Laurie Watkinson and Dan Price have been together since university, that is, for 18 years. They love each other, they're comfortable, they have good jobs as lawyers at the same firm in Manchester and they enjoy their lives. And are even thinking about starting a family. That is, until it turns out, that Laurie is thinking. Dan is over - thinking: he doesn't want the same things are Laurie wants. He wants out. He dumps her. And immediately starts a relationship with another woman who also immediately fells pregnant of course. To tell that Laurie is devastated would be an understatement.
One day she's stuck in the lift at work with Jamie Carter, the firm lothario, and they decide to stage a "faux - mance", as they both can benefit from it. Let's the fun and games begin, right? Has Laurie supposed that there is much more depth to Jamie than she's thought? Has she expected that this fake relationship will help her build self esteem and confidence? How it is actually going to end?

The absolute highlight of this story was how the romance aspect was developing, how it underlined the importance of friendship before anything can happen but also, and believe me, yes, we know the formula, we know those arranged and fake office romances are similar, predictable and likely to end in tears, this time the plot simply brilliantly worked in this book. Also, the characters are one of the strongest points here. They're believable, likeable, and although there were some moments that made me roll my eyes thinking, yeah, for sure, this is going to never happen in real life, like the conversation between Jamie, Dan and Michael, I mean, who would allowed to be talked to like that, I was totally engrossed in their lives, and this is always a good sign. When you get to know Jamie, you quickly learn that he's not this pretentious, irritating, arrogant Lothario that other think he is. Yes, he is ambitious and hard - working but he truly knows where the priorities are and there is this gorgeous, lovely vulnerable side to him. It was not to be hidden that he respected Laurie, acting like a gentleman, always putting her first, which was a great change after getting to know Dan.
Laurie, even though she's also ambitious and hard - working, she's also smart, funny and sharp. It's so normal that her confidences sky - rocketed downhill after the break - up, and it made her feel even more realistic and genuine, because let's be honest, who wouldn't feel like that after ending a relationship that lasted nearly half of your lifetime, right? I loved to see her growing in confidence again, mending her heart, seeing another perspective. They were both so at ease in each other company, I adored their banter.

The beginning was brilliant but then it went a bit confusing for me, and it felt like this until Laurie and Jamie's deal, as then the story really gained speed and started to fill with McFarlane's hallmark sarcastic humour - just what I like best. I adored the fact that this time the author's observations and descriptions of feelings and emotions were spot on. The author has a way with words, even the normal banter between the characters feels fresh, sharp and authentic. She has paced her story really well (well, except for the part right after the beginning until the deal - I know, I know, I'm repeating myself!) and made it unique and refreshing, without making the plot unnecessary complex and complicated. Her characters are realistic and have depth to them, much more that you could expect.

It was a funny (even though this time the humour didn't resonate with me right from the beginning and on all levels), light and witty book, also filled with insightful thoughts. Although at the beginning I couldn't connect with Laurie, I'm not sure why, it was somehow hard to keep track with her but it quickly changed and I started to love her, her being so smart, seeing under the surface, seeing things that other didn't want to see. It was a lovely, heart-warming and entertaining read - if you get through the most confusing first part. It touches upon some tricky issues, such like dysfunctional families, love, hate, betrayal, hope and loss and the author deals with them all in a skilful, gentle way, not forgetting to balance the most heavier parts with humour. What I really liked is the fact that the book is not too sugary, you know, it's not heart - ripping but also not only sweet, charming and beds of roses kind. Highly recommended!

This is an enjoyable chick lit book. While predictable, it did keep me engaged and shows how we shouldn’t judge people until we know them.

I loved this book so much! It's the first book I've read by this author but I will definately be reading others. It starts with Laurie and Dan, they've been together 18 years, he's the only boyfriend she's ever had. Then he leaves and Laurie is heart broken. She's in her 30's and they work together. She feels she's lost the best years of her life and might have to leave her job too. Then we meet Jamie - office scoundrel and ladies man who makes Laurie a proposition to help her get back at Dan and help his own career prospects at the same time.

I fell totally in love with Laurie straight away. She is so lovely and anyone who has ever been heart broken will feel her pain... Jamie is a character we get to know more slowly and I fell in love with him too! This is such a great book- it's beautifully written. It's sad, funny, heart breaking and heart warming. It's predictable... but there are plenty of twists, turns and misunderstandings along the way... and actually I like predictable!

I think readers of Jill Mansell and Marian Keyes will love this - it's also got a touch of the Bridget Jones about it. I've completely devoured this in one sitting - it's the perfect book for a lazy afternoon!

I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley with no promise of a favourable review.

Slow paced read which I struggled to keep motivated to keep reading.

Personally I wouldnt recommend it to anyone, but looking at everyone else reviews i do feel like i missed out a great read!

I read this book quickly for several reasons - it was gripping, I wanted to find out what happened and it wasn't your typical romance. There was a really balanced mix of real life, drama, office politics, dating rituals and so much more all captured within this book that made it worth getting stuck into. Mhairi is full of wit in her writing and the humour shone throughout but with enough of a nod to the more sombre times as well. This is the first book by Mhairi McFarlane that I've read but certainly won't be the last!

This is one of the best books I’ve read recently! I read it on a couple of days and had that awful torn feeling of wanting to I finish it so I knew what happened, but also not wanting it to end! Definitely recommend

Thoroughly enjoyed this book. A very engaging read with likeable and believable characters. Quite cheesy and predictable at times but written so well that it just adds to the overall charm.

This is the story of Laurie and Jamie. Laurie has been with her partner Dan for 18 years, since they were 18 in fact, when out of the blue, he tells her that they are over, that they don't want the same things (ie kids and marriage) anymore. Reeling from this shock, and with the awkwardness of still having to work in the same lawyers' firm as him, she is devastated to find out that remarkably soon, Dan not only has another girlfriend but that suddenly he does seem to want these things after all. After being stuck in a lift for a few hours with office Casanova, Jamie, they come up with a plan for a fake romance. Jamie thinks it will help his promotion chances if it seems he is more settled and Laurie can't help but hope that Dan will realise what he has done and be jealous.

My heart went out to Laurie when her relationship ended and I could easily feel her devastation and bewilderment as she tried to work out just how and when things had gone wrong. Thank goodness she had some amazing friends both in and out of work to support her. Despite the hurt and betrayal Laurie was feeling, Mhairi McFarlane makes sure there are plenty of lighter moments too. She really is one of my favourite rom-com authors and gets the balance between romance and comedy just right.

There are some more serious themes addressed in the book such as the role and treatment of women in the workplace, how social media can be so easily manipulated, and dysfunctional families. Although there are very functional families in this book too actually, notably Jamie's. Through the character of Jamie, I felt that Laurie, and the reader, learned a lot about not making assumptions about people. As I suggested above, he has a real reputation as a womaniser but as Laurie got to know him more, she realised this perhaps wasn't fully deserved. I loved following their fake romance and all the things they did to convince people it was for real, as well as seeing how they dealt with unexpected hic-cups!

If I Never Met You is a real treat to get your reading year off to a great start. With characters you will really care about, scenes to make you feel a lump in your throat while others have you giggling out loud, this is a really uplifting book and classic Mhairi McFarlane!

Just what I needed to read as I began my Christmas break. This was a devout in one sitting little joy. I’m not going to pretend it was literary genius but that’s exactly what I was looking for- a fun little romance like a “Love, Actually” (but a bit less miserable and a bit more predictable). I wept, I laughed, and I got a nice warm reading-it-because-it’s-just-good-fun vibe. You know what you’re getting with a book like this and it delivered what was promised.

I was very pleasantly surprised by this book, not being a genre I would usually choose. It has a good theme, and is laugh-out-loud funny in places. It is a modern romance, yes, but not chick-lit in the accepted sense, it’s so much more than that.
The story of Laurie and the description of her utter heartbreak at the realisation that her 18 year relationship with Dan is over, and in such a brutal manner, has her questioning herself and her value to her other relationships.
Her dawning realisation that she and Dan were not quite the ‘equal’ couple that she had believed, and the reawakening of belief in herself is so well described and authentic.
Her fake romance with Jamie brings all sorts of problems beyond its original intention to make Dan jealous, as Laurie’s good friend Emily warns.
As the plot thickens, both Laurie and Jamie become confused by their feelings, causing the line between the fake and the real to become blurred. It leads to all kinds of revelations and confusion.
The story has a predictable ending, but is ultimately a feel- good read that I enjoyed immensely. I lost myself in the story in the stressful pre- Christmas madness, it was a delightful and lighthearted escape.
I will look for more of this author’s work. My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my advanced,
copy of this book.

The fake relationship trope is one of absolute faves, so when I heard one of my favourite writers' next book was gonna have just that I knew I had to read it. Yes it's been done many, many times before but McFarlane brings something fresh and new to it. With a feminist slant and some clever messaging around social media and dating apps this feels very now and extremely relevant.

Main character Laurie is very relatable and incredibly likeable. She's clever, determined, good at her job and fiercely loyal to her friends. Her devastation at long term partner Dan leaving her and moving straight on with another woman is very real and I was angry and upset right along with her.

It makes it very believable that she agrees to a fake relationship with co worker Jamie, despite warnings from her best friend Emily that she's not cut out for lying and there will be consequences.

Jamie for his part is new book boyfriend material. He's just lovely. He has an admittedly well deserved reputation with women but he's completely upfront and honest in his views and is actually very sweet, attentive and considerate to Laurie.

They may be very different but it's clear from the start that they're perfect for each other. They just seem comfortable together, they understand each other and yes there is most definitely a spark. It isn't insta love however so it's a joy to watch them discover their feelings gradually.

I also have to say how much I loved the secondary characters. They may not all have big roles in the story but each and every one was memorable. Nadia in particular was an absolute stand out for me, in a batshit crazy, unintentionally hilarious kind of way. I want her as my bestie.

Another highlight for me was the depth to the story, the other threads woven through which highlighted a lot of very current issues, the everyday sexism Laurie faces in a workplace dominated by men, the racist comments, dating apps, the dangers of social media and also families. It's incredibly well done by the author. I'm positive every book McFarlane writes is better than the last and I just love her style.

Overall this is a great read with real depth, diversity and wonderful writing. I highly recommend to anyone who enjoys a contemporary romance.

If I Never Met You, Mhairi McFarlane

Review from Jeannie Zelos book reviews

Genre: Romance

I loved this book, romance, humour, pathos and drama, loads of drama, the stuff of tears, long lasting not the two pages on all is well type. All the ingredients for a five star read from me.

Laurie, poor Laurie, she's reached that age where the baby decision is looming, and thinks Dan, her partner since uni, is there with her. And then he drops the bombshell, its not just a baby he doesn't want, but the whole life he and Laurie have created.
She's heartbroken, gutted, and although he does the “its not you its me, of course there's no-one else, I wouldn't do that to you”, she's nitpicking her way through their past interactions, trying to see where she went wrong. Because of course it must be something she did, or didn't do in her eyes. Her friends tell her no, things happen, and she fast discovers that the mutual friends they have soon divide off into his and hers....
Its made worse by the fact they work together, Dan asks her to keep their breakup quiet and she does, sobbing silently in the loos when it gets too much. Only her best friend Emily knows the truth.

And then – Dan comes to see her, the man who wasn't ready for a baby yada, yada, yada, to tell her his new GF is pregnant and of course Laurie starts counting just how long they'd been together, was it all lies he told her. She's gutted, stricken, heartbroken just when she was getting on with life without him.
She gets stuck in the lift one evening with Jamie, a man from the office she only knows by rep, and that has him as a classic jack-the-lad Lothario, and sees he's not quite as he's portrayed. He's a little younger than her and devastatingly good looking. He's ambitious too, and wants to make partner despite his age, but has been given the hint that if he had a steady partner it would help. He proposes a fauxmance, he'll impress the bosses, Laurie gets to keep her head high in the office, and stick it to Dan. Win win.
Of course it never works out that easy and along the way to happiness lies some real angst, tears, embarrassment and soul searching. Both Laurie and Jamie learn a lot about themselves.

The office politics was played perfectly, offices always seem to be hotbeds of gossip, taking every little hint and embellishing it “in confidence” of course, and there's always an office gatekeeper who takes his/her role very seriously and has favourites. I loved that Bharat wasn't put in that overworked, tired, bitch queen role, but was instead a loyal, funny and sharply intellectual man. He had wit but not the cruel type gays so often get tarred with. Laurie being mixed race is dealt with well, those questions “ where are you from”, “ Yorkshire”, “ no I mean where are you from...”.
Emily, her best friend, had her share of woes in the story, and we see just how friends support each other, and that's one of the things that made this such a special read for me. It was about people, real folk we meet day in day out, not some book trope caricatures. The humour fell naturally, there were subtle little quips that had me sniggering, then the next line would be something that had me on the edge of tears. There one section towards the end, that being me had me really happy, a feeling of reap what you sow schadenfreude! Loved it.
We learned so much about what made the main characters the way they were, about why they were seen a certain way, and of course what their hopes for the future was. Its a wonderful read, I love Mhairi's stories, had a little hiccup with Don't you forget about me, but this one is anther solid five star keeper.

Stars: Five, fantastic read, great mix of life, people, drama and humour, and a wonderful HEA.

Arc via Netgalley and publishers

This is my first book by author Mhairi McFarlane and I'm sure it won't be my last. It's absolutely superb and I read it in a couple of sittings.

36 year old Laurie has been in a relationship with Dan for 18 years. They met at University and he's the love of her life and she vice versa - or so she thought. They work at the same Law firm so when he drops the bombshell that he feels it's time for him to move on she's understandably devastated. She tries to keep it from her colleagues but when she hears on the grapevine Dan hasn't told her the real reason for their split she knows that she can't contain the truth any longer from her colleagues - this is an even bigger humiliation and hurt as she's desperate to be a mum.

One evening she's stuck in the lift with drop-dead-gorgeous Jamie, a hot-shot young lawyer and they discuss her situation. He suggests they pretend to be dating for her to get back at Dan and for him to raise his chances of advancing his career. It's really a win-win situation...or is it...

Her best friend from Uni days Emily, with her own PR company believes it'll do more harm than good taking forward Jamie's plan but once she sees him in the flesh she readily agrees it's a great idea!

Along come the loved up instagram photos and gushingly real Facebook messages. When their colleagues find out they either can't or won't believe it's for real and one of her Alpha Male colleagues has the audacity to believe he should have been first in line for her affections and that she's making a grave mistake hooking up with Jamie.

A meeting with her estranged dad takes her back to her past and her mum and Jamie help her come to terms with something which happened to her then and help her deal with her feelings. As she grows closer to Jamie she begins to fall in love but has to keep reminding herself it can never be....A gorgeous novel which I adored. It has sadness, friendship, love, heartache, funny moments and happiness. Just loved it.

If I never met you by Mhairi McFarlane
Was a very engaging read. Laurie and Dan as best friends and lifelong partners until the wobble!!!! No spoilers but suffice to say Mhairi has pitched this spot on to get to the heart of the feelings.assumptions, fears, hopes and dreams. A romance story running below a very believable and heartbreaking series of life choices and consequences with self discovery along the way. I loved it. It hit the emotions and never went over the top with unnecessary details- well left to the imagination when Laurie rediscovers her mojo. Chick lit perhaps but the good stuff!

Really loved this book and the characters that were in it. They were interesting and relatable and I thought the plot of the story was excellently written. Will be recommending this book as a book club pick in the library.

Utterly brilliant! I loved this book, read in a day, just could not put it down. Beautifully written, real, engaging characters, laugh out loud moments and an ending that left me with a big grin. The story is perhaps slightly predictable but so very charming and unfolds so naturally that it doesn’t matter a jot. I was rooting for Laurie the whole way through - highly recommend this feel good read!

I really enjoyed this book. It was really well written with likeable characters. The clever writing makes it seem so much more than the average boy meets girl book. I would definitely recommend this book and I will be looking out for more books by this author.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

This is my first Mhairi McFarlane book and it will not be the last!

I absolutely loved this book and McFarlane’s writing style just captivates you and wants you reading more. I could not put this book down and I am so gutted that I haven’t read any of her previous books!

I really loved these characters, especially Laurie who is not only struggling with the breakdown of her relationship but being a woman in a very male orientated law firm. I loved the friendship between Laurie and Emily, showing how important good friendships are in life. Jamie turned out to be a lot different to how I imagined him in the beginning, and I couldn’t help but falling in love with his character and his family.

I love a good fake dating trope and even though I knew how the book was going to end I whole-heartedly recommend this to everyone! This is a light-hearted, fast paced read that will have you hooked from the first page. It’s a story that values friendships and finding yourself, on top of that it’s an incredibly realistic book with relatable characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

This is my first ever Mhairi book and I can now see why she is such a popular author. I was instantly engaged and drawn into Laurie's life and I was equally invested in the supporting characters. I understand the places she mentions in the story in Manchester are real which makes me want to go there for the weekend.

Have already seeked out another book by the same author. I also like that Laurie is a strong female lead with a challenging job.

Loved loved loved.

Thank you to NetGalley & publisher for the ARC in exchange for a honest review.

This is one of the feel good books of the year. Perfect for an early night, cuppa and book. You know the start of the book. you've got a pretty good idea how it's going to end but you really want to go on the journey of how they got there.
Laurie and Dan have been together for 18 years when he suddenly drops the bombshell he wants to part. Then only weeks later he's in a relationship and there a baby on the way. Heartbroken Laurie wants revenge. After a chance meeting with Jamie the workplace heartthrob with more notches on his bedpost, they formulate a plan.
He need a girlfriend to advance his career and she wants revenge on Dan so a contract is formed. However, do they still feel the same when the contract comes to the end.
A brilliantly heart warming book.