This one is hard to rate because there was so much potential here. I even cried a few times. The reason it’s missing 2 stars though is because some books just shouldn’t be written. It’s too painful to think of parents who buried their daughter, having grieved her for a decade to come face to face with a different dimension one. Also in the other dimension it was so sad having to experience Mmc pain of losing his fiancé and then being accused by the public of her murder.

Also the fmc even realizing that she from a different dimension tried to fit in and take over the new one without even being smart enough
To be like wait I don’t belong here I have to get back. It seems illogical.

This book could have been a short story with how little character development was made.

I loved the idea this book presented, the what-if of it all, but it didn't grasp my attention or have me hooked in like I hoped it would.

The first third of the book had me wanting to cry and hoping for a happy ending, but that quickly changed as I kept reading.

For one thing, it was hard to connect with the characters, or even feel sad for them and their situation after the first engaging couple of chapters. The Jake POV at first was sad to read, but as the book went on, his POV didn't feel like it added anything to the story. All we get from his POV is how much he suffers because of what happened to Liv.

It also felt so drawn-out, when it could have been so much shorter. Why did it take her so long to go back to the place where she last remembers being with Jake? You'd think the first place you'd go to would be the last place you remember being at before waking up in a hospital bed in a world so different from the one you know.

The ending left me even more disappointed, with so many questions that were left unanswered. I really wish I had loved this book, since it started out great, but unfortunately I didn't.

Thank you for the opportunity to read an ARC of this book!

Do you ever wonder if there’s a different you in a parallel universe living quite a different life? In this book, Olivia walks around a world in which she died as a child. Currently, she’s engaged to Jake, whom she has been friends with since they were children. She disappears and reappears in another world—one that holds similarities to hers, and yet has important differences. “Liv” will find those differences hard to deal with.

She wakes up in a hospital where no one knows here. Her own family is shocked and angered that she is claiming to be who she is because their Olivia died when she was twelve. Liv has no prospects. She can’t get a job without identification. What is she going to do?

This story builds suspense as one problem after another presents itself. Liv must overcome many difficulties and deal with loved ones being less than kind to her. She also gains new friends, and this complicates things for her.

Another interesting aspect is that readers see this story unfold from Liv’s perspective as well as Jake’s as he must deal with being accused of harming Olivia (No one in his world can find her, and he was the last to see her). Sometimes the book is repetitive, but sometimes it is also charming. This is a good story where Olivia gets to see what life would have been like for her loved ones had she not made it to adulthood. I was given a complimentary copy of the book by Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

My blog: https://traveltheages.blogspot.com/2023/06/review-of-love-i-could-have-had-by-cj.html

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/l.ma123ma/

Another trip to the multi verse with CJ Connolly as we follow Liv's split life, what happens when she returns to a life that she left as a child with she died aged 12....what happens to the people she left behind when she disappears aged 28, 3 months before her wedding day.

Her family and fiance exist in both universes but in different capacities.

A story of what ifs and finding where you truly belong.

Thanks to netgalley for the opportunity to review this book this is my honest opinion.

This book hooked me in! The characters were rich and descriptive. I sometimes had to double check the date/protagonist of the chapter, but I did love the universe to universe connections.

ERC

Book review 📚

A huge thank you to the team @joffebooks for the ERC of ‘The Love I Could Have Had’ by CJ Connolly.

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 . . .


I very very rarely leave reviews that aren’t in some way positive. For me this just didn’t land. The idea is fantastic, the dual timeline SHOULD be fabulous, the relationship angst - stellar. But somehow it doesn’t gel.
If the timeline had been what if and then what was it would have worked much better but I unfortunately found it tough to trudge through Liv convincing her family she was effectively back from the dead. It became gimmicky when it could have been a really lovely book.

As ever I’m hugely grateful for any opportunity to land an ARC and I still look forward to seeing what else CJ Conolloly brings in the future.

I really loved the premise and idea behind The Love I Could Have Had, and it was well written, but I struggled a bit with the characters. I liked the FMC pov but never felt connected with the MMC pov and mostly felt like his pov didn’t add anything to the story.

There was some interesting (but predictable) lessons to be learned, and I think the biggest takeaway was that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side, and to be grateful for what we have.

Overall it was an interesting premise and well written but I’m not sure it’s a story that will stay with me. Thank you to NetGalley, Joffe books and the author C.J. Connolly for the ARC to read and review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

3.4 stars

I had mixed feelings about this book, and they started from the get-go when we leapt right into the dual timeline without getting to know or forming any sort of attachment to either main character at all. Even by the end of the story, I didn’t much care what happened to them. On the plus side, even though it was a bit sloppy, this was a really unique concept! I also like how the author delved into the complex reactions one would have if a lost loved one suddenly turned up. This one could have been better but I do think many will find it delightful.

Thanks to NetGalley and Joffe Books for the ARC. I voluntarily read and reviewed this book.
I really enjoy time travel/multiverse/Sliding Doors-type stories. I liked this one but didn't love it, and I wouldn't call it romance as there is basically none to be found. I liked all the characters but again, didn't love any of them, and was kind of getting bored with the story toward the end. I was waiting for a dramatic conclusion, however, the very abrupt ending was a big letdown for me, and for that reason alone this gets 3 stars instead of 4. I do enjoy this author's writing and will read future works by her. This one fell a little flat for me.

Loved this story about Olivia and Jake who, after a tragic event, we find them both living in a parallel universe. Although I found it a little confusing at first, I very quickly warmed to Olivia and her sadness at finding herself feeling out of place, even though she was in fact with her own family. I couldn’t see how this story was going to unfold and it meant that I rushed through it, desperate to find out what happened next. Thoroughly enjoyed it!

This was a quick reading to me, I finished it in one sitting. Actually I had high expectation to the plot but sadly it just fell flat. I was also annoyed to Olivia's family in og timeline, I didn't think that they grieved enough for her. They seemed very laid back. The book also ended abruptly and left me unsatisfied.
Thank you to NetGalley and Joffe Books for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Love I Could Have had is such a unique and interesting 'multiverse' romance with engaging characters and a great storyline. I enjoyed the dual timelines and POV's for this and it was really interesting to see how things were proceeding in the 'real' world at the same time as all of the events. However I do think this was quite a slow burn and would of benefitted by being a faster pace to keep my interest peaked all the way through as it did become slightly repetitive about 3/4 in. Overall this is an easy reading, light-hearted romance that lots of people will enjoy.

I got this ARC in exchange for an honest review. This book had so much potential but honestly there were way too many plot holes and very little character/world building.
We have our main female character Olivia, and she’s celebrating an anniversary with her fiancé Jake.
Olivia trips over a cliff type area and falls into a different dimension. The author fails to tell us why it happened or how it happened. We’re expected to care about Olivia when I hardly know anything about her character besides the fact that she’s engaged to her childhood sweetheart. In this different dimension, Olivia allegedly died at 12 years old and everyone in this dimension think she’s committing identity fraud. Her family and fiancé are vastly different in this alternate dimension.
I was looking for an exciting read and honestly this just wasn’t the kind of novel I expected when I read the premise.
But I do see a lot of potential for this book or even this author to grow in her writing.

Such an interesting concept! I have always loved the concept of how life can dramatically change based on one insignificant (not really in Liv’s case) moment à la Gwyneth Paltrow’s Sliding Doors. I’m also a huge sucker for dual POV, though this was a unique twist on it. This is the first book I’ve read by Connolly, and now I really want to pick up their other novel too! Really enjoyed this fast read!

I'm always so intrigued by the premise of the 'multiverse romance' theme but unfortunately have yet to read it done well, and a shame this one was not much different.

I wasn't able to become invested in the characters due to the lack of personalities, nor was there much of a mystery to uncover with the transition of worlds since it was never explained or even addressed much. I don't mind suspending my disbelief a little, but was left disappointed - there was no reason behind the timeline switch, why it only ever happened to Olivia, etc - this could easily have been expanded on throughout to make more sense of the story. It ended so abruptly - no spoilers here, just that I was surprised it didn't continue further.

One positive point is there was some exploration of characters reacting to a loved one essentially 'coming back from the dead' years later - acceptance, disbelief & anger - everyone has different and complicated feelings towards something unbelievable happening that should have been impossible.

A shame I didn't enjoy this one as much as I was hoping - it really did have so much potential!

Thank you publisher and net galley for this ARC. This is the 2nd book I've read by CJ Connolly and I really enjoyed it. I had a hard time putting this book down once I started reading and I wanted to find out what was going to happen. I found the dual story lines really interesting, especially if they were in similar locations. I will be recommending this!

I really enjoyed the timelines in this story and the bounce between the two. Sometimes stories with different timelines don’t flow but this worked! Always it has a happily ever after and that’s huge for me. I definitely enjoyed this book and a previous book I’ve read from this author.

"I don't know if there is a 'right' path, for anyone...there's not right and wrong. It just is. But we can change our fate by making the best choices we know how, given the information we have available to us. If we don't like our lives, or an aspect of then, we can work hard to fix it. That's all any of us can do."

This book was an incredible, emotional, unique multi-universe story that will have you intrigued right from the very beginning! We meet Liv, who is engaged to her childhood sweetheart. Standing at the precipice of the rest of their lives, she is questioning her life choices, until she somehow falls into an alternate universe where she died at the age of 12, and her family and friends, including her fiance, have moved on without her. In the "normal" universe, we get the POV of Jake, Liv's fiance, who has to deal with Liv having now disappeared from that universe without a trace.

I absolutely love multi-universe plots and this one was very unique, I loved how we got to have the of POV of Jake, as usually these kinds of books just cover the new universe and not the one that was "left behind". This book was not what I was expecting at all, it took on a lot more of a serious tone, with parts of it reminding me almost of a "Gone Girl" vibe.

There were a few plot holes but they were not important enough to ruin the entirety of the plot for me. I loved all the discussions around choices and fate, and the more serious tone was so emotional in the best way possible!

Thank you to Netgalley and Joffe Books for the ARC!

I usually enjoy reading books with a “what if” premise and this one was cute, just not my favourite. The main character Olivia disappears and reappears in another universe where her life is completely different than the one she knows. When she disappears and reappears she is naked and this fact is repeated multiple times in the book but I felt like it was so irrelevant to the plot, it was almost annoying.

This book made me cry my own tears and I'm pissed about that, because it's just not me. Very Sliding Doors with the two timelines. It really goes to show how one decision could have a huge ripple effect on so many people without anyone realizing it, except when Liv realized it. The way two different worlds could coincide in one moment was written so beautifully.