend sorely on how much Ben you can tolerate. Sadly, I couldn’t tolerate much.

This saddens me so much, because the premise for this book is wonderful. We’ve all had that one person who’s “got away”, so it is supposed to be easy to relate to this story.

It starts off pretty strong too! We see Rachel & Ben in college, where it all started. Ben jokingly (and so cutely!!!) proposes to Rachel and then we’re thrust into present day, 13 years show more later. Rachel is unhappily engaged to someone else, and hasn’t heard from Ben in over a decade.

For the most part, this book is told in past and present POV’s. The past POV shows us Rachel’s life with Ben in college, while the present POV tells shows us how Rachel has been dealing with her life after her fallout with Ben.

What motivated me to keep reading was the fact that I wanted to know why they stopped speaking to each other.

After I actually found out, I was left feeling so disappointed. It made me hate the situation even more and frankly removed an overall star from my rating.

Rachel seems like a very put-together girl, and I value her honesty at the beginning and her courage to have broken off her engagement because she wasn’t happy. After this, when Ben comes into the picture she turns into this lovesick, indecisive, girl who is suddenly unable to speak her mind and decides to settle for whatever it is Ben can offer her.

Which, let’s get this out of the way first: Ben is married. Yes, you heard me correctly. He is not only married, but also happily married. So now begins the constant hot/cold back and forth game between Ben & Rachel.

I hate Ben. I seriously do. Ben is like this annoying rock in your shoe. You think it’ll stop annoying you eventually, but then it’s midday and the rock is really digging into your foot and you feel as if the only solution is to either cut off your foot or set the rock on fire (just me…?). Point is, whenever you thought you couldn’t get any more annoyed by Ben, there he went, annoying you even more!

He said he loved his wife, he said he was happily married, he said he didn’t give a crap about Rachel’s love life, except that’s what it all was. Words. Whenever Rachel did as much as look at someone who wasn’t Ben, he would go all possessive and weird. And then everyone tries to make Rachel feel bad as if she were trying to break apart a marriage or something! I really couldn’t deal with something that was so clearly Ben’s fault.

Something else that really bothered me was the ending. So much angst and drama! I really could’ve done without it. It left me with a bitter taste in my mouth, and a scowl for the rest of the week.

What I did like was Rachel’s group of friends. They were all so quirky and fun! I wanted to be friends with them in real life. I also liked the college scenes because Rachel & Ben were much more tolerable then. There’s no doubt that Mhairi McFarlane is a great author, however this book needed much more editing and revision.

Overall, a book that tells us that when the one who got away comes back, you have to act like a total idiot and wait until he gains the courage to either dump his wife for you OR lead you on and then dump you for his wife. Both outcomes WILL make YOU the villain of the story and everyone you know will very likely see you as a ho.Also, you are a monster who deserves no sympathy. And ugly.

This book could have been something really great, but due to my strong dislike for the main characters, and the lack of real story, I really could not bring myself to rate it something more than 2 stars. show less