Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - If I Never Met You

Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

If I Never Met You by Mhairi McFarlane

5 reviews

kelly_e's review against another edition

funny lighthearted slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Title: If I Never Met You
Author: Mhairi McFarlane
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Rating: 2.50
Pub Date: March 5, 2020

T H R E E • W O R D S

Slow • Predictable • Forgettable

📖 S Y N O P S I S

Together for the past 18 years, Laurie feels she and her partner Dan are ready to start trying for a baby. When one evening, she broaches the topic, Dan quickly realizes he doesn't want children and ends things. Heartbroken, Laurie's once perfect life is in shambles and the thought of dating again horrifies her. Several months down the road, Dan announces that his new girlfriend is pregnant, Laurie feels humiliated.

That is until a chance encounter in a broken-down elevator with the office playboy who doesn't believe in love presents a new possibility. Jamie is looking to impress the bosses, and she wants nothing more than to make Dan jealous, so they agree to enter into a fake relationship with strategically staged photographs and a specific end date in mind...

💭 T H O U G H T S

I picked Mhairi McFarlane as one of my twelve authors for my 'Author Taste Test' challenge for 2023. Since I owned If I Never Met You I decided that would be the book I'd go with, unfortunately it was just one of those books that didn't work for me.

Firstly, the whole book was way longer than it needed to be. It just took too long for get to the new relationship. The whole breakup felt way more developed than it needed to be. I know an in depth exploration of the breakup was warranted, but this went too far. Heck, Jamie (the love interest) didn't appear consistently throughout the first half of the book!

Additionally, the chemistry between Laurie and Jamie was lackluster (maybe that's to be expected when two people are pretending?). The dialogue felt forced and a lot of the humour fell flat. I felt zero connection to the characters. The author tried to add depth, which I appreciate, yet it just felt like she tried to put in too much with some scenes seeming highly unrealistic and implausible.

Fake dating is one of those tropes that is very hit or miss for me. This was certainly a miss, as I don't feel it was utilized to its potential. The revenge pretenses of Laurie embarking with such an arrangement also came across as very juvenile.

Lastly, the whole scene with Laurie's father's friend felt like it came out of nowhere. And because it occurred so close to the end of the book it wasn't fully addressed and resolved. I think it was an important plotline, but why the author chose to wait so late to drop it into the story puzzles me.

When I first read the synopsis for this book, I thought I'd enjoyed, unfortunately that was not the case. I definitely don't think it was the right book to start with from this author. If I Never Met You was highly forgettable, but I'll definitely give her another try with a different book, as I really think it was the plot and not the writing that I didn't jive with.

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• fake dating fans

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"Those who said family mattered above all else were wrong. People you love, who love you back, matter above all. Crap people you happen to be related to: you need to stop thinking you owe them limitless number of chances to hurt you."

Content Warnings