jayvall reviewed You had me at hello by Mhairi McFarlane
Review of 'You had me at hello' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
YOU HAD ME AT HELLO tells the story of two friends who were best buds in college only to grow apart as life went on, who suddenly find themselves back in each other's lives. Although Rachel and Ben maintain that they had a purely platonic friendship in college, 10 years later, everyone seems to be asking if they had ever had a thing, even though Ben is happily married now. Can they resume their friendship and pick up where they left off? Or has Rachel developed Feelings (capital F) for Ben now that he's solidly off the market?
This was my first time reading Mhairi McFarlane, and while I ended up
enjoying it, I thought the plot moved very slowly in the first half and I'm not sure I would classify this as a romance. I found the ending more "Happy for now" rather than "Happily ever after." There's nothing …
YOU HAD ME AT HELLO tells the story of two friends who were best buds in college only to grow apart as life went on, who suddenly find themselves back in each other's lives. Although Rachel and Ben maintain that they had a purely platonic friendship in college, 10 years later, everyone seems to be asking if they had ever had a thing, even though Ben is happily married now. Can they resume their friendship and pick up where they left off? Or has Rachel developed Feelings (capital F) for Ben now that he's solidly off the market?
This was my first time reading Mhairi McFarlane, and while I ended up
enjoying it, I thought the plot moved very slowly in the first half and I'm not sure I would classify this as a romance. I found the ending more "Happy for now" rather than "Happily ever after." There's nothing wrong with that, but readers should know what they're getting into. I think the book is supposed to be more funny than I found it, but I attribute that to a lack of familiarity with British-isms.
All in all, I enjoyed the story, and though long I never lost interest in it and found the characters rang true. I would certainly pick up another book by this author, with the caveat that her books may read better as novels or chick-lit than romance.
