Tuesday, March 24, 2020

If We Never Met - My Review of If I Never Met You by Mhairi McFarlane


Title: If I Never Met You
Author: Mhairi McFarlane
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
Publication Date: 3/24/2020
Source: ARC from the publisher through Edelweiss




https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07TD5CV8S/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=ficwishes-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B07TD5CV8S&linkId=6f1627e5f3e00bf62d39fad739503b2chttps://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/if-i-never-met-you-mhairi-mcfarlane/1132188583?ean=9780062958501https://www.bookdepository.com/If-I-Never-Met-You-Mhairi-McFarlane/9780062958501?ref=grid-view&qid=1585059985149&sr=1-2https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780062958501https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51213487-if-i-never-met-you?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=uXEEbzaYsd&rank=1

If faking love is this easy... how do you know when it’s real?

When her partner of over a decade suddenly ends things, Laurie is left reeling—not only because they work at the same law firm and she has to see him every day. Her once perfect life is in shambles and the thought of dating again in the age of Tinder is nothing short of horrifying. When news of her ex’s pregnant girlfriend hits the office grapevine, taking the humiliation lying down is not an option. Then a chance encounter in a broken-down elevator with the office playboy opens up a new possibility.

Jamie Carter doesn’t believe in love, but he needs a respectable, steady girlfriend to impress their bosses. Laurie wants a hot new man to give the rumor mill something else to talk about. It’s the perfect proposition: a fauxmance played out on social media, with strategically staged photographs and a specific end date in mind. With the plan hatched, Laurie and Jamie begin to flaunt their new couple status, to the astonishment—and jealousy—of their friends and colleagues. But there’s a fine line between pretending to be in love and actually falling for your charming, handsome fake boyfriend.

Mhairi was born in Scotland in 1976 and her unnecessarily confusing name is pronounced Vah-Ree.

After some efforts at journalism, she started writing novels. It’s Not Me, It’s You is her third book. She lives in Nottingham, with a man and a cat.
 
I've read books by this author with before with mixes results, but something about this synopsis called to me and I'm really glad I answered that call.

Laurie's world is rocked when her long time boyfriend not only doesn't propose, but breaks up with her. He says he's not ready to get married. She soon finds out that he already has a girlfriend and that they are expecting a baby. Everything that Laurie thought she knew has been flipped on its head.

Jamie is a player, a ladies man, and as such, he tends to ruffle feathers amongst his work colleagues. When he and Laurie begin to talk about their respective problems, they come up with a singular solution: a fake relationship.

This book had a lot of the usual things you find in fake relationship storylines, jealousy, misunderstandings, hurt feelings, but with the added bonus of McFarlane's wit and charm. I quickly bonded with the characters and felt Laurie's frustrations with her job and the limited choices she felt she had. Jamie was appealing without being too in your face with it. His attractions were subtle, but many. 

Despite somewhat being able to predict where the story was going, I was completely enthralled with the characters and had myself a really good time reading this book.

4 out of 5 Stars


John K - If We Never Met

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