While reading this multiverse story has been fun and interesting the plot didn't work out for me. Maybe the book just wasn't made for me but I didn't get to connect with Olivia and her doubts. The characters felt flat and the end kind of rushed.

Kind of like 'Sliding doors movie' in a book. It makes you think about how we get trapped in a certain kind of life and gets you to wonder what could happen if you had a clean slate to start all over and do things differently. Kind of scary but a clever idea and premise for a book. An interesting read.

I love these sorts of stories and this didn’t disappoint at all. Enjoyable tale, kept me reading and gripped. Thank you for the advanced read.

A lovely easy read about life, love, loss and what makes us who we are. The paths we take can so easily be changed by a single encounter or a mysterious time shift in this case. Very heartwarming and full of happy endings.

this was a sweet summer book, but it fell rather flat for me in the end. the main plot is about 28-year-old olivia, who's about to marry her childhood sweetheart she's been dating since she was 14. she's getting cold feet and wonders what else life has to offer. not that she doesn't love jake (which is something that bothered me because she says he's the love of her life, so why would she want to be with anyone else when she's already found him?), but she has never left her small town or been with anyone else. i do understand her feelings about this fear of missing out on better things, but when you have a great life like hers and an amazing fiancé like jake, it's a bit hard for the reader to sympathize with her feeling sorry for herself. instead of having a conversation with jake about how she feels, which would be the logical course of action, she keeps acting like everything is fine. then one day, she falls from a cliff and ends up in a parallel universe where she died when she was 12 and never dated jake. that's the part that drew me to the story in the first place. while it was an interesting turn of event and a clever plot idea, it didn't really delivered as well as i was hoping. she spends most of her time in this alternate universe wishing she was back in her world and missing jake. i guess distance does make the heart grow fonder and maybe that was the main message of this book. i felt like the author spent too long on olivia trying to convince her family and everyone around her that she was who she was and not enough exploring this new reality. she's been wondering about leading a different life for months, and now that she has the opportunity, she doesn't really do anything with it, which seemed like a wasted opportunity. the chapters from jake's pov were good, but i felt bad for how worried he was about olivia disappearing when she didn't seem to care in the same way. while the end was nice, it was quite abrupt and left me wanting more. it didn't answer a lot of the questions i had. overall, it was a well-written book that was easy to read and it had a good original plot, but i had a hard time relating with the main character and felt like the parallel universe idea wasn't developed or used nearly enough. there was also a definite lack of romance for a romance book.

A multiverse romance how interesting! I enjoyed the storyline, but just didn’t connect with the characters, and that’s what kept me from loving it. Then ending was also meh.

First of all I want to say thank you to Netgalley and the publishers as I received an advanced reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review.

Ohh what an incredibly emotional book that me invested from the start.

When Olivia wakes up in a hospital bed with no recollection of what happens and is told by a nurse that she was brought in by a dog walker who found her unconscious, she is confused - she has no wedding ring, no injuries and the last thing she remembers is having a romantic lakeside anniversary with her fiance Jake to celebrate their 1 year engagement. Liv then has to make a decision what she wants - does she want to spread her wings and do all the things shes never done or has the incident made her realise that in fact the grass isn't greener and she actually had everything she needed and more.

Love love love this book and would highly recommend.

- This is a negative review.

Thank you to Joffe Books and NetGalley ****for an ARC of The Love I Could Have Had by C.J. Connolly

"So now Liv has a chance to do all the things she never did. But maybe she doesn't want to." Olivia never has a chance to do anything since she is trying to convince people of her identity. She doesn't spend time in some other relationship or try on a different life. I was expecting an alternative timeline 13 going on 30-esque vibes. The ending was perfectly predictable in a good way. How we got there however just wasn't connecting with me. Sometimes, things simply don't align. Right Book wrong time perhaps. Therefore I will not be posting this review to any other platforms.

I'm not really one for time travel or anything of the sort. Do I love magic and mayhem? Of course! But this feels very... Hallmark, if that makes sense. Don't get me wrong it was a good book and I enjoyed reading it but the story felt lackluster and over done to me. Perhaps it wasn't my taste and I'm not really the right audience for it, but I definitely struggled getting through it. It was really a tug-of-war between the main character and the people she loved and that sort of trope kind of irritates me to my core. Again, I think it was well written but the story itself just wasn't my cup of tea.

A multiverse romance how interesting! I enjoyed the storyline, but just didn’t connect with the characters, and that’s what kept me from loving it. Then ending was also meh.

I did not finish this one, it was not for me, I couldn't relate to the characters, and just did not care for the story.

"The Love I Could Have Had" by CJ Connolly is a captivating exploration of life's what-ifs, earning a solid four stars. Olivia, the story's protagonist, seems to have it all—great job, a loving family, and an impending marriage to the love of her life. Yet, at twenty-eight, she's never left her hometown, and Jake is her one and only boyfriend. When a chance accident leaves her with amnesia and a blank slate, Liv has the opportunity to revisit her life choices.

This novel presents a thought-provoking premise that delves into the complexities of destiny and soulmates. As Liv navigates her unfamiliar reality, readers are taken on a journey of self-discovery alongside her. The narrative is both engaging and emotionally resonant, raising questions about the roads we choose in life and the potential for second chances.

While "The Love I Could Have Had" is an extraordinary and unforgettable read, there are moments when the pacing could be more streamlined. However, this minor concern doesn't detract from the overall impact of the story. For those who have ever wondered about the paths not taken and the power of love to transcend time and memory, this novel is a thought-provoking and heartfelt exploration of those themes.

This book was very interesting for me. I'm not into time travel, parallel universes or sliding doors type of stories. But this one really got to me.

Olivia and Jake were meant to be from the start at age 11, but what else is out there? What if Olivia believes maybe Jake is just settling for her? What if she is just settling for him? After an accident Olivia finds herself in a different world where she died a the age of 12 by drowning.

Olivia has to navigate this new world in which nobody believes she is who she claims to be. Meanwhile Jake is stuck in the original world in which he's suspected of having something to do with Olivia's sudden disappearance.

The topic of grief and regrets weighs heavy in the story. It was such a unique concept for a romance novel. I was confused at times because of the parallel worlds so it's important to focus on each chapter and who is telling their point-of-view.

Thank you NetGalley and Joffee Books for an e-copy of THE LOVE I COULD HAVE HAD to review.

I rate THE LOVE I COULD HAVE HAD four out of five stars.

What a fun read, a girl jumps into another time line where her life is completely different and figures out her future. So entertaining, and thoughtful and sad and happy.

I liked the story.
It did grab my attention and I wanted to stick with it to see how it would end.

I wish the ending was different. It felt very fast and predictable.

Overall, it was worth the read just wish the ending was different.

I think I was expecting a more light-hearted romance with the amnesia/time warp aspect, but this one felt pretty deep. There was a lot of serious ramifications for being "stuck" in another time dimension, even as it offered clarification for the romance we were supposed to be rooting for. I'm not totally convinced it all the way worked for me, but I definitely wanted to know what was going to happen and stayed engaged the whole time. The ending felt pretty rushed though and wasn't totally satisfying.

This has a very promising plot. From infinity possibilities of how every decision has a different universe of the decisions you made in it. However there was something that was missing. But with this type of plot it was light and breezy and I did find Olivia knowing how it ends a bit annoying - because if she knew it was going to come to a end - why wait to come back to her normal reality when she felt so lonely in the alternative universe? Just my thoughts.

I did feel the characters were not strong enough as people. For example, Olivia in both universes did not come across having much interests. Her only life goal was about a person, Jake. She wasn’t strong within herself.

Overall, I was intrigued by this interesting plot line and do recommend it as a read.

Absolutely loved Olivia and Jakes love story. Such a fantastic and fascinating premise and I was entranced by the two parallel worlds that they lived in. It gave me tones of Back to the future and The Butterfly Effect.

The characterisations were authentic and the accomplished prose kept me turning the pages to find out how it all ended.

Such an original novel and one that I highly recommend.

I was so excited for this book, and unfortunately, I struggled a bit getting into it, and couldn't fully enjoy my experience with it. I do believe that this book has an audience that would love it, but for me it was bland and forgettable

I struggled with this one, because as much as I love a multiverse, this went a little off the rails in terms of plot holes, etc. It was super readable, and had great character development, but it was difficult for me to get behind the ending.