[Elizabeth’s Review]: If I Never Met You by Mhairi McFarlane

If faking love is this easy... how do you know when it’s real?

When her partner of over a decade suddenly ends things, Laurie is left reeling—not only because they work at the same law firm and she has to see him every day. Her once perfect life is in shambles and the thought of dating again in the age of Tinder is nothing short of horrifying. When news of her ex’s pregnant girlfriend hits the office grapevine, taking the humiliation lying down is not an option. Then a chance encounter in a broken-down elevator with the office playboy opens up a new possibility.

Jamie Carter doesn’t believe in love, but he needs a respectable, steady girlfriend to impress their bosses. Laurie wants a hot new man to give the rumor mill something else to talk about. It’s the perfect proposition: a fauxmance played out on social media, with strategically staged photographs and a specific end date in mind. With the plan hatched, Laurie and Jamie begin to flaunt their new couple status, to the astonishment—and jealousy—of their friends and colleagues. But there’s a fine line between pretending to be in love and actually falling for your charming, handsome fake boyfriend...

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

What happens when the person you had chosen to love for over a decade and have built an entire life together decides that he no longer loves you?

Answer:

Laurie and Dan met in their Freshman year in college and have been inseparable ever since, and with both becoming lawyers and now in their mid-thirties, things have changed….for Dan.

When the novel begins, we only get a small insight into Dan and Laurie’s relationship and that is mainly the part with Dan breaking up with Laurie. It was a bit hard to get into mainly because this is supposed to be incredibly heartbreaking because of not only how long they’ve been together but how each reacts to the breakup. There are many tears and Laurie is completely devastated and it feels so realistic. The only difficult part for me was that because this was only the third chapter, I didn’t feel as invested in this couple and there was no build-up. However, once the wreckage clears and we narrow our focus onto Laurie, that is where the book picks up its pace.

Laurie was such a fun character and she’s a complete badass lawyer. She is now completely independent, even though she does not want to be, and she is back on the market. We don’t get to see Laurie pre-Dan or even who she was in her relationship with Dan; however, we see who she is afterward and that is actually enough. What I loved about Laurie was how McFarlane creates this powerful woman from the wreckage of her heartbreak, and she is stronger because of it. McFarlane creates this beautiful character who has been dealt a shitty card in life and is strong enough to get through it. She not only deals with being alone for the first time in over a decade, but she is dealing with a world that has changed their dating ways and it is is actually terrifying.

*cues in Jamie from a corner, aka the love of my life*

Jamie, on the other hand, is the playboy who has slept his way around and has made it clear he will never EVER commit to any woman and love is just a social construct that is made to get people to have kids and for the world to keep turning but trust him, he will NEVER fall in love because only weak people fall in love and he won’t. Never.

As a proud reader of romance and a believer of true love, trust me, I was offended.

However, put Laurie and Jamie together by chance and what do we get?!?!?!

Exactly!! A fake romance!

*squeals in delight in the distance*

Laurie needs a boyfriend ASAP to stop all the pitying looks and all the misogynistic men from trying to date her (also maybe make Dan jealous but hey we’re all human) and Jamie needs a girlfriend to prove that he’s serious enough for a promotion in their office. So they fake date. Absolutely brilliant *chefs kiss* and our journey begins! As said before, we don’t get to see who Laurie was when she was with Dan, but we see who she is with Jamie; and I can’t lie, I even fell in love with her. We see these two adults dealing with fears and shedding their built-up walls and finding something possibly better than friendship with each other and it is this growth that got me invested in this book. We not only see Laurie’s growth through her *fake* relationship with Jamie but also through her family, her friends and even those moments when she’s all alone.

As said earlier, it did take me a bit to get into the book, but once I was more than halfway through I found myself binge-reading all the way to the end. Laurie’s story was well thought out and in those moments that had so much emotional weight to them, those are the moments I connected to the most. A beautiful story of heartbreak and loss, one where you have to take the pain and convert it into beauty and McFarlane does a wonderful job.

“I thought because I’d never experienced it, it didn’t exist. It’s not being out of your mind. It’s being in it, it’s complete certainty. When I’m with you, I know where I belong.”

Elizabeth

Hi, I’m Elizabeth!! I am 22 with a bachelor degree in English Literary Studies. I love to read and talk about books 24/7, and when I’m not reading I am usually rewatching my comfort movies and shows for the hundredth time—specifically, anything Jane Austen!