This book was a little underwhelming to be honest. It had so much potential, but it just kind of fell a bit flat.

This book could have had it all.
Alternative life is one of my favorite plots in stories. I love thinking about it and I love seeing were a writer goes with this trope.

Unfortunately I really struggled with this book and didn't enjoy it. The main reason for that are the huge plot-holes throughout the story. I know this is a alternative timeline / life story, so a bit magical, but that doesn't mean that the story in itself should not make any sense.

I really wanted to love this book, but it just fell completely flat for me.

Have you ever had doubts and thought what if? Jake and Olivia are each others first loves. They are engaged and are looking forward to the future. As the wedding date approaches, Olivia starts to wonder if she’s making the right decision. She has never been with anyone but Jake. Should that be enough? Should she know what else is out there? Well, she is going to find out. Olivia falls from a cliff and wakes up in an alternate reality where she died when she was 12. Nothing is like the life she’s been living. She sees Jake and wants to run in his arms, but remembers that she doesn’t exist anymore. He has found a new love. Will they make it back to each other. I was hooked on this book from the start. It really makes you think and also to appreciate the life you’ve been given.
Thank you to CJ Connelly, Joffe Books, and Netgalley for allowing me to read an arc of this amazing book!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

I LOVED this book! I loved her first book, and this one did not disappoint!!

What would life be like if you made a different choice?
Olivia seems like she had the perfect life. Great job, great fiancé , and a close knit family. But sometimes she feels like something is missing. She and Jake are childhood sweethearts, who are soon to be married. While they are having a picnic, she slips and falls. When she wakes up, no one knows who she is. Now is her chance to choose differently, but is that what she really wants?

The characters were relatable and lovable. I also loved their character development.
This book had my favorites, an alternate universe and dual pov. I loved this book so much and couldn’t put it down!

C.J. Connolly writes such beautiful and unforgettable books! She will be an auto buy author for me now! Definitely add this to your tbr list, and read her other book while you’re at it! Highly recommended!



📘: The Love I Could Have Had by C.J. Connolly
🗓️: July 11, 2023

Thank you to NetGalley, C.J. Connolly, and Joffe Books for this ARC!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

*Reviewed on NetGalley and Goodreads.

Because I loved her first book so much, I was thrilled to snag a copy of this one! Just like her first novel, this one is absolutely perfect!

Childhood sweethearts Olivia and Jake are on the cusp of their wedding after being each others first and only loves. Jake is all in. Olivia has doubts considering neither of them have ever been with anyone else. While skinny dipping at a lake, Olivia falls off a cliff. She wakes up in an alternate life where she died at 12. Jake is left alone with a missing fiancee.

This book most definitely isn't a thriller. I like to call it a romantasy if you will. While there are obvious fantasy aspects (alternate timelines, etc), the relationships with Olivia and Jake and their extended families are more of the focus than anything else. Yes, you do have to suspend your belief for this one. I for one loved the story and everything it entailed. The point wasn't to explain time travel but to truly dive into their relationships. Its a heartbreaking and soul searching love story that left me questioning some of my own relationships. It also cemented the fact that from now until forever I will buy anything and everything she writes!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

I received an advanced copy for free and am leaving this review voluntarily. Thank you to C.J. Connolly, Joffe Books, and NetGalley. ❤️

I LOVED this book! The Love I Could Have Had tells the story of Olivia and Jake, a happy young couple, that are ripped apart and what they do to find each other again. Olivia and Jake are both very well-developed characters. The story is unique and is fast-paced. It grabbed my attention from the first page. I highly recommend this five star book, and I look forward to more from this author. Thank you, NetGalley and Joffe Books, for an advance reader copy of this novel.

The love I could have had is like nothing I have read before. It was so fun and also so touching. What if you woke up and everything you thought about your life didn't exist. The people you think you know think you are a stranger.

Thank you to NetGally and the publishers for this ARC.

I loved the premise of this book but i am a little disapointed that it didn't focus more of the "alternate timeline" premise. I would of enjoyed seeing a bit more thriller aspects in it.

But overall i still very much enjoyed the book, the romance was very sweet and all the characters were enjoyable and well written.

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

This book is not my usual reading genre but something in the description captivated me. I was excited to read this book because I was intrigued about how the author would get this story across.

It’s a story about alternate universes, Time travel and suspense.

Olivia and Jake are childhood sweethearts set to get married. Seems simple. There are many questions left unanswered. The author lets us understand that Olivia is not 100% content. She is described as “ left wondering what else is out there” but Jake is all in. Olivia tumbles from a cliff and we soon learn she wakes up in another universe. One that is different from her current life and is almost a part b to how her life could have been In the life she wakes up and remembers is one in which she is engaged to be married, visits her family weekly, and has a single sister. Unfortunately she is the only one current in this life. The parents she “ knows” are not excited because they lost their daughter in a similar fall, but she was 12 in their reality. Her sister has a child and she’s not engaged to Jake..In this new reality she is unable to get a real job because she has no legal papers. She struggles to understand the differences but manages to befriend Jake, who is currently in a serious relationship with someone else.

Olivia realizes that in order for things to continue, she needs to leave her current world behind and try to go back to the world she knows best, the one that has her planning a wedding to her childhood sweetheart.

The ending is both predictable and weak. Not all questions are answered and I was left feeling like I had wasted my time reading this book.

Olivia should be the happiest woman in the world. She's engaged to her childhood sweetheart and best friend Jake. She has her own interior design business and has just totally transformed their little fixer-upper into a palace. They are getting married in just a few months' time, in a wedding that she has perfectly planned. Jake is so thoughtful, but she just feels a bit anxious, they've never even kissed someone else how can they be sure that they should be together? Also Jake is so thoughtful and always buys her her favourite white roses, but sometimes it would be nice to get some other flowers. Also Jake left town to go to law school and now he's ready to settle down and start a family, but Liv has never left her hometown, she'd like to travel the world for a few years before she thinks about kids (mind you how she thinks she can travel the world and run her own business I don't know).

They are having a picnic at their special place, a lake in an abandoned quarry that no-one ever visits. Liv walks off while Jake packs up the picnic, both of them naked as jaybirds, when Liv slips and falls off the edge of the quarry, but instead of being dashed on the rocks below, or miraculously falling into the lake, Liv ends up in an alternate universe where she died at that same quarry when she was twelve years old, in her reality Jake saved her, but in this reality he couldn't.

No-one believes she is Olivia, her grieving parents and sister think she's a confidence trickster who has stolen a dead child's identity, even when the DNA tests prove she is their daughter her father still finds it hard to believe.

Meanwhile Jake is going frantic trying to find Liv who has just vanished into thin air. The police search the woods and drag the lake but can find no trace of her. Where could she have gone with no phone, no clothes, and no money? Suspicion inevitably falls on Jake, did she run away because she didn't want to get married? Or did they have an argument?

The book alternates between Olivia in her new reality, a woman with no social security number, unable to tell people who she is, unable to get a job, or a mortgage, forced to live in her parents' pool house and be treated like a child, and Jake desperately searching for her in his reality.

This was an interesting take on the alternate reality switch, really brought it home that without basics like a birth certificate and social security number you really are nobody in modern society. forced to work cash-in-hand illegally. However, my overwhelming feeling when I finished this book was, what was the point? The blurb bills it as a chance for Liv to do all the things she couldn't do in her other life, but that was negated by the fact that she couldn't tell people who she was or get a job or live alone because she had no papers, so she didn't have a chance to live a different life. Also, she was still in love with Jake so how could she truly explore a life where she didn't love him?

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

2⭐️

Big thanks to C.J. Connolly, Joffe Books, and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinions!

I was originally drawn to this one by the promise of a woman who got to see what her life would have been like if she never got with her childhood sweetheart - and I mean childhood since they were like 12... With a magical twist, she's thrust into a new reality - one where no one knows who she is.

This one just ultimately missed the mark for me when it came to the huge (and I mean HUGE) plot holes in this tale. I get it is supposed to be a fantasy but honestly, none of it made sense at all. First off, you're telling me that these two who have been best friends, dating since they were 14 and are now 28 are JUST NOW about to get married. That just seems weird to me that they waited that long. I know everyone is different but my husband and I met and started dating when we were 17/18 and we were engaged by 19/20 and married by 21/22. It just seems unlikely to me that they would have held out that long considering they were "soulmates". Especially when this woman clearly was having cold feet and didn't even care about her soon-t0-be husband's interests and instead only worried about her design business in the FIRST CHAPTER.

Then comes the fact that she is thrust into this other reality where she died when she was 12 and they do a DNA test on her and her parents are just like YEP THAT'S MY DAUGHTER. I get she had all the memories and knew stuff no one else could have known... but it just seemed a little too overdone to me. The only part that even made sense was the fact that her own dad and sister never truly warmed up to her being back in their lives. The other main plot hole for me was the fact that even the police were just like go live with your parents, we don't give a FUCK that you can't get a Social Security number or an ID or ANYTHING. Literally, nothing was being done about that and there wasn't a SINGLE news story on the fact this girl who supposedly DIED 10+ years ago was just found naked in a quarry. THEN the cop tried DATING her while still just being like "sorry about not having an identity - but I'm tryin to bone you". WEIRD.

Overall, there just really wasn't any conflict or really any emotion for any of the characters. Nothing was ever really figured out about WHY it happened, and the ending was ridiculous and super abrupt. The whole premise was supposed to be like what would her life be like if this wasn't the only man she's ever been with in her whole life - and SPOILER ALERT he's STILL the only man she's ever been with. So idk what I just read. The theme and idea was great - the execution just didn't work. Sorry but this is a no for me 🤷🏼‍♀️

What if you could do all the things you never did . . .

Meet Olivia. Her life is just about perfect. She has a great job, a close-knit family — and she’s going to marry the love of her life this summer.

So what’s missing? She’s twenty-eight years old and she’s never left her hometown. And Jake is the only boyfriend she’s ever had. Her friends tell her how lucky she is — and Liv believes them. But there’s still something bugging her.

After a romantic lakeside picnic to celebrate their one-year engagement, Liv takes a stroll to clear her head. She slips and loses her balance, plunging into the cold lake water . . .

When Liv wakes up, she’s in a hospital bed. The nurse tells her she was brought in by a dog walker who found her unconscious.

But Liv has no scratches or bruises. And there’s no engagement ring on her finger.

Her family, her fiancé and everyone else she thought she knew don’t know who she is. And Jake is about to propose to somebody else.

So now Liv has a chance to do all the things she never did. But maybe she doesn’t want to. Maybe she wants Jake to fall in love with her all over again . . .

The Love I Could Have Had is an extraordinary and unforgettable novel for anyone who has ever believed in destiny and soulmates — or paused to wonder what your life might look like if you'd made a different choice.

Loved loved loved this story. I found it to be unique and amazing. Will recommend to others.

Fantastic story that makes you appreciate all you have! I loved how the author took a character who seemingly had it all but was discontented and explored taking it all away.

This book was great! The character development as well as the dimensions built into the book for time lines were amazing. Makes you think about "what would life be like if "x" happened". A true love story like one on Hallmark channel. No major stress but enough wondering what will happen to keep you interested and reading.

I received this book as an ARC (thank you to netgalley).

I was really enjoying this book. Celebrating the 1 year anniversary of their engagement and Livie slips into the quarry. Life it turned upside down as she and Jake know it. I was not a fan of the ending. Predictable but also wasn’t enough.

I’ve had this ARC for a while so I decided to pick it up recently and I finished it quite quickly. I think this is something you could pick up if you wanted a light and easy read. I don’t think this was an amazing read, but nor was it bad. And on a side note, I did not read the blurb, I dove right into the book.

I found the idea of the book super interesting, but the lack of chemistry between the characters and the ending was just not doing it for me. Also, I didn’t really see the point in having Liv’s POV in first person and Jack’s POV in third person.

When I read the first chapter, I thought Jack was a side character that she’d dump later on. It sounded like she was with Jack because they’d only been with each other, not because she actually loved him. The vibe I was getting from this chapter was that she wouldn’t be super happy with the marriage, but she wouldn’t be upset either, she’d just be comfortable, which led me to believe that she’d find another MMC who actually makes her happy. So when getting to the fourth chapter and seeing Jake’s POV, I figured I was wrong and realized that he was actually the MMC.

In the book, Liv and Jack barely interact since the majority of the book is about both of them in alternate universes and trying to find each other. Liv has been transported into a different timeline, and Jack remains in the original timeline they were in and tries to find her. Even though they lacked interactions, I felt the longing they had for each other while they were separated; Liv came to realize that she took her love for Jack for granted, and Jack would be actively trying to search for Liv. But still, I couldn’t find myself caring much for these characters (I just felt like there wasn’t much chemistry).

I really didn’t like the ending of this book. It was so abrupt and rushed. I’d like to say more but I don’t really wanna spoil the ending for those who haven’t read it yet (even though it’s kinda predictable).

Read if you like:
- Alternate universes/timelines
- Dual POV
- Fantasy (just a hint of it)
- Soulmates
- Destiny

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC. I’m not a huge fan of dual perspectives but I did enjoy this. Very lovely easy read.

Olivia has it all. A great business, and a newly renovated house and she is about to marry the guy she loved forever.

But the more the wedding approaches, the more she is filled with doubts. She never left her town and her fiance is the only boyfriend she had. She wonders if she is missing something.

A romantic anniversary picnic turns deadly when she slips on a cliff. Instead of waking up in the water, she wakes up in a hospital bed. But there is something wrong. Nobody knows her, the only person with her name died 16 years ago.

As she makes her way into a new world, she comes to terms whit the one she came from.

I like the premise of the story, it's not something I have read before, but the storyline itself fell a bit flat for me.

I judged a book by it's cover and went in blind. I was not disappointed. I had no idea what a rollercoaster I was getting into.and I so enjoyed the ride.
I love the idea of a parallel universe or multiverse. C. J. Connolly brought it all to life in the most unexpected way. A love story.
This book makes you think about how every choice you make can effect things you don't even see.

Jake and Liv were lovable and relatable. The character development was spot on.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A story of parallel universes and an opportunity to choose a new life promises an exciting premise, but for me this didn’t quite deliver what I was hoping for.

Olivia and Jake have known each other the majority of their lives, and have been in love for almost as long. Their lives so tightly intertwined that Olivia has little memory of anything that doesn’t involve him. And with their wedding quickly approaching she beings to feel the anxieties of what if life was meant to be different, what if there was someone else out there she was meant to meet, a different life she was supposed to lead. An anniversary celebration at the quarry leads to a slip and fall that lands Olivia in a hospital room in an altogether different reality - Liv must decide what she wants, who she loves, and figure out whether a different life is in fact what she wanted all along.

To start with the things I did like: as aforementioned the concept of this story is entertaining, and it kept me holding on until the end in hopes of a satisfying conclusion. The author does a decent job at painting each scene clearly, and while I didn’t feel a particular attachment to the characters I was still able to root for them - overall it was a quick and easy read.

For the dislikes;

This book does a tremendous amount of telling and not showing, with a disproportionate amount of dialogue - we see many of the scenes built through conversation which only leaves the reader removed from the emotional experience of the characters. We see that Jake is sad, but we don’t ever get the chance to feel exactly what that’s is like, we see that Olivia is confused about what she wants but the anxiety of her situation is never really felt through the character

I’m usually a fan of dual POV, but I can t help but feel it could have done better if we spent the novel with only the FMC - Jakes love for Olivia could have easily been shared through her POV, we didn’t need an entire half book about his routine with the police and investigations in the other universe. Ultimately the result left us with neither character having much of a personality by the end of the book.

I came out the other end of this one with no real understanding of what the point was. If Olivia was put into the other universe was it for her to decide if the life she had with Jake was what she really wanted? Because it felt as though the scenarios placed before her left little room for this decision to hold much magnitude. Secondary love interests introduced in opposition to her path with Jake also leave much to be desired, the relationship felt underdeveloped and the character unlikable.

And lastly, the ending was abrupt and I was left feeling a lack of closure, it could have really benefitted from an epilogue

Thank you to Joffe Books and Netgally for a copy of this ARC