Bestselling author Mhairi McFarlane returns with another heartfelt romantic comedy perfect for fans of Josie Silver, Sophie Kinsella, or Sally Thorne.
One of Shondaland’s 5 Must-Read Books for March and a Best Romance of 2020 by Amazon, OprahMag, Insider, Buzzfeed, Bustle, Cosmo, PopSugar, and BookPage.If faking love is this easy… how do you know when it’s real?
When her partner of over a … BookPage.
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…
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If I Never Met You felt like I was reading about two superior aliens—brilliant, witty—who manage to find and cherish each other on earth. Five stars plus!
I have loved all Mhairi McFarlane’s books, but this one particularly. Great humour, well-drawn characters, and a plausible take on fake-dating. I would call it more chic-lit than romance, as it explores a lot of other issues around relationships, love and trust. The romance is slow burn and fits in nicely, though. Top notch all round!
Laurie is thirty-six-years-old and has been with her partner for eighteen years when he tells her their relationship is over. Unfortunately, she still has to see him at work, and she finds out that he has a pregnant girlfriend. What else can Laurie do but pretend to date the office playboy?
Jamie needs to appear more serious and professional at work and is determined to be rid of his playboy reputation. Pretending that Laurie is his girlfriend is a great way for Jamie to achieve his goals. Of course, neither Laurie nor Jamie intended for their fake feelings to become real. Can a fake romance become the real deal?
I enjoyed this contemporary romance and think that the main characters are so well-developed. Laurie is smart and funny, and I love her self-discovery throughout the story. She is gutted by the break-up and really has to start over and figure out who she is without her ex. It’s sad and moving and inspiring to see Laurie find herself. Jamie is also well-layered and interesting. He’s generous, ambitious, and pretty sensitive once you get to know him. I like that there is more to both than meets the eye.
The slow-building romance between Laurie and Jamie is fantastic! I love the fake-dating trope, and Laurie and Jamie are fake-dating goals! Jamie treats Laurie so much better than her ex, and their chemistry is off the charts. I love how, as they pretended to date, they grew fond of each other. Their friendship grows into something more, and it was fun to watch.
Another thing that I enjoyed is that, though the story is light and fun and filled with sarcasm and witty banter, there are also some really poignant messages about love, relationships, confidence, and ambition. I’m so thankful to have won If I Never Met You in the Love in Lockdown Giveaway hosted by Avon and Harper Collins Publishers and can’t wait to read more by Mhairi McFarlane!
I loved this book but if I wasn’t familiar with this author’s work, I could’ve been put off by the misleading description. I didn’t find it “…utterly hilarious – the funniest feelgood romcom…” I think this does the story a huge disservice. It was quite deep and emotional, rather than a humorous romance. Laurie and Jamie are great characters with well developed backstories. I was really rooting for them and found it hard to put down until I knew what happened in the end.
Well written but very slow, more about the protagonists self discovery than the romance.
I was eager to read my second Mhairi McFarlane romance, and it didn’t disappoint, even if I found it slightly less plausible in terms of the actual romance than the last one. It more than made up for that with the very entertaining, very feminist B plot of a bunch of sexist colleagues — including her prat of an ex-boyfriend/ex-common law husband — being obnoxiously paternalistic in the main character’s legal office. Laurie’s arc of victory was very much her own, which I appreciated. McFarlane writes excellent snarky, emotionally immersive third person.
I love a good revenge story, and this book delivers. McFarlane is a must-read author for me and the extra emotional depth of this book makes it my favourite romcom of hers.
I read a lot of reviews and liked the authors previous works so I decided to try this one. Now, I don’t love fake relationships, but sometimes they work. Laurie had just been dumped by her boyfriend of 18 years because he “didn’t want kids or like where their life was headed” and found out he had emotionally cheated on her, was dating someone new and the new girlfriend was pregnant. During those moments in this book, I really felt for her. It broke my heart because I could picture her in that position, but I don’t understand why you would WANT to make your ex jealous when he is going to be a father. At this point, please accept this is over and move on.
Jamie was a player (but not really?) who didn’t believe in love. As we see more of him, we see why he feels this way and I did like his heart after getting through why he was the way he was. He thought that by him settling down, he would be able to show everyone he was worthy of a promotion at the law firm they worked at. We all know this is a bad idea, but I have seen it done more than once in books. Spoiler, they always find out and it goes badly.
In the end, I liked Jamie more than I liked Laurie, which was a surprise for me. If you like fake relationships with a lot of emotional baggage, you will like this one.
Never read a Mhairi McFarlane book before so I was anxious to start this one. To be fair it was funny. The banter between characters had me chuckling throughout. However, I felt like it dragged in some areas. This book took too long to heat up. Don’t get me wrong I love sweet stories. Amy Harmon pens some amazing books with little/ to no sex scene you don’t miss. This one fell a little flat for me. But I did enjoy it and overall why I rated it at 3.5 Stars. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher’s who provided this arc in exchange for an honest review.
Firstly, I would like to thank NetGalley and Mhairi McFarlane for an eARC of this book for an honest review.
I’d read Don’t You Forget About Me last year and it was my favourite book that I read, so I was very excited to be able to read another book by this amazing author. This is another brilliant rom-com that I hated putting down because of everyday life and having to sleep, (sigh). I didn’t expect it to be a similar storyline To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before but finding out that McFarlane wanted to do a showmance story anyway was reassuring. If you didn’t enjoy TATBILB (like me) or even if you did enjoy it, then this book is for you.
Laurie and Jamie’s relationship is one that became contracted but ended up being a beautiful relationship that ended in true love. It may have been a little predictable what how can you have a showmance that isn’t? Although it was predictable it was still original and had a nice up and down rhythm in terms of pacing. It was very PC so if you don’t enjoy heat in a book then you would also enjoy this romance. There was a lot of representation in this book which made my heart sing. A multi-racial relationship that kept all cultural traditions/traits, and beautiful feminist representation that was a good steady theme throughout.
I also enjoyed the morals that ran throughout the story. I really related to the absent father and the family member with cancer as I think that it is important to show all parts of characters’ lives even when the story is focused on romance.
If I Never Met You is what I expect of a rom-com within this trope. There’s a bit of humor sprinkling throughout while Laurie finds herself after an 18 year long relationship goes south. Laurie is propositioned by Jamie, another coworker, to fake an office romance as a quid pro quo.
Laurie is the heroine I want to get her HEA. She’s independent and becomes motivated to no longer be a doormat in the most intimate relationships one can have, whether it’s with “friends”, partners, or parents. It’s never too late to stand up for yourself. This could easily make a cute movie.
I do wish there was a little bit more originality in the story as it felt predictable but it was overall an enjoyable read.
Thank you, HarperCollins and NetGalley for the advanced copy! All thoughts in this review are my own.
I love the cover for this book and the blurb was just what I was looking for in a book. I love a good slow burn and the fake relationship.
Jamie and Laurie decide they can help each other out. Laurie can help Jamie look good to his company he’s trying to make partner at. He can help Laurie make her ex jealous. She has to work with her ex and after being together for a long time he decides he’s done with their life together.
I enjoyed this book so much. I laughed a lot and and my heart broke for the characters. Mhairi McFarlane pulled me into this book and I loved every minute of it
Mhairi McFarlane does it again and this time with an even better fake romance trope. Laurie and her long time boyfriend who is also a colleague in the same law firm breaks up with her suddenly. the rumor mill has that her ex’s girlfriend is not pregnant – and yet he told Laurie that having kids was not in his future. Well Laurie is not going to take this lying down and takes an opportunity to have this fake relationship with the ever so handsome and charming Jamie Carter. Nothing is ever typical with McFarlane because she writes her characters with heart and sass – always so funny with a hint of sarcasm. Women are strong and not helpless and underneath it all is a great journey of what is most important to look into the future but also realizing past mistakes. I really enjoyed this fun rom com, with relatable characters and amazing dialogue. I highly recommend this very much!
She has written another great book. Wish she would write faster.
Mhairi McFarlane is a new to me author and one I will definitely read in the future. In I Never Met You we get a fake romance that was fun, charming and had me grinning. Laurie is heartbroken when her longtime boyfriend breaks up with her and moves on. What is even harder, they work together and everyone knows her humiliation. What is a girl to do? Well, find a fake boyfriend, right?
Enter Jamie, fellow office employee and hot and sexy. They can help each other and have the perfect fake relationship. I just loved Laurie and Jamie. Yes, he is charming, sexy and known as a playboy. But she realizes there is more to him as she spends time with him. Though Laurie is hurt over what her ex did, she is smart and confident She just wants to get past the gossip. But what happens when lines begin to blur?
If I Never Met You by Mhairi McFarlane was such a fun and charming read and one I highly recommend.
Happy reading!
Mhairi McFarlane took me from heartbreak to restoration in 400 pages and I loved it! You could feel Laurie’s anguish over the demise of her 18 year relationship, but I love that it wasn’t all woe is me (though there was a little bit of that) – she is a fierce, independent, intelligent woman and she stood up for herself in a way that I found very admirable and even inspirational. I also really enjoyed Jamie’s character and the way they advocating for each other and grew as individuals. I was taken aback by the small (and possible slightly triggering) reveal from Laurie’s background – after reading Don’t You Forget About Me which also had a character that had a traumatizing event in her background, it made me wonder if this is a tidbit that was included in all of the author’s books. Other than that, I enjoyed watching Laurie regain her self-confidence, find new love, and recognize that love (real love) comes in many different forms. I look forward to checking out Mhairi McFarlane’s back catalogue and I’ll definitely be adding her to my “auto-buy” author list. 4 out of 5 wine glasses.
So there’s a lot to love about this book. Laurie is a wonderful character and I love that this book is as much about her rebuilding her confidence after a massive betrayal and leaning on solid friendships (and learning healthy boundaries with her parents) as it is about romance. Lots of humor, but also a lot of deep emotional work going on as well.
DNF 20%
I really thought I was going to like this book. It had good reviews and seemed like something I would enjoy from the blurb. Unfortunately, I found myself not connecting with the main character Laurie. By 20% when I still wasn’t really caring what was going on I decided to stop and call it done. If I am not interested in what the characters are doing and feeling than its not for me.
*ARC provided by Netgalley for an honest review.*
Oh, the repercussions, good and bad, of a web of deceit!
This novel’s multi-dimensional drama was good. Of the main characters, playboy Jamie was my favorite. Yes, he is ambitious but he also has surprising frankness, kindness and emotional depth as he teams with Laurie to create a fake romantic relationship to trick Laurie’s ex-boyfriend Dan and their bosses and other colleagues. The death of Laurie’s long-term relationship with Dan made her a really sympathetic character. But more than that, she’s got things to resolve with her parents, sexism and paternalism at the office, and a catty social circle to handle. Her BFF Emily does stand loyal and irreverent to the end, but Laurie has major trust issues that she eventually realizes go much further back than Dan’s betrayal. She’s a complex character and, despite her flaws, a heroine who deserved her happy ending.
I loved the development of the friendship and then attraction between Laurie and Jamie, but the ending resolution was a bit rushed. And the social outings with Emily were barely coherent at times: my least favorite part of the story.
Overall, I really enjoyed Mhairi McFarlane’s take on the fake boyfriend trope.
The romance had its subtle, touching moments; she included such a variety of other elements and subplots; and the characters, right down to the office busybody, came across as real, flaws and all, people.
Thanks to publisher Harper Collins and NetGalley for providing a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest review.
This is the first book I’ve read by Mhairi McFarlane and I loved it. Laurie and Jamie were such an unlikely couple. Although they casually knew each other at the office, they most likely never would have gotten past a superficial acquaintance, (especially since Laurie did not have a favorable opinion of Jamie due to office gossip), if they hadn’t gotten trapped in an elevator together on a Friday night for well over an hour and were therefore forced to actually converse. In addition, if Laurie hadn’t been coming off the breakup of an 18 year (!) relationship, they never would have noticed each other. Just goes to show that timing really is everything in romance.
I love a good slow burn romance as opposed to the usual insta-lust, and this was a slow burn done perfectly. Initially, the MCs had no intention of making their fake relationship real, however, as they slowly got to know each other and got past each other’s surface layers, their friendship and attraction grew, until it seemed inevitable that they would give in to their growing attraction. It was also lovely to see Jamie support Laurie and push back against the rather toxic, gossipy fishbowl that was their office. Laurie’s previous partner had never supported her in her personal or professional life and it was so great to watch her regain her own ambition and agency after (voluntarily) subsuming her own desires to those of her jack*ss ex-BF. Laurie’s growth in her personal and professional life was just as much a part of the story as the romance was. Overall, I can’t think of anything I didn’t like, except for the fight followed by the inevitable forgiveness at the end of the book which seemed rather abrupt, especially given the prior slow build-up. However, that was a minor niggle to a lovely romance.